Almighty God,

as we prepare to worship today,

we ask that you will stretch our imaginations

to sense the majesty and mystery of your ascension.

Help us perceive how Jesus’ presence in heaven

can give us confidence in our praying

and hope for the future.

Through Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

Ascended and reigning Christ,

help all of us who struggle to worship you as Lord

perceive the beauty and glory of your sovereign rule.

Help all of us who struggle to worship you as heavenly priest

discover the beauty and power of your ongoing prayer for us and with us. Amen.

Clap your hands, all you peoples;

shout to God with loud songs of joy.

The Lord is king, he is robed in majesty;

the Lord is robed, he is girded with strength.

Since, then, we have a great high priest

who has passed through the heavens,

Jesus, the Son of God,

let us hold fast to our confession.

—Psalm 47:1-2; 93:1; Hebrews 4:14, 16, NRSV

Jesus ascended in triumph,

raising our humanity to the heavenly throne.

All authority, glory, and sovereign power are given to him.

There he hears our prayers and pleads our cause before the Father.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

—from Our World Belongs to God, st. 27

Jesus Christ has come into heaven and is at God’s right hand—

with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to him.

Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!

Alleluia, Amen!

—based on Hebrews 4:14; Revelation 5:10, 12

The proof of God’s amazing love is this:

While we were sinners, Christ died for us.

Because we have faith in him,

we dare to approach God with confidence,

trusting that God will forgive our sin

and cleanse us from every kind of wrong.

Let us confess our sins to almighty God.

—based on Romans 5:8; Hebrews 4:16; 1 John 1:8

Remember that our Lord Jesus Christ is able

to sympathize with us in our weaknesses.

In every respect he was tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness,

so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Let us confess our sins to almighty God.

—based on Hebrews 4:15-16, NRSV

While we claim to celebrate the ascension of our Lord,

the way we live proclaims our lack of faith

in his power to deal with the world.

Let us confess the incongruity between our faith and practice.

Let us pray.

We declare with joy:

Christ suffered once for sins,

the righteous for the unrighteous,

to bring us to God.

He was put to death in the body

but made alive in the Spirit.

Now he has gone into heaven

and is at God’s right hand—

with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to him.

—based on 1 Peter 3:18, 22

Hear the good news: “For Christ also suffered once for sins,

the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

After being made alive, he went and made proclamation

to the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient long ago

when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.

In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,

and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—

not the removal of dirt from the body

but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.

It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—

with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”

—1 Peter 3:18-22, NIV

This saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance:

There is one God; there is one mediator

between God and humankind, Christ Jesus,

Great indeed is the mystery of our religion:

—based on 1 Timothy 1:15; 2:5-6; 3:16, NRSV

Jesus Christ has been ordained by God the Father

and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit

to be our chief prophet and teacher

who fully reveals to us

the secret counsel and will of God concerning our deliverance;

our only high priest

who has delivered us by the one sacrifice of his body,

and who continually pleads our cause with the Father;

and our eternal king

who governs us by his Word and Spirit,

and who guards us and keeps us in the freedom he has won for us.

He ascended to heaven

to show there that he is head of his church,

the one through whom the Father rules all things.

In all distress and persecution,

with uplifted head,

we confidently await the very judge

who has already offered himself to the judgment of God

in our place and removed the whole curse from us.

Christ will cast all his enemies and ours

into everlasting condemnation,

but will take all his chosen ones to himself

into the joy and glory of heaven.

—from Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A’s 31, 50, 52

As followers of Jesus Christ,

living in this world—

which some seek to control,

and others view with despair—

we declare with joy and trust:

Our world belongs to God!

From the beginning,

through all the crises of our times,

until the kingdom fully comes,

God keeps covenant forever:

Our world belongs to God!

God is King! Let the earth be glad!

Christ is victor: his rule has begun!

The Spirit is at work: creation is renewed!

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

Jesus ascended in triumph,

raising our humanity to the heavenly throne.

All authority, glory, and sovereign power are given to him.

There he hears our prayers

and pleads our cause before the Father.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Our hope for a new creation is not tied

to what humans can do,

for we believe that one day

every challenge to God’s rule will be crushed.

His kingdom will fully come,

and our Lord will rule.

Come, Lord Jesus, come.

—Our World Belongs to God, st. 1-2, 27, 55

To him who is able to keep you from stumbling

and to present you before his glorious presence

without fault and with great joy—

to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority,

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

—Jude 24-25, NIV

Ascended Christ,

how grateful we are that you ever live to pray for us,

even now at God’s right hand.

We pray to you as Lord, and with you to the Father:

Hallowed be your name.

May your kingdom come.

May your will be done.

May all people have bread to nourish body and soul.

May your people walk in the way of forgiveness

and stand firm in the time of trial.

May you, with the Father and the Spirit, receive all the glory. Amen.

People of God, go now in peace, knowing that

if we suffer with Christ, we shall also rejoice with him;

if we die with Christ, we shall also rise with him.

Go in peace, letting your old self die with Christ,

and your new self, glorious with purpose and strength,

prepare for the great day of our ascended Lord’s return.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Amen.

O God of all power and majesty,

you created the heavens and stretched them out.

You formed the earth and all that comes from it.

You give the breath of life to all who walk on the face of the earth.

Jesus, you conquered sin and death and now reign victorious.

You are Lord; glory is due your name.

The former things have come to pass;

we now await the new things you will bring through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ, mediator and high priest,

we thank you for becoming human and for experiencing

the joys and sorrows of life, which assures us that you are able

to sympathize and rejoice with us. We praise you for the many joys of life:

for the beauty of creation, especially . . .

for your work in this world . . .

for the growth of your kingdom . . .

for the greatest source of our happiness, the gift of eternal life . . .

As our mediator, you stand before God, petitioning him on our behalf, so we boldly

bring before you our prayers for

creation and its care . . .

the nations of the world . . .

our nation and its leaders . . .

this community and those in authority . . .

the church universal as it works on your behalf . . .

this local church in its ministry . . .

persons with particular needs. . . .

We pray this in your strong name, O Christ,

our mediator and high priest. Amen.

Ascended Lord, we praise you.

In your death you utterly wiped out the damning evidence

of broken laws and commandments that always hung over our heads.

You completely annulled it by nailing it over your head on the cross.

In your resurrection you gave us new life, free life, full of new possibilities.

In your ascension you paraded sin and death behind you

in your triumphal procession.

You are our guarantee of victory.

You are our guarantee because you went through everything

we struggle with and triumphed over all evil.

What you did, you promised to help us do.

You will always be with us—not merely with sympathy but also with power.

You are our guarantee because it is truly “one of us”

who now governs as ruler of time and space.

This too gives us confidence and courage for the future.

You are our guarantee because, in going away,

you released the Spirit on us.

You are not distant from us but closer to us than ever before.

The current of the Spirit works over and through us endlessly.

It seeps and trickles into all the depths of heart and mind and will

so that truly we are like trees planted by water.

We bear fruit in season, our leaves do not wither,

and all that we do turns out well.

We bring our hopes, our needs, our desires to you.

We are confident of access because you are “one of us.”

We are confident of answers because you are the ruler of the universe.

Yours is the name above every other name,

the name before which every knee bows and every tongue confesses,

“You are Lord,” to the glory of God.

Hear our prayers and accept our praises.

May they rise like sweet-smelling incense before you

from lives that are like altars set ablaze by the fire of the Spirit. Amen.

—based on Psalm 1:3; Ephesians 2:5-6; Colossians 2:12-15; Philippians 2:10-11

Sovereign King,

we praise you for your just and righteous reign over the cosmos:

for the order you give to creation . . .

for your sovereign rule over the nations . . .

for your faithfulness to your church . . .

for your lordship in our lives . . .

You are at once King and servant, willing to give your life

and caring even for what we might count as insignificant.

So we approach your throne knowing you will listen to our prayers

for creation and its care . . .

for the nations of the world . . .

for our nation and its leaders . . .

for this community and those who are in authority . . .

for the church universal as it works on your behalf . . .

for this local church in its ministry . . .

for persons with particular needs . . .

We pray in your name, O Christ, our sovereign servant King. Amen.

This tune, also known as “Neander,” “Magdeburg,” and “Ephesus,” is adapted from Joachim Neander’s Alpha und Omega, Glaub-und Liebesübung, 1680. Its present form comes from the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, particularly J. A. Freylinghausen’s Gesangbuch, 1704. The tune’s form, AAB, allows the seven-syllable phrases. to be sung in alternation by combinations of the following: sections of the congregation, male and female voices, choir and congregation. All voices sing the final phrase.

Christopher Martin Idle (b. Bromley, Kent, England, 1938) wrote this versification of texts from the book of Hebrews in 1969; it was first published in Psalm Praise (1973). Idle suggests that "the fourth stanza seems to have a message peculiarly relevant to a world where many in east and west boast of their weapons of war and rely on them to preserve 'peace.'" Idle was educated at Elthan College, St. Peter's College, Oxford, and Clifton Theological College in Bristol, and was ordained in the Church of England. He served churches in Barrow-in-­Furness, Cumbria; London; and Oakley, Suffolk; and recently returned to London, where he is involved in various hymnal projects. A prolific author of articles on the Christian's public responsibilities, Idle has also published The Lion Book of Favorite Hymns (1980) and at least one hundred of his own hymns and biblical paraphrases. Some of his texts first appeared in hymnals published by the Jubilate Group, with which he is associated. He was also editor of Anglican Praise (1987). In 1998 Hope Publishing released Light Upon the River, a collection of 279 of his psalm and hymn texts, along with suggested tunes, scripture references, and commentary. 

Before writing this hymn, Joachim Neander (1650-1680) had scoffed at his religious upbringing and led a careless, licentious life as a student in Bremen, Germany. One Sunday in 1670 he and his friends attended a service at St. Martin’s Church – mainly to criticize and mock the preacher.  However, he came under the spell of Theodore Under-Eyck’s preaching and was converted from his wayward life. Enamored with Pietism, Neander associated with the Pietist leader Spener in Frankfurt. In 1674 Neander became headmaster of the Latin School in Düsseldorf and conducted pastoral duties in the Calvinistic congregation. But his Pietist leanings prompted him to organize separate church services and to abstain from the Lord’s Supper. These practices forced the authorities to suspend him in 1677. After recanting his views, Neander returned to his ordinary duties.  But he was no longer happy in Düsseldorf, and he gladly accepted the opportunity to become Under-Eyck’s assistant at St. Martin’s Church in Bremen in 1679. He died soon afterward of tuberculosis. Neander loved nature and would often go for long walks. In fact, the valley of Düssel near Mettmann was named Neanderthal after him; in 1856 a skeleton of a “Neanderthal man” was found there, and that coincidence has produced a number of apocryphal stories about Neander. He wrote about sixty hymn texts and some tunes, published in Alpha und Omega (1680, expanded posthumously, 1689).