Ascension Lutheran Church

Ascension Lutheran Church Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod

08/16/2026

TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
9:00 a.m. August 16, 2026
DIVINE SERVICE SETTING ONE: Page 151
Thoughts as we gather:
The Church Lives Under the Cross of Christ and Prays in the Hope of His Mercy By her persistent prayer that Jesus would have mercy and help her (Matt. 15:22, 24), and even in the face of His initial silence and apparent rejection (Matt. 15:23–26), the Canaanite woman boldly confessed her faith in Him (Matt. 15:27–28). Her beautiful example encourages us to cling to the words and promises of the Gospel, even in the face of the Law that accuses and condemns us. “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29), and His Law “has consigned all to disobedience” for the very purpose “that He may have mercy on all” (Rom. 11:32). Hence, the woman’s faith and hope were not disappointed, but her prayers were answered in the mercy of Christ. Not only does He grant us the crumbs from His table, but He also feeds us with “the children’s bread” in the house of His Father (Matt. 15:26–27). He has brought us to His “holy mountain,” and He makes us joyful in His house, where He hears our prayers and accepts our sacrifice of praise upon the altar of His cross (Is. 56:7).

07/26/2026

NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
9:00 a.m. July 26, 2026
DIVINE SERVICE SETTING FOUR: Page 203
Thoughts as we gather
The Son of God Has Redeemed Us for Himself with His Holy and Precious Blood The Lord our God has chosen us to be “His treasured possession,” not because of any strength in us, but solely “because the Lord loves” us (Deut. 7:6–8). He is faithful, and He “keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deut. 7:9). He has searched for us and found us in love, and He has bestowed on us “great value” by the
great price that He has paid on the cross (Matt. 13:45–46). In His joy, He has redeemed us by His cross and gathered us into His kingdom by the Gospel. Now we are “hidden in a field,” covered by the cross and subject to the persecution of the world (Matt. 13:44), not for destruction, but “to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). Since we “are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28), and because Christ Jesus died, rose again and lives to intercede for us “at the right hand of God” (Rom. 8:34), there is
nothing in all creation that can separate us from “the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39).

07/19/2026

EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
9:00 a.m. July 19, 2026
DIVINE SERVICE SETTING ONE: Page 151
Thoughts as we gather
The Word of the Gospel Bestows the Righteousness of Christ and Brings Forth Faith The good Seed, which is “the Son of Man,” Jesus Himself (Matt. 13:37), brings forth a harvest of faith and bears good fruits in “the sons of the kingdom” (Matt. 13:38). Whatever is sown apart from His Word is of the devil, who plants the weeds of unbelief and sin, even among the people of God. Thankfully, the Lord is patient and He does not uproot the weeds, lest the plants also be destroyed. He lets “both grow together until the harvest” (Matt. 13:30), while He continues to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins. Thus, He preserves His Church in righteousness, because He alone is “the King of Israel and his Redeemer” (Is. 44:6). Since all things are in His gracious care and keeping, “fear not, nor be afraid” (Is. 44:8). For “the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19), and in this hope we also wait with patience. Though we do not yet see it, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness” (Rom. 8:26) and, in truth, “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18).

07/12/2026

SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
9:00 a.m. July 12, 2026
DIVINE SERVICE SETTING THREE: Page 184
Thoughts as we gather
The Preaching of the Word of Christ Bears the Good Fruits of Faith and Love
As “the rain and the snow come down from heaven” and “water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout” (Is. 55:10), so the Word of God accomplishes the purpose for which He speaks it, granting joy and peace through the forgiveness of sins and producing the fruits of faith and love in those who are called by His name. Christ Jesus, the incarnate Word, has established the name of the Lord as “an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off” (Is. 55:13). He opens our ears to hear, our minds to understand and our hearts to believe His Word, lest the evil one come and sn**ch it away. He thus transforms our rocky hearts into good soil, which clings to the Gospel and “indeed bears fruit” (Matt. 13:23). He is Himself the first fruits of all who “have received the Spirit of adoption as sons” (Rom. 8:15). Thus being “led by the Spirit of God,” we are not afraid, but we cry out in faith to our Father in heaven (Rom. 8:14–15). For as we suffer with Christ, the beloved Son, so shall we “also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:17).

07/05/2026

SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
9:00 a.m. July 5, 2026
DIVINE SERVICE SETTING ONE: Page 151
Thoughts as we gather:
Jesus Christ, Our Savior, Is Our True Peace and Sabbath Rest Though we have died with Christ in Holy Baptism, and we are raised to new life in Him, we find “another law waging war” in our body and life, that is, between our old Adam and the new man (Rom. 7:23). By the Spirit of Christ, we “desire to do what is right,” but we are not able to do so because “nothing good” dwells in our sinful flesh (Rom. 7:18). “Thanks be to God,” therefore, “through Jesus Christ our Lord,” who delivers us from “this body of death” (Rom. 7:24–25). We rejoice in Him, our gentle King, who comes “righteous and having salvation” (Zech. 9:9). He speaks peace to our embattled hearts, and by His blood of the New Testament He sets us “free from the waterless pit,” and He returns us to the stronghold of our Baptism (Zech. 9:10–12). Though we “labor and are heavy laden,” He calls us to Himself and gives rest to our souls through His free and full forgiveness (Matt. 11:28), not because we are “wise and understanding,” but by the “gracious will” of God the

06/28/2026

FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
9:00 a.m. June 28, 2026
DIVINE SERVICE SETTING FOUR: Page 203

Thoughts as we gather:
The Lord Jesus Brings Division on Earth for the Sake of Peace with God in Heaven

False prophets preach what their hearers want to hear, promising peace even when the Lord has spoken “war, famine, and pestilence” (Jer. 28:8). But if “the LORD has truly sent the prophet,” He speaks what the Lord has spoken, and “the word of that prophet comes to pass” (Jer. 28:9). The preaching of God’s Law is hard, because it confronts sin, brings it to light and makes it worse, “sinful beyond measure,” thereby “producing death” in the sinner (Rom. 7:13). But through our Baptism into Christ, “we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive” (Rom. 7:6). Now we belong “to Him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God” (Rom. 7:4). Belonging to Him puts us at odds with the world and divides us from all earthly ties, not only from our human family, but each person from his own life. For Christ does not come “to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34). Yet, whoever takes up his cross to follow Christ, and “loses his life” for Christ’s sake, finds new life in Him (Matt. 10:38–39).

06/21/2026

FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
9:00 a.m. June 21, 2026
DIVINE SERVICE SETTING ONE: Page 151

Thoughts as we gather

Delivered from Sin and Death, You Now Live before God in the Righteousness of Christ The outcome of sin is death, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). He has set you free from the slavery of sin and has brought you “from death to life” (Rom. 6:13). No longer are you under the condemnation of the Law, but you live “under grace” (Rom. 6:14). Such is your courage in the face of “those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matt. 10:28). For though “you will be hated by all” and maligned by the world for the name of Christ (Matt. 10:22, 25), you abide in the care of your Father in heaven, who numbers “even the hairs of your head” and values you more “than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:30–31). By the Word of Christ, you have become like Him, your Teacher and Master in whom you endure to the end, and “will be saved” (Matt. 10:22, 25). For He is with you “as a dread warrior,” who has overcome your enemies (Jer. 20:11). By the righteousness of faith, He delivers your heart, mind, body and life “from the hand of evildoers,” and He brings you into the land of the living (Jer. 20:1213).

Address

PO BOX 1645 22130 Ottawa Road
Apple Valley, CA
92308

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 2pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 12pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 2pm
Thursday 8:30am - 12pm
Sunday 8am - 12:30pm

Telephone

+17602477392

Website

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