Ascension Lutheran Church

Ascension Lutheran Church Ascension Lutheran Church is an affiliate of the Church of the Lutheran Confession, and teaches the Bible as the one, inerrant truth.

03/22/2026

"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." (John 10:17-18)

Jesus Lays Down His Life

A number of times during Jesus' life, men actively sought to murder Him (Luke 4:29, John 8:59, John 10:31). Yet despite their evil intentions they did not succeed. From the text for today we see that they could not have succeeded. Jesus' life could not be taken from Him, only given.

In the garden of Gethsemane we see a remarkable illustration of this fact. Knowing that He would soon face the climax of His troubles on this earth, Jesus was deeply grieved and distressed. In His distress Jesus turned to his Father in heaven and asked whether there was some way that this cup of suffering might pass from Him. But if there was no other way to accomplish our salvation Jesus faithfully prayed to the Father, "Your will be done" (Matthew 26:42).

And next we see how Jesus would die. His prayers finished and Judas approaching, does Jesus shrink back from His betrayer and the cross lurking in the distance? No! But instead we find these words recorded for our comfort: "Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand" (Matthew 26:46).

Jesus goes to meet those who seek His life! Let it be clearly known: Jesus was not tricked and trapped into dying on the cross, but instead He actively took His life and laid it down for us that we might have life through His death.

from Daily Devotions
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01/17/2026

“Jesus Christ … gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (Galatians 1:4) "Let us arm our hearts with [this] and similar statements of Scripture so that, when the devil accuses us by saying: You are a sinner; therefore you are damned, we can reply: The very fact that you say I am a sinner makes me want to be just and saved. Nay, you will be damned, says the devil. Indeed not, I reply, for I take refuge in Christ, who gave Himself for my sins. Therefore you will accomplish nothing, Satan, by trying to frighten me by setting the greatness of my sins before me and thus seducing me to sadness, doubt, despair, hatred, contempt, and blasphemy of God. Indeed, by calling me a sinner you are supplying me with weapons against yourself so that I can slay and destroy you with your own sword; for Christ died for sinners. Furthermore, you yourself proclaim the glory of God to me; you remind me of God’s paternal love for me, a miserable and lost sinner; for He so loved the world that He gave His Son (John 3:16). Again, whenever you throw up to me that I am a sinner, you revive in my memory the blessing of Christ, my Redeemer, on whose shoulders, and not on mine, lie all my sins; for 'the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all' and 'for the transgression of His people He was stricken' (Isaiah 53:6-8). Therefore, when you throw up to me that I am a sinner, you are not terrifying me; you are comforting me beyond measure." (Martin Luther)

12/31/2025

“I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)

The Real Message of Christmas

There were two different conflicting messages proclaimed during the Christmas Season—I wonder if you noticed them and how they differed. On the one hand there were those who, filled with holiday cheer, tell us and their children all about a certain guy in a red suit. This fellow, they claim, "sees you when you’re sleeping, knows when you’re awake, and knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake." They say that Christmas is all about being good people and earning gifts by being good during the year—gifts distributed by the chubby guy in the suit.

Then on the other hand, we spend our time talking about the gift of a certain baby Jesus, a baby whose birth was announced like this: "I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Although we don't talk about it during the Christmas Season, this Jesus is able to see us when we are sleeping and when awake. He truly knows when we have been bad and good. But we don't say that Christmas is all about being good people to earn good gifts from Him—even though all of our gifts really do come from the Christ-child.
Really, if we would take an honest look at the past year, then we will admit that for another year in a row, we have sinned. We really don't deserve the riches we enjoy. So look again at the greatest gift of all, the tag says: "there is born to YOU...a Savior, Christ the Lord." The Good News that needs to be proclaimed during Christmas and during the rest of the year too is that God has provided a Savior from sin and evil—Jesus Christ.

We have heard the Real Message of Christmas! Christmas is not about getting something because we have been good, it's about the Good News that God didn't give us what we deserved—instead He sent us a SAVIOR, the Savior Jesus—to save us because we could not save ourselves. It's also the message we all desperately need in the New Year too.

From Daily Devotions
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12/19/2025

“And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.” (Isaiah 40:5a)

Glory

The sun was just beginning its escape on the far horizon. A few lazy gulls were circling near the shoreline. The streaks of red, orange, and purple crept across the sky providing a breathtaking sunset. What a glorious sight it was! You too have seen things in the natural world, I am sure, that simply make you stop and say, "That's the glory of God!" It's true that God shows us His glory often in nature for He is present there with His divine hand-- showing us just how majestic, wonderful, and awesome He really is.

Yet the greatest revelation of God's glory isn't found in the sky or in the sea or in looking at fabulous mountains and canyons. It is found in a humble cattle stall. In a trough where animals lately fed. Look on the face of Jesus Christ. Isn't this birth which we await so eagerly the most glorious sight? Isn't this what Isaiah saw when He said, "And the glory of the LORD will be revealed"? Isn't it at Bethlehem where we really see how majestic, wonderful, and awesome our God is? Here He sends His only begotten Son into the world to suffer and die—to bear such a load of sin and guilt—just so that we, undeserving as we are, can shine in glorious day!

Christ Himself is the glory of God. For He shows us the Father's heart and is surely the greatest thing ever revealed to the eye of man.

From Daily Devotions
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12/16/2025

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus.” (Romans 15:5)

Togetherness

How does the world so often get ready for Christmas? By promoting a spirit of "togetherness." According to many, the very heart of Christmas is supposed to be family gatherings and precious moments with loved ones. We are all supposed to put our differences aside for a few hours on the 25th of December the way the World War I soldiers did in the trenches of France. "Christmas is coming, so let's just all get along," they say.

But if your feelings of "togetherness" are only tied to a day on the calendar, what happens when that day is gone? What happens to those who lay aside their differences on the 25th? Do they take them up again on the 26th?

Let me tell you about the true unity that you have. It begins at the manger in Bethlehem. Remember in these last days the joyful union you share with your fellow believers which is based on the Christmas gospel. While the world runs after Santa Claus and reindeer, you all share a greater, more solid hope. As you get ready for Christmas, you look for a Christ-child who will take away all sin on the cross. You look for One who will lavish forgiveness upon you and take you to be with Himself forever in heaven.

Yes, you may have differences among one another from time to time, but the great Savior's gifts which you all share are able to overcome any petty disputes and bring "togetherness" to every day.
May your unity in the faith with others be a joy to your heart and in your life.

From Daily Devotions: https://www.redeemerclc.info/ministries

12/14/2025

Peace in Our Families

An angel of the Lord appeared to him [Joseph] in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21)
The Christmas season can be a difficult time for those with family problems. Some try to avoid the pain by avoiding the observance of the holidays. But the solution is not to ignore the season but rather to turn to God’s Word for the true meaning of Christmas. For when we do, we find that even the coming of the Christ made for family problems that first Christmas—problems resolved by a word from God.

The world's view of Christmas often emphasizes family above all else. Good, but not enough. Families often have problems, trouble, strife—matters that can't be solved by simply saying, “We are family,” any more than Joseph’s turmoil and pain could be erased by simply saying he and Mary had pledged themselves to each other. No, Joseph’s solution came from God’s Word to him in particular—the Word about Jesus.

So also for us in our families. Peace is to be found in the Word about Christ—in who He is, God’s own Son, and in what He has done in winning for us pardon and peace with God. In Christ’s forgiveness we have peace with God—and the means to make peace with each other.

Oh, the joy beyond expressing,
When by faith we grasp this blessing.

When God made clear to Joseph the meaning of what He was doing in connection with Jesus, then Joseph was able to act in a way that gave him and Mary a future together. Let us take hold of the truth of what God has done in Christ our Savior and apply that forgiveness in our families that we may have a real future together.

from Daily Devotions: https://www.redeemerclc.info/ministries

10/04/2025

“Sinners are lovely because they are loved; they are not loved because they are lovely. That is why the love of man avoids sinners and evil persons. But Christ says: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners (Matthew 9:13). And this is the love of the cross, born of the cross, which betakes itself, not where it may find something good to enjoy but where it may confer good upon the poor and the needy; for it is more blessed to give than to receive, says the apostle (Acts 20:35).”

“Just as God gives the Word, which is His Word, not ours, so it is also He who gives faith in the Word; for both Word and faith are God’s work. Therefore forgiving sins must also be God’s work…. Hence forgiveness of sins must be sought in the Word … and nowhere else, for one will find it nowhere else.”

“If you ask whence our righteousness comes and whereby it was achieved or won, I reply: It is due to the fact that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who came from heaven and became Man, suffered for our sins and died for them. This is the reason, the means, and the treasure through which and for the sake of which forgiveness of sins and God’s grace are granted to us; for this treasure does not come to us without means or merit. But since all of us, born in sin and God’s enemies, have earned nothing but eternal wrath and hell … therefore another Man had to step into our place, namely Jesus Christ, God and Man, and had to render satisfaction and make payment for sin through His suffering and death. This is the price placed on it and expended on us. It extinguishes and takes away sin and God’s wrath, reconciles the Father, and turns Him into our Friend.” (quotes from Martin Luther)

09/27/2025

“We should learn to believe that in Christ we have a Lord who provides … for our body and temporal life. Therefore we should beat down and overcome the worry that unbelief creates. For through examples of many kinds He arouses us to faith because He wants us to become people who are entirely without worry about their own persons, so far as both their physical and spiritual, or their temporal and eternal, life are concerned.” (Martin Luther)

09/20/2025

“[Worship] is not a function of the mouth but of the whole body. It is to bow the head, bend the body, fall on the knees, prostrate one’s self, and so forth, and to do such things as a sign and acknowledgement of an authority and power…. From this understanding of outward worship you will also understand what Christ meant by true spiritual worship. It is the adoration of bowing of the heart, so that from the bottom of your heart you thereby show and confess yourself to be His subordinate creature. For from this you see that true worship can be nothing else than faith; it is faith’s sublimest activity with respect to God. For no one is capable of such heartfelt confession, adoration, bending, and bowing before God in his heart, unless he unwaveringly holds God to be his Lord and Father, from Whom he receives and will receive all good things, and through Whom, without any merit on his part, he is redeemed and preserved from all sins and evil.” (Martin Luther)

09/17/2025

“If you preach faith, people become lax, want to do no good, serve and help no one. But if you do not preach faith, hearts become frightened and dejected and establish one idolatrous practice after another. … Yet faith in Christ should and must be preached, no matter what happens. I would much rather hear people say of me that I preach too sweetly and that my sermon hinders people in doing good works (although it does not do so) than not preach faith in Christ at all; for then there would be no help for timid, frightened consciences. … Therefore I should like to have the message of Christ not forgotten but generally known. It is so sweet a message, full of sheer joy, comfort, mercy, and grace. … We shall have to let it happen that some … people turn the message into an occasion for security and presumption; but others, the work-righteous, slander us on this account and say that we make people lazy and thus keep them from reaching perfection. Christ Himself had to hear that He was a friend of tax collectors and sinners (Luke 15:2), that He broke the Sabbath, etc. We shall not fare any better.” (Martin Luther)

09/17/2025

“By the wedding ring of faith Christ shares in the sins, death, and pains of hell which are His bride’s. As a matter of fact, He makes them His own and acts as if they were His own and as if He Himself had sinned; He suffered, died, and descended into hell that He might overcome them all. Now since it was such a One Who did all this, and death and hell could not swallow Him up, these were necessarily swallowed up by Him in a mighty duel; for His righteousness is greater than the sins of all men, His life stronger than death, His salvation more invincible than hell. Thus the believing soul by means of the pledge of its faith is free in Christ, its Bridegroom, free from all sins, secure against death and hell, and is endowed with the eternal righteousness, life, and salvation of Christ its Bridegroom. So He takes to Himself a glorious bride, ‘without spot or wrinkle, cleansing her by the washing of water with the Word’ [Cf. Ephesians 5:26-27] of life, that is, by faith in the Word of life, righteousness, and justice as Hosea 2[:19-20] says.
Who then can fully appreciate what this royal marriage means? Who can understand the riches of the glory of this grace? Here this rich and divine Bridegroom Christ marries this poor, wicked harlot, redeems her from all her evil, and adorns her with all His goodness. Her sins cannot now destroy her, since they are laid upon Christ, her husband, of which she may boast as of her own and which she can confidently display alongside her sins in the face of death and hell and say, ‘If I have sinned, yet My Christ, in Whom I believe, has not sinned, and all His is mine and all mine is His,’ as the bride in the Song Of Solomon [2:16] says, ‘My beloved is mine and I am his.’” (Martin Luther)

04/01/2025

After man has … become aware of his sin and is terrified in his heart, he must watch that sin does not remain in his conscience, for this would lead to sheer despair. Just as [our knowledge of] sin flowed from Christ and was acknowledged by us, so we must pour this sin back on Him and free our conscience of it. … You cast your sins from yourself and onto Christ when you firmly believe that His wounds and sufferings are your sins to be borne and paid for by Him, as we read in Isaiah 53:6, “The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” St. Peter says, “In His body has He borne our sins on the wood of the cross” [1 Pet. 2:24]. St. Paul says, “God has made Him a sinner for us, so that through Him we would be made just” (2 Cor. 5:21). … You must stake everything on these and similar verses. The more your conscience torments you, the more tenaciously must you cling to them. … If we behold [our sin] resting on Christ and [see it] overcome by His resurrection, and then boldly believe this, even it is dead and nullified. Sin cannot remain on Christ, since it is swallowed up by His resurrection. (Martin Luther)

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