Lord’s Day 18: Q&A 46-49: Surely I am with you
When I was growing up, our church always had an Ascension Day service, which my parents always made me go to. Certainly as a young kid I did not appreciate my Thursday evening being taken away from me just to go to church again, but now I find myself missing that being part of the rhythm of my spiritual life (certainly no shade meant to churches who don’t have a dedicated midweek Ascension service).
The Ascension of Jesus to the right hand of the Father from where he will come again to judge the living and the dead is a great source of hope for us to draw upon, no matter the time of year. As Jesus told us at the end of the Great Commission recorded in Matthew’s gospel: “. . .and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” as foreshadowed in John’s gospel, Jesus promises that “[he] will not leave [us] as orphans; [he] will come to [us].” (John 14:18) Jesus’ Ascension promises us that God will be with us in a personal way, which of course points to Pentecost and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, but it also reminds us that as we pray, we are praying to our Great High Priest who intercedes before the Father on our behalf. Our Lord and Savior, who has been tempted in every way to perfectly empathize with us and take on our sins, who has conquered sin and death for us, is now ascended on high in corporeal form as he is still with us spiritually. No matter what this sinful world throws at us, Jesus is with us.
Lord’s Day 18 is our first of two Lord’s Days that wrap up the section of the Apostles’ Creed dedicated to God the Son. This week the Catechism focuses on what is means for Jesus to be with us and yet be physically seated at God’s right hand, which gives us a good opportunity to profess what we believe about Jesus’ nature and to educate our congregations on the mystery of Jesus being fully human and yet fully divine.
Lord’s Day 18
CALL TO WORSHIP (Acts 1:11)
Leader: Brothers and Sisters in Christ, our Lord not only was raised from the grave to conquer sin and death, but he also has ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father.
People: Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ has ascended
Leader: As he promised us and as the angels told his disciples, he has not gone to the right hand of the Father to be there for eternity, but he will return just as he ascended to bring about the New Heavens and New Earth.
People: Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again!
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE (Romans 8:34, Colossians 3:1-2, Hebrews 7:23-24)
Loving Father, our hearts are so filled with earthly things and anxieties. We are called to set our hearts on things above, Father, but it is so difficult. Sometimes we don’t even pray at all, because we feel our prayers are inadequate. But we have an intercessor in our Savior Jesus at your right hand, Father. Hear our prayers now, Father, through the intercession through our Advocate, Jesus Christ.
[Time of congregational prayer]
Father God, at our best, our prayers are still imperfect. High Priest Jesus, thank you that you redeem our prayers and intercede on our behalf. It is in your holy name that we pray. Amen.
Q&A 46
ASSURANCE OF PARDON (Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25)
Leader: Who then is the one who condemns?
All: No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Leader: Therefore he is able to save us completely when we come to God through him
All: Because he always lives to intercede for us.
Q&A 47
CALL TO CONFESSION (Acts 3:19a)
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (Jeremiah 23:23, Matthew 28:19, John 14:19)
Father God,
You are a God who is nearby,
In your light, we see clearly we fall short of your glory.
We try to run from your presence and hide in darkness.
We have not follow you command to make disciples
And we try to reject the Holy Spirit’s direction in our lives.
God, we confess that we pretend your presence is not near us.
Instead, we choose to be in charge of our own lives.
Forgive us, Lord.
Holy Spirit, pour out the new life of Christ on us today.
Amen.
Q&A 48
PRAYER OF LAMENT (Colossians 2:9)
Most High God,
Each day we feel the limitations of physical bodies.
If only each day had another hour.
If only we could jump higher.
If only we could work on less sleep.
Days, weeks, months, or years that we struggle with illness.
Even looking into a mirror can bring so much pain.
We are all too aware that our bodies are affected by sin.
Some days it's hard to imagine that our bodies are good.
God, where will our resting place be from this pain?
But you God created us with bodies and called them good.
So good, that in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.
Thank you, Jesus, for the hope we have in the resurrection of the body.
In you, Christ Jesus, we see that physical bodies
Are even worthy for our loving God to dwell in.
We pray in the name of our fully Divine and fully Human savior Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Q&A 49
GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Creator God,
You formed us in our mother’s wombs
To serve and enjoy you all our days.
You gather us together in this sanctuary
As a covenant people set apart.
We have fallen short of your expectations in creation.
Through our sin, we have become distant from you.
Not being content with this separation,
We thank you for sending the Son of God down from heaven.
Taking on flesh, Jesus became like us.
Christ Jesus, you humbled yourself and took on flesh.
Through this physical body,
you defeated death and redeemed us from sin and evil.
Powerful Savior, now you are at the right hand of the Father
A resurrected body ascended into heaven
Where you intercede for us.
Our resurrected Savior,
As we gather around this table
Feed us by your flesh spiritually.
We pray, by the power of you Holy Spirit,
That you take us up to the Father’s presence.
We pray through this prayer and the Holy Spirit’s work,
That our hearts and minds would be renewed
To seek the things of heaven.
We pray all these things
in the name of our bodily ascended Savior, Christ Jesus.
Amen.
