The weekend after Labor Day has traditionally been a time when churches across the country kick off a new year of ministry, often calling it "Rally Sunday." This year at Ascension, we celebrated "Back-to-School Sunday" a few weeks ago, but perhaps this weekend can be a quieter kind of kickoff, a chance to recommit ourselves (or commit for the first time) to making the weekly rhythm of worship a regular part of our lives.

To help us do that, this weekend we will experience a "narrative worship" of sorts, with brief explanations woven throughout the service about why we do what we do when we gather for worship.

We will also join Lutherans across the country for God's Work, Our Hands where thousands of people put their faith into action through service. At Ascension, we will assemble 400 personal care kits for Lutheran World Relief, and we invite you to stop by Founders Hall after any of our worship services to lend a hand. Fair Trade Lane will also be open in Founders Hall.

On my heart this week is the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001. Churches were full in the days following the terror of 9/11. Twenty-five years later, I can think of no better place to be than gathered again as the church, especially as we hear the story of Joseph forgiving his brothers and Peter asking Jesus, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?"

How do we forgive in the face of terrible violence as well as in the ordinary wounds and slights of daily life? How do we become people who live in grace?

Perhaps that is one of the reasons we keep coming back to worship: to remember who we are, whose we are, and the way of Jesus, the One who gave everything for us and continues to show us how to live.

I look forward to worshiping with you this weekend.

Grace & Peace,

Several months ago, Pastor Ivan Larsen came to us and shared that, as he celebrates the 60th anniversary of his ordination, he would love the opportunity to preach God's Word. What a gift!

We feel so very grateful and blessed by the retired pastors in our community and by their faithful witness and years of service to Christ's church. Sixty years of ordained ministry is a remarkable milestone, and so we are delighted to welcome Pastor Ivan to the pulpit this weekend. (His subject: Not Only Pastors are Called by God.) We look forward to worshiping and leading worship alongside him as we celebrate this wonderful anniversary.

Pastor Tim and Pastor Chamie

This weekend we will hear Jesus offer one of his most challenging invitations: "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Following Jesus is not always easy, and it is certainly not cost-free. It may cost us our pride, our comfort, our need to be right, or even our desire to get even.

But Jesus does not ask us to give ourselves away in order to earn God's love. Grace comes first. Because we are already loved and held by God, we are free to live differently—to forgive, to serve, to love our enemies, and to choose the way of Christ even when it costs us something.

Join us this weekend as we consider **The Cost of Discipleship** and Jesus' surprising promise that when we lose our lives for his sake, we actually find them.

Blessings,

Pastor Tim

Sometimes answers to questions come quickly; sometimes they come slowly. This weekend (as we team preach) we will ponder Matthew 16 where Jesus asks his disciples a question that is both simple and profound: "Who do you say that I am?" It is a question we spend our lives answering through the ways we love, serve, work, learn, forgive, worship, and live.

As a new school year begins, we want to wonder together: What might it look like to offer our ordinary days to God? How might we follow the Messiah, not simply by knowing the right answers, but by allowing our lives to become the answer?

Grace & Peace,

This weekend at Ascension, we will remember and celebrate the ministry of Pastor Willis Moerer, who served as Ascension's senior pastor from 1977–2001 and died last April.

Pastor Moerer was not only an important part of Ascension's story, but also a mentor and friend to me—and, before coming to Ascension, he served at Emanuel Lutheran Church in La Habra, the church where I grew up.

Our readings from Isaiah 56, Psalm 67, and Matthew 15:21–28 remind us that God is always widening the circle and making room for one more. As we give thanks for Pastor Moerer's life and ministry, we'll reflect on the kind of church he helped Ascension become: a place where people are seen, welcomed, invited to serve, and pointed toward Jesus. I hope you'll join us this weekend as we hear again the gracious words: Welcome home.

Blessings,

Pastor Tim

Welive in a world filled with noise. Notifications buzz. Calendars overflow. There is always one more headline to read, one more email to answer, one more thing demanding our attention. But in 1 Kings 19:9-15, the prophet Elijah discovers that God is not found in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in what one translation calls "the sound of sheer silence." Sometimes God's voice is heard not by adding more noise to our lives, but by creating space to listen.

So this weekend we'll explore Elijah's encounter with God on Mount Horeb and consider the ancient Christian spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude. Together we'll reflect on how making room for quiet can help us remember God's presence, hear God's gentle leading, and be renewed for whatever lies ahead.

Sometimes the greatest gift we can offer God, and ourselves, is simply the willingness to be still.

Grace & Peace,

Blessings,

This weekend, we will hear the familiar story of Jesus feeding the five thousand from Matthew 14. But this story is much more than a miraculous picnic in the wilderness. It comes in the shadow of Herod's violence and John the Baptist's death, among people hungry for bread, healing, justice, and hope. Into that hunger, Jesus does something surprising: He does not hand out weapons for a revolution of war. He gives bread for a revolution of peace.

In the sermon, "You Give Them Something to Eat," we will reflect on Jesus' compassion and His call to the disciples to participate in His work. When they see only scarcity — "we have here only five loaves and two fish" — Jesus reveals the abundance of God. Together, we will consider what it means for Ascension to be a community shaped by the broken bread of Christ: fed by grace, moved by compassion, and sent to feed a hungry world.

Blessings,

This weekend we are delighted to welcome Pastor Kristin Engstrom, ELCA missionary serving in Madagascar, as our guest preacher. As part of our upcoming Gifts of Hope this holiday season, Kristin will share stories of God's work through her ministry and invite us to consider Jesus' vision of the Kingdom of God. In this week's Gospel, Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52, we hear that God's kingdom often begins in small, ordinary ways, a tiny seed, a bit of yeast, a hidden treasure, but grows into something far more beautiful and transformative than we could imagine. Worship is one of the places where God shapes our hearts to become more like Jesus, and this weekend we will have the opportunity to see that transforming love at work both here at Ascension and around the world.

Grace & Peace,

This weekend, we continue our two-week mini-series on Jesus' parables from Matthew 13 with the parable of the weeds and the wheat. Last week, we reflected on the Parable of the Sower and prayed that God would make us good soil — receptive to His Word and ready for the harvest He longs to grow among us. This week, we turn to a harder question: If God is planting good seed, why are there still weeds in the field?

We will reflect on how Jesus teaches us to live faithfully in a world where good and evil are often tangled together. This parable reminds us that evil is real, justice matters, and truth must be spoken—but it also warns us against taking final judgment into our own hands. As we continue to seek God's vision for Ascension, we will consider what it means to be a church centered on Jesus: wide in grace, deep in truth, patient in love, and faithful in hope.

Blessings,

After three months away on sabbatical, I am grateful to be returning to worship with you this weekend! During my time away, one of the questions I have been studying, praying, and reflecting on is this: What is God planting for this next season of our life together? I am excited to begin a two-week mini-series on two of Jesus' parables from Matthew 13, beginning this Sunday with the Parable of the Sower.

In this sermon, "When Grace Gets Delivered," we will listen to Jesus' parable alongside a modern-day parable about a DoorDash driver delivering meals to four different homes. The same gift arrives at each door, but each household receives it differently. Together, we will reflect on what it means to truly receive the Word of God—not merely to hear it, but to allow it to take root, nourish us, change us, and bear fruit in our lives. My prayer is that God would make us hungry, receptive, and ready for the harvest He longs to grow among us.

Blessings,