May 21, 2009 is Ascension Day! . . . May 31 is Pentecost Sunday
Ascension day may be the most important date on the Christian calendar that is totally ignored.
This is the day the disciples along with the women who followed Jesus returned to the upper room to pray. They watched as Jesus was taken up before their eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight. For ten days they studied the Bible and prayed. They probably meditated on the last words of Jesus. "You will be my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth." They were told to wait for the Holy Spirit.
Ten days after Ascension Day is Pentecost! The day when God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven heard of Jesus in their own language. (Reread Acts 1 and 2)
Let us take these ten days and pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Ascension Day Hymn
Tune: Hyfrydol
Alleluia! Sing to Jesus,
His the scepter, His the throne;
Alleluia! His the triumph, His the victory alone.
Hark the songs of peaceful Zion
Thunder like a mighty flood.
Jesus, out of every nation,
Hath redeemed us by His blood.
Alleluia! not as orphans
Are we left in sorrow now;
Alleluia! He is near us,
Faith believes, nor questions how:
Though the cloud from sight received Him
When the forty days were o’er,
Shall our hearts forget His promise,
“I am with you evermore”?
Alleluia! Bread of Heaven,
Thou on earth our food and stay;
Alleluia! Here the sinful
Flee to Thee from day to day;
Intercessor, friend of sinners,
Earth’s Redeemer, plead for me,
Where the songs of all the sinless
Sweep across the crystal sea.
William C. Dix 1866
