Pastor's Column 5/17/2026

PASTOR’S COLUMN

⁵⁰  “Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting His hands to heaven He blessed them. ⁵¹ While He was blessing them, He left them  and was taken to heaven. ⁵² So they worshiped Him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. ⁵³  And they spent all of their time in the Temple praising God.” Luke 24:50-53, NLT

"Left But Not Alone!”

As the sun was setting and the 40-day post Resurrection days began to fade into history, the Scriptures tell us Jesus “left’ the eleven disciples. The eleven men who, although sometimes with doubt and hesitation, had endured with Jesus, were now with him for the last time. The Jesus whom they had come to know, and love would no longer occupy immediate physical space with them on earth. The howling crowd; the cruel cross; and the cemented stone before the tomb were but a distant memory.    Throughout the final pages of the Gospels, it was not always clear whether the disciples fully grasped what was happening at times. It took the breath of our Lord to help them understand and recognize that He really was Jesus - Lord and Messiah. The preachers of days passed would ask their hearers, “Do you really know Him?” In the blessed church of my rearing that one question would disrupt silence and and cause  spontaneous shouts and affirmations to hit the congregation like a tidal wave. Perhaps what Jesus did for the disciples that late evening also had been experienced by the saints in our church. Before Jesus ascended into heights of glory to be with the Heavenly Father, He turned and blessed his disciples. While he soared into the clouds, Jesus blessed them but left them behind. When you are truly loved, you need not fear where the Lord is. His spirit never leaves us! Being left is not being lost, nor forgotten. However high the skies, far the distance, dark the night – the same Jesus who was near to us and we didn’t realize it, is with us. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He like the Heavenly Father, will never leave nor abandon us for good. If you don’t see Him,  He is not lost. He is Here! He lives within us! This is why the disciples worshiped!