Ascension Day 2017 One morning, on Ascension Day I had chapel for the Day Care children at Immanuel. But what does one do that stays within the attention span of about 45 preschoolers? Ah a balloon might do the trick. Schnucks supermarkets have balloons for parties etc. I didn’t expect to find one for Ascension. At last I noticed one which said, “Welcome home, we missed you.” The woman at the counter blew it up and I had her attach about 15 feet of ribbon. This morning I talked about Christmas and Jesus coming to us as a baby. Then I shifted to Easter and Jesus resurrection A large wood cross stood in the front of the sanctuary draped with a white cloth. Then I went to the balloon. Ascension Day is when Jesus went back to his heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit. I slowly let out the ribbon as the balloon rose to the ceiling. I said, I could imagine them saying to Jesus, “Welcome home, we missed you.” In the epistle lesson, we do read, “Seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.” One can imagine that Ascension Day must have been a time of great celebration among the angels, archangels and all the company of heaven. Psalm 110 1 reads, “God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of the Trumpet. Almighty God, as your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, ascended into the heavens so may we also ascend in heart and mind and continually dwell there with Him, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.