Core 52 | Outside In — The Ascension

Jesus lived, died, and rose — but he did not die again; he ascended. Working through Acts 1, this message lingers on the roughly forty days of convincing proofs between resurrection and ascension, and on the expectancy that gripped the early church. The teaching presses the evidence against the coma theory and insists the disciples' transformation — fearful before, martyrs after — points to a power that was neither education nor positive thinking but the Holy Spirit. The Great Commission is everyone's commission, not only the clergy's. Five implications of the ascension are drawn out: Jesus finished his work, is preparing a place, intercedes at the Father's right hand, sent the Spirit, and is preparing to return. The recurring call is to live with an immediacy that takes the gospel to everyone in our reach.