Why Celebrate?

The mission of the Church of the Ascension is to passionately celebrate and share the love, life and hope of Jesus Christ.

Celebration is key to all that we are; we are a people with great reason to celebrate. Our corporate life of worship - be it in traditional or contemporary liturgical expression - is carried out in a spirit of celebration. In our worship, we celebrate God the Father's revelation of Himself in Christ Jesus, who has invited us to Himself - to know and experience His transforming work in our lives, as we surrender to the living presence of the Holy Spirit. Beyond Sundays we celebrate by worshipping God with all of life - in our work, in our homes, in our daily decisions, even in our sufferings - we celebrate and worship God with all that we are, and with all that we've been blessed with. As our Eucharistic Liturgy reminds us, Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. We are a people of hope, a victorious people, not a people who live unsure whether there is anything good about the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and his Kingdom amongst us.And we celebrate passionately. That is to say, we are consciously and intentionally engaged in the act, the event, and the sprit of celebration. In the context of corporate worship, we may passionately celebrate through the medium and words of ancient hymns and prayers AND in songs and prayers of contemporary worship styles. In all expressions we worship from the centre of our lives, passionately engaged and committed to living all of life in the posture of worship, all the while sharing the life, love and hope of Jesus Christ.In fact, our very lives have an orientation of sharing the love, life and hope of Jesus. Following the model of Jesus' apostles we are committed to being his disciples, life-long learners - men, women and children learning the essence and character of true living from the one who is the "way, the truth, and the life."We also share all that Jesus teaches and models for our lives - in our words and actions. As we are growing in faith by the work of the Holy Spirit, we are called to live towards others. We express the grace, compassion and mercy that have been given to us, and live out the character of our heavenly Father displayed in the self-sacrificial giving of Himself. Social outreach, therefore, goes hand in hand with the evangelistic words and acts of sharing the love, life and hope of our Lord.