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The Reverend Craig T. Kocher

Acting Dean of the Chapel and Director of Religious Life

Acts 1:6-14

Ascension Sunday

May 8, 2005

He Ascended Into Heaven

I thought of two sermons that I could preach for you today. This being mother’s

day, the first sermon was to focus on women in the bible and the role that mothers play in

the church. But Mothers’ Day is a secular observance, and not a Christian one. There are

many churches who celebrate Mother’ Day of course. I remember hearing about one

small cchurch that would give awards out to the oldest mother, the youngest mother, and

the mother who had raised the most children, and when they got to that award a fight

broke out between two mothers, one claiming she deserved the award because she had

raised five children of her own, but the other claimed that she deserved the award because

she had four of her own and two step-children, and so forth.

Instead of giving out awards or flowers, we simply give thanks for mmothers, for

our biological mothers, and for all those mothers in the faith who go far beyond biology,

who raised us and are raising our children, to love God and participate in the life of the

church.

So, rather than preaching that sermon, I wwant to focus in on this text from Acts.