"In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed…

"We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justi…

John the Baptist certainly sounded like a revolutionary. But he was calling for a different kind of revolution than any we have seen before or since. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

"Peace on earth, peace in heaven." As hard to believe as peace in the Middle East, or Eastern Europe, or Asia - or anywhere. Yet it is the Lord's will to reconcile all things to himself through the blood of his cross. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

You may never have thought about this: when you are asleep you are still alive. Your heart beats, you breathe, and your brain is still firing - you dream.There is therefore a difference between being alive and being awake. What IS that difference? That’s what Jesus is asking us today. Not, “are you alive?” but “are you awake?” Support the show Chec…

Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Being a saint is not about what you do. It's about who you are in Christ. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

If you read Luke 17:11-19 closely, you will notice that while 9 of the lepers are only cured once, the Samaritan is healed twice. How so? Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Jesus had things to say about divorce and marriage. But what he was really addressing was our inability to acknowledge what is happening in our own hearts. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

A reflection on the nature and work of the creatures of the spiritual realm, in light of modern science, the teachings of Scripture, and the work of Jesus Christ. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Humility is the hallmark of the Christian. Christianity is not about doing right, but being honest about where we are going wrong. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Opening poem by Phillips Burrows Strong, "The Tongue." Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Some people believe James and Paul are teaching a different kind of Christianity. One believes we are saved by faith in Jesus apart from works; the other that we are saved by faith infused with works. The reality is that they are saying the same thing, but two audiences with very different concerns. Support the show Check us out at ascensionluthera…

Jesus said, "There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him... coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness." (Mark 7:15, 22). It was never the food that in and of itself was clean or unclean. It was the trust that the Lord could ma…

[Jesus] saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and …

Looking at the big picture of sin would overwhelm anyone, and leave us feeling like there is little than can be done. What are we, the church, against so many? We forget that the crowd of five thousand was not fed with two fish and five loaves. They were fed with two fish, five loaves - and the Lord God. With God, all things are possible. Support t…

John the Baptist lost his head to King Herod - but why? Was it only because he pointed out Herod's adultery? Or was there more to it than that? Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Jesus' parables show us what the Kingdom of God is like. It helps to contrast the Lord's rule with Satan's rule, the rule we're used to in this life. How is God's rule being like a farmer, and a like a mustard seed, different than what we're used to? Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.…

The Lord said that the Sabbath was made for us, not the other way around. What does he mean? Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

On Ascension, we talk about the ongoing work of Jesus. On Pentecost, we talk about the work of the Holy Spirit. It seems fitting, then, on Trinity Sunday to talk about the Father that we might better understand our one God. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

The Holy Spirit's work in us is to cause the fruit God is looking for in us to grow. But what are those fruits? Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

"In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach." So Luke writes at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. The implication? That Jesus continues to work and teach among us. How so? Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Jesus instructs us to love one another as he has loved us. It seems obvious, then, that we cannot know what he means unless we look at his example. Only then can we know the true character of God's love for us. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Someone who was both everybody and nobody become a somebody in Baptism. This sentence is true of everyone who hears the Good News about Jesus and asks, "What is to prevent me from being baptized?" Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

To know the Name of God is to know God himself. And Jesus gives us God's name. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

God has always called us back to himself through a simple pattern: we cry out under the weight of our sin; he provides a sign that points to himself; then he instructs us in salvation. When the Church does this right, it brings "times of refreshing" to a world so deeply in need of refreshment. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca a…

The early disciples held everything in common and took care of the least of their members. They did not do this because it was a law, but out of overflowing gratitude for the grace and gifts that the Lord had shared with them. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Note: a guest who attends frequently was not in a great mood this Easter, and began to preach his own sermon in the middle of this one. I was going to edit it out... and then realized it might be better to leave it in. This is ministry in the inner city. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.…

He knows what sorrow feels like. He knows what griefs we bear. He knows we all have gone astray. He holds us up in prayer. He sees the wounds within our hearts, and in our bleeding souls. He died that we might live again. He bled so we’d be whole. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.…

Mark's Passion of Jesus says as much about the condition of the human race as it does about the character of God. Why do we follow Jesus? Because he alone would suffer what he did and then forgive us for what we had done. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Jesus tells the disciples that the nations have leaders that lord it over them, and that it shall not be among them. (Mark 10:43) What he says is aspirational, because this often is so among us. But by the grace of God in Christ and through the Spirit, it shall not always be so. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org…

When God sent serpents among the people of Israel, they repented and prayed that the Lord would take them away. He didn't, but he did provide a means to live among the serpents in safety, without fear. This is what Jesus does in his being lifted up: gives us the certainty that the poison of sin and death cannot truly harm us. Support the show Check…

God's laws are not a fence within which we can 'do as we please.' They are a lightning bolt to our black hearts. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Wild animals often serve as a stand in for the forces of evil in Scripture. That Jesus does battle with them, and wins, is a comfort to our times spent in the wilderness with "the beasts." Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Why does Jesus charge the disciples not to talk about his transfiguration until he has risen from the dead? The answer is a real blessing to those who are struggling with life. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Franklin Roosevelt famously said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” It’s like he was reading Jesus’ mind. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Satan is in the business of misinformation, disinformation, hoaxes, and lies. But Jesus speaks the truth. He silences Satan and his horde, that we might know his truth and find life in Jesus' name. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

The Lord is slow to anger, gracious and merciful - and is always offering everyone a second chance in Christ. That is Good News for us, even as it is bad news for those expecting judgment on others instead of looking for repentance and trust. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.…

Peter both confessed that Jesus was the Christ and that he should shun suffering and the cross. Which was his "confession?" From a certain perspective, it was both. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

"Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him sand let none of his words fall to the ground." 1 Samuel 3:19. Our words often fall like sheets of ice off a skyscraper. But God's Word never fails to heal even when at first it might hurt. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.…

The Lord set Israel apart to be a light in a darkened world. But God's people are too often interested in the selfishness of being special than being special by sacrificing themselves. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

We find the grace of God in the face of Jesus his Son. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Mary had Elizabeth, the shepherds and the women at the empty tomb had each other. God draws us to him in Christ while drawing us to one another. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

The Lord always meant to be with us where we are, rather than making us be with Him where He is. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

"As for me, I am a condemned sinner redeemed by one I did not know, whose feet have been washed clean by one whose sandals I am unworthy to untie." Text, John 1:19-28. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

Mark is a Gospel written for those in a hurry to hear some Good News. It begins simply with John the Baptist calling us to change our minds, and to prepare through baptism for the Coming One's arrival. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

What was Jesus thinking when he rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey? Was he trying to get himself killed? Actually, that started with his coming at the first Christmas. Jesus knows what we will do to him, but he comes to redeem us all the same. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.…

Who are the "least of these my brothers" that Jesus speaks of in his last warning words at the end of the Church year? Matthew 25:31-46. Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

What should the servants of the master be doing while he's gone? Acting as good representatives of his character. But what happens if you misjudge what kind of master you're serving? Matthew 25:14-30 Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge

It may be a long wait for the restoration of all things. We may even fall asleep in the meantime. Jesus asks, are we prepared for the long haul? Support the show Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.Af Charles St-Onge