Welcome to the Parish of Modbury and Golden Grove

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Ascension Day can seem, at first, like a story about departure. The disciples watch as Jesus is taken from their sight, hidden by cloud and mystery, and they are left standing between grief and wonder, staring upward into heaven. Yet the Ascension is not really about Christ leaving the world behind. It is about Christ becoming present to the world in a new and limitless way.

In this sermon, we reflect on Paul’s extraordinary phrase from the letter to the Ephesians: Christ now “fills all in all.” The risen Jesus who once walked the roads of Galilee can no longer be confined to one place, one moment, or one group of people. Through the Ascension, Christ’s presence expands rather than diminishes. He is present wherever grace breaks through despair, wherever mercy overcomes fear, wherever love refuses to surrender to violence or hopelessness.

The disciples struggle at first to understand this. They are still looking for visible power, immediate answers, and certainty they can grasp. But Jesus redirects them away from speculation and toward witness, promising that they will receive the Holy Spirit and that he will remain with them always.

Ascension faith is not about escaping the world or waiting passively for heaven. It is about learning to recognise Christ already at work within the ordinary places of human life: in communities of compassion, in acts of reconciliation, in suffering borne with courage, in bread shared, prayers whispered, and hope sustained. The Church lives in the promise that absence is not abandonment.

And perhaps that is the great invitation of Ascension Day: to open the eyes of our hearts to the presence of the ascended Christ who still fills all things and draws the whole creation toward the love of God. 

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Usual weekly services and activities:

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Sunday:        Holy Communion 8.00 am

                       Holy Communion 10am

Monday:       Bible Study 10.00 am 

Tuesday:       Holy Communion 8.30 am

                        Community Garden 9.30 am

                        Christian meditation 9;30-10am alternate Tuesday from

                        21 Jan 2025

Wednesday: Bible Study 10.00 am

                        Fortnightly Foodbank   10.00 am

Thursday:      Holy Communion 10.00 am

Friday:            Community Garden 9.30 am

                        

 

1st Tuesday of the month Community Garden BBQ 11.30 am

1st and 3rd Sunday of the month Bari Service 11.30 am

2nd Thursday of the month Men's Group 7.30 pm

1st Friday of the month "Come as You Are" - Women's Fellowship 10-12 ​

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