On a sunny Sunday afternoon, 10-time All-Star pitcher Clayton Kershaw stood atop the Los Angeles Dodgers dugout and declared his love for Jesus.

Microphone in hand, the future Hall of Famer thanked the thousands of fans — a sea of blue-and-white Dodgers jerseys and T-shirts — who stayed for the postgame program on Christian Faith and Family Day.

“Jesus, thank you so much for this day,” Kershaw said as he led the Dodger Stadium crowd in a prayer. “What an opportunity to get to be here and glorify you and talk about you and how much you mean in our lives. Help us every single day to follow you as best as we can.”

The scene, which I witnessed while reporting on MLB faith nights for Religion Unplugged last summer, reflected the importance of faith in the life of the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner.

“The Last Of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness,” a new book by Andy McCullough, touts itself as the definitive biography of the Dodgers ace.

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“The Last Of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness,” a new book by @ByMcCullough, touts itself as the definitive biography of the Dodgers ace @ClaytonKersh22.@bobbyross’ Weekend Plug-in highlights five faith takeaways: https://t.co/eZsRrNSckR

— Religion Unplugged (@ReligionMag) May 10, 2024

The readers may learn out of our Institutions what profit we reap by the ascension of Christ. Notwithstanding, because it is one of the chiefest points of our faith, therefore doth Luke endeavor more diligently to prove the same; yea, rather, the Lord himself meant to put the same out of all doubt, when as he hath ascended so manifestly, and hath confirmed the certainty of the same by other circumstances. For, if so be it he had vanished away secretly, then might the disciples have doubted what was become of him; but now, sith that they, being in so plain a place, saw him taken up with whom they had been conversant, whom also they heard speak even now, whom they beheld with their eyes, whom also they see taken out of their sight by a cloud, there is no cause why they should doubt whither he was gone. Furthermore, the angels are there also to bear witness of the same. And it was needful that the history should have been set down so diligently for our cause, that we may know assuredly, that although the Son of God appear nowhere upon earth, yet doth he live in the heavens. And this seemeth to be the reason why the cloud did overshadow him, before such time as he did enter into his celestial glory; that his disciples being content with their measure might cease to inquire any further. And we are taught by them that our mind is not able to ascend so high as to take a full view of the glory of Christ; therefore, let this cloud be a mean to restrain our boldness, as was the smoke which was continually before the door of the tabernacle in the time of the law.

–Commentary on Acts

#Ascension 🙏🏻

"Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Matthew 28, 20b

"Ascension of Christ"
Dosso Dossi (c.1490-1542), Italian
Private collection pic.twitter.com/bOHUt7DFjE

— Cris💗Art (@CristianeGLima) May 25, 2020

Now that he is on the throne, seated at the right hand of the Father, the signs expected of the messianic age are being fulfilled before our eyes: the Spirit has been poured out and the nations have begun to turn their hearts to the worship of Israel’s God.

An even more compelling array of biblical images connects Jesus’ Ascension with the priestly work of the Messiah. Early Christians considered Jesus’ death on the cross to be a sacrifice of atonement (Rom. 3:25), an act whereby our sins are fully and finally forgiven.

However, coming from the context of Israel’s temple culture, it would have struck most Jewish believers as oddly incomplete to say that the Cross was all there was to Jesus’ ritual of sacrifice. As anyone in the ancient world knew, the penitent sinner needed a further step in the ritual of atonement: a sacrifice to be slain and a high priest to bear the sacrificial blood into the presence of God.

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Jesus’ return to heaven wasn’t an awkward stage exit but the climax of our redemption story.

Why the Ascension is essential:https://t.co/SwJiEQjxXW

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) May 9, 2024

Nearly two centuries after Luther posted his 95 Theses, Protestantism had lost some of its soul. Institutions and dogma had, in many people’s minds, choked the life out of the Reformation.

Lutheran minister P.J. Spener hoped to revive the church by promoting the “practice of piety,” emphasizing prayer and Bible reading over dogma. It worked. Pietism spread quickly, reinvigorating Protestants throughout Europe””including underground Protestants in Moravia and Bohemia (modern Czechoslovakia)

The Catholic church cracked down on the dissidents, and many were forced to flee to Protestant areas of neighboring Germany. One group of families fled north to Saxony, where they settled on the lands belonging to a rich young ruler, Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf.

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May 9, 1760: Count Nicholaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, founder of the Moravian Brethren and a pioneer of ecumenism and mission work, dies in Herrnhut, Germany. By his death the Moravians (which themselves only numbered in the hundreds) had sent out 226 missionaries around the world pic.twitter.com/I2FbAn5BuV

— Jeffrey Perry® (@JeffreyPerry09) May 9, 2024

God of life made new in Christ, who dost call thy Church to keep on rising from the dead: We remember before thee the bold witness of thy servant Nicolaus von Zinzendorf, through whom thy Spirit moved to draw many in Europe and the American colonies to faith and conversion of life; and we pray that we, like him, may rejoice to sing thy praise, live thy love and rest secure in the safekeeping of the Lord; who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, Prophetic Witness, 1760

German religious & social reformer; leader & from 1737 bishop of the Moravian Church; Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine founder; Christian mission pioneer; major figure of C18th Protestantism pic.twitter.com/ZKopizzHGb

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) May 10, 2024

Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Saviour Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens, that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that according to his promise he abideth with his Church on earth, even unto the end of the world; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

I'm not really one for big, iconic views; sometimes the essence of the #peakdistrict countryside can be summed up in one tiny, humble glance – a tumbledown barn, moss-covered walls, and stretching green hills as far as the eye can see. pic.twitter.com/lYKOOPPBop

— peaklass (@peaklass1) May 10, 2024

‘Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.’

–Psalm 85:10-11 (KJV)

Y benefits o fod yn dderyn cynnar (ynghyd a dala’r mwydyn wrth gwrs😜)…am fore hudolus…Gwenerdeimlad unrhywun?

The benefits of being an early bird (along with catching the worm of course😜)…what a magical morning…Friday feeling anyone?
Bore da 🧡@SallyWeather #London pic.twitter.com/6TArDn5Epc

— Aled Hall 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@AledHall) May 10, 2024