Jesus told his disciples that, though he was going to ascend into heaven, he wasn’t going to leave them alone. He was going to send “the Advocate,” a title for the Holy Spirit. But Jesus wasn’t sending the Spirit just to keep us company. Jesus would have the Advocate give us spiritual power so that we might participate in Christ’s saving work. Here is the final resurrection reality. The Spirit gives us the ability to raise the spiritually dead to life.

The Bible reading for this message is Acts 2:1-21..

This is the eighth in our Easter worship series: Resurrection Reality.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

The entirety of God’s Word can be summed up in one word: love. God’s Law is all about love. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart…” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37,39). The gospel is all about love: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” (John 3:16). From his compassion for the sick and broken, to his sacrificial death on the cross, to the peace he provided after his resurrection, Jesus was the perfect embodiment of love. Love is his business.

Therefore, love is our business too. The resurrection reality is that with the same supernatural power by which God raised Jesus from the dead, God now enables us to live a new life—one marked by radically selfless love. The motivation and ability to do this comes from seeing the endless love Christ has for us. We love only because he first loved us.

Our guest preacher was Pr. Joel Gaertner, the director of WELS Special Ministries.

The Bible reading for this message is Matthew 9:36.

The video for this worship service can be found here.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

Generally, our actions are shaped by our beliefs. People who eat low-carb diets do so, probably not because they hate pasta, but because they believe it healthiest. If a man buys stock in a company, it probably is because he believes in their business plan. Our beliefs shape our behavior. This is true of Christians’ belief in the resurrection. We believe that Christ’s resurrection means our resurrection to a glorious eternal life is guaranteed. That inevitably shapes how we will act now. 

However, it is not simply the facts of the resurrection that shape our behavior. It is the person of the resurrection. Jesus is not some wise, dead sage whose advice is contained in dusty books. Jesus lives! Therefore, through his Word, he is able to work on our minds and hearts, molding them to his perfect will. Here is a resurrection reality. Jesus fills us with his Spirit, not only so that we have faith, but also so that we produce the fruits of faith he seeks.

The Bible reading for this message is John 15:1-8.

The video for this worship service can be found here.

This is the sixth in our Easter worship series: Resurrection Reality.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

Scripture frequently pictures spiritual care in terms of a shepherd watching over sheep. Even folks unfamiliar with shepherding are able to grasp the meaning. Sheep are helpless animals—an easy meal for predators. For sheep to survive they needed a shepherd who not only leads them to sources of food, but who also is willing to tangle with a pack of wolves. Jesus is such a shepherd. He proved he is willing to lay down his life for his sheep.

The word “pastor” comes from the Latin word for “shepherd.” Today, there are plenty of people— pastors, religious leaders, etc.—who claim they can provide healing for your soul. Yet, Scripture warns that “many” of these are “false prophets” (1 John 4:1) who “distort the truth” (Acts 20:30). Many! But the resurrection reality is that our Good Shepherd is faithful. He will raise up true sub-shepherds who know Christ and proclaim the truth of his gospel.

The Bible reading for this message is Acts 20:28-32.

The video for this worship service can be found here.

This is the fifth in our Easter worship series: Resurrection Reality.

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Messages from the King is produced by King of Kings Lutheran Church in Maitland, FL.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

A platitude is a statement aimed at helping sooth some sort of emotional unease. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Or “Life is a mystery.” Or “Good things come to those who wait.” While platitudes may be well-intentioned, at best they come off as trite. And since platitudes provide no real help, they can actually make a situation worse. Tell the one whose heart is shattering, “Life is a mystery.” They won’t appreciate your platitude or you.

The resurrection gives believers the ability to offer more than platitudes. We have a meaningful message to share—of repentance, of forgiveness, of peace, of power. The reality is we have something important to say to every single person that God brings into our sphere of influence. And our risen Savior gives us the courage and power to share that meaningful message.

The Bible reading for this message is Luke 24:36-49.

The video for this worship service can be found here.

This is the fourth in our Easter worship series: Resurrection Reality.

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Messages from the King is produced by King of Kings Lutheran Church in Maitland, FL.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

In most world religions, the alleged foundational event was experienced by only one person. A self-proclaimed prophet would allege he alone had some special encounter with God. “No really! Just trust me. It really happened.” The resurrection reality is so very different. In the Great Resurrection Chapter (1 Corinthians 15), St. Paul writes an entire paragraph listing all the people to whom Jesus appeared after he rose, including a group of over five hundred at one time. It is like St. Paul is telling skeptics, “You don’t need to take my word for it. Hundreds of us saw Jesus back from the dead.”

The proof of Jesus’ resurrection brought peace and strength to those early believers. They knew there was more to their existence than just their time on earth. They knew the reality that eternal life was theirs, a gift from their living Lord. It gave them incredible joy and courage. May the resurrection reality give us the same.

The Bible reading for this message is Acts 18:1-11.

The video for this worship service can be found here.

This is the third in our Easter worship series: Resurrection Reality.

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Messages from the King is produced by King of Kings Lutheran Church in Maitland, FL.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

Studies have shown that most people fear death to varying degrees. One of the biggest reasons people fear death is the perception of its permanency. In the normal realm of human existence, dead is dead. Someone dies, and all you have are pictures and memories. That is the way people typically think, but it is far from reality. Today, Christ proves to us that death is not final at all!

Easter teaches us that Christ is the first fruits of those who have died. Just as Christ rose, “so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). That changes everything: the way we grieve the death of a Christian loved one, the way we feel when our health fails, the way we look at the purpose of life right now. Let us rejoice in this resurrection reality: All will be made alive!

The Bible reading for this message is 1 Corinthians 15:19-26.

The video for this worship service can be found here.

This is the second in our Easter worship series: Resurrection Reality.

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Messages from the King is produced by King of Kings Lutheran Church in Maitland, FL.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

It would not be productive to look for help in a cemetery. A corpse can do only one thing—rot. This is the source of the crushing sorrow Jesus’ followers felt. He was the one in whom they had placed all their hope for a better reality. Now he was dead, so they thought. They were overwhelmed with sorrow, not just because they missed their friend. It now all seemed so pointless: the years and miles following Jesus, witnessing his miracles, listening to him. He was dead! And a corpse can only do one thing.

The resurrection changed everything. The disciples saw clearly that Jesus is who he said he was and did what he said he’d do. They realized their faith rested on a rock-solid foundation. Here is the resurrection reality. If Christ had not been raised, our faith in him would be futile. He could do nothing to help us, but Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

The Bible reading for this message is 1 Corinthians 15:12-20.

The video for this worship service can be found here.

This is the first in our Easter worship series: Resurrection Reality.

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Messages from the King is produced by King of Kings Lutheran Church in Maitland, FL.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

We use the word “appetite” to describe a powerful desire for something. So, what is it you crave the most? Where does your mind go in those quiet moments? What do you want? Power? What do you dream about? Prestige? For what do you hunger? Pleasure? Are our appetites healthy?

A truly healthy appetite is one that aligns with our deepest needs: forgiveness, salvation, communion with God, loving relationships with others. The believer is ravenous for such things! And all of those blessings are on the menu of the Lord’s Supper. Some view Holy Communion as just a religious ritual. Far from it! In this meal, Christ satisfies our greatest appetites.

The Bible reading for this message is Mark 14:12-26.

The video for this worship service can be found here.

This is the seventh in our Lenten worship series: Rethinking Religion.

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Messages from the King is produced by King of Kings Lutheran Church in Maitland, FL.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

Most religions believe in a powerful God. It is assumed that God will use that strength for the benefit of his followers. That is a reasonable assumption, but it begs the question. What is real strength? It is easy to assume that real strength means exerting your will over another by using any means necessary, including force. But this week we see Jesus Christ demonstrate a different kind of strength.

We have come to Holy Week. It begins with Jesus humbly riding a donkey colt straight into the hands of his enemies. As the week progresses, it will appear that Christ’s adversaries are the ones in a position of power and Jesus is in a position of weakness. Yet what Christ does this holy week—setting his divine strength aside, being passive in the face of death—would change the world. To do what Christ did for us and our salvation took real strength.

The Bible reading for this message is Hebrews 12:1-3.

The video for this worship service can be found here.

This is the sixth in our Lenten worship series: Rethinking Religion.

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Messages from the King is produced by King of Kings Lutheran Church in Maitland, FL.

To find out more about King of Kings...

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!