Third Sunday of Easter

Christ Lutheran Church & School

Media Give App

Third Sunday of Easter

April 23, 2023 • Pastor Greg Stenzel • 1 Peter 1:17–21, Luke 24:13–25, Acts 2:14–31

Give

HE LIVES TO RESTORE MY HOPE

Imagine someone you love is near death. Their only hope of survival is risky brain surgery, one so complicated that only one surgeon in the state will attempt it. The surgery is scheduled. But as that doctor drives to the hospital, he is killed in a car accident. Any hope you had for your loved one’s salvation died along with that surgeon.

That is how Jesus’ disciples felt after his death. “We hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel,” they said (Luke 24:19). Their hope for a better life died with Jesus. They had let their personal wants and expectations cloud their view of Scripture, which said that the Messiah’s death and resurrection were actually the source of all hope! So, the living Lord appeared to his disciples. He explained. He opened their minds to the truth of God’s Word. And in doing so, he restored their hope.

There is little worse than a feeling of hopelessness. Christ’s disciples have victory over that feeling. He died, but he is no longer dead. The one who can heal and give us life to the full lives! He lives to restore our hope.

Seventh Sunday of Easter

May 21, 2023 • Pastor Greg Stenzel • Acts 1:12–26, 1 Peter 4:12–17, 1 Peter 5:6–11, John 17:1–11

HE LIVES TO GIVE ME EAGER EXPECTATION OF GLORY The Church waits. The Church in Jerusalem waited for ten days between Christ’s ascension and the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. The Church today waits through the millennia between Pentecost and Christ’s second coming. We are waiting for the gifts that Jesus promised. We live in eager expectation of glory! That glory is not dimmed by early suffering. Rather, our current sufferings only remind us of the glory that awaits us. We are simply following in Christ’s footsteps. First comes the cross, and then comes the crown. Knowing what is coming lets us view our current light and momentary troubles. They cannot mute the joy of living in eager expectation of glory. While we wait during this time between Christ’s ascension and return, we live knowing that we will suffer persecution for our faith in Christ, but God will work it for glory.

Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 17, 2023 • Pastor Greg Stenzel • 1 Peter 3:15–22

God accomplishes His purposes through the witness we give in word and deed.

Pentecost Sunday

May 28, 2023 • Pastor Greg Stenzel • Acts 2:1–21, 1 Corinthians 12:3–11, John 7:37–39

HE LIVES TO POUR OUT HIS SPIRIT Fifty days after the Passover, God’s Old Testament people celebrated Pentecost (Greek for “fifty”). Pentecost commemorated the harvest gathering and was also used to remember the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai, the start of the Church of Israel. Christ chose Pentecost to be the birthday of his New Testament Church too. By pouring out his Holy Spirit, Christ empowered the Church to gather in the great harvest of souls won by the Son. Pentecost is the third great festival of the Church, along with the Nativity and the Resurrection. The early church fathers mention the Festival of Pentecost often enough to lead many to believe it was celebrated annually at the time of the apostles. Pentecost closes the fifty-day period after Easter and ends the festival half of the church year. The Church dresses in red this day to remind us of the tongues of fire that marked the Spirit’s gift, as well as the blood of the martyrs, which was the seed of the Church.