04162017 Easter Sunday - “By the Power and for the Glory of God that Jesus Christ rose from the dead for all of mankind!!”

April 16, 2017
“By the Power and for the Glory of God that Jesus Christ rose from the dead for all of mankind!!”

Audio

P – He is Risen!  C – He is Risen Indeed!  Alleluia!

Today we gather proclaiming, “He is Risen”.  We gather not in a valley, but on the mountain top, to celebrate the fulfillment of God’s Promise that was 4000 years in the making, from Creation and the promise made to Adam and Eve all the way to the Cross of Calvary!  For it is “By the Power and for the Glory of God that Jesus Christ rose from the dead for all of mankind!”  We gather here to celebrate the victory of Jesus Christ as we just proclaimed that “He is Risen!”  Jesus Christ rose from the dead for all of mankind throughout our country and world, but especially including each of us gathered here at Emmanuel who Celebrate Jesus Christ victory over the grave this Easter morning!

We celebrate His and our eternal life and the abundance of it, because, Jesus Christ has risen from the dead!  And this is the ultimate bookend to the Prayer we have been considering during the Lenten season.  Jesus Christ taught His disciples the Lord’s Prayer by their own request.  Jesus by teaching them and their passing the prayer down to successive generations, has impacted mankind for the last two thousand years including each and every one of us gathered here this morning.  And our celebration today comes “By the Power and for the Glory of God that Jesus Christ rose from the dead for all of mankind!!”  We gather this morning in order to give God the Glory for His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ!

If this could be boiled down to one phrase, it would be this!  “Jesus Christ died for our sin and set us free!”  No matter what man does, how man treats one another, chooses to stay seated when God wants us to stand up and fight for what is right.  “Jesus Christ died for our sin and set us free!”  This is what Jesus willingly went to the Cross of Calvary in order to offer us eternal life.  And the truth is, when we pray the final petition of the Lord’s Prayer and end with the final word, “AMEN”, the truth remains, Jesus Christ is Risen from the dead and “Jesus Christ died for our sin and set us free!”

This is why we gather on Easter, why we come to worship God and His Son and our Savior Jesus Christ.  This is why we confess our short comings and God freely forgives us our sin that we hear through the declaration of grace from Jesus Christ!  This is why we say, teach and believe the Prayer that Jesus Christ taught His disciples and that we promise to teach when we baptize in the Name of the Trinity.  This is why we proclaim when we gather for worship that we believe that Jesus Christ offers us eternal life out of His great love for us and “By the Power and for the Glory of God that Jesus Christ rose from the dead for all of mankind!”

In the movie Risen, which was our Film of Faith last month, the greatest impact in the movie was felt by Clavius, when he entered the room where the disciples had gathered in the week after Jesus Resurrection.  Clavius clearly was searching not only as his job as appointed by Pilate, but Clavius soul was searching for answers as well.  With sword drawn, Clavius saw Jesus Christ and knew clearly in his heart the truth of the message we hear this morning.  “Jesus Christ died for our sin and set us free!”  And dropping the sword as he stumbled into the room in utter disbelief of what He saw before him with his very eyes.  Clavius saw Jesus Christ, the Man he saw hanging dead on the Cross on Friday, was right there in front of him.  Clavius heart of stone was melted and instantly became transformed.

This is the same invitation and opportunity, Jesus Christ makes to us today.  Jesus wants our hearts of stone, our hearts of bitterness and hatred.  Our hearts of control, our hearts that are not for Him, His mission or His ministry to be melted away and replaced with a heart of love, a heart of forgiveness, a heart of compassion and the heartfelt desire, dare I say a heart ready to stand and surely say and proclaim the Gospel and what needs said.  For today when we proclaim, “He is Risen”, we proclaim it because of the truth we need to not only hear, heed, but hold dearly like He will hold each of us when we enter into His Kingdom.  We proclaim today boldly this truth, “He is Risen” “By the Power and for the Glory of God that Jesus Christ rose from the dead for all of mankind!!” AMEN!

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04052015 Easter Sunday - Gold Bead - Jesus Christ gives us eternal life!

Sermon Audio

April 5, 2015

God gives us eternal life!

Seated on a park bench in early Spring next to a nurse was a young man.  He stated the following, “My momma always said, “Life was like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you’re gonna get.””  With this simple phrase, the world was introduced to the profound wisdom of “Forest Gump”.  In this gem of wisdom Forest pin pointed life and the experience most people have of “never knowing what you’re gonna get”.

Unlike Forest Gump, two thousand years ago, God in His Son Jesus Christ told His disciples that He would rise from the dead after His crucifixion.  And in rising from the dead, Jesus Christ would offer all of mankind an eternal gift.  This morning we gather celebrating Jesus Christ resurrection with the phrase “He is risen, He is risen indeed Alleluia!” echoing in our ears.  And we also gather to hear about the gift given to us that is symbolized by the final bead and installment of the Salvation Bracelet Series.  The final bead is Gold and humbly signifies what Jesus Christ is offering all of mankind.  The Gold Bead specifically represents the gift that God gives us…eternal life!

For God clearly offers all of us gathered here the gift of eternal life with His Son’s innocent death on Calvary.  When the disciples and women found the tomb empty, unlike the box of chocolates and not knowing what one would get, the disciples had heard exactly what Jesus would be giving them.  And today we gather here because of this gift given to the disciples and to each of us.  For symbolized in the Gold Bead that completes the story of salvation as told by the Salvation Bracelet is the gem of the knowledge that God gives us eternal life!

There are two questions, we can ask this morning.  The first our society and Satan wants to ask, if Jesus was resurrected, “So What?”  Our society and Satan want us to doubt God and doubt what the disciples found, an empty tomb.  Society wants us to doubt the resurrection and any gift offered by Jesus Christ.  Our society doesn’t understand the significance of the gift God is offering us.  Our society is looking for ways to question God, doubt God and even discredit God.  All because the gift of eternal life God is giving to each of us has eternal value.  Satan and our society clearly do not want us to believe without any doubt in our mind and heart that, “God gives us eternal life!”

The value of the gift God gives us with ‘eternal life’ is so substantial.  Compared to the worth of a vehicle we drive, the home we live in, the vacations we take or even the education we receive whether in high school, college or even in the military, the gift God gives is priceless.  All of us have seen the Master Card commercials, but what is different with the truth found of an empty tomb is that this gift that “God gives us… eternal life!” had a heaven and earth-shattering price tag.  The price tag was Jesus Christ death on Calvary.  But Jesus Christ offers us His life, because of His love for each and every one of us who believe in Him and believe that “God gives us eternal life!”

Jesus Christ love for us and His willingness to sacrifice Himself in order that we might have eternal life is a game changer.  Jesus Christ wants us to believe in the resurrection and the gift of grace “God gives us…eternal life!”  Jesus Christ wants us to believe, because in our belief, we therefore trust God fully, unconditionally and without question, not only in the forgiveness of sins offered out of His love for us, but eternal life and salvation.  When we exercise the muscle of faith given to us in our baptism, the truth that “God gives us…eternal life!” becomes a certainty we point to and believe in and it strengthens our trust in Jesus Christ and His love for each and every one of us.  For this is the point of the resurrection, the reason we gather here today and especially the clear message of the Gospel we proclaim of Jesus Christ sacrifice for all of mankind.

On June 22, 1997, parachute instructor Michael Costello, age forty-two began his work day like any other.  Teaching skydiving, was something that Michael enjoyed not only doing, but sharing with others.  Gareth Griffith, age twenty one was a novice and was being taught how to skydive safely by Michael.  Jumping in tandem, connected to his instructor, Gareth would learn first-hand how to properly execute every maneuver required before performing his first solo jump.

Everything was normal when they jumped out of the airplane at 12,000 feet.  As planned the two flew through the air in preparation for Gareth’s pulling the rip cord to open the canopy of the parachute.  At the proper time, Gareth pulled the rip cord and the parachute malfunctioned.  With only seconds remaining before gravity completed their descent to earth, the instructor who was above the student plummeting to the ground did something extraordinary and unexpected.  Michael the instructor right before impact rolled over and insured he would hit the ground first and the novice, Gareth, would land on top of him.  Michael was killed instantly, Gareth survived the fall with a fractured spine, but was not paralyzed.

Our society would ask, “So what?”  Today, as we celebrate the resurrection and Easter, we who gather here this morning have landed on top of not our instructor, but our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ, God incarnate gives us eternal life.  “God gives us eternal life!” out of His love for each of us and His sacrifice of Himself for us, so we can share it with one another. 

Consequently the second question we need to ask each other this morning is, “What’s next?”  The Salvation Bracelet we receive this morning is the answer to the second question.  For the Salvation Bracelet is a tool we can use to point to the Savior, Jesus Christ.  With this bracelet and its colored beads and two knots, we have the apparel that each of us can wear and use to tell the salvation story and what Jesus Christ did on Calvary for all of mankind.  We who gather here today can use this bracelet unlike the uncertainty of a box of chocolate and what one will receive, and firmly and faithfully point to Jesus Christ and the Gold Bead and tell others that Jesus died for each and every one of us and in, through and by Jesus death on Calvary, “God gives us eternal life!”

For the gift of eternal life is an offer for all of mankind, but especially for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning who are willing to wear, share and firmly believe in Jesus Christ and the gift of salvation as can be told by the Salvation Bracelet.  For no truer statement can be said that in the empty tomb we find, not nothing, but the truth found in a little gold bead on our salvation bracelet that symbolizes God’s grace given unto each and every one of us that believe “God gives us eternal life!”  AMEN.

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04202014 Easter Sunday

Sermon Audio

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Risen Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

Christ is arisen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

This morning we come to celebrate the mountaintop experience for Christians everywhere.  Jesus Christ is alive.  Jesus Christ Who was crucified on Good Friday, laid in the tomb, left for dead by His disciples and followers, has risen from the dead!!  Jesus Christ has burst the three day prison!  Jesus Christ overcame sin, death and the devil and offers us eternal life with Him in His Kingdom!

This is the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that Jesus Christ offers us the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation!  We cannot merit it, but God out of His great love for us proclaims this for you and for me.  This is in essence the Office of the Keys.  If you were to read the insert for this morning, Martin Luther states plainly that this is the “authority which Christ has given to His church”.  Further “when the called ministers of Christ [meaning the pastor and by my office] deal with us by His [God’s] divine command, [to bind or loose sins, forgive or absolve sins]…this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.”

What we need to hear and take away from our mountaintop experience this Easter morning is that Jesus Christ came and lived among His disciples.  Was baptized in the river Jordan, healed, fed and ministered to countless men, women and children.  Instituted the Lord’s Supper, suffered at the hands of His captors, was nailed to a cross on Golgotha, laid in a tomb and left for dead.  Then on the Third Day He rose from the dead.  With Jesus Christ rising, He conquered death and offers You and me eternal life.

But, there is something we have that God needs.  And that is why I need your help this morning.  I would like for all of you to take out the keys you have in your pockets.  Whether it is keys to the car, truck or SUV you drove here this morning, keys to the house you share with your family, or keys to the locks that protect all of your worldly possessions.  Please hold them and be ready to do something.

You see this morning our emphasis is upon the Office of the Keys given to the Church, to either bind or loose the sins of individuals.  This responsibility is given to the church.  But it is more intimate than that.  I would like for you to shake the keys for just a moment. [SHAKE].  The keys you hold in your hands are a perfect metaphor of the key you hold not to the stuff you have accumulated or inherited or been given.  The keys you have in your hands represent the key to your heart.

Today on Easter Sunday, we have the greatest opportunity to clearly and expressly give the keys to our collective hearts to Jesus Christ.  When we hear the Gospel message today we have the opportunity to give to Jesus Christ the Key that opens our hearts and everything we have and give it to Jesus Christ in true worship, discipleship and devotion.  For Jesus Christ offers us this morning the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven with our believing in the Resurrection from the Dead of Jesus Christ.  It is by our sharing the Key to our heart with Jesus Christ when we offer ourselves to Him that we have the greatest opportunity to receive not only grace upon grace, but the Greatest Gift ever Given to all of Mankind.  And that gift is the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

When the tomb was found to be empty early that Sunday morning, it was shown that nothing could bind Jesus Christ.  And with the keys to our hearts, when we offer them to Jesus Christ we afford ourselves the greatest opportunity to receive this gift of forgiveness that is directly offered to us from Jesus Christ for all of mankind including each and every one of us.

Tragically we personally know individuals who may never have heard the Gospel, or ever experienced this the mountaintop experience, because they are dealing with tragedy.  One such person I know of was Trevor, right before coming to hear and celebrate on Easter Sunday, he received a phone call from his best friends parents.  You see, Trevor’s best friend, Jack, whom he had grown up with from having the same baby sitter, the same little league coach, the same swim coach, the same teachers all through elementary school committed suicide Saturday, the night before Easter.  Trevor had talked with Jack Saturday afternoon and everything seemed fine, he was relaxed and just wanted to have some fun, they had played X-Box and rode around the neighborhood.  But this morning, his best friend was gone.

Jack with his taking his life was caught in the darkness of Holy Saturday, not being able to see the light of Easter morning.  Never being able to hear what Jesus Christ accomplished for all of mankind.  Jack had never been asked, nor given the opportunity to give the ‘key’ to his heart to Jesus Christ.  There were many times Trevor and Jack would have a sleep over, but never did Trevor ask Jack, nor his family to come to church to hear the Gospel and what Jesus Christ accomplished on Easter and what He offers to us today.

To this day, Trevor wears a brand, purposefully burned into the skin of his arm with Jack’s initials as a clear and concrete reminder of the missed opportunity of spreading the Gospel.  But today, and every day for us, when we hold the keys to our house, car, truck and our very possessions, may we be reminded this is the symbolic key that we can offer to Jesus Christ to set us free.  For with the key to our heart, Jesus Christ Who purposefully wears the scars of the holes from the nails in His hands and feet, and the puncture of the spear to His side and the prick of the thorns from the Crown of thorns on His brow, can open our hearts and offer us the Greatest Gift of life and salvation for all of mankind.  Especially including all of us saints willing to offer Jesus Christ the key to our heart by which He willingly offers us eternal life for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this Easter morning.  AMEN.

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Sermon 03312013 Easter Sunday

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

Let us pray!  O God, You gave Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ to suffer at the hands of man and be nailed to the Cross for our redemption, but today we find the tomb empty where His body had been laid.  By His resurrection You have delivered us from our sins and overcome the power of death for us.  May we die every day to sin so we may live with You forever in Your Kingdom in the great joy of the resurrection and proudly answer doubter’s question of ‘So What?’  For Your resurrection was to free all of mankind from our sins, but especially including all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel who proclaim, “Jesus Christ as Lord”.  AMEN.

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead!  He is risen indeed!!!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

This truth so accurately spoken as we celebrate this morning is doubted.  The doubt manifests itself in very strange and out of the ordinary ways.  This morning we come together as the Body of Christ to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on this Easter Sunday.  On Maundy Thursday we celebrated the institution of the Lord’s Supper, Good Friday we mourned His being nailed to the Cross, His death and His being placed in the tomb and this morning we look to the empty tomb and say, ‘So What?’

This Lent we have journeyed and heard about different people and places of Lent.  For those of you who have not been with us at our Mid-Week and Sunday services during this Lent we have seen the Cross journey from entrance to the church, the rear of the church to the front to the chancel and now to the pulpit.  We probably ask the question, ‘So What?’, but the significance is not in its mere presence, but for us this morning it is a reminder that the answer to the question, “So What?” is that it is upon the Cross that Jesus Christ set us free from sin, death, the devil, hell and damnation.

But there are still doubters here among us this morning.  Our doubt is manifest clearly by our not being here for the entire journey.  We come on Easter in our new clothes, fed with the great breakfast put on by the men and attending Easter Sunday, the one service that promises the greatest gift of mercy by our Lord and Savior Who no longer is in the grave.  And we expect that our taking one hour out of our busy life schedule is enough to ‘satisfy’ God or our parents, our peers or even our pastor that we were here to celebrate Easter.

But I again pose the question, ‘So What?’  For what reason do we believe that this one hour overcomes all of our sleeping in on Sunday morning, or going to the lake or mountains or Hays or Denver to shop, not being involved in the worship or ministry of the church or seeking to understand the entire plan of salvation by daily praying the Lord’s Prayer, daily reading the Holy Scriptures or daily seeking God’s will in our lives?

The answer to the question, ‘So What?’ isn’t our assuaging our conscience with our sitting in the pew for one Sunday, even if it is Easter or Christmas.  The answer to the question is that no matter what we do or have done, it is not what we do that matters.  What really matters is what God has done for us!

God has answered this question, “So What” so clearly for us today with His Son Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection.  Our actions and inactions are inconsequential.  We bring sin and death into the relationship with Jesus Christ through our sins of both omissions where we do not do the things we should and commission where we do what we know we should not do.  Our roles in this life have become to bring death because we were born and conceived in sin and are by nature an enemy against God.  But Jesus Christ in His life, death and especially His resurrection offers us eternal life freely and without question by and through our baptism.

So when the question is asked ‘So What’, we are imperfect creatures and cannot answer, but God has answered this question for each and every one of us.  By Jesus Christ offering Himself on the Cross of Calvary for you and for me God answers the question, “So What” with grace, mercy and forgiveness that is found and made manifest in our baptism into the promise of forgiveness found in Jesus Christ.  God reveals the greatest love for all of mankind with the empty tomb and now His Son, Jesus Christ risen from the dead offers all of us life and salvation and the forgiveness of sins by His innocent death on Calvary for you and for me.

But even though God has answered the question, ‘So What’, what is our response?  How do we respond to the question, ‘So What’?  Has this offer of life and salvation that we cannot earn or merit on our own with our actions and life bind us to indifference and no response?  Will you who sit in the pew today respond as you have in the past by only attending Christmas and Easter services?  Or has a miracle occurred?  Has God penetrated our hard hearts with His Gospel message?  Will you who sit in the pew this morning in honor of God’s greatest sacrifice of His Son, offer yourselves in His service for His message of salvation to be spread to the ends of the earth?  Will all of us no longer make our attendance and involvement be about us or who may see us or which person feels they have the power of control, whether over worship, the business of the church, the money the church spends or the impact we as Emmanuel Lutheran Church has in Goodland, KS?  Are you willing to stand before the judgment seat and say God’s gift of His Son, Jesus Christ was given for me and I am here to serve for Him and not myself?

These are the questions that strike nerves within us.  They cause us to respond with ‘how dare you pastor’ preach like you don’t know my life and the things I struggle with?  How dare you today of all days, on Easter Sunday question my motives, my commitment to God or my life?  But you see, I understand and I do sympathize with you.  As Pastor, I am the mouth piece of God to speak His Word in its truth and purity in all of our lives, but the message of salvation that I proclaim today of Jesus Christ for you and for me has come at a deep cost.  The cost of our salvation was Jesus Christ death on Calvary where on His journey to the Cross He suffered in body, soul and spirit.  The guards beat Him, they spit on Him, they scourged Him with metal whips, they tortured Him to such an extreme that when portrayed in the movie, “The Passion of the Christ”, even some of us out in the pews cringe and cannot and even refuse to watch.  We don’t want to admit that His suffering was as a result of our sins, what we do and even what we do not do.  But this is the depth and the amount of love God has for each and every one of us.

God suffered all of this in order to offer us eternal life.  Yet what is or has been our response?  One young lady named Morgan Doppelheuer heard all of the stories, attended church when she was younger, knew the Bible songs and considered herself a Christian.  When she was older she professed being a Christian, but lived a life and talked a language not of loving like Christ, but lying.  It was not until someone confronted her as the mouthpiece of God with the truth of her lies and lifeless Christianity that God broke her heart and enabled her to understand His love for her and rebuild the relationship God had with her and had promised her in her baptism.  This new found relationship wasn’t built on lies, but was built on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ and His death on Calvary for her.

This same relationship God is calling us to have this morning.  God clearly with His resurrection is offering us the opportunity to have the greatest relationship with Him and with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ here at Emmanuel.  God’s greatest desire is for us to respond in faith and not only believe in the resurrection, but respond to the doubters and those who are lost that we encounter who ask the question, ‘So What’ with the firm belief in God’s plan of salvation.  A truer statement has never been said, ‘Today is and can be the first day of the rest of your life.’  How are you going to respond to God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ offered for all of mankind including all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this Easter morning?  We can change our lives and show our love for God by how we answer the question, ‘So What’ with our lives as a living sacrifice in honor of God’s sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ for you and for me that we celebrate with all of us saints here at Emmanuel this Easter Morning.  AMEN.

Sermon 04082012 Easter Sunday

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

Let us pray, Jesus Christ You have risen from the dead.  You have set us free from the bonds of sin, death and the devil.  May we be set free from that which binds us and understand our freedom is the gift of eternal life You freely offer to each of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this Easter morning.  AMEN.

He is Risen!  He is Risen indeed!  Alleluia!

When Voldemort came to Hogwarts with Harry’s lifeless body, and suddenly realized that Harry was not dead, but alive, the joy that surged through Harry’s friends changed the landscape of the movie and what the power of the Resurrection Stone was of the Three Deathly Hallows.  Yet for us today, this Easter morning, our landscape changes as well.  We do not have a ‘Resurrection Stone’, but we have something more powerful and more meaningful for each and every one of us.  We have a risen Savior, Jesus Christ.  From the Garden where He was betrayed to the chambers of the Chief Priest and Elders to Caiaphas then to Pilate, Jesus Christ journey ended being led to the Cross on Golgotha and then died and was buried in a new tomb.  But Jesus Christ, Lord of the World, died and rose from the dead to set You and me free.

Jesus Christ is Risen!  Jesus Christ as He had predicted came to Jerusalem, entered riding on the colt the foal of a donkey.  The people expected His coming as King to set them free from the tyranny of the Romans and renew the Kingdom of God promised to the people of Israel.  But Jesus Christ came to set us free from something more profound and which bound us for all eternity, our sins.  In Jesus Christ setting us free from our sins, He accomplished what no animal sacrifice, and no other death could do.  Through His atoning sacrifice of His own life on Calvary for you and for me, Jesus Christ has set us free from the bonds of sin and eternity.  Jesus Christ in true suffering servant fashion endured Hell here on earth to set us free from our sins and rise on the third day in complete fulfillment of the plan of salvation for all of mankind.  Jesus Christ in rising from the dead looses the bonds and shackles that we live in and with and frees us to proclaim long and hard, “Jesus Christ is Risen today!!!  Alleluia”

For Jesus Christ is risen from the grave.  The cloths which were wrapped around Jesus lifeless Head and Body are neatly folded in the tomb and the stone that closed the entrance is rolled away.  Jesus Christ now in His resurrected and perfect Body, no longer marred and disfigured, is recognizable with the pierced Hands, Feet and Side is risen from the grave for you and for me.

Jesus Christ is risen and we are free.  The sins that bound us we are set free from.  The eternal consequence of Hell that we deserve, we are set free from.  We are set free by the innocent Blood of Jesus Christ that was spilled by the soldiers, the nails the spear and in our receiving the sacrament this morning we are set free and given eternal life by Jesus Christ for you and for me.

Today is Easter, but for four young ladies we also celebrate First Communion.  Today Alexis, Danielle, Kaylee and Sydney receive for the first time a foretaste of the feast to come.  They receive the precious Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, given and shed for them for the forgiveness of sins for the first time.  In their receipt of Jesus Christ they receive the gift of eternal life that was promised to them when they were baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  In their receiving the Lord’s Supper they understand in a more tangible way the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the joy of the resurrection we celebrate this morning.  In, with and under the Bread and Wine, which is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ they receive the forgiveness of sins offered by Jesus Christ for them and for each of us.  For Jesus Christ did not come into this world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him and His sacrifice for our sins on the Cross of Calvary that frees all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  Jesus Christ is risen today!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  AMEN.