Our series during Ordinary time will explore the revelation of God’s Kingdom through his Son. We will look specifically how the incarnation—the ministry, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ—reveals the long-promised Kingdom of God breaking into human history demonstrating God’s love, destroying the powers that ravaged creation, and displaying the Messiah’s promise (to continue reading this essay, click on image above).
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YOUR KINGDOM COME
Pastoral Resources | 2025-26 Themes At-A-Glance
Week 19: Resurrection — He Has Risen Indeed!, Acts 10:34–43
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the anthem and surety of our Easter celebration and praise. It is the irreversible declaration that God’s saving grace belongs to no single nation but to every person who believes. The Nazarene who died has risen from the dead and has been granted all authority in heaven and earth. Now, because Christ is Lord of all and Judge of all, the Gospel must be proclaimed to all without partiality or prejudice. We are therefore called to cross every cultural and social boundary, bearing the witness of a risen Savior who offers forgiveness freely to every soul who trusts in his name.
Invocation
O Lord God Almighty, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ did on the third day rise triumphant over death: Raise us, we beseech thee, from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness, that we may seek those things which are above, where he sitteth on thy right hand in glory; and this we beg for the sake of the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
~ Bishop Dowden (Suter, p. 22)
~ James Martineau (Ferguson and Wallis, p. 141), Ferguson, James and Charles L. Wallis, eds. Prayers for Public Worship: A Service Book of Morning and Evening Prayers Following the Course of the Christian Year. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958.
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father,
And to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning,
Is now, and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen, amen.
Chronological Scripture Readings for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the entire Bible in one year in chronological order.
Sunday: Pss. 12-17; 19-21
Chronological Holy Week Readings
These Scriptures allow us to read through the entire Bible in one year in chronological order.
Easter Sunday: Mark 16.1-8; Matt. 28.1-20; Luke 24.13-53; John 20.1-21.25
Lectionary Readings for Today
Our readings from the Psalms, the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Epistles are taken from the Revised Common Lectionary for this week.
Psalm: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Old Testament (or Acts [during Eastertide]): Acts 10:34-43*
* During Eastertide a reading from Acts is often substituted for the lesson from the Hebrew Bible.
Gospel: Matt. 28:1-10
New Testament: Colossians 3:1-4
Click here for all of this week’s Scripture readings
Psalms and Proverbs for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the Psalms and Proverbs each month.
Sunday: Psalm 5, 35, 65, 95, 125 and Proverbs 5
Resurrection — He Has Risen Indeed!, Acts 10:34–43
Through Peter’s Spirit-led proclamation to Cornelius and his Gentile household, the risen Jesus is revealed as the impartial Lord of all peoples, the Spirit-anointed Servant who was crucified and raised on the third day, the appointed Judge of the living and the dead, and the one in whom every believer — regardless of nation — receives the forgiveness of sins.
Reflection
In Peter’s proclamation to Cornelius and his household, the Gospel is unveiled in its full, universal glory: Jesus of Nazareth, the Carpenter’s son who was anointed by the Spirit, crucified, and raised on the third day, God has made the Lord of all peoples and Judge of all the living and the dead. Every barrier of ethnicity and privilege falls before this risen Messiah-King, in whose name every believing heart, from every nation, receives the forgiveness of sins.
Engaging God’s Word Today
If Jesus Christ is truly Lord of all peoples and the appointed Judge of the living and the dead — and if forgiveness is available to everyone who believes, regardless of nation or background — what prejudices, assumptions, or comfort-zone boundaries can limit the scope of evangelistic witness today? How might Christ’s resurrection and the impartiality of God challenge you to carry the Gospel message to those beyond your natural circle?
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, The Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God,
Begotten of the Father before all ages,
God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God,
Begotten not created, of the same essence as the Father,
through Whom all things were made.
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became human.
Who for us too, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried.
The third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and life-giver,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Who together with the Father and Son is worshiped and glorified.
Who spoke by the prophets.
We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sin,
and we look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the age to come. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen.
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Benediction
God of peace, you brought our Lord Jesus back from the dead to become the great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood that sealed an eternal covenant. Make us complete in everything good so that we do his will, working among us whatever is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
~ Storey, p. 166; Storey, William G. A Prayer Book of Catholic Devotions: Praying the Seasons and Feasts of the Church Year. Chicago, IL: Loyola Press, 2004.
Scripture Memory for this season
Mark 8:31-38 (ESV): The Messiah’s Predicted Suffering: The Kingdom’s Path
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Scripture Engagement
As disciples of Jesus, the Churches of Christ the King strongly seek to engage the Scriptures to discover the centrality of Christ and his Kingdom in the prophetic and apostolic writings. You will find a rich treasure of resources on engaging Scripture at the Center for Scripture Engagement of Taylor University.
Books We Are Reading this Church Year, and When
• The Most Amazing Story Ever Told, Dr. Don Davis (during season of Advent)
• Get Your Pretense On, Dr. Don Davis (during season of Christmas)
• Destined for the Throne, Paul Billheimer (during season of Epiphany)
• The Presence of the Future, George Eldon Ladd (during seasons of Lent, Holy Week, Easter and Ascension)
• Thy Kingdom Come, Rev. Terry Cornett and Dr. Don Davis (during season of Ascension)
• Kingdom, Church and World, Howard Snyder (during seasons of the Coming of the Holy Spirit, Headship and Harvest)
• The Gospel of the Kingdom, George Eldon Ladd (during the seasons of Hope and Remembering the Saints, Exalting the King)
Book Reading Reflection: Destined for the Throne
(Reading “The Presence of the Future,” during season of Lent, Holy Week, and Resurrection)
THE FULFILLMENT IN JESUS
“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel!” (Mark 1:14, 15.) Mathew’s report is even more concise, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”12 Our Gospels summarize the preaching of the Baptist and of Jesus in the same words: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2; 4:17). It would be easy to conclude that their message was essentially the same: the proclamation of an imminent eschatological event, the immediate fulfillment of the apocalyptic hope of the visitation of God to inaugurate the Kingdom of God in the age to come. . . .
This note of fulfillment is the truly distinctive element in Jesus’ message which sets him apart from Judaism. It occurs again and again in the Gospels. Luke introduces Jesus’ ministry by recording his sermon in Nazareth whose main theme is fulfillment. Jesus read from Isaiah a promise which looked forward to the messianic salvation. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18–19). Then he amazed his audience by the assertion, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). Here was an amazing claim. John had announced an imminent visitation of God which would mean the fulfillment of the eschatological hope and the coming of the messianic age. Jesus proclaimed that this promise was actually being fulfilled. This is no apocalyptic Kingdom but a present salvation. Jesus did not promise his hearers a better future or assure that they would soon enter the Kingdom. Rather he boldly announced that the Kingdom (Herrschaft) of God had come to them. The presence of the Kingdom was “a happening, an event, the gracious action of God.”14 The promise was fulfilled in the action of Jesus: in his proclamation of good news to the poor, release to captives, restoring sight to the blind, freeing those who were oppressed. This was no new theology or new idea or new promise; it was a new event in history. “The wretched hear the good news, the prison doors are open, the oppressed breathe the air of freedom, blind pilgrims see the light, the day of salvation is here.”
~ Ladd, George. The Presence of the Future: The Eschatology of Biblical Realism. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids: MI, 1974. Electronic Edition.
On Eagles Wings Prayer Focus: A Long Time Comin’
On the Road to Emmaus, Luke 24:13-35
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