Dear Christian Friends, because our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ has had and continues to have compassion on you and me, He has made lasting provision to feed us in all that we need to sustain not only this body and life, but for all we need to continue to live in Him, remain in the forgiveness of sins, and to constantly be assured that in Him we have eternal life. In this Sunday's Gospel of the miraculous feeding of the 5000 men (in addition to the women and children), Jesus demonstrates that His compassion on us translates into action. He does not merely sympathize or empathize with you, He extends His heart and in turn extends His life. He gave up His life on Calvary's cross so that His precious blood would cover your sin. He extends the victory of His glorious resurrection to all who believe and even now He acts -- in compassion -- for us poor sinners. Even now He feeds us and He extends His very body and blood, His precious Word, and His Holy Spirit. Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Are you poor in spirit (realizing your own spiritual poverty and great need for God)? Then rejoice dear one! Jesus has compassion on you, and He acts in order to save. This Sunday we are going to focus on how Jesus provides for us and how He feeds us. The feeding of the 5000 is a glimpse into His generous service which springs from His loving compassion. On the website: we are getting into building it up and adding to it. Please notice that we are now sharing an older interview I did on Issues, Etc. on the person and work of Jesus Christ based on a Bible Study I wrote for CPH entitled "God the Son" which is still available from CPH.org. It is an hour-long interview that covers many of the most important aspects for knowing WHO Jesus is and WHAT Jesus did, is doing, and will do to save us! In addition, we are now offering some important links. For example, Project Wittenberg offers some fantastic Lutheran resources and original works; there is also our new and improved synodical website, Issues.Etc. which offers a tremendous variety of teachers faithful to the Word of Christ, and the link to equip.org which is the Christian Research Institute and while this last one is not an LCMS resource, it contains some invaluable resources that I think might come in handy especially in respect to Christian apologetics. Please enjoy the sight and help us to spread the word about Saint Paul's Lutheran Church of Irvine! Soli Deo Gloria! Dr. Espinosa

"Good" is certainly a relative term, it means different things to different people. What is good? Is it something that simply makes you happy? I hope not. There are many things that may stimulate. It doesn't mean that those things are necessarily good. This coming Sunday, July 24th, I am going to stray from my regular preaching on the Gospel text and preach the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ through the Epistle text in Romans 8:28-30. Why is there pain? Why is there suffering? Is God responsible for these things? What has God done about pain and evil in the world? What is God currently doing about it? In all of this, we will also put forth how God works good -- really good things -- even through our most serious trials. This certainly does not mean that the bad things that cause pain are good, but through our arduous treks God still works good. He is certainly working good at Saint Paul's Lutheran Church of Irvine! Four Sunday's ago, we confirmed four (4) new adults in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, two weekends ago we baptized a U.S. Marine, last weekend we learned of our receiving another new member to the congregation. I look forward to receiving Christ's gifts with you this Sunday. The Lord bless you and fill your life with good -- really GOOD -- and God-pleasing things. Pastor Espinosa

This past Saturday and Sunday were especially blessed. On Saturday, July 9th, Saint Paul's Lutheran Church of Irvine conducted her second adult baptism (the first being for Sarina Grant on May 1st). The baptism on July 9th was for U.S. Marine Jacob "Jake" Pereira. We now pray that Jake would not only grow in his baptismal grace, but would also be protected during his service to our country. The next day -- the Lord's Day -- Sunday, July 10th welcomed our special guest Rev. James Cerdenola who is the president of the Lutheran Church in the Philippines (LCP). LCP is in full fellowship with our synod the Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod (LCMS). President Cerdenola proclaimed the Word of Christ and brought with him eight other guests as our little mission worshipped a total of 58 on Sunday! President Cerdenola went on to lead our adult Bible Study and shared with us that LCP has 96 congregations, but only 27 ordained pastors in the field with some of those pastors serving up to six (6) congregations! There are currently 6 students in the seminary with two full-time instructors. It is difficult to enlist more future pastors to come to the seminary as it costs $1,200/year for seminary. Let us continue to pray for LCP and let us continue to support our mission offerings to LCP here at Saint Paul's. We thank the Lord for all that He is doing in our midst. I would like to thank the congregation for your love and support while I tended to spending quality time with my dad Robert Espinosa in his final days and then time dedicated to his funeral services on July 7th and 8th. In Christ Jesus we do not grieve as those who have no hope and I thank Christ for granting my dad faith in the Savior Christ. Pastor Espinosa