FIRST, let us rejoice for the wonderful doors for the proclamation of the Gospel that the Lord is opening for us at Saint Paul’s. Last Thursday, I preached to 1,500 souls at the largest Lutheran high school in America (Orange Lutheran). The Lord blessed the proclamation. Afterwards, principle Smith said that, “you could have heard a pin drop.” I have already been scheduled to come back to do a four-part series on Revelation in the fall.

You can currently hear the sermon (all 2013 sermons are in audio) in our website at www.saintpaulsirvine.com.

SECOND, I’m excited to announce our next NEW MEMBER SUNDAY which will be Sunday, May 12th. This is Mother’s Day…is there any better way to start this day than to celebrate the gift of our moms in God’s house receiving Word and Sacrament? Please let me know if you would like to be received on May 12th.

LASTLY, one of my goals during this sermon series in Revelation is to obliterate the idea that Revelation is a scary, esoteric book. It isn’t! It is rather an amazing presentation of our Savior’s victory over sin, death, and the power of the evil one. His victory is yours as you were joined to Him in Holy Baptism and continue to abide in Him through the Word and His precious body and blood.

Tomorrow we will look at this concept of tribulation in Revelation 7 and then proclaim our Lord’s response to our tribulation through His blood as the Lamb and through His protection as the Shepherd. I’m very excited about this proclamation and I pray that you will be there to be lifted up, further equipped, and blessed by Christ’s powerful Word!

Here is an excerpt from tomorrow’s sermon:

Many things seem to be better, not worse, but there are other things which should catch your attention:

1. In our world today, would you say that it is easier or more difficult to protect marriage in the sense of staying together?
2. In our world today, would you say that it is easier or more difficult to protect the unborn?
3. In our world today, would you say that it is easier or more difficult to defend biblical and traditional marriage in the sense of maintaining biblical sexuality?
4. In our world today, would you say that it is easier or more difficult to hear the true saving Gospel proclaimed?

There are many things in our world today that are not better and while it is true that the Church since the first century has considered herself to be living in the end times, I would not be surprised if we aren’t already living in Satan’s little season…maybe we are, maybe we aren’t, but there is one thing we do know:

The tribulation that you go through as a child of God is important to you – and oftentimes very much perceived as “great” to you – and if it is important to you, it is important God.

            We also know this, Acts 14:22:

“…through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

This word is not the word for persecution in the more direct sense: dioko, but is the particular and unique word: Thlipsis = also translated as “trial,” “affliction,” and “distress.” All of these other words help us to understand what is encompassed in the word “tribulation.” A trial is a hardship which causes you strain, an affliction is something upon you which causes you to suffer, and distress represents the emotional turmoil within you as you go through these things. On account of sin coming into the world and our own sinful rebellion against our Heavenly Father, we go through tribulation. As you can see, I’m presenting tribulation both in the sense of external causes upon us and internal causes within us (this is the biblical gamut).

In Your Service and To Christ’s Glory,

Rev. Dr. Alfonso O. Espinosa