Saint Paul's Lutheran Church of Irvine

Tomorrow, Sunday, February 28th, 2016 at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church of Irvine: “The Way of Escape” (1st Corinthians 10:13)

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Location: Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine: 12500 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, CA 92618

Directions: Exit Sand Canyon from the 405 or 5, head East towards the hills, cross Irvine Blvd., turn right on Saint's Way (this will put you on the campus of Crean Lutheran High School...we worship in the event center/gym)

Divine Service: 930 am

Bible Study and Sunday School: 11 am

 

Dear Christians,

We underestimate the threat of temptation. Too many Christians joke about it, but its serious. Temptation itself of course is not a sin, but it can easily lead to sin. Temptation has the potential to destroy faith. In the meantime, it is important to know how God's faithfulness applies to this issue; to know how exactly God helps us and leads us in the face of temptation. God provides: "The Way of Escape."
Come and receive the Word tomorrow morning! Come and receive the Bread of Life in the Holy Sacrament!
By the way, today I am conducting the wedding of Christopher Mueller and Tina Wang today (Saturday, February 27th). Christopher is the son of our very own Pastor Steve and Nina Mueller! And as many of you know, Tina was both baptized and confirmed with us at Saint Paul's. It's a big day in the life of our congregation. Please extend your prayers for the Muellers as they celebrate!
Also, did any of you notice what happened last Sunday? One of our young members Lily Binoya fell and passed out. Our members Kathy Witt and Mary Hobus (and others) came to her side and her mom's side. She's ok! In fact, Lily was in church last Wednesday night! Thanks to those who helped and thank God that Lily is well!
I'm excited about our text from 1st Corinthians and I look forward to proclaiming it. Hope to see you in Divine Service!
In Your Service and To Christ's Glory,
Pastor Espinosa

Tonight Wednesday, February 24th, 2016 Lenten Service at 7 pm at Concordia University Irvine (Good Shepherd Chapel) 7 pm 7 pm 7 pm

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Tonight we worship in the Good Shepherd Chapel at Concordia University Irvine at 7:00 pm. CUI is located at 1530 Concordia West, Irvine, CA 92612

 

Dear Christians,

 

Please join us for mid-week service tonight.

 

We would love to serve you with the Word of Christ as we conduct Vespers this evening with Lenten hymns and the message in our series "Places of the Passion," tonight being: "The Betrayal: A Place of Eternal Love." (Luke 22:47-53)

 

In Your Service and To Christ's Glory,

 

Pastor Espinosa

Tomorrow Sunday February 21st, 2016 at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church of Irvine: “Our Citizenship is in Heaven” (Philippians 3:17-4:1)

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Location: Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine: 12500 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, CA 92618

Directions: Exit Sand Canyon from the 405 or 5, head East towards the hills, cross Irvine Blvd., turn right on Saint's Way (this will put you on the campus of Crean Lutheran High School...we worship in the event center/gym)

Divine Service: 930 am

Bible Study and Sunday School: 11 am

 

Dear Christians,

An interesting exchange took place between Donald Trump and Pope Francis. It's about walls and it relates to citizenship. The battles in the world will not cease until the second coming of the Lord.
Your true citizenship, however, is not in question (regardless of where you were born). Your true citizenship is in heaven. This has immense ramifications, and these are exciting and powerful.
This is our proclamation tomorrow.
Come and receive the Word. Come and receive the Sacred Meal and be filled with Christ!
Pastor Mueller and I hope to see you in the morning!
In Jesus' Love,
Pastor Espinosa

Tomorrow Sunday, February 14th, 2016 at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church of Irvine: The First Sunday in Lent

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Location: Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine: 12500 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, CA 92618

Directions: Exit Sand Canyon from the 405 or 5, head East towards the hills, cross Irvine Blvd., turn right on Saint's Way (this will put you on the campus of Crean Lutheran High School...we worship in the event center/gym)

Divine Service: 930 am

Bible Study and Sunday School: 11 am

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

How is Lent going so far? Today is the 4th day, tomorrow Sunday is the 1st Sunday IN Lent (not counted among the 40 days) and Monday is the 5th day, but who's counting?! 🙂
There is a popular idea that Lent is about giving things up, but the One who really gave things up was and is your Lent, your Renewal, your New Life: Jesus Christ. And His giving up His life for you is what gives you life and love. God is for you!
He is the One who comes to serve you with His gifts tomorrow morning. Let us receive His gifts and rejoice! His gifts forgive, renew, strengthen, and make Lent truly Lent.
Bless you in His Word and Sacrament!
In Jesus' Love,
Pastor

Ash Wednesday February 10th at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church of Irvine: “A Place At The Table For You” (Luke 22:1-13)

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Tonight we worship in the Good Shepherd Chapel at Concordia University Irvine at 7:00 pm. CUI is located at 1530 Concordia West, Irvine, CA 92612

 

Dear Christians,

 

We commence the holy season of Lent. Christ is our Lent. Christ is our Renewal. If you "give up" anything, it is not to perform a good work, but to remind yourself that all that you really need is Jesus!

We start a sermon-series entitled, "Places of the Passion." Dr. Mueller and myself will present this series. Tonight, I will proclaim, "A Place at the Table for You" based on Luke 22:1-13.

We will celebrate the service of Vespers with some special elements added to the service for Ash Wednesday.

 

The Lord bless us all during the 40 days of Lent.

 

In Jesus' Love,

 

Dr. Espinosa

Tomorrow, Sunday, February 7th, 2016 at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church of Irvine: “Endurance!” (Hebrews 3:1-6)

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Location: Crean Lutheran South High School in Irvine: 12500 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, CA 92618

Directions: Exit Sand Canyon from the 405 or 5, head East towards the hills, cross Irvine Blvd., turn right on Saint's Way (this will put you on the campus of Crean Lutheran South High School...we worship in the event center/gym)

Divine Service: 930 am

Bible Study and Sunday School: 11 am

 

Dear Ones for Whom Jesus Died and Rose to Save,

How many of us have felt that we were running out of gas and that we just could not go on? And if we are feeling this way, how do we go on? But not just grudgingly, but truly with confidence and new hope? This is what the message is about tomorrow. I hope you will hear me proclaim it.
But even if one of your pastors totally bombs a sermon, you will still have the perfect Gospel in the body and blood of Jesus.
You're in a win-win on Sunday mornings!
Hope to see you in God's house, after all, you ARE His household! (Hebrews 3:1-6).
Here is tomorrow's extended outline-sermon:
“We Are His Household” (Hebrews 3:1-6)

The Transfiguration of Our Lord, February 7th, 2016

Pastor Espinosa

 

Introduction: A Glimpse of Glory for Hope Because It’s Hard To Endure.

 

  1. Moses endured: He died at 120 and “His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.” (Deut. 34:8) I’m not sure how well I’m enduring (for example, me and my little bible are parting ways because of my diminishing vision!) L
  2. Under Joshua, the people of Israel knew a season of endurance. Under Joshua, “the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.” (Deut. 34:9) Israel knew some generations of endurance.
  3. And of course Jesus endured. Just before the record of the glorious Transfiguration of our Lord, our Savior foretold His death: dark times were coming and it would be a time requiring endurance. We need to remember this as we are about to move into Lent. He said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed…” (Luke 9:22) How our Lord’s soul must have been filled with dread! How did He live with so much love and compassion while knowing what was coming? And yet He did! That was how faithful He was…and this is how faithful He is!
  4. And then the Lord spoke about us (all true disciples): “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross DAILY and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) It’s the “DAILY” part that is about endurance. Not just yesterday, not just today…every day, daily…endurance.
  5. There is no resting on laurels. Our endurance from last year or even yesterday, does not guarantee my endurance today.
  6. David was a man after God’s own heart, but there were times when he did not endure. Solomon had the greatest wisdom and he entered a time when he chose to no longer endure.
  7. Are we that different from David and Solomon?
  8. How often have we stopped enduring? We say that the day-to-day is the crucial way and yet on how many days in our past did we stray from the path? How consistent has your endurance been?
  9. To worship the Lord?
  10. To abide in His Word?
  11. To die to yourself and to love even your enemies?
  12. To live in forgiveness?
  13. To strive for endurance?
  14. Endurance is hard. Think of a cross-country runner or marathon runner. I’ve never run those kinds of distances (not even in the Army), but you hear such athletes “hitting the wall.” It’s when your body says, “no more,” and yet you find a way to keep going.
  15. Endurance is one of THE traits of those who are “successful” in their respective fields. Many who have “made it” in their chosen field, resent it when others describe them as having “natural-born talents,” etc., when they know how hard they have had to work. One aspect of success, factors in the so-called 10,000 hour-rule: if you put in that much time essentially practicing or working out on something (some skill for example), then yes, you will develop a real ability (like learning to play an instrument, speak another language, get really good at something. Ted Williams was lauded as a “natural” in baseball, but he would practice swinging a bat so often that his hands would start to bleed (so the story goes).
  16. Endurance is also that trait of the FAITHFUL. I have met married Christians who described their storm and have heard the words, “It’s over, I can’t go on,” but in some cases – through endurance -- resurrection occurs in the marriage. That’s when God does something that only He could do to bring the marriage back and sometimes, better than ever before. And how many Christian parents have learned endurance as they go through storms with their children and families? How many devout parents have felt as though all hope was gone, but they kept loving and serving their children anyway…[because] “love covers over a multitude of sins” (1st Peter 4:8).

 

Part I: But How Can You Endure?

 

  1. But I don’t want to sound like “pie in the sky,” how can you know this kind of endurance? What is there, if anything that can truly cause you endure, not with resentment and bitterness taking over your soul (as if being held captive in prison), but enduring with confidence; enduring with real hope; enduring with a sense of a victorious scenario?
  2. To answer that question, we begin with today’s revelation on this Transfiguration Sunday: you can know the new you – created by the Lord – who also knows a new endurance!
  3. Consider how the Lord refers to you His people: Hebrews 3:1: “holy brothers” and “heavenly calling”!
  4. The amazing thing here is that these things were done for you! You didn’t make yourself holy, but God did; you didn’t call yourself, but God did!
  5. How did God do this?
  6. Consider today’s revelation of Jesus Christ! He is:
  7. 1) the apostle: THE sent One. He was SENT for you; 2) high priest…He sympathizes with your weaknesses; He knows you…and still loves you!
  8. But put these two together: “apostle” and “high priest,” and consider what Jesus DOES for YOU! As apostle, the One sent for you: “He pleads the cause of God with you!” AND as High Priest “He pleads your cause with God!” (let me repeat that) The apostle is sent for God’s Word to be given to you and to be put IN you! The high priest takes up your cause, your needs – your need for ENDURANCE for example – and presents these to God!
  9. And His through His saving work for YOU Christian, you make a good CONFESSION (verse 1). And it is a confession that gets back to your true ability to endure: you confess or speak of Christ’s

 

Part II: The Key To Endurance is the LORD’s Faithfulness!

 

  1. The key to our endurance does not rest in us, but it rests in Christ!
  2. We don’t rely on our feeble, weak and failing effort, but we rely on the Lord’s faithfulness!
  3. Moses was faithful! God raised up a faithful leader in Moses. Even when Israel was NOT enduring and NOT being faithful, Moses was faithful. In Exodus 32 Moses pleaded their case: “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people…Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.” (vv 11 & 12) Moses was a faithful intercessor and the Lord answered his prayer!
  4. But as great as Moses was – the servant of God’s household – Jesus is even greater, because He is “over” God’s household as a son! He is over us…you’re shielded, you’re protected; He is faithful and will keep you safe!
  5. Now THIS ONE intercedes for you. Jesus prays for you!
  6. And when we have received such faithfulness – by the grace of God in Christ through the Lord’s Word and Holy Sacrament – the Lord forms faithfulness in us!
  7. We need this because there was a time that even with the great servant of God Moses, Israel was not faithful, but now you have someone greater than Moses! Should we give up being faithful when His faithfulness has given us so much? Dare we be faithless when He has been so faithful towards us?! We mustn’t give up! Endurance becomes everything to us! It is the response of faith to the Lord’s faithfulness to us! We endure because the Lord has given us EVERYTHING; because He has endured for us! For us, He even endured the cross so that we would not be condemned by our sin!
  8. Such endurance by the Lord produces in us a new attitude; a laser-like simplicity and focus:

 

Part III: Therefore “consider”!

  1. The word translated “consider” at verse 1 is “katanoeo”…it means to “rivet [one’s] attention on”…
  2. How can you possibility endure Christian with all of the struggles and storms you face?
  3. The answer is rivet your attention upon Jesus!
  4. It’s like Peter sinking, but then crying out to Jesus! Jesus takes hold of Him and saves Him! Jesus saves you too! Rivet your eyes on Him, because He pulls you up from drowning in your storms of life!
  5. So see this Gospel truth once again: He was faithful for you! And He IS faithful for you! And He WILL BE faithful for you! He has covered your yesterdays, and today, and tomorrows with His faithful endurance FOR YOU!
  6. And through our faithful leader; the leader of our household (God’s household, the Holy Church, all of us), we now have in Christ: 1) fearless confidence! AND 2) Triumphant hope!
  7. You know how to live now. As clearly as you see your weakness and need for endurance; you rivet your eyes on Jesus!
  • Who is your Apostle.
  • Who is your High Priest.
  • Who has made you into “holy brothers”!
  • Who has extended His “heavenly calling” to you!
  • Who is faithful for you!
  • Who is over you (God’s people), God’s household! Talk about being looked after and cared for!
  • And in Him, we are given fearless confidence.
  • And in Him, we are given triumphant hope.

 

Conclusion: We have fearless confidence now that God will accomplish what He has promised. His glorious transfiguration was God’s guarantee to His Son that He would endure! But that same glorious transfiguration is also why we will endure. The glorious Christ, our glorious Lord, our King of Kings, our best friend is faithful. He will provide also our endurance!

 

In Jesus' Love,

 

Pastor Espinosa