Tomorrow we celebrate Reformation Day! I'm excited to be preaching from Romans 3:21-25a on "The Righteousness of God". This is the foundation of our faith, this is where our confidence lies, and this is where our assurance of forgiveness and salvation is known. This righteousness is not found in us, but is entirely outside of us. So while we see sin within our hearts, thanks be to God that He brings to us from the outside a righteousness applied to us, put upon us, laid on us, which covers us. This is a gift, a pure gift. And it is yours in Christ. Tomorrow we break this down from this amazing text that also represents THE teaching spring out of the Reformation which led to the re-discovery of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will have some great hymns, a sermon which not only expounds on the text, but also provides a historical overview of the Reformation, and of course as always, a service which will give to us the very body and blood of our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ keeping us in the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

Two other announcements:

1) Tomorrow is our first EVANGELTHON. It is two things: (1) It is a reaching out to our surrounding community by inviting folks to our church while distributing our brand new brochure which you will receive a complementary copy of that you may share with your neighbors or friends; and (2) It is a way of sponsoring/financially supporting our confirmands through high school-aged youth as they will be active in this activity as they raise funds for this summer's Higher Things youth gathering in Tocoma, WA. Please come and pray with us and if you have the time, join me and our youth as we share these brochures with the new neighborhoods next to Crean Lutheran High School. We will have a pizza lunch, orientation, and then pray from 11-11:30 in the Cafe, and then go out and distribute brochures from 11:45-1:45 and then return for closing prayer at Crean and be finished by 2 pm.

2) Tomorrow we are also distributing and then collecting half-sheet sign-ups for loved ones who have gone to heaven so that we may remember them in memorial for Sunday, November 4th when we celebrate All Saints' Day and the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed.

What a joy it is to serve you dear Christian with the Word of Christ and His Holy Sacrament. I hope to see you in God's house tomorrow morning. And oh yes, we have a special guest musician, Ben Hunter, principal trumpet in the Concordia wind orchestra and sinfonietta...Ben will be a blessing for this Reformation service!

Here is an excerpt from the Sermon:

Part I: An Age-Old Problem:

1. As Luther once called it: “The Presumption of Righteousness”…man assumes that he may in some way earn a right standing before God. That is, make himself right/good/acceptable before God.

2. God corrects this presumption:

 

Romans 3:23: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

 

1. The meaning is that man hasn’t a leg to stand on per being able to glory in himself before God.
2. That is, there is nothing in man to allow him a legitimate good opinion of himself.
3. We miss the mark and prove ourselves to be sinful before God.
4. We can’t brag about ourselves in front of God…our bragging doesn’t hold water; none of it is legitimate. St. Paul is consistent with the rest of Scripture:

1^st Kings 8:46: “…for there is no one who does not sin…”

 

Ecclesiastes 7:20: “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”

3. The further problem, however, Luther points out:

 

“Through such presumptuousness and pride it comes about that even the works of grace are turned into works of the Law and the righteousness of God is turned into the righteousness of men, because, when men in grace have done good works, they become pleased with themselves...(Luther’s Works, vol. 25, 246).”

4. Christ turns the presumption of indulgences, the presumption of all works of men and imagined righteousness on its head: There is nothing man can do.

5. We do this constantly. We live as if we’re so good that we really don’t need God or we act as if our goodness merits God’s goodness to us. Either way, we are presumptuous…we look inward at ourselves and are proud.

6. Christ, however, redirects us: He leads us outward…namely, to HIM!

 

Come to divine service and look forward to the rest!

 

In Your Service and To Christ's Glory,

 

Dr. Espinosa

 

We are so excited that tomorrow we receive the newest members to our congregation!

Please praise God with me as we welcome:

1. Miss Sarah Barrick transferring from Grace Lutheran Church, Blairstown, Iowa (LC-MS).

2. Rev. Herb & Gladys Geisler transferring from Peace Lutheran Church, North Tustin, California (LC-MS).

3. Dr. Russell & Sharon Dawn -- and daughters Bethany Grace & Meredith Rose -- transferring from St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Des Peres, Missouri (LC-MS).

4. Dr. Herb & Kiu Geisler transferring from Abiding Savior Lutheran Church, Lake Forest, California (LC-MS).

For the sermon we will proclaim God's Word based on Hebrews 4:9-10 and the title of the sermon is simply, "Rest." You know what that is right? 🙂 It is an important question, because sometimes we feel like we've totally forgotten! At times the word "busy" doesn't do justice to just how crazy life can get...it is in fact easy to feel that maybe we're pushing the accelerator a little too hard and putting a little too much on our shoulders. In the midst of being "busy," we miss out on the proper rest, the biblical rest, the christological rest: resting in the Word of Christ and enjoying the relief of sins forgiven and God's peace to those abiding in His love. This doesn't mean that we cease activity. In fact, God's Word is clear that those who are in Christ and living on this earth work with the might of God Himself...God works in and through you, so yes we keep working. Philippians 2:13: "for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" and Colossians 1:29 where St. Paul discussed the work in his ministry: "For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me." Still, even in the midst of this sanctified work, there is also rest. Christ gives us rest (Matthew 11:28) which while certainly anticipating our eternal rest (Revelation 14:13), leads us also to taste rest right here and right now. This is the rest of relief that God is with you; the rest which fills us with peace that the old man who once condemned us to damnation where the worm does not die (where rest is never found) is now overcome by the new creation of Christ which knows even now the inexhaustible assurance that even in our most hectic and stressful days we may continue to cry out and fall into His arms of grace.

Come to Church and receive the means of grace -- Word and Sacrament -- for these are the means of rest as well!

Here is an excerpt from tomorrow's sermon by way of a summary chart of Luther's commentary on rest in application to the three chambers of man: the sensual man, the rational man, and the spiritual man. Take note that it is only in the Word of Christ that we ever ultimately find rest!

	Sensual Man	Rational Man	Spiritual Man
Outward Rest/Rest positively:	Takes pleasure in perceptible	Pleasant thoughts	In the Word
Disturbed & Troubled:	That thing taken away	Sad thoughts	Word withdrawn
Inward Rest/Rest negatively:	When rational man takes over	When spiritual man takes over	Lifted up by faith & Word
Disturbed & Troubled:	Confused or sad	Danger of losing faith	No inward disturbance/No evening on 7th day

B.      But why does the cycle end with “no inward disturbance”? Because just as there was no evening on the 7^th day, there is no evening on the 8^th day, so that there is no evening on you the new creation. Darkness cannot cover you, because your eternal REST is Christ your Savior! Your rest remains eternal; your rest remains strong, because your REST is in CHRIST!

See you in God's house!

 

In Your Service and To Christ's Glory,

 

Dr. Espinosa

Christians easily feel out of place and when we do, we are especially susceptible to the deceitfulness of sin. This is when we are tempted to compromise, this is when we decide not to feel like sacrificing for our faith. You may have heard about the Pew report that came out this past week: there are now more people in the United States in the category of "atheist + agnostic + believing 'nothing in particular'" than all Christians in main-line Protestant denominations (like Lutheran, Methodist, and Baptist). This is astounding and it testifies to the changing make-up of our great nation. It means that more than ever before you stand out and sometimes -- well -- our flesh doesn't like that very much. We are tempted to be self-conscious, we are tempted to be ashamed and embarrassed. What will we do? All the while our hearts are bombarded to be more concerned about what others think and to consider the desires of the flesh over and against the love of God and protecting our hearts to constantly love Jesus over and above all things on this earth and in this life. We must guard our hearts from becoming hardened by the deceitfulness of sin as the author to the Hebrews warns (Hebrews 3:15).

Come learn about this threat and come hear about how Christ saved us and saves us from this terrible assault. We will hear that we are to simply "consider Jesus" (Hebrews 3:1) and know that in Christ Jesus and Him alone we have confidence in the midst of the cultural assaults against our faith and then...

Well then bask in the greatest gift: Christ's very body and blood for the forgiveness of ALL your sins!

I look forward to serving you tomorrow morning! Here is an excerpt from the sermon:

Introduction: Christians Out Place Then and Now

A. Out of place then: in the book of Hebrews, the young Christian Church in Jerusalem was a persecuted church. As a Christian at the time you forsook the religious status quo.

1. You would have rejected Judaism so firmly established in the Roman Empire.

2. You were viewed as subversive towards the emperor and as a result, the whole empire. You were seen either as a rebel, a moron, or just plain weird: being among those who worshipped the carpenter crucified, claiming him to be alive while also claiming to eat his body and drink his blood.

B. Out of place now: Pew report released their updated religious survey of the U.S. population this past week. It is now staggering to consider that 32% of all adults under 30 claim no religious affiliation. They are the so-called “nones.” Furthermore, there are now more U.S. citizens in the combined category of atheists + agnostics + those who say they are “nothing in particular” (19.6% of the U.S. population) than the number of mainline Protestants (like Lutherans) in the United States (only 15%). Welcome dear friends to the minority! Under such sociological circumstances, how is it dear Christian to be among those who are so exacting and exclusivistic? You are among those who claim that there is no way to the Father except through Jesus Christ (John 14:6) and that there is no other Name given to people under heaven by which they must be saved (Acts 4:12).

1. But let me make you even more self-conscious about yourself: while I was conducting research for my dissertation on American Christian fundamentalism and evangelicalism, I had never realized how religious socialists categorize the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (all of us). George M. Marsden in Fundamentalism and American Culture (Oxford, 2006) writes:

 

“Other denominations, including the Missouri Synod Lutheran and the Christian Reformed were also Americanized to an extent by adopting some fundamentalist ideals while retaining other distinctive features of their European traditions (p 195).”

 

“…[as] ethno-religious groups, such as Missouri Synod Lutherans…came into contact with the mainstream culture it developed…a strong group of conservatives who made the inerrancy of Scripture a firm test of the faith and who tended to adopt the causes championed by the Religious Right (p. 239).”

2. And while it is hard to pin-down the precise meanings of “fundamentalist” and “evangelical” -- at least in a religio-sociological sense -- there are some distinctive religious affirmations that all fundamentalist Christians embrace. Let’s see which of these we can relate to:

 

1. Miraculous creation.
2. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ.
3. The atonement of sin through Christ’s blood on the cross.
4. The bodily resurrection of Christ.
5. The real and actual 2^nd coming of Christ.
6. The view that the Holy Bible is God’s inspired and inerrant Word.
7. Personal responsibility for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to other people.

3. Now why go through these facts? Because we don’t really like standing out and most of us certainly don’t like to be labeled. Now there may be more than one reason for this, but labels put us on the spot and give us attention that we don’t always want.

4. There were new Christians in Jerusalem in the first century who most certainly did not want the attention, because they didn’t want to be persecuted.

5. And in our sinful weakness, we don’t want the attention either especially in a culture where conservative, evangelical Christianity is diminishing…but how far are you willing to run from the labels? You are after-all a Christian, a baptized child of God, a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ…there are some labels which you and I can never run from, because they represent our core being…they stand for our life in the Living God!

 

Part I: So we are warned, don’t have “an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the Living God.” (v 12)

 

The rest -- of course -- includes God's saving Gospel in Christ Jesus...I hope you'll join us in Church tomorrow morning!

 

In Christ,

 

Dr. Espinosa

Christians suffer. This statement seems so obvious as to seem just silly to recount, and yet why do we try so hard to deny it? Whole theologies are dedicated to denying it or repressing it; many preachers tell us that if we are strong enough in faith that we should be able to avoid it. But the truth is that the Scriptures teach it clearly. So what does God's Word say about it? It is true that real answers are supplied, but there is more to the revelation of God's Word than mere explanations. The more important revelation is what God has done about it. This indeed is the crucial part, especially in light of the fact that millions reject the faith merely because they assume that the existence of suffering somehow cancels the possibility of God's existence. The skeptic likes to complain with the presupposition, "Since God has done nothing about suffering, then how can He exist?" This assumption reveals serious misunderstandings about Jesus and reminds us that the popular view of Jesus' ministry was to provide a sublime moral example to us (therefore to believe that He is God's solution to suffering is hardly ever considered). Jesus, however, was and is God's answer to all suffering.

Besides receiving this vital teaching in God's Holy Word, you will also receive the very body and blood of Jesus which completed and completes all suffering: it unites you to the One who absorbs your suffering so that your suffering must submit to its real limitation...it can go no further than Jesus your Savior...it cannot end with you and it cannot bury you, since it was buried with Christ. In the Sacrament the victory of the Risen Christ is yours confirming the completion of your suffering.

Here is an excerpt from tomorrow's sermon:

Suffering: Not Exactly Our Favorite Subject!

 A.     There are two universal reasons for it:

 1.      Consequence of the Fall (Gen. 2:17 & 3:16-19).

Romans 8:22: “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”

 2.      Direct consequences of violation of God’s Law (Deut. 27-28 warned that disobedience would bring destruction or exile; Romans 13 teaches about the authorities which “bear the sword”).

 B.      But there are also reasons why Christians, those made righteous by Christ suffer:

 1.      Christians suffer because they are disciplined by God in order for their faith to be preserved and to grow (Hebrews 12).

2.      Christians suffer when they are persecuted for being witnesses for Christ (Acts 5:25-41).

3.      Christians suffers out of loving service to other people…St. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:24: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake…”and we “bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2).”

4.      Christians suffer as they learn to rely on Christ and on Christ alone.

2^nd Corinthians 12:9: “But [the LORD] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.’”

5.      Christians suffer for no apparent reason at all sometimes (consider Job).

C.      But beyond all systematic analysis, there is just grief and weakness real people experience:

Lewis described grief in A Grief Observed: “For in grief nothing ‘stays put.’ One keeps on emerging from a phase, but it always recurs. Round and round. Everything repeats. Am I going in circles, or dare I hope I am on a spiral? But if a spiral, am I going up or down it? How often – will it be for always? – how often will the vast emptiness astonish me like a complete novelty and make me say, ‘I never realized my loss till this moment’? The same leg is cut off time after time. The first plunge of the knife into the flesh is felt again and again (67).”

And Garth Ludwig (of blessed memory) wrote in his personal journal on March 6, 1998): “When I did my exegetical work on the Hebrew word for sickness, the root word meant to be weak. How poignant that I would ever experience the real meaning of the word I was trying to research. No more descriptive a condition exists than being usurped by a weakness that allows little expression of energy, dependency upon others, difficulty in thinking, depression, frustration, and irritation. It is walking the line between life and death. It is to want so much – but to be denied almost everything…But here is strength in weakness as Paul was reminded by God – for herein comes the grace of God. Let me not forget the weakness that Christ submitted on to at the cross!” (Order Restored, 242)

 

What follows is the most important part of the sermon...the part that gets to what Jesus did for our suffering!

Hope to see you God's house tomorrow!

In Your Service & To Christ's Glory,

Dr. Espinosa