Does God want us to be afraid? It depends. Some might want to say, "absolutely not, never!" After all, 1st John 4:18 teaches us that God's perfect love casts out fear! But then comes our Gospel for tomorrow morning. It is one of those Scriptures that doesn't get a lot of popular press! "Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." (Luke 13:24) Wow! Talk about an intimidating Scripture! Jesus came for all, but He teaches as clear as day that not all will enter into salvation. This is not -- at first glance -- comforting, but scary!

Tomorrow morning, we will sort this out in the sermon and lead you not to less assurance, but to greater assurance of your forgiveness, life, and salvation. At the same time, you'll be better equipped in knowing the Word of Truth.

Also, come to receive that which assures you that you will indeed enter through the narrow door, as the DOOR Himself will be opened to you and given to you in His very body and very blood for the forgiveness of sins.

Hope to see you all in God's house tomorrow morning.

Here is an excerpt from tomorrow's sermon:

“Struggle To Enter Through The Narrow Door”

(Luke 13:22-30)

Pastor Alfonso O. Espinosa

            Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Luke 13:24: “[Jesus said] Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” And from Luke 13:30: “And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” In speaking of these words from Luke 13, Luther remarked: “It is to frighten the greatest saints (Buls, Exegetical Notes, Series C Luke-John, 46).” Evidently, God clearly intends to frighten! Now this seems counter-intuitive to the Gospel and frankly contradictory to other parts of Scripture. For example in 1^st John 4:18: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” Who could blame you if you’re now just a little confused? Here’s the summary so far:

 

1. Jesus taught that many people will not be able to enter through the narrow door for salvation. That’s scary!
2. Jesus also taught that those who are “first” – people who should be in the perfect position to have eternal life and salvation – will not be saved and will be treated as “last.” Again, scary!
3. Luther says that these Scriptures are designed “to frighten the greatest saints.”
4. However, 1^st John 4:18 speaks of God casting out fear. Consider also such passages as Romans 8:1 teaching that there is now no condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus! Furthermore, Jesus tenderly and compassionately calls you to Himself: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).” How can it be said that Jesus wants you to be afraid?!
5. But these two biblical ideas remain and both are true:
   1. God wants you to be afraid AND
   2. God does not want you to be afraid.

 

Not only does this seem to contradict basic logic, but it doesn’t settle well in our souls.

 

             My daddy was so loving that I knew I always had access to him. And as a little boy I was bold to climb on him when he sprawled out on the living room floor; or hold onto his arm hanging over the sofa; or playing “barber shop” with his hair when he came home from work (he seemed to enjoy my spraying a little water into his hair as I combed it back…I think he found it relaxing). In all of these scenarios, I simply never feared my daddy. Love had cast out all fear.

 

           But there were entirely different instances when I did what I should not have done. One time, he disciplined me after I tried to put back into place that which I had no permission to use. He saw the evidence and called me to come outside. I’ll never forget, I came out a little nervous thinking, “How could he possibly know what I did?!” But this was my dad; he had his way. Traci has told our kids that she has eyes at the back of her head…and sometimes I think it is true! God definitely helps parents be parents!

 

           Well, my dad called me out and said, “So, do you want to tell me about your little escapade?” And I said – in all truth and sincerity – “what’s an escapade?” My ex-Marine dad half-grinned (sort of) while making it clear that he was not pleased – even as I knew I was busted – and told me to go back inside, get a dictionary, look up “escapade,” and then come back out. It was an ingenious move, because it prolonged my trepidation. I was having one of those experiences I never wanted to have again. And I look back and I realize that in that instance I was afraid.

 

In that particular instance, under those unique circumstances, I think he wanted me to be afraid.

 

            So, my dad did not want me to be afraid and he did want me to be afraid. It all depended on the circumstances in my relationship with him, and he was an awesome dad!

        Similarly, we need to understand the circumstances of Luke 13. Jesus was – so to speak – addressing a very dangerous spiritual escapade that sinners play around with.

In Your Service and To Christ's Glory,

Pastor Espinosa

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Thank you for your prayers for a good vacation! The Lord blessed our time as family, esp. in getting to hang-out with my future-son-law (Simon Volkmar marrying Danielle on September 14th) who is preparing to become a Lutheran pastor in Germany with the

Here is an excerpt from tomorrow's sermon:

Jesus Saves and Then Division, Division, Division

(Luke 12:49-53)

Pastor Espinosa

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. “Welcome back from vacation pastor. You’re just in time to preach on Luke 12:49-53!” As one commentator described it: “It is not a pretty picture. Human beings would like…constant peace among men. But it will never be so. It is a grim picture which Jesus gives us (Buls, Series C Luke-John Sundays after Pentecost, 41).” A particular word is highlighted in our Gospel this morning and might easily be construed as that which paints this section of Jesus’ teaching as down-right depressing: “division.” Jesus says three times in this short pericope:

 

Verse 51: “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”

 

            Verse 52: “For from now on in one house there will be five divided…”

 

Verse 53: “They will be divided, father against son and son against father…[etc.].”

 

There is an immediate need to clarify what our Lord Jesus is not saying. He is not saying that His purpose for coming was in any way to harm any person. “Hence Jn. 12:47: ‘I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.’ That Jesus comes to bring about the ruin of any man is a thought which is wholly foreign to the New Testament (Barth, Church Dogmatics III.2, 60).” Though it must be said that our Lord did indeed come to destroy something (but not any person):

 

1^st John 3:8b: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

 

To destroy the works of your arch-enemy…not you! Our Lord was and is teaching that upon accomplishing His saving work, there would be “a temporary though necessary transition (ibid, 60)” in the world that would consist in people being divided. The word itself is straight-forward and simple: it means what it says. As a result of the saving work of Jesus, people come down on one of two sides: people are either for Christ or against Christ, period. Some see and others are blind; some are lost, some are found; some follow Him, others reject Him. And this divide will be evident even within families who otherwise share the most important things in life, but ironically will not always share what is most important.

 

In Matthew’s parallel account, the Lord says that He came to bring a sword (Matt 10:34). Think about it: if a sharp sword does its job, then division is the inevitable result. Jesus was describing how people would respond to Him. And while it is politically correct to avoid religious division, such universalism is in itself proof that what Jesus prophesied has happened and is happening.

 

Saint Paul was straight-forward about the necessity of what happens -- even within the visible church -- in the wake of the saving work of Jesus:

 

1^st Corinthians 11:18-19: “^18…I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, ¹⁹for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.”

 

Division is also the result of real discernment and a condition in which (by God’s grace) you are kept protected from false teaching. Reza Aslan’s best-selling book Zeolot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth which hit #1 on Amazon.com heaps praise on Jesus for being a bold revolutionary whose crucifixion shows the man of history as opposed to the resurrection which shows the Christ which for him is essentially a fabrication of the church. In making his case, I read his criticism of the words recorded in 1 Cor 15:4: “that…he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” Aslan argues that while this may be what the Christian tradition teaches, that it is not what the Old Testament taught and that the words “in accordance with the Scriptures” are inaccurate. This is the reason he writes that the Christians had such a hard time convincing the Jews of their message.

 

Aslan writes this way because at the end of the day: while he would again give Jesus all kinds of praise as a man, he rejects that Jesus is the resurrected Son of God. Jesus has come and has divided. Psalm 16:10 in the Old Testament states: “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” St. Peter preaches on this Scripture in Acts 2 and says of it: “[David] foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption (verse 31).” The Old Testament Scriptures do teach the resurrection of the Christ, and Aslan misdiagnoses the primary reason why Christ is rejected. More on this in a second.

To say I'm excited to encourage you to attend this Sunday is an understatement. The Rev. Mark Jasa has become a good friend of mine and I've come to know my brother in Christ, Pastor Jasa, to be especially gifted in the realm of sharing the faith with those who do not know the Gospel.

Over the years, I've sought to serve countless Christians who have admitted their fear, anxiety, and intimidation about sharing the Gospel. Pastor Jasa has met this situation head on and has come to the conclusion -- and I agree with him -- that we need to back up and simplify!

His approach is very simple. Step one: be 100% clear in your own mind and in your own heart as to what the Good News (Gospel of salvation) IS; Step two: visualize it and conceptualize it so as to be able to put it into your own words.

Pause here. What do I mean? What we are saying is that at step two don't make it about memorizing 101 details (including the memorization of several Bible verses), but make it a personal picture for yourself that you'll never forget. Think of how St. John pictures Christ through his great "I AM" statements. Jesus says, "I Am the Bread of Life," "I Am the Good Shepherd," etc.

And then simply permit yourself a level of comfort to share your biblical vision of Jesus and how it conveys the Gospel.

In other words, Pastor Jasa makes sharing the Gospel easy for us!

Neither he nor myself by the way are suggesting that we don't invest in the rest of the story: namely, investing in relationships. This is paramount. Get to know people. Show them that you care. Never treating others as an object of a religious agenda. No way! But living in 1st John 1:19: "We love because He first loved us." The true Christian loves people just because. We care because we're received the highest love and care in the universe from Christ...and who wouldn't want to share this? This is our reason for investing in relationships: to share the love of Christ.

This evening from 5-7 pm we are offering Part I of our Witness Workshop at my residence. Then tomorrow in worship Pastor Jasa will preach on the powerful parable of The Prodigal Son in Luke 15 through his sermon entitled, "The Good Father." Why this sermon? It presents the Gospel itself with fantastic clarity...and if you know the Gospel, then you can share it! Then, from 11 am to 1 pm we will continue the Witness Workshop (Part II) in the Conference Room at Crean Lutheran High School.

Also, we are providing yummy food at both events tonight and tomorrow! You are most cordially invited and please invite a friend!

Let us gather in God's house tomorrow to receive the gifts of Jesus. We will be filled with God's joy as we once again are affirmed in the forgiveness of all of our sins and as we receive the powerful medicine of Christ's body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine in Holy Communion. Divine Service begins at 9:30 am!

I look forward to conducting the entire liturgy as well as the children's message. Tomorrow promises to be an uplifting Sunday!

Hebrews 10:24-25: "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

Here is an excerpt from Pastor Jasa's sermon:

Verse 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.

 

We have barely begun the story and he is already lost. Why? Because he has Broken his relationship with his father. I am probably in my parents’ will. I am due to get some money, when?  When they die. So if I ask for it now, what am I saying to them? You are worth more to me dead than alive. I actually know someone who asked his brother “what is going to happen to the family house when mom and dad die? Can I live in it? And his brother snapped him into shape and scolded him. He said how dare you even think such a thing. If and when something is coming to you, you will be notified. And that is what the older brother in this story was supposed to have done. But apparently he did not do it. In our society with entitlement mentality something is definitely lost, but Middle easterners who hear this story are shocked. They realize just how offensive this is. The younger son’s behavior is Outrageous. And everyone should be horrified.

 

This story went wrong with the younger brother asking the question in the first place, then it went wrong with the older brother not stepping in as an intercessor between the father and the son, saying father don’t listen to my silly immature little brother. He’s mad he doesn’t know what he’s saying. Let me talk some sense into him. But now the story really goes south as the father divided the property. Does he have no shame at all? In a real situation, in the middle east this happened and the father and the son didn’t talk for 5 years. And only after the rest of the family pleaded were they able to be in the same room.

 

But this father is no ordinary father. Jesus is defining what a father is and his definition is different from the culture’s definition.

Thus far the manuscript, come tomorrow and receive a really good sermon to the glory of Jesus and to the blessing of your soul!

In Your Service and To Christ's Glory,

Pastor

Thank you for your prayers and support for our older youth (and myself and Elizabeth Snyder) to attend the 2013 Higher Things Conference in Tacoma, WA this past week (we returned home late last night). We had a fantastic time as our youth attended daily Matins, Vespers, Evening Prayer, and Compline (this last one is a service conducted at 11:30 pm).

I was given the privilege at the conference to present two breakaway sessions. One on Individual Confession and Absolution and the other on the Full-Armor of God (this one was advertised with the intriguing title of what Tae Kwon Do and the Saving Faith have in common)! I am attaching both powerpoints to this email [we will also try to get them set up on our website] so that you can get a taste of what I presented. The highlight for me was preaching on Wednesday. It was exciting to preach to so many youth from all over the country!

Tomorrow in Divine Service at 9:30 am we will consider Luke 10:38-42 on Jesus in the home of Mary and Martha. I feel for Martha, as she gets a bad rap here. I mean think about it: if Jesus was coming to visit your home in the flesh, wouldn't you be a at least a little mindful of your hospitality?! As a matter of fact, it could be argued -- and I will -- that Martha was also trying to be obedient to other aspects of Christ's teaching about how to welcome God's servants!

But alas, we will see that the Lord had good reason to admonish and correct...we are like Martha and we will be made more aware of our sinful manifestations and be led to the "one thing necessary." We will also sing a hymn that is dedicated to this theme right before the sermon: "One Things' Needful" (LSB 536).

After receiving this proclamation, we will then RECEIVE the One Necessary Thing: the Word of Life in, with, and under the bread and wine for the forgiveness of our sins and the powerful assurance that to receive the Sacrament -- and to be in Christ and to have Christ in you -- is to have the remedy for all that we busy folk (like Martha) struggle with!

What a joy it is to be able to look forward to being fed and nourished once again with that which is necessary to keep our faith in Christ alive as you and I are daily bombarded with the attacks of our own flesh, the world, and the evil one to rob you of faith.

Why church? Simply because the Lord commands it (though that too is a reason)? No, but to be kept alive in the faith...to be kept confident that the Lord is for us and that our sins will not envelope and condemn us; to remain certain that Jesus' blood covers all your sins and that through this sacred medicine of Word and Sacrament the Holy Spirit is active to impart unto you the peace of God which surpasses all understanding!

Here is an excerpt from tomorrow's sermon:

“One Thing Is Necessary” (Luke 10:38-42)

Rev. Dr. Alfonso O. Espinosa

            Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. The story in today’s Gospel about Mary and Martha with Jesus is very popular and appears to be one in which Martha gets all the bad press. This can be a little confusing. After-all Jesus had already taught in Luke 9 (v 4) and 10 (vv 5-7) that missionary travelers would be provided for by their hosts. In Luke 10:7 Jesus tells his disciples, “And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.” It seems that Jesus is basically doing what He taught his disciples to do when we read in Luke 10:38: “Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.” In effect this was exactly according to script. Martha was doing a fantastic good work. Imagine being able to host the Lord Jesus Christ! To give Him rest, food and drink.

 

Martha was focused on this task. It was a wonderful task. She wanted to help Jesus. How can this possibly be a bad thing? Not only does it appear that she was being obedient to Jesus’ prior teaching about missionaries being welcomed, she was serving Christ who had said (as recorded in Matthew 8:20) that He didn’t even have a place to lay His head. Martha wanted to make sure that the task of hospitality would be done properly and be made more efficient. She was flabbergasted by the fact that her sister Mary was not helping. There was work to be done. Jesus had taught about this very scenario. It was now their call to be faithful in supporting Him and serving Him. So Martha was bold and interrupted Jesus speaking to Mary and said as recorded at verse 40: “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”

 

Martha had been missing something that is easy for us to miss as well. Let’s back up. There is no question that Jesus taught about how the disciple missionaries were to be received. They were to look for and expect kind souls who would open their homes and replenish them; take care of them and keep them strong in their missionary journey. These people would take care of God’s servants! This is -- for example -- what all of you do for me here at Saint Paul’s. You provide generous hospitality for me and my family! As a result, I get to conduct what I consider the best work in the world as you, God’s people, bless us in so many ways! It doesn’t get any better than that. However, there is a goal behind taking care of the servants and missionaries of God. That goal is not simply to give you the opportunity to do good in caring for others (which is obviously very important), but there is an even greater goal which is to receive the message of the saving Gospel from those missionary servants of God. Thus Jesus never contradicted Himself.

 

The disciples were most definitely blessed to have a host take care of them, but even more the host was blessed, because the host was supposed to become a guest; and the guest was supposed to become a host. The missionary would become the host of God’s Word proclaimed in order to feed the souls of those providing lodging and food. That is, the missionary was the spiritual host giving spiritual food; while the person giving lodging was the physical host giving physical food. They would be blessed to receive the missionary by receiving the Word of God from that same missionary. In this way, the Lord continues to accomplish the Great Commission, and equips His Church more and more with the saving Gospel.

Hope to see you in God's house tomorrow! Invite a friend!

In Christ,

Pastor Espinosa

Hospitals are named after this story told by Jesus in Luke 10, civic awards recognize exceptional citizens with this same name, and our highest praises go to the ideal of this concept: "Good Samaritan." What was Jesus describing when he told this story (which Scripture does not actually designate as "parable")?

As you know context is everything and we will explore the fact that Jesus is speaking to a lawyer who was disturbed by what He heard Jesus teaching. To answer the lawyer, Jesus tells the account of the Good Samaritan.

Tomorrow, I will present why this designation is really only properly designated to one and only one person. At the same time, this is not to say that we are not in the story Jesus tells. We are. Come to church to learn more about this amazing lesson which proclaims the depth of God's love for you.

Furthermore, those who confess the true body and blood of Christ in the Holy Sacrament will live out the account of the Good Samaritan and this truth will also be demonstrated tomorrow. But come and be refreshed. The one who receives God's forgiveness receives all of the gifts of His kingdom!

(1) We are conducting a special offering tomorrow morning for our 2013 national convention to support "Together as Synod," global missions, Lutheran Malaria Initiative, the joint seminary fund, and the global seminary initiative. Please prayfully prepare your offering for the important work the Lord is conducting in and through the LC-MS.

(2) Tomorrow at 12 noon is our parish council meeting for all current members of the council (newly elected members do not start until their installation in September). Lunch will be provided.

Also our Higher Things youth group is headed off for Tacoma, WA this coming week. Parents thank you for providing the medical release forms. Please ensure that you have also provided us with Individual Registration forms. I have attached this form to this email.

I hope to see you in God's house tomorrow morning!

Here is an excerpt from tomorrow's sermon:

But the lawyer’s pride would not allow him to shut up! Again, the truth came out and he thought, “There must be something wrong with the Law!” So He asks, “And who is my neighbor?” And here again we must think about the words being used. We are too general with our basic answer. We want to give the easy answer. The easy answer is “everybody;” “everybody is our neighbor!”

 

Here is the danger with that answer: it puts us in the position to play games with God. We can reason: “because ‘everybody’ is my neighbor, I can be kind and loving to all kinds of folks and that list is indeed very impressive; that’s a lot of people, because ‘everybody’ covers a lot of ground!” But as we play this game and keep ourselves astoundingly busy, the game of “everybody” lets us have good reason to exclude some and of course the moment we exclude anyone, we become sinners and liars.

 

“Neighbor” per biblical definition is more precise than “everybody,” it is rather the person who is nearby and close at hand. Your neighbor is per time and place. Your neighbor is in accord to where God puts you in a given moment in time. In that moment and time, your “neighbor” is the person right there! But my goodness, can you just imagine the implications of all of this? In a given moment in time, you might be around HIM! You might encounter HER! Or you could even wind up in the presence of THEM!

In Your Service and To Christ's Glory,

Pastor Espinosa

Tomorrow is an exciting and extremely important Scripture on the Christian life: Galatians 6:1-2. We will discuss what is perhaps the most importantly fundamental occupation of what Christians are called to actually do through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our lives are depicted as lives dedicated to love, but the Word of the Lord will not permit us to turn this (love) into an ethereal, abstract emotion...this love extends itself in service to the neighbor...and this service to the neighbor is willing to bear up under the load of your neighbor's burdens. It is a costly love, it is a sacrificial love...and it is one which emulates the Lord's love for YOU! You are saved from sin, death and the power of the evil one on account of the fact that Jesus bore your burdens -- willingly, lovingly -- and now you have eternal life. Our response in true faith is to live in Galatians 6:1-2. This is the life of the Spirit.

There is no huffing and puffing about claimed "spirituality"...the faith is one which is one of action and that action serves the neighbor period. Here, actions really do speak more loudly than words. The one who sits around to "feel right" before they move themselves to act might very well be sitting until Jesus comes again in glory. Crucify that which holds you back and live your faith: love, serve, and bear as Christ did for you!

I hope that you will not miss this important sermon tomorrow, but for now I will share an important quotation from Luther:

“Therefore [the Christian] should be guided in all his works by this thought and contemplate this one thing alone, that he may serve and benefit others in all that he does, considering nothing except the need and the advantage of his neighbor…This is what makes caring for the body a Christian work, to acquire, and lay by funds with which to aid those who are in need, that in this way the strong member may serve the weaker, and we may be sons of God, each caring for and working for the other, bearing one another’s burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ [Gal. 6:2]. This is a truly Christian life. Here faith is truly active through love [Gal. 5:6]…[when] a man willingly serves another without hope of reward; and for himself he is satisfied with the fullness and wealth of his faith (Luther’s Works, Vol. 31, 365).”

 

Just remember dear Christian that Christ's service -- His enabling and empowering service to you -- has not ended. He continues to serve you in order to fortify you with His life, His love, and His Spirit. This comes through your faithful reception of Christ's body and blood, because to receive Christ and the forgiveness of sins is to once again be recipient of all His kingdom gifts, most especially the filling of the Holy Spirit which is known when Christ Himself fills you. Where the King dwells, there the Kingdom is in your midst (Luke 17:21).

 

Come and receive His Word and Sacrament and be blessed!

 

Remember, this Divine Service is only for sinners and only sinners will benefit.

 

Here is another excerpt from the sermon:

 

if your flesh, the sinful distractions in this world and the attacks upon you by the devil are anything, then they are aimed to take you out of the present. What is in the present? What is in the present is your neighbor. Who is your neighbor? Anyone: friend or enemy. Your child, your spouse, your co-worker, the person ahead of you in line at the grocery store, the guys you play softball with, the gals you meet at lunch, the homeless person on the corner in front of you, the woman who took your ticket stub at the movie theatre, even the salesperson whose phone call just interrupted what you were doing, the Jehovah’s Witness who comes knocking at your door [imagine: God brought them to you so that they would meet a true disciple of the Lord Jesus and perhaps for the first time hear the pure Gospel!] and most certainly your neighbors are the people sitting around you right now.

To live in the present, and to live for the neighbor – and remember: nothing is random; the Lord controls all things – is to be called to serve that person and to love that person. But be warned, because in that split second of opportunity to live in faith and love, your flesh will complain and resist, the world will try so hard to rip your attention away and the devil will try his best to disrupt any expression of faith and love.

 

Your flesh will do what it always does and will say to you: “You don’t have time. Just think about how busy you are. If you take the time to give this person attention, you are going to miss your deadlines. You can only do so much. You can’t be all things to all men. And furthermore, you have your own problems; you have your own projects; and you have your own needs. What about your resources? They are limited. There is only so much you can do. If you’re not careful, you will run yourself down and if you do that, you won’t be of any use to anyone. You can’t serve this person.”

 

How often has this tape run through your head? I am not saying that what I just described doesn’t contain elements of truth (even in our Galatians’ text today God says at Galatians 6:1: “Keep watch on yourself, lest you to be tempted.”). But consider this: this is the way the devil works…he loves to mix the truth with his deception. That is what He does. When he tempted the Lord in the wilderness, the devil was quoting Scripture for heaven’s sake (Luke 4:9-11)!

 

My point is this: at the end of the day, the goal of your flesh, the world, and the devil is to keep you from loving and serving others. That way, you will always have a “good excuse” to keep you from being your brother’s keeper, because it’s just so darn inconvenient! We don’t want to be our brother’s keeper. We want to be like Cain who rejected the notion (Genesis 3:9) and who murdered his brother instead. We would rather in our flesh use our neighbor for what we want, instead of serving our neighbor according to what they need.

 

To confront us, however, God is good. He doesn’t mince anything: we either serve God with faith acting in love which serves the neighbor; or we serve ourselves (which is to serve the devil…he’s all about self…he wants you to be about “me, myself, I,”…the devil doesn’t so much care about tendonitis or colitis or bronchitis, than he does about you having a lethal case of “I”-itis [thanks to Rev. Matthew Richardt, Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Escondido for this descriptor of sin]. That way, because you’re so wrapped up in yourself, you will never have time or love or service for anyone else, because you’ll always be busy taking care of yourself. But God makes it clear that we are not here for ourselves. He makes it clear – as clear as day – in Galatians 6:1-2.

 

In Your Service and To Christ's Glory,

 

Pastor Espinosa

 

So do Lutheran Christians believe that because we are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, that the life that follows matters not? Do we believe that since God forgives us, that we can go and do "whatever we want?" See Romans 6 to destroy this terribly mistaken assumption.

We do not believe in "cheap grace." To receive God's grace in Christ and to have faith in Jesus translates into transformation. To live for God and to please Him becomes our heart-felt desire and drive. You are now "set free" to live for God.

Our text is from Galatians 5 which is one of the most vivid and powerful portions of God's Holy Word which teaches and explains the Christian life. You will not want to miss this sermon.

Invite a friend. Share the Word of Life!

Even more, not only will you be equipped in receiving the teaching on sanctification from Galatians 5, you will also receive the medicine of immortality: the body and blood of Jesus Christ which is God's antidote against sin and death!

Also, we will welcome Rev. Mark Jasa (of University Lutheran Chapel, UCLA) who will present our Vacation Bible School children's message as we celebrate the 60 Christians who participated in the VBS of this past week which proclaimed and taught the Lord's Prayer streaming from our lives in Christ.

I hope to see you dear Christian.

You are loved.

Here is an excerpt from tomorrow's sermon on Galatians 5:

So what comes next is that blueprint, pattern, and form I mentioned before. Saint Paul teaches us what fleshly rebellion looks like on the one hand; and then he teaches us what spiritual freedom looks like. He gives in Galatians 5, sixteen snapshots of the life of the flesh which lives against God; and 9 snapshots of the life of the Spirit which loves and honors God. One way leads to hell, the other leads to heaven. Here they are, but first a vital qualifier:

 

Saint Paul writes this about the life of the flesh I’m about to present:

 

Galatians 5:21b: “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

 

The verb is present tense and is denoting a constant action. We must understand that Saint Paul is describing persistent, intentional, deliberate, habitual, and again -- constant -- behavior. Scripture is describing a life-style which plans to do these and intends to remain in these. All of this is to say that this section of God’s Word is NOT describing sins of weakness! The Christian will certainly be able to relate to these sins, but not in the sense of embracing them, but in the sense of forsaking them!

 

But it is important that we have a little more to go on for such an important matter. How can we discern the difference? I’ve written this chart to help (note: because the Christian has a sinful nature, the Christian can understand the column on the right (even from experience), but the Christian also constantly knows the column on the left, something which the hypocrite does NOT relate to):

 

 Christian Sinning in Weakness vs Hypocrite Deceiving Himself

 

1.      Relates to the catalog;           1. Revels in the catalog

2.      Hates the sins;                           2. Approves the sins

3.      Is battling these sins;             3. Is planning these sins

4.      Disrupts & undulates;            4. Persists in & practices

5.      Battles guilt & shame;            5. Battles getting caught

6.      Confesses with heart;             6. Confesses with mouth

7.      Remission of Sins;                   7. Permission to Sin

 

In Your Service and To Christ's Glory,

 

Pastor Espinosa

Adopted! That's what you are according to God's Word. The word gets a bad or awkward rap, but according to Holy Scripture it is the basis for our great assurance that we are in Christ and members of the family of God.

We will look at the reason the Lord uses this language to describe us and we will see why it makes our faith more than relevant. To understand the concept is to live your faith with more confidence and power even through trials.

This is the fourth installment of our series on Galatians and it has been a sheer delight to present to you. Thank you for the privilege! Thank you for the call dear people of God!

ALSO: tomorrow is the adult baptism of Dan Ambrose! I am absolutely thrilled. Dan has become my friend and brother in Christ and I hope and pray that you will share my joy on this sacred occasion as he is baptized into Christ tomorrow morning. What a tremendous blessing to be a part of this. Congratulations Dan!

ALSO: Vacation Bible School starts this week. Our theme is "The Lord's Prayer." We are meeting Monday, June 24th through Friday, June 28th from 9 am to 12:30 pm (notice the time extension to 12:30 pm). Why the extension? we are giving ourselves more time for potty breaks while on the beach and time to enjoy the wonderful lunches being provided by the Shake Shack at Crystal Cove (thank you Doug Cavanaugh)! There will be at Reef Point along Pacific Coast Highway drop off (from 8:45 am to 9:15 am) and the pick up (from 12:35 pm to 12:45 pm). There will be crafts, puppets, games, songs, lots of prayer, and just a fantastic time in God's beautiful creation at Sandy Beach at Muddy Creek (accessed via the Reef Point entry).

The single thorn in our flesh is the fact that for anyone staying (such as volunteers to help), the parking costs $15.00. I will completely understand if this eliminates your ability to help. However, I would like to encourage as much carpooling as much as possible. I will be leaving my residence at 7:30 am every morning so that I can start setting up by 8 am at the beach. I can take a couple more with me every morning.

The Lord is good and I look forward to giving you Jesus' saving Gospel and saving Sacrament tomorrow morning!

Here is an excerpt from tomorrow's sermon:

“Adopted and the Owners of Everything!” (Gal. 3:23-4:7)

The 5^th Sunday after Pentecost, June 23^rd, 2013

Rev. Dr. Alfonso O. Espinosa

            Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Adoption often gets a bad rap. When I was growing up for example, my older siblings would sometimes subject me to some psychological jabs. Since I had come along 8 years after my three older siblings, I was sometimes referred to as having been adopted. Today, I’m embarrassed by the fact that this used to bother me. I wish today that I had embraced it back then. You know how it is. How often we think to ourselves, “If I had only known then, what I know now!” Why embrace it? Because God’s Word says to you and me dear Christian that every single one of here today for whom Jesus died and rose; and for us who have been baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus have been adopted into God’s kingdom, into God’s family, into God’s magnificent and eternal love and mercy for us with the promise that He shall never, ever let us go.

 

            This is where the proverbial rubber hits the road in terms of what makes the faith so invaluable. Last week I explained what faith is: 1) it is true; 2) it is trustworthy; and 3) it lives in the reality of the promises given…or simply said, it takes God up on His truth and trustworthiness…it actually lives in His grace, walks in His grace, and expresses its life in His grace. Just think of Peter when He saw Jesus walking on water: 1) He believed that Jesus was really there (that Jesus was true and real); 2) He believed that Jesus was able to call him unto Himself even on the water (Jesus was trustworthy); and 3) Peter actually stepped out and indeed – before he began to sink – Peter was walking on water. This is faith.

 

            I bring this up because adoption is the assurance that we are indeed people of faith: it is the guarantee that God has called us, that God has united us to Jesus, that we have received the grace of God and the gift of faith, and it is the assurance that we are living never, ever alone, but always and constantly with the Holy Spirit. Do you have faith? To answer the question, just back up and ask yourself: “Well, am I adopted or not?” The answer is yes, esp. if you understand when and how God adopts you (answer: in Holy Baptism and by the power of the Word of God contained in the water which joined you to Jesus Christ). And if you are adopted, then yes, you have also received the gift of faith!

 

           If you know this Christian, then you are called to live in great confidence and -- don’t be shy about it now -- in the power of faith in God. This is a faith that might not be impressive to the world with its confused ideas about faith, but it is a faith led by the Spirit of God that leads you to face anything in life with the assurance that God is with you and that God will bless you no matter what. No, this doesn’t mean that you and I always get what we want or what we think we need. But it does mean that God will keep holding us as His adopted children and He will bless us…He always finds a way. And the reason you know that these are not just pious platitudes, is because the One who guarantees your adoption lived and died and rose for you!

 

          Such faith flows from the knowledge that Jesus gave up His life for you and if God loves you that much, then The Father will not allow anything to interfere with the truth of the saving Gospel of His Son Jesus. Faith knows this to be true, because your faith knows that you are adopted/you belong to God. This faith figures that if Jesus could give His life for me, then I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He will always be for me and to erase all doubt He assures me of this reality because He came to me in Holy Baptism, and adopted me as His child.

 

            And this is what makes our faith so glorious even in this veil of tears in the world and even as we bear crosses. It is true, but it is also extremely relevant. This is what the world needs to know about the Christian faith. It is true – based on what actually corresponds to a real state of affairs in space and time – but it is more than just true, it is exceedingly relevant. The world needs this sense of truth, relevance, importance, and meaning. It is true that this past week the Miami Heat won their 3^rd NBA championship, but many of you could care less. It may be true, but it isn’t terribly relevant. But when it comes to faith, the truth of the Gospel of Jesus and the life it produces in becoming adopted heirs of God means that our whole lives are impacted: we have clarity about our identity, our purpose, and our destination; and we have gifts poured out from God to live as His adopted people. The faith is true, it is relevant, and it is exciting…and it is on account of our adoption that we begin to see clearly about these things.

 

            But it begins by embracing the guarantee that you are indeed a child of God; not called to doubt who you are, but to be absolutely clear about it. You are a child of God, because you are adopted. That means that this word “adopted” can’t be a weird thing, but a glorious status. We should say with pride and joy: “I am adopted!”

In Jesus' Love,

Pastor

Tomorrow brings us to the powerful words the Holy Spirit inspired and worked through Saint Paul to write in Galatians 2:20 and 3:13.

Have you ever noticed that some of the most important things that are also popularly known, are frequently misunderstood?

Let me give you a rather innocuous example: BMW...we see this on thousands of cars (fairly expensive ones) all around us. What does it mean? Answer: Bavarian Motor Works. Did you know that?

There are many examples of this sort of thing. We hear words, ideas and concepts and "know" them in terms of having heard them frequently, but it is easy for the actual meaning to get by us.

Tomorrow we will give clarity to this word: faith.

What is that? The word of course is used ALL of the time. We hear it constantly. But what is faith?

Needless to say that since the Word of God teaches that faith is necessary to be saved from sin and necessary to have eternal life with God, we should be crystal clear about it. In tomorrow's sermon you will be.

As I teach about it, I will also present one of the FANTASTIC ways to understand the significance of the saving Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ for us: something called "the wonderful exchange." What is that? You will be glad you came to church! Bring a friend so that your friend can learn about "the wonderful exchange."

Finally, come receive the medicine of immortality, that is the Lord's Supper and be strengthened and renewed in the saving faith.

I hope to see you in God's house. Let's keep up our worship attendance as summer vacation does not mean vacation from the Word and Sacrament.

Here is an excerpt from tomorrow's sermon:

It is one thing to accept that Jesus is real. It is to go further and trust that He is the Savior of sinners. But it is most important that our lives actually enter into His life and that His life actually enters into our lives. Our terrible sin is that we compromise what faith is. We placate ourselves into treating faith like checking off boxes on a form: “Yeah, I believe in Jesus,” as if faith were simply an intellectual exercise. Like playing a game and you come up to the clubhouse and you’re asked the “secret pass word,” and you say, “Jesus” and they let you in. That’s not faith. That’s a game! Faith impacts your life. It changes you. It makes you – by the grace of God – into a different person. Yes, one who still struggles against sin (grant it), but also one who now follows Jesus.

Luther elaborated on such a living faith that does not simply accept and trust, but lives out its relationship with God:
Thus faith is a divine work in us, that changes us and regenerates us of God, and puts to death the old Adam, makes us entirely different men in heart, spirit, mind, and all powers, and brings with it [confers] the Holy Ghost. Oh, it is a living, busy, active, powerful thing that we have in faith, so that it is impossible for it not to do good without ceasing (Triglotta, 941, F.C., Sol. Decl., IV).

Listen to this beautiful commentary from Luther:

“[faith] unites the soul with Christ as a bride is united with her bridegroom. By this mystery, as the Apostle teaches, Christ and the soul become one flesh [Eph. 5:31-32]. And if they are one flesh and there is between them a true marriage…it follows that everything they have they hold in common, the good as well as the evil. Accordingly the believing soul can boast of and glory in whatever Christ has as though it were its own, and whatever the soul has Christ claims as his own. Let us compare these and we shall see inestimable benefits. Christ is full of grace, life, and salvation. The soul is full of sins, death, and damnation. Now let faith come between them and sins, death, and damnation will be Christ’s, while grace, life, and salvation will be the soul’s; for if Christ is a bridegroom, he must take upon himself the things which are his bride’s and bestow upon her the things that are his (LW 31:351).”

And it’s here that we finally really begin to understand what makes faith powerful in impacting the lives of weak and helpless sinners: faith is God’s gift to us through the Word and Sacrament that affects what Luther called “the wonderful exchange.”

In Your Service and To Christ's Glory,

Pastor Espinosa