
All Saints Lutheran Church, San Diego
6355 Radcliffe Drive, San Diego, California 92122 Church: 858.453.3595 • allstsofc@sbcglobal.net Preschool: 858.453.5340 • allstspre@sbcglobal.net The Holy Eucharist: 9 am Sundays, in person and on Zoom The Wednesday Evening Service has been suspended |
From the Pastor . . .
Dear Christian friends: We spend the entire month of May this year in the Great Fifty Days of Easter. During the preparatory season of Lent, we talk a lot about how we are living our Lenten discipline—or sometimes failing to do so, yet even then we know what we should be doing. But how do we live as Easter people? St. Paul writes, 6 [I]t is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you. 13 Since we have the same spirit of faith as he had who wrote, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we too believe, and so we speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (II Corinthians 4.6–18) From the time of the Paschal Candle’s first flicker in the darkness at the Easter Vigil, the light of the resurrection began to shine again in our lives. Each year the celebration of Jesus’ rising from the dead brings something new into our lives. But Easter doesn’t mean that everything is rosy now. We are earthen vessels living in a broken world. We are, or know someone, or know of some fellow Christian who is afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, even struck down. But these facts of life do not negate the Easter Gospel for us any more than they did for St. Paul. We have the same promise he did. Even as death is at work in us, so is this new life. He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us with Jesus. And even now our inner nature is being renewed every day. To live as Easter people is to live as broken and mended earthenware, as forgiven sinners, as we who once were dead who now live with the life of Jesus manifested even in this mortal flesh of ours. To live as Easter people is to live the paradox of the new life growing in us and preparing us for the weight of glory even as this old world trudges on. Easter people have all the troubles of this world but are not crushed, not driven to despair, not forsaken, and not destroyed. The story of Jesus did not end with betrayal, abandonment, denial, and death. Death did not have the last word, because on Easter God acted, decisively, in the human story. History does not meander aimlessly. Goodness, truth, and beauty are real. Justice and the love that shows itself as mercy are real. Easter joy is grounded in this reality. The Father vindicated Jesus, and not in the past only; resurrection is future promise and present reality. To live Easter is to live in the now, and in the promise. To perceive the cross and resurrection in your own life, following Jesus, following the living Christ, is to find yourself in losing yourself. The risen Jesus leads us not only to his Father and ours, but to each other and, indeed, to ourselves, our true selves. This is Easter, where self-giving love, not death, has the last word. Grace and peace, Paul Bieber, STS, Pastor Adult Forum—Nicaea 1700 At All Saints, we profess our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed every Sunday—unless a Baptism or other baptismally-oriented rite calls for the Apostles’ Creed. It was in AD 325 that the Christian Emperor Constantine called together a synod of bishops, an ecumenical council, at Nicaea. At that Council, 1,700 years ago, the Nicene Creed was written. What is its importance for us today? Christian theology is a living entity, not a fossil. Yet the fourth century debate over the divinity of Christ—and so, about the Trinity—is still meaningful. We believe not in any old God but the God revealed in Holy Scripture. It is rather important to understand something about the object of our faith, even if that understanding is finally shrouded in mystery. Join our discussion of the issues as they were discerned, expressed, and discussed seventeen centuries ago. Please join us, after the Liturgy and refreshments, in the pastor’s study, on non-Confirmation Class Sundays. To view sermons from All Saints, visit Unbroken Word | Broken Bread Invitation: In-person or by Zoom You are invited to join the All Saints community in worship. The service continues to be available on Zoom. If you are gathering virtually for worship via Zoom, please go to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7904299410 at 9 am on Sunday to join us online. You can also dial in on your phone at 1 (669) 900-9128; the Meeting ID is: 790 429 9410. We open the meeting at about a quarter to nine so that we can greet one another and check in before the worship service begins. The meeting host will admit you to the meeting from the waiting room. Send an email to allstsofc@sbcglobal.net if you would like to be added to the list of those who receive the order of worship and the readings via email. Regarding offerings: You may bring your offering to church. Or you can mail a check to the church or slip one through the mail slot next to the church office door. Or you can send money via www.Zellepay.com (the church’s email address is allstsofc@sbcglobal.net) or www.Paypal.com. Thanks to all our generous givers! Sermons from All Saints, Episodes of "What Is the Premise?" and more are available at Pastor Bieber's site, Unbroken Word | Broken Bread: evangelicalcatholicsandiego.wordpress.com/
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Please visit our Liturgical Ministries page
for schedules of acolytes, deacons, lectors, offertory giftbearers, and coffee hour setup hosts
for schedules of acolytes, deacons, lectors, offertory giftbearers, and coffee hour setup hosts
We Invite You to Join Us!
Sunday Eucharist – 9:00 am
We regard the Church's liturgy as the birthright of the baptized and invite Christians of all ages
to worship as they are able. At the end of the liturgy on the first Sunday of the month,
we encourage children to join the pastor for a children's sermon.
Sunday School follows the worship service – from Holy Cross Day (September 14) through the Day of Pentecost
Confirmation Classes – 10:45 am Sundays, alternating with the Adult Forum
Wednesday services have been suspended
Sunday Eucharist – 9:00 am
We regard the Church's liturgy as the birthright of the baptized and invite Christians of all ages
to worship as they are able. At the end of the liturgy on the first Sunday of the month,
we encourage children to join the pastor for a children's sermon.
Sunday School follows the worship service – from Holy Cross Day (September 14) through the Day of Pentecost
Confirmation Classes – 10:45 am Sundays, alternating with the Adult Forum
Wednesday services have been suspended
All Saints is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and its Pacifica Synod.
We are also a member congregation of the Community Christian Service Agency.
Website most recently updated in April 2025.