St. Paul's Lutheran

Loaves and Fishes
2023-01-24 11:00 - 12:00, 2023-01-17 11:00 - 12:00, 2023-01-10 11:00 - 12:00, 2023-01-03 11:00 - 12:00, 2022-12-27 11:00 - 12:00, 2022-12-20 11:00 - 12:00, 2022-12-13 11:00 - 12:00, 2022-12-06 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Vancouver) and 1 more date | St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 394 Shepherd Avenue, Nanaimo, British Columbia, V9R 3X1, Canada
Loaves and Fishes is a Nanaimo area food bank that provides food for those in need. Food pick and registration is by appointment only. Please check the information below for additional details. Food pick up is between 11am and 12pm.

Divine Worship
2023-01-22 10:30 - 12:00
Worship Service at 10:30am

THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
(22 January 2023)

Isaiah 9:1–4
1 Corinthians 1:10–18
Matthew 4:12–25

The Lord Manifests His Glory through His Office of the Holy Ministry

By His coming in the flesh and by His preaching and miracles, the Lord Jesus shines the light of His Gospel upon “the people who walked in darkness” and “who dwelt in a land of deep darkness” (Is. 9:2). He also has “multiplied the nation” and “increased its joy” (Is. 9:3) by calling disciples to Himself from the ends of the earth. For this purpose, He calls Peter and Andrew, with James and John, to follow Him and be “fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). As Jesus did, they also go forth “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people” (Matt. 4:23). They preach the foolishness of the cross of Christ as the very power and wisdom of God. This word and preaching of the cross divides “those who are perishing” from “us who are being saved” (1 Cor. 1:18), but it unites the Church, the one Body of Christ, “in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10).

Divine Worship
2023-01-15 10:30 - 12:00
Worship Service at 10:30am

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
(15 January 2023)

Isaiah 49:1–7
1 Corinthians 1:1–9
John 1:29–42a

God Reveals His Glory in Christ and His Cross

“The LORD, the Redeemer of Israel,” calls forth “his Holy One” (Is. 49:7), Jesus, the Christ, “from the womb” of His mother (Is. 49:1). The incarnate Son of God is revealed as the Savior, not only for Israel but also “as a light for the nations,” whose salvation reaches “to the end of the earth” (Is. 49:6). John came “baptizing with water” (John 1:31) to reveal Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and who glorifies His God and Father by His atoning sacrifice upon the cross. When Jesus was baptized in the waters of the Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended “from heaven like a dove” and “remained on him” (John 1:32). By our Baptism, we are anointed by the same Spirit, adopted by God the Father, and “called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:9). Therefore, we “are not lacking in any gift,” but we can trust Him who promises to sustain us to the end, “guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:7–8)

Board Meeting
2023-01-12 19:00 - 21:00, 2022-12-08 19:00 - 21:00
Elected members of the board meet for the monthly board meeting.

Divine Worship
2023-01-08 10:30 - 12:00, 2022-11-27 10:30 - 12:00
Worship Service at 10:30am

Coffee Service: Refreshments served after Worship

Divine Worship
2023-01-01 10:30 - 12:00
Worship Service at 10:30am
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS
Christmas 1
(1 January 2023)

Isaiah 63:7–14
Galatians 4:4–7
Matthew 2:13–23

The Lord Jesus Undergoes a New Exodus in Order to Save His People from Their Sins

Herod’s efforts to destroy the little Lord Jesus anticipate the cross for which He was born. In response to Herod’s edict, Joseph must “take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt” (Matt. 2:13). But the Lord does not abandon the Holy Family there. He brings about salvation for all people, just as He “had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son’” (Matt. 2:15). With might and strength, God accompanies His people, causing “his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses” (Is. 63:12). Now through Jesus, even our afflictions are borne by Christ on the cross. “He redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them” (Is. 63:9). All of this is accomplished by God’s might so that we, too, are claimed as members of His family. For we “receive adoption as sons” in the only begotten Son, Christ Jesus, even as He became like us by His conception and birth of the woman. Thus redeemed by Christ, no longer slaves of sin and death but beloved children and heirs of God, we pray in Jesus’ name: “Abba! Father!” (Gal. 4:4–6).

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Divine Worship
2022-12-25 10:30 - 12:00
Worship Service at 10:30am

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Christmas Day Worship Service
2022-12-25 10:30 - 12:00
Alleluia, the promised Saviour has arrived. Come celebrate on Christmas Day the arrival of the one who was promised.

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
2022-12-24 19:00 - 20:00
Join us on Christmas Eve for a candlelight service as we celebrate the coming of the promised Saviour. The One who takes the sins of the world away. This is a service of singing and a special joyous Christmas message.

The Word of the Lord Is Fulfilled in the Flesh of Jesus

Though Ahaz would not ask, the Lord gives a sign to the House of David — “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14). With this promise, He signifies that salvation is by His grace alone. It is no work or achievement of man, but the Lord’s own work and His free gift. The promise is fulfilled as the Son of God is conceived and born of the Virgin Mary, and the sign is received in faith by the House of David in the person of Joseph (Matt. 1:20–24). “Incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary” (Nicene Creed), God is with us (Immanuel) in the flesh of Jesus, Mary’s Son. Joseph believes that Word of God and so demonstrates a marvelous example in his immediate and quiet obedience, taking Mary to be his wife and caring for her in faith and love. He loves her because the love of God is manifest in this, that “the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world,” to be “the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10–14)

Divine Worship
2022-12-18 10:30 - 12:00
Worship Service at 10:30am
FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT
(18 December 2022)

Isaiah 7:10–17
Romans 1:1–7
Matthew 1:18–25

God’s Word Is Fulfilled for Us in the Flesh and Blood of Christ Jesus, the Son of Mary

The Fourth Sunday in Advent turns our attention toward the Nativity of Our Lord. With the blessed Virgin Mary, we await the coming of the Christ, her Son, conceived in her womb by the Word and Spirit of God. This fulfillment of the sign once given to the house of David, that “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son” (Is. 7:14), is now given to us in the Gospel. It declares that salvation is by His grace alone, entirely His work and a free gift. It also is the way and means by which the Lord our God is Immanuel, “God with us.” The almighty and eternal Son of God is conceived and born of Mary, and is thus “descended from David according to the flesh” (Rom. 1:3–4). He comes in this way to save us with His own flesh and blood; wherefore, He is called “Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). As Joseph received this sign in faith and immediately “did as the angel of the Lord commanded him” (Matt. 1:24), we also live by faith in this Holy Gospel.

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Bible Study
2022-12-12 10:00 - 11:00, 2022-12-11 09:00 - 10:00, 2022-12-07 19:00 - 20:00, 2022-12-05 10:00 - 11:00, 2022-12-04 09:00 - 10:00, 2022-11-30 19:00 - 20:00, 2022-11-28 10:00 - 11:00, 2022-11-27 09:00 - 10:00
Bible Study returns beginning on Sunday, Sep 11th. WE continue a study of the prayer book of the Bible, the Psalms.

The Bible Study will be held in three separate sessions. If you are interested in joining, please contact Pastor Fraser for additional details. Studies are occurring as follows:

Sundays at 9am at the church – beginning Feb 6

Mondays at 10am at the church – beginning Feb 14

Wednesdays at 7pm on Zoom – beginning Feb 16

Divine Worship
2022-12-11 10:30 - 12:00
Worship Service at 10:30am
THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT
(11 December 2022)

Isaiah 35:1–10
James 5:7–11
Matthew 11:2–15

The Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ Brings True Rejoicing, Even Under the Cross

Sometimes life requires the astonishing patience of Job. Like him, we are to rejoice in the midst of affliction, be grounded in repentance under the cross of Christ, and hope relentlessly in His resurrection, that we might see “the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11). In the promise of the Gospel, therefore, “be patient” and “establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:7, 8). Like St. John the Baptist, whatever your own kind of prison or suffering may be, call upon Jesus and receive the strength of His Word from those He sends to you. For as “the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up,” so is the Good News of Jesus preached to you also (Matt. 11:5). He comes and restores the fortunes of Zion, His Holy Church, so that “sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Is. 35:10).

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Divine Worship
2022-12-04 10:30 - 12:00
Worship Service at 10:30am
SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT
(4 December 2022)

Isaiah 11:1–10
Romans 15:4–13
Matthew 3:1–12

By the Preaching of Repentance, We Are Prepared for the Coming of the Lord

“John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent’” (Matt. 3:1–2). His preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins prepared people for the coming of Christ into the world. St. John’s work was historically complete with the incarnate advent of Jesus, but his vital ministry continues in preaching Law and Gospel. The Son of God has come in the flesh, “a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots” (Is. 11:1), and continues to bear the fruits of righteousness. His good tree of the cross is “a signal for the peoples” (Is. 11:10), by which He calls the nations to repentance. “With the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips” (Is. 11:4), He slays the wicked and brings the dead to life, making sons of Abraham out of lifeless stones. So also the “root of Jesse” comes to us, “even he who arises to rule the Gentiles” (Rom. 15:12), that “we might have hope” and be filled “with all joy and peace in believing” (Rom. 15:4, 13).

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