Christ Lutheran Pacific Beach

06/07/2026

Welcome to online worship! In this sermon, Pastor Kinndlee Lund reflects on a playful yet profound retelling of the Garden of Eden that asks a surprising question:

What if humanity's biggest mistake wasn't eating the apple... but keeping score?

Drawing from the story of the "Point-less People," this message explores how easily we turn life, faith, and even spirituality into systems of winners and losers, insiders and outsiders, worthy and unworthy.

In Matthew 9, Jesus repeatedly gets into trouble for spending time with the very people religious leaders considered "point-less":

Tax collectors
Sinners
The socially excluded
The ritually unclean
Those others deemed unworthy

Again and again, Jesus refuses to play the scorekeeping game.

Instead, he declares:

"I desire mercy, not sacrifice."

This sermon explores:

• Why Jesus cared for those others ignored
• What Hosea and Matthew teach us about mercy
• The difference between scorekeeping and grace
• Why mercy often creates backlash
• What it means to be a church for "point-less people"

The good news is that God's love is not earned.

God's mercy is not awarded to the highest scorers.

God's grace is freely given.

Jesus invites all of us to the party—not because we've earned enough points, but because we already belong.

Come exactly as you are.

In this sermon, Pastor Kinndlee Lund reflects on a playful yet prof...

06/05/2026

All are invited to a presentation and Q&A session with Dr. Mary Ann Horton on June 21st!

Dr. Mary Ann Horton (she, her, ma’am) is a Lutheran, a transgender activist, an author, an internet pioneer and a computer architect. She earned her PhD in Computer Science from UC Berkeley, spent 20 years with Bell Labs and retired from San Diego Gas & Electric, where she protected the power grid from hackers. In 1997 she persuaded Lucent Technologies to be the first Fortune 500 company to add transgender-inclusive language to their nondiscrimination policy, earning her the Trailblazer Outie Award, and inspiring her to write her memoir “Trailblazer: Lighting the Path for Transgender Inclusion in Corporate America”.

Dr. Horton will bring copies of her book to sign, which will be available for purchase following the presentation.

06/03/2026

We are excited to announce a new Pride event, “Summer Salon: Over the Rainbow.” This will be an evening centered on celebrating our q***r community through song. It will also feature guest speaker, Dr. Mary Ann Horton, a Lutheran transgender activist and author from the San Diego area. Our Summer Salon has been co-organized by Wes Perry, one of our vocalists, and supported by SoCal Lutherans.

05/31/2026

Welcome to online worship! How can God be one and yet three? Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? For many Christians, the Trinity can feel confusing, abstract, and difficult to explain.

In this sermon, Pastor Keegan Chin-Cheleden explores the Trinity through an unexpected lens: relationships and shared power.

Beginning with humorous Trinity memes and the famous Trinity icon by Andrei Rublev, this message examines how Christians have struggled for centuries to understand a God whose power is not hierarchical but shared.

The sermon then turns to a modern psychological concept known as the Drama Triangle, where people often become trapped in the roles of victim, critic, and rescuer.

What if the Trinity offers another way?

What if God's own life reveals a model of mutuality, empowerment, connection, and love?

This message explores:

• Why the Trinity has always been difficult to understand
• The revolutionary idea of shared power within God
• Drama triangles and how they affect relationships
• Moving from conflict to empowerment
• How the Trinity can shape our relationships today

The good news of Trinity Sunday is not simply that God is three-in-one.

The good news is that God's own life reveals a pattern of loving relationship that can transform our lives as well.

What triangles in your life might be transformed by grace, shared power, and love?

Trinity Sunday is often considered one of the most challenging Sundays of the church year.How can God be one and yet three? Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? For...

05/24/2026

Welcome to online worship! In this Pentecost sermon, Pastor Kinndlee Lund reflects on one of Scripture’s most powerful truths:

God knows your native tongue.

Beginning with a moving hospital story of two strangers praying together in different languages, this message explores what Pentecost really reveals about God and humanity.

When the Holy Spirit descends in Acts 2, people from many nations gather and hear the disciples speaking in their own languages. But Pentecost is about more than translation.

It is about belonging.

It is about hearing the language of home, identity, memory, and love.

And perhaps most importantly, it is about a God who speaks not only the language of the powerful, but also the language of the marginalized, displaced, and forgotten.

This sermon explores:

• Why being understood matters so deeply
• The meaning of “mother tongue” in Pentecost
• The difference between the language of empire and the language of the Spirit
• Racism, belonging, and whose voices get valued
• How the Spirit continually moves us toward one another

The miracle of Pentecost was not that everyone suddenly became the same.

The miracle was that people across every difference could finally understand one another through the Spirit of love.

May we keep learning the language of compassion, justice, humility, and grace.

In this Pentecost sermon, Pastor Kinndlee Lund reflects on one of S...

05/17/2026

Pastor Keegan Chin-Cheleden explores one of the deepest and most difficult questions of faith:

Where is God in our suffering?

Beginning with themes from The Shack, this sermon wrestles honestly with grief, pain, and the questions many of us carry:

Why does God allow suffering?
Why do terrible things happen?
And does God actually understand what human pain feels like?

In John 17, Jesus prays with his disciples on the night before the cross. As he prepares to endure betrayal, suffering, and death, Jesus reveals something profound—not only about himself, but about God.

Martin Luther once called Jesus “the mirror of God’s heart.”

If that’s true, then when we look at Jesus, we do not see a distant God unmoved by suffering.

We see:

A God of empathy rather than judgment
A God who chooses presence
A God who enters human pain rather than standing far away from it
A God who stays with us even in grief, anger, and sorrow

The cross may not fully explain suffering, but it does reveal something powerful:

God does not abandon us in pain. God meets us there.

If you are carrying grief, anger, questions, or exhaustion today, this message is an invitation to remember:

You do not suffer alone.

Pastor Keegan Chin-Cheleden explores one of the deepest and most di...

05/10/2026

In this Mother’s Day sermon, Pastor Kinndlee Lund reflects on Jesus’ powerful promise in John 14: “I will not leave you orphaned.”

For many, Mother’s Day is a celebration. But for others, it carries grief, loss, or complicated emotions. And beyond this one day, many of us know what it feels like to be untethered, to move through seasons of life where the ground feels uncertain.

In Scripture, the word “orphaned” doesn’t just mean losing parents. It also means feeling vulnerable, exposed, and without grounding.

Into that reality, Jesus speaks a promise of deep comfort:
You are not abandoned. You are not alone.

Through the gift of the Holy Spirit—the One who comes alongside us—we are held, guided, and sustained, even in moments of grief, transition, or chaos.

And the good news doesn’t stop there.

Through Christ, we are not only accompanied—we are claimed.
We are not just orphans… we are children of God.

This message explores:

What it means to feel “orphaned” in today’s world
How the Spirit meets us in uncertainty
Why God’s love is a gift, not something we earn
And how that love shapes the way we live—with courage, compassion, and connection

The invitation is simple but profound:
To trust the love that holds us.
To live from that love.
And to share it with others.

Because in the end, it is this love—steadfast, unearned, and always present—that keeps us.

In this Mother’s Day sermon, Pastor Kinndlee Lund reflects on Jesus’ powerful promise in John 14:“I will not leave you orphaned.”For many, Mother’s Day is a ...

05/07/2026

This Saturday, May 9, at 3:00 PM, please join us for a community concert sponsored by CLC in the sanctuary, featuring the band Obrigado, with a tribute to the great musical heritage of the land of Brazil. We hope to see you there!

05/03/2026

In this sermon, Pastor Kinndlee Lund explores one of the most debated and often misunderstood verses in the Bible:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

This verse has been used throughout history to draw hard lines—dividing people into insiders and outsiders, right and wrong, saved and excluded. But what if that’s not what Jesus intended?

Beginning with the well-known parable of the blind men and the elephant, this message invites us to consider how easily we mistake partial understanding for complete truth—and how that tendency can lead to harm when it comes to faith.

Set within the emotional context of Jesus’ final conversation with his disciples—just hours before his arrest—these words are not a theological lecture, but a moment of deep care, comfort, and reassurance.

So what does Jesus actually mean by:
“I am the way”?

This sermon reframes the passage through a lens of:

Relationship over rules
Trust over certainty
Grace over exclusion

Instead of a barrier, Jesus offers himself as a promise:
A way of living rooted in love, connection, and abundant life.

The good news is this:
You don’t have to understand everything about God to walk with God.
You don’t have to get it all right to belong.
You are already held by grace.

This is an invitation—not to certainty—but to trust.
Not to being right—but to loving well.

Elephants, Blind Men & The Divine Mystery That Leads Us