Welcome to St. Olaf Lutheran Church!

St. Olaf is a church focused on service and caring in the heart of Orange County, California. We are centered on welcoming, serving, and supporting our members and our community. Come and discover the richness of a supportive and caring community.

Our Mission

We are a Christian Community forgiven by God’s Grace, enlightened by God’s Word, chosen in Baptism, nourished at the Lord’s Table, fulfilled by God’s promise; and being a loving community of God’s people, we worship, learn, witness, and serve together.



I often hear the question,

“What do I have to do to
become a member of your church?”

In the months to come I hope to have several more families become part of our church congregation. And this is an interesting question “What do I have to do?”, because it is hard to clearly explain membership of a church when you need to share what it really means to be a Christian first. It is rather easy to hand a Christian a booklet about Lutheranism and have them read it and them invite people to join the family. But it is very difficult to share and clearly communicate what exactly a person is to be like or what a person needs to “do” in relation to their church and to Christ.

The sermon series for the next few months is meant to help us to get a better understanding of what it means to be a Christian in such a changed culture. The gospel readings will be read from John. John’s gospel contains excellent teaching moments where unless you really look into the text, it is hard to understand what it is that Jesus is really asking from those who call themselves followers. In the 12th chapter, Jesus describes how a grain of wheat must first die in the earth before bearing fruit, it appears that the message to the questioning Greeks and others following him is actually a call to discipleship. Jesus implies that for the glorification of the Son of Man to be complete, there must be a new crop of disciples who can proclaim him as the glorified one.

The connection I am making is that this is what one can to do to become a member of the church. That is, when Jesus said that his followers were to "bear fruit", it means there is a mission for each new disciple. The point of these verses is to help us understand that Christ's story is not yet finished. We are called to complete the story of Christ by spreading the gospel. We are the new seed that is to bear more fruit. We are called to help lift Christ up to be seen before the rest of the world.

We "keep the faith"
by "spreading the faith."

But how do we spread the faith and make Christ known? A common phrase used to explain this life is Death To Self. Jesus is basically telling us that death to self, is NOT optional for Christians, those who declare themselves servants for Christ. Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The one who loves their life will lose it, while the one who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

So what does it mean, “death to self”…or to “lose your life if you love it?” More than anything else, faith in Jesus Christ entails changing the way WE see life. It is,

our ability to see Christ in our lives every day.

The art of discipleship is, more than anything else, an art of seeing -- first, seeing things "as they are," and second, seeing things as they can be. The point here is that being a Christian is more than coming to a church building one hour a week and being entertained by nice music and a good speaker. It is more than just seeing how God works in YOUR life. It is seeing how God is working THROUGH your life so that others may see the meaning of life with Jesus. It means having the church as an active part of your everyday life.

In his book, Counting the Cost, CS Lewis writes, "The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self--all your wishes and precautions--to Christ. Christ says 'Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked--the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: My own Will shall become yours.’ ”

WOW, can you imagine saying “yes” when the church asks you to help in the ministry of the church every day. Sounds a bit overwhelming and maybe even a bit cumbersome. It’s like God might be trying to move into your life and even take over. That is death to self.

Building your life for others
to see God working in everything you do.

How might you react when St. Olaf asks you to help bear fruit as a member of the church.? We need you to be a part of the harvest and our every day lives!

Easter blessings of new life, grace and love,
Pastor Tony

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