Trinity Church of Portland Sermons

Epizódok

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  Counseling for Kohelet: Honest Questions for an Unfair World 04.10.2026

  In this sermon titled "Counseling for Kohelet: Honest Questions for an Unfair World," Ahshuwah Hawthorne explores the profound and often perplexing themes found in Ecclesiastes 9:11-18. Drawing from the wisdom literature of the Bible, Ahshuwah presents a unique and imaginative counseling session for Kohelet—the reflective teacher of Ecclesiastes—who wrestles with the apparent injustices and uncertainties of life. The sermon acknowledges the frustrations of seeing hard work go unrewarded, the randomness of suffering, and the challenge of maintaining faith amid life's unpredictability. Ahshuwah invites the congregation to listen in as the voices of other biblical wisdom figures—Job, the psalmist, Proverbs, and Song of Songs—offer comfort, perspective, and encouragement. Through this dialogue, the sermon highlights the tension between human finitude and divine sovereignty, the reality of suffering, and the hope found in God's ultimate justice and the redemptive work of Christ. The message encourages believers to embrace honest questions, find joy in God's gifts despite life's vanities, and trust in the faithful God who judges all deeds and offers salvation through Jesus Christ."
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  The Imminence of Death and the Beauty of Life 27.09.2026 37p

  Andrey Gorban reads Ecclesiastes 9:1-10, where the same death comes to all, and a living dog is better than a dead lion. The Preacher still commands joy: eat your bread, drink your wine, and do with your might whatever your hand finds to do. Jesus says he is the resurrection and the life, and a day is coming when death will be no more.
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  The Gospel Is Good News for the Whole World 06.09.2026 40p

  Guest preacher Ryan Robertson opens Romans 10:9–15 and traces the missionary logic of the gospel: confessing Jesus as Lord, believing God raised him from the dead, calling on his name, and sending preachers so the nations can hear. Drawing on the story of John Paton and the New Hebrides, he presses Trinity Church to see that the gospel is good news for the whole world—and that beautiful feet still go, suffer, and proclaim Christ where he has not yet been named.
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  The Last Word 30.08.2026 55p

  Thomas Terry ends Living Liturgy with the benediction and Romans 12:1-2. He loves his slow pour over coffee because the same order, repeated, shaped his love, and he says repeated worship shapes us too. When the good word comes, receive the blessing and the sending, and let God have the last word.
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  The Heard Word: Hearing as an Act of Worship 23.08.2026 52p

  Paul preaches Luke 24:13-35 on hearing the Word as an act of worship. He points to the two on the road to Emmaus, and to Cleopas and his companion recognizing Jesus in the breaking of bread. Each week the church hears the Word read, sung, and preached, and is invited to take part in the story.
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  Before the Face of God 16.08.2026 55p

  Thomas Terry says preaching from 2 Timothy 4:1-5 is worship, because God is present when his Word is preached. He pictures a hard talk where the crucial ten percent is left unsaid, then says the preacher cannot leave that part out before the Judge. Paul charges Timothy, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, to preach the word in season and out of season.
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  The Lord's Table: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ 09.08.2026 41p

  Andrey Gorban teaches the Lord's Supper from 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. On the night he was betrayed, Jesus broke the bread and took the cup, and he said to do this in remembrance of him. As often as the church eats and drinks, it proclaims the Lord's death until he comes, and the meal is thanksgiving.
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  A Spectator in the Dark 02.08.2026 57p

  Thomas Terry recalls a dim megachurch where the people were spectators in the dark, then turns to Colossians 3:16-17. Before Paul mentions songs or hymns, he gives one command, and the aim is a people full of the word of Christ. They open their mouths and sing to one another and to the God who saved them and set them free.
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  The Gospel Made Visible 26.07.2026 49p

  Andrey Gorban teaches baptism from Acts 2:38-41 and calls it the gospel made visible. Peter tells the crowd to repent and be baptized, and about three thousand who received the word were baptized. In that water the church sees new birth, a dead person made alive by God.
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  The Public Reading of Scripture: God Addresses His People 19.07.2026 44p

  Jared Pulliam opens 1 Timothy 4 and stays with the charge to devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching. Samuel Nagel introduces him as a former elder at Trinity and the founding pastor of Christ Church Selwood. After the reading, the people give thanks, because this is the word of the Lord.
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  Regulated by the Word: How God Tells us to Worship 12.07.2026 40p

  Sean Jim says gathered worship must follow God's commands, taking up Deuteronomy 12:32. He compares a checked recipe and an airplane part at thirty thousand feet, because important work stays with the directions given. The form of a service may differ, but the church should keep to what God has outlined in his word.
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  The Call to Worship: God Speaks First 05.07.2026

  Andrey Gorban begins Living Liturgy with Psalm 95:1-7, where God calls his people to sing to the rock of their salvation and kneel before their Maker. Worship fills the whole of life, and it begins because God calls and saves through Jesus. We are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
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  Death to Life 28.06.2026

  Samuel Nagel thanks Trinity for close to sixteen years with Rachel and their children, then reads Romans 5:18-21. One trespass led to condemnation, and one act of righteousness leads to justification and life, so where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. He goes on to Romans 6, where those who died to sin are called to walk in newness of life.
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  Either the First or the Last Adam 21.06.2026

  In Romans 5:12-17, Cody Cannon traces Paul’s contrast between Adam and Christ. Through the first Adam, sin and death entered the world and spread to all humanity. But through Jesus, the true and final Adam, grace abounds, righteousness is given, and life reigns. This sermon considers the doctrine of original sin, the reality of death, and the greater hope found in union with Christ.
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  Christ Died for the Ungodly 14.06.2026 43p

  Andrey Gorban reads Romans 5:6-11, where Christ dies for the ungodly while we were still weak. He recalls Nat King Cole's line that the greatest thing is to love and be loved in return, then shows that God's love does not rest on our loveliness. While we were sinners and enemies, Christ died for us, and God looks at us and calls us his own.
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  Foundation of Faith 07.06.2026

  A prayer is offered before Paul Hoffman brings the Word from Romans 5:1-5. The church thanks God for giving his Word and asks for boldness as Paul speaks. They ask the Spirit to calm their hearts and open their minds so the Word would be received.
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  Set Apart For The Work 31.05.2026

  Samuel Nagel introduces Chris Castro, sent with Lynn and their son Judah to plant a church in Tokyo. Chris then reads Acts 13:1-3, where the church at Antioch is worshiping and fasting, and the Holy Spirit sets apart Barnabas and Saul. A settled church sends, and the Spirit and the church send together.
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  God's Wrath on Immorality 24.05.2026

  Elder Sean Jim preaches Romans 1:26-32 and says God's present wrath is that he gives us over to our sin. He points to Genesis 6, where every intention of the heart was only evil, and says no king or science can fix that. Only God gives a new heart and a new identity in Christ, so his people can put sin to death and live in godliness.
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  God's Wrath on Idolatry 17.05.2026

  Sean, an elder, opens Romans 1:18-25 with bad trades: two pizzas for ten thousand Bitcoin, and Esau's birthright for stew. Paul says God's wrath is revealed when we exchange the Creator for the created. Seeing that folly lets us see the greater exchange, Christ's righteousness for our sin.
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  Beginning Romans 10.05.2026

  Thomas Terry begins Romans 1:1-17 and compares the gospel to breath we stop noticing once it feels familiar. Paul writes to imperial Rome about a crucified Jewish carpenter and says he is not ashamed of the gospel. We do not graduate from that good news, so we need to be reminded of it and its power.