Trinity Church of Portland - Sermons

This morning we welcomed guest preacher Eric Bancroft, lead pastor of Grace Church in Miami. Pastor Eric preached on the subject of the church’s mission from Acts 14:1-23. The church has been entrusted with the gospel and our primary goals must be to preach the gospel and make disciples. The church has always been viewed by the world as weird and even foolish. Despite this, the church must keep on mission and desire to see Christ proclaimed and glorified in and through us as we preach the gospel and make disciples.

Trinity Church Pastor Thomas Terry concludes our our Advent series, Unto Us A Child Is Born, preaching a sermon titled “Wise Men Seek Him” from Matthew 2:1-12. In this text, we see the details of the Magi who came seeking Jesus and bringing their gifts to Him. The way they respond to Christ is the way people 2,000 years later still react to Jesus—either spiritually seeking, religious indifference, or agnostic hostility. This text leaves humanity with a blueprint how to respond to Jesus Christ today—it is to seek him and to worship him. 

Trinity Church Pastor Greg Taylor continues our our Advent series, Unto Us A Child Is Born, preaching a sermon titled “Shepherds We Have Heard” from Luke 2:8-20. In this text, we see miraculous appearance of the angel of the Lord and the heavenly host proclaiming the birth of Jesus to lowly shepherds in a field. We see the reaction of the shepherds as they go to Bethlehem and share what they've been told. Once the shepherds see Jesus and realize their long-awaited Messiah has come they worship even as they return to care for their sheep. This story should remind us that Christmas is all about the good news of great joy found in the coming of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Trinity Church Pastor Cristian Boanca continues our our Advent series, Unto Us A Child Is Born, preaching a sermon titled “God With Us” from Matthew 1:18-25. In this text, we see the details of Joseph and his unique place in the birth of Jesus. Joseph goes from secretly planning to divorce Mary from their engagement to showing tender mercy to her, still taking her to be his wife and keeping her a virgin until after Jesus’ birth. Ultimately, Joseph was faithful and obedient to what God commanded him through the angelic dream. Joseph was an ordinary man who was used by God to bring about the incarnation—to bring Immanuel, God with us to birth.

Trinity Church Pastor Josh Petersen continues our our Advent series, Unto Us A Child Is Born. This sermon titled “Humble Belief” is from Luke 1:26-50. In this text, Mary receives the call from the angel that she would be the young woman God would choose to give birth to Jesus. God provides enough details to calm Mary’s concerns. Then God provides comfort for Mary showing her he was in control and sent her to Elizabeth for encouragement. This resulted in Mary humbly submitting to God despite what would be a very hard path to walk. Like Mary, we can trust God to provide what we need to do what He has called us to do.

Trinity Church Pastor Jan Verbruggen begins our Advent series preaching a sermon titled “God Remembers” from Luke 1:5-25. In this sermon, Jan shows us how we can trust God to guide us through whatever obstacles we face just as Zechariah and Elizabeth could trust the angel’s prophecy that they would have a son in their old age—John the Baptist. John was to be the forerunner of Jesus, preparing the way for the Christ by preaching the word of God to the people calling them to repentance. God exalts his sovereign reliability in this text by giving an elderly barren couple the very child who would grow up to preparing the way for Christ, so that we too may trust Him with our obstacles. God promises are always reliable because he is the God of the impossible.

Former Trinity Church Pastor Andrew Pack preaches our sermon titled “Others-Centered Church” from Philippians 2:1-11. Paul in this text is inviting Christians to respond to the reality of Jesus and what he has done so that we practice others-centered living. To be an others-centered church requires us as members of the church to consider Jesus, to worship Jesus, and to copy Jesus. We will tend to become like what we put at the center of our lives, and even worship that thing, so we must place Jesus at the center of our lives to live out being an others-centered church and people.

Pastor Greg brings to a conclusion our series, The Eighth Chapter, an exposition of Romans 8, preaching from Romans 8:31-39. In this text we learned that Paul uses a series of rhetorical questions to provide objective gospel truth for the fears Christians often have related to their relationship with God and assurance of salvation.

Trinity Church member, Ahshuwah Hawthorne continues our current series, "The Eighth Chapter" an exposition of Romans 8. This sermon is titled “It Was Only The Beginning Of The Real Story…” and was preached from Romans 8:28-30. This sermon teaches all that is happening in your life is because of God’s purpose for you to both bring you to Jesus and to make you more like Jesus. In God’s plan and purpose we know the ending has already been written and God’s people will one day be with God in glory for all eternity.

Pastor Thomas continues our series, "The Eighth Chapter" an exposition of Romans 8. This sermon is titled “On Earth As It Is In Heaven” and is from Romans 8:26-27. We learn in his sermon that one aspect of the Holy Spirit’s ministry to us is that he helps us when we do not know what to pray given two or more choices that seem possible. This is when the Holy Spirit helps us with our words of prayer, interceding for us. Though we pray prayers with fallen lips and minds, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God, so that our prayers are properly prayed and properly heard.