Trinity Church of Portland - Sermons

On this beautiful September morning we continued our series "Hevel Under The Horizon", going through the wisdom book of Ecclesiastes. This sermon titled "The Myth of the American Dream" was preached by Pastor Thomas Terry from Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26.In this text we see Solomon on a quest for meaning from life. He gives his assessment of this quest in the early verses of our text—he says that self indulgence of pleasure, projects, and possessions are hevel and a striving after wind. After seeing how these things do not provide any satisfaction or meaning Solomon then seeks to find satisfaction from wisdom, work, and wealth. He then finds these to be unable to fill him with any meaning and satisfaction. At the end of this text we see that pleasure, projects, possessions, wisdom, work, and wealth are incapable of giving a person ultimate meaning but are to be seen as good gifts given by God, who is the source of all satisfaction. In light of this the wise person will enjoy them for what they are and be drawn to God and live for and pursue Him which will be the only way to find real meaning from life.

This morning we began a new series titled, "Hevel Under The Horizon", going through the wisdom book of Ecclesiastes. This sermon is titled, "The Myth of Human Progress" and was preached by Pastor Thomas Terry from Ecclesiastes 1:1-11.We learned that the preacher speaks truth when he says everything in the world that moves toward human progress is vanity or "hevel", meaning it is something like smoke that vanishes quickly and cannot be grasped. Moreover, all the toil we exert for all kinds of things that are also hevel weary us. Ultimately, life is full of weariness and hardships, we work but are never satisfied and in the end what will account for all this weariness of life—nothing, we will not even be remembered.Now all this may seem depressing, but what the preacher wants you to feel is the meaninglessness of these things that are hevel in order to break their allure to keep you from trying to find ultimate meaning in anything or anyone not the Lord. The preacher's words are not altogether different from what Jesus said, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeit his soul? Or what shall a man give for his soul?" So, ask God to help you focus on heaven not hevel.

This morning our sermon was preached by Pastor Sean Demars from Sixth Avenue Community Church in Decatur, Alabama. The title of this sermon is Faith Versus Flesh and was preached from Philippians 3:2-11. In this sermon we learned that God is warning you to avoid false teachers who will seek to convince you that you must trust in your flesh for your righteousness. There were false teachers who were teaching the Philippians to put confidence in the flesh which is to trust in or rely on anything other than Christ and Christ alone for your righteousness. Paul is saying in this text that a person’s righteousness can only be that which comes through faith in Christ, it is a righteousness from God that depends on faith.

This morning our sermon was preached by one of our faithful members and is titled, “Masculinity, Femininity, and Other Relics of the Ancient World” from Titus 2:1-10. In this sermon we learned that sound doctrine must be what directs our training as mature men and women teach younger men and women to walk in self control, love, and good works.Whatever your station in life is, seek to join the church and learn from those in your church community who are a few steps ahead of you in their Christian walk. 

This morning we heard a sermon titled “How You Listen Is Everything” from Mark 4:1-34, preached by our guest preacher Daniel Schreiner, who is a pastor at Hinson Baptist Church in Portland, OR.In this text Jesus talks about listening over ten times, which becomes a moral choice for all people. How you listen determines both your identity and your future. How you listen also says a lot about who you love and how you love. Let us be people who grow to be good listeners, especially to Christ and His word. Remember how merciful and faithful God has been to us, in how he draws us and enables us to be able to hear His word.

This week we continue our current sermon series, The Word of God & the People of God. Pastor Thomas Terry preached from Ephesians 2:19-21 on the Apostolic foundation of the church. This sermon is titled “The Foundation”.

This morning we continued our current sermon series, The Word of God & the People of God. Pastor Thomas Terry preached a sermon titled “What Are We Doing Here?” from Ephesians 2:1-19.In this sermon we learned about the church, that the church is an assembly of God’s people—the called out ones from the world who have been placed together for a specific purpose. God brings all kinds of people together in unity to put on display the mystery of God’s glory and God’s supernatural power in saving people to love and care for one another. 

This morning we heard a sermon titled “I Once Was Blind, But Now I See” from Mark 10:46-52, preached by one of our members, Andrey Gorban.In this sermon we saw that even though Bartimaeus was blind he sees something most of the people around him couldn’t see. It was that he was in the presence of Jesus, the Son of David who he knew could restore his sight. We see mercy asked for by blind Bartimaeus and we see mercy abundantly given by Jesus. Bartimaeus was given faith to be made well and to become a follower of Jesus. The lesson for us is that often God uses our afflictions to put us in a place that lets us see God and search for and receive the spiritual sight we need.

This morning we continued our current sermon series, The Word of God & the People of God. Pastor Cristian Boanca preached a sermon titled “Deacons: The Servants of the Church” from 1 Timothy 3:8-13.In this sermon we learned about deacons—who deacons are, what deacons do, and how deacons serve.

This morning we continued our current sermon series, The Word of God & the People of God. Pastor Thomas Terry preached a sermon titled “A Good Shepherd” from 1 Timothy 3:1-7. In this sermon we learned about God’s design for those who lead the church—pastors. This role is to be fulfilled by qualified men who are both pastors and members of the church. Pastors are not to do all the work of the church but are to equip the church for the work of its ministries. We see the pastoral qualifications through five categories: calling, character, conduct, competency, and consistency. We can be thankful for pastors knowing that Jesus is the chief Shepherd of the church and has delegated specific authority to pastors. We should all desire to submit to our pastors knowing they are accountable for our souls as men who give an account to God.