Trinity Church of Portland - Sermons

Andrew Pack preaching from Mark 11:12-26. In this text, Jesus curses the fruitless fig tree and cleanses the fruitless temple. Jesus then commands us to have faith in God, to pray for very large things, and to forgive one another. Apart from God and his power these things are impossible and it is right for us to ask for the impossible and seek his power and help to make sure our accoutrements match the foundation of God’s design.

Andrew Pack preaching from Mark 11:1-11 the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry when the people shouted, Hosanna—which means “Save Us.” This is a text that demands a response when we consider Jesus is our faithful Savior, our humble Savior, and our worthy Savior. What would it look like if we actually lived like we trust in Jesus's faithfulness, took more seriously His humility, and if we counted Him worthy of our trust? Instead of the frequent delays in trusting Jesus we would be quick to trust and obey Him, and it would change how we pray, how we evangelize, and how we spend the time and resources He has entrusted to us. Jesus is indeed our faithful Savior who longs to help His people, and to save sinners.

Pastor Thomas preaching from Mark 10:46-52 about the interaction between Jesus and Bartimaeus, the blind beggar. Despite the crowd seeking to hinder Bartimaeus, he confidently shouts to Jesus in search of mercy he knew only Jesus could provide. Bartimaeus receives his sight becoming physically well, he also receives from Jesus spiritual salvation and becomes a follower of the Lord Jesus. This is a beautiful example of the Lord using suffering in the life of a person in order to bring them to saving faith. Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus calls out to the Son of David and becomes a son of God.

Trinity Church Pastor Cristian Boanca preaching from Hebrews 12:3-13 about one of the ways we can know we are walking with God. We can know we are one of God’s children when we experience the discipline of the Lord in our lives. God disciplines his children because we need discipline, and God always does it perfectly. God uses his heavenly discipline to make us more dependent upon him and to grow into greater holiness.

Thomas Terry preaching from Mark 10:32-45, Jesus shares the future he faces to complete God's redemptive plan and make the gospel a reality for sinners—his death, burial, and resurrection. It should be easy for Christians to answer the question, “What Is the Gospel?” But this is not always the case because the true gospel has been hijacked in our day, leading to confusion for many people. There are many so-called gospels that add or subtract something from the true gospel, and thus have no power to save. The Apostle Paul taught that any corruption of the gospel must be resisted at all cost. Then our text turns to the ridiculous and insensitive request James and John make of Jesus as they jockey for position. Jesus responds by telling them they will suffer after him, but he kindly withholds any details. Jesus then teaches that servanthood for His glory is what real greatness looks like. The proper gospel of Jesus as our ransom should drive everything we do, especially that we become servants for his glory.

Ryan Lister preaching from Mark 10:17-31 about Jesus's interaction with the Rich Young Ruler. In this sermon we learn how not to follow Jesus, how not to be like people who walk away from Jesus because they misinterpret Jesus, or misinterpret themselves or misinterpret their desires. Jesus offers an invitation by calling people to follow him, to properly understand who Jesus is, who we are, and be able to discern our true desires. Accepting the call to follow Jesus will have a worldly cost but that cost will pale in comparison with what Jesus offers us—eternal life.

Thomas Terry preaching from Mark 10:13-16 asks and answers the question, “Are we helping or hindering our children to come to Jesus?” This starts with parents and extends to the local church to create an environment that makes Jesus foremost in our homes, and makes the church a vital, and important place in the life of each family.

Preaching from Mark 10:1-12, Thomas puts before us the beautiful blueprint God has given people for marriage. In our text, Jesus confronts sinful people seeking loopholes to sever their marriages by exposing the hardness of their hearts. Jesus takes them back to creation where we see God's original, intentional design for marriage. As Christians we must affirm this teaching and never take our que from the culture who has corrupted marriage. Let us remember that there is no sin outside the forgiveness found in the shed blood of Christ as proclaimed in the gospel.

In this great Messianic Psalm, Andrew Pack teaches us that even though we live in a world full of people who try to remake Jesus to fit their paradigm, Jesus is who God's word says He is. This is put on full display here in Psalm 110 as we see Jesus as a new kind of king, a new kind of priest, and a new kind of judge. Jesus uses everything he has and everything he is for our good, our joy, and has paid the price for our sins.

From our text, this sermon teaches us about God's providence and helps to address the question, "How do we deal with setbacks, suffering, and even calamites as people who live under God's hand and care?" We see God's providence in the life of Naomi and her family, as there is suffering and death which leads Naomi to bitterness. However we also see that God in his providence provides for Naomi. As people who must live in a fallen world often full of suffering, sin, and setbacks we must remember that we have a Heavenly Father who is for us and working all things together ultimately for our good, even when we cannot see it.