Trinity Church of Portland - Sermons

Welcome to our current podcast series, "Christian Living In The Current of Culture," where we study the timeless and relevant truths of 1 Corinthians. Each week, we explore how the Apostle Paul's words guide us in navigating the complexities of living for Christ in today's world.This week, Jan Verbruggen brings us a message from 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 titled “The Spirit's Gracious Gifts for the Church”. This text begins Paul's discussion on spiritual gifts. We see that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to bring glory to Christ, so that no one may boast, and for the common good as the Spirit sees fit. The working of the Spirit must lead to the affirmation of who Christ is—Lord of all. Even if you do not know what your gifts are, be willing to get involved in serving the church which is often a key way you will distinguish what gifts the Spirit has given you. Let us strive to build up the church which will enable you to use the gifts God has given you and bring glory to Christ.

This sermon is from our current series, Christian Living In The Current of Culture, preaching through 1 Corinthians. This sermon titled “Discerning The Body” is from 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 and was preached by Pastor Josh Petersen.In our text this morning Paul begins to correct the Corinthians for their division and lack of care for each other in the church. They were not properly discerning the church when they took the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. The ordinance is when Christians come together in unity to remember the Lord Jesus and identify with Him as one, in unity. Paul warns the Corinthians they first needed to examine themselves and ensure they were not sinning against their Christian brothers and sisters—to repent if need be. You must be thinking about the needs of others in the life of the church when you take communion. You must discern your life in Christ and deal with sin prior to taking communion. The Lord's Supper is to be done in unity as the church proclaims and declares the reality of Jesus into all of our lives.

This is the 19th sermon in our current series Christian Living In The Current of Culture, preaching through 1 Corinthians. This sermon titled “Glorifying God When We Gather” is from 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 and was preached by Pastor Josh Petersen.In our text this morning Paul moves into a new area related to corporate worship which will continue through chapter 14. Paul begins this section by holding up Christ and his submission to the Father as the model for wives living in submission to their husbands. The real issue was that the Corinthians were not taking care to avoid distracting each other in worship. We are to be careful so that all we do begins and ends with giving glory to God. We should always be pointing to Christ and building up one another as a good witness to Christ and for the church's reputation.

This sermon is from our current series Christian Living In The Current of Culture, preaching through 1 Corinthians. This sermon titled “Escaping Idolatry" is from 1 Corinthians 10:1-22 and was preached by Pastor Greg Taylor.In our text this morning Paul is challenging us to choose sides. He will use the people and events found in the Exodus narrative of the Old Testament as a warning to us from God that we must avoid falling into sin, into idolatry the way the Israelites did. Paul is going to tell us that we must live carefully to avoid the sin that caused God to destroy an entire  generation of Israelites. Ultimately you must understand that you cannot accept God and His blessings and also practice idolatry. God will not share His glory—he is a jealous God. But there is mercy even for idolaters who will turn from their sin and confess to Christ. The Gospel is enough to cover any sin and forgive any sinner.

This morning we had a guest preacher, Shai Linne who preached our sermon titled “The Lord of Our Joy” from John 2:1-11.In our text this morning we see the earliest miracle Jesus performed by turning water into wine at a wedding. This event reveals to us that Jesus has great power, He is generous, and He is good. It also demonstrates that our resources run out and only Jesus can provide the greatest need we have which is to find our fulfillment in Him and in things that are not dependent upon temporal things.

This is the 16th sermon in our current series Christian Living In The Current of Culture, preaching through 1 Corinthians. This sermon titled “The Right Reasons” is from 1 Corinthians 9:1-27 and was preached by Pastor Thomas Terry.In our text this morning we see Paul remind the Corinthians that he was indeed an Apostle which afforded him certain rights to have financial support and a wife should he choose to marry. Paul then shares how he relinquished his rights to financial support so as to not equate gospel preaching with the paid philosophers of the day, knowing his reward would come from God. Paul closes this section by using the illustration of athletic competitions to call us to be willing to condition ourselves to serve people for the gospel and obtain a reward that is imperishable. This text demands a response from us to keep ourselves under control to not risk being disqualified or causing others to set a course that might cause them to become disqualified.

This morning we continued in our current series, Christian Living In The Current of Culture, an exposition of 1 Corinthians. This sermon titled “Free To Love” is from 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 and was preached by Andrey Gorban.In our text this morning we see Paul answer another issue from a letter the Corinthians sent to Paul. The Corinthians had confusion about food sacrificed to idols, and whether they could eat it and continue to visit temples now that they were Christians. Paul is teaching us to always practice love over our freedoms. This requires us to know our brothers and sisters so we never do anything to wound their consciences. The Christian way is to love each other and show deference to the weaker believer. Our actions should always help our brothers and sisters to walk closer to Jesus.

This morning we continued in our current series, Christian Living In The Current of Culture, an exposition of 1 Corinthians. This sermon titled “Single-Minded Devotion” is from 1 Corinthians 7:25-40 and was preached by Pastor Thomas Terry.In our culture, two modern secular movements have influenced many Christians. The first movement is the modern Entrepreneurial Movement that over-emphasizes self empowerment and individual achievement, thus undervaluing marriage. The second movement is the Traditionalist Movement that sees marriage as the most beneficial way to achieve financial success and human flourishing. People in this movement view marriage as superior to singleness and the impetus for all the great things life has to offer. For Christians we must view both marriage and singleness as gifts to be kept in an eternal perspective and to be used to glorify God. This should cause all of us in the church to create a synergy between married people and single people knowing we need each other.

This morning we continued in our current series, Christian Living In The Current of Culture, an exposition of 1 Corinthians. This sermon titled “The Beauty of Your Calling” is from 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 and was preached by Pastor Greg Taylor.In our text this morning we see Paul's message to the Corinthians is emphasizing that all believers should embrace their current circumstances, seeing it as their divine calling, serving God faithfully in their given roles and situations. God has gifted and blessed each one of us in unique ways and we are to use these gifts and blessings to obediently serve God with a content heart that trusts God.

This morning we continued in our current series, Christian Living In The Current of Culture, an exposition of 1 Corinthians. This sermon titled “The Beauty of Marriage” is from 1 Corinthians 7:1-16 and was preached by Pastor Greg Taylor.We moved into chapter seven today and we see the Apostle Paul answering questions he received from the Corinthians in a letter they’d sent him. His answers center mostly around the marital relationship and sex, singleness, and divorce. Paul encourages them to live the life for which God has gifted them and to avoid falling into temptation. This is so applicable to us because we face many of the same issues in our culture which has some resemblance to Corinth. We as Christians must get our ethics about sex, marriage and divorce from Scripture, not from the culture.