Trinity Church of Portland - Sermons

This morning we continued our series "Hevel Under The Horizon" going through the wisdom book of Ecclesiastes. This sermon, the sixth of the series is titled "The Myth of Sacred Politics & Casual Church" and was preached by Pastor Thomas Terry from Ecclesiastes 4:13-5:9In this text the Preacher exposes that many people have placed their ultimate hope in politics to the point that politics has become a religion, it is often treated as something sacred. Meanwhile church has become less sacred and bends toward being treated as casual by many in the church.When Politics is elevated to the level of the sacred, it is vanity and when church is downgraded to a place that is casual it too is vanity. We as God's people must be people who put church in its right place approaching God with reverence. Practically we must hear what is said, be careful to watch what we say, and be people who do what we say.

This morning we continued our series "Hevel Under The Horizon" going through the wisdom book of Ecclesiastes. This fifth sermon of the series is titled "The Mtyh of Having Other People’s Lives" and was preached by Pastor Thomas Terry from Ecclesiastes 4:4-12In this text we see the Preacher expose the vanity of envy and desiring the lives other people seem to be living. Human envy will often lead to either laziness or over work. Both of these sinful responses from our envy produce vanity, they are worthless and harmful to human flourishing. The way God would have His people live is to work hard yet also avoid envy by being content with what God has given you and how God has blessed you. God has given Christians each other to walk through this world socially integrated within the church and family relationships. There is a safety in numbers which we should see also as a blessing from God.

This morning our sermon was preached by Pastor Sean Demars from Sixth Avenue Community Church in Decatur, Alabama. The title of this sermon is Zeal For Your House and was preached from John 2:13-17.In this sermon we learned why Jesus cleansed the temple. It was because of the overemphasis on convenience and the greed of the money changers which led to such irreverence that Jesus in his zeal cleaned out the mess. This is a good lesson for the church that we be willing to live with inconvenience, avoid greed, and acknowledge the holy, in order to live with zeal for Christ. 

This morning we continued our series “Hevel Under the Horizon” through the book of Ecclesiastes. This fourth sermon of the series is titled "The Mtyh of Human Goodness" and was preached by Pastor Thomas Terry from Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:3.In this text we see the Preacher begin to make some observations about the wickedness in our world with the goal of exposing the myth of human goodness. He starts by telling us that even in the places where justice should be ensured there is instead wickedness. He brings into view the terrible oppression that people without power often face. These are the result of sin in humanity. God allows the wickedness in our world to remain as way of exposing the realities of our condition (being in sin) and our position (we all will die). But despite the rampant wickedness in our world God will one day be the judge of all these oppressions and injustices. This should be a comfort to you, to know one day God will repay.

This morning we continued our series "Hevel Under The Horizon", going through the wisdom book of Ecclesiastes. This sermon titled "The Myth of Time Management" and was preached by Pastor Thomas Terry from Ecclesiastes 3:1-15.In this text we see the providence of God as it relates to the times and seasons of our lives. We do not control most of these things but rather respond with the limited freedom we have. Too often we attempt to manage time as a way to create our own destiny, to gain a sense of control. This often reveals a heart either of trust or autonomy. There is great profit when we experience what God has given us, the good gifts that come when we accept our limitations and live in light of God who is, the One who is in control and the giver of every gift we possess. So, let us live every moment in light of God’s loving care for us trusting Him even in the times of sorrow and loss, when things don’t go as we had hoped. 

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.