Door of Hope Northeast

Various Scripture - According to Jesus, the Bible is the authoritative, inspired, unbreakable word of God that all leads to Him. The Bible is also a word of man with a very complicated and human history. At the same time, the Bible is a unified but incredibly diverse work of literary artistry spanning many authors, genres, and tones. To encounter the Bible is like stepping into a gallery containin...

Exodus 25-31 - Does God care about human artistic excellence? Does He have aesthetic preferences? In Exodus 25-31 we learn much about the answer to these questions through His commissioning of the building of the tabernacle and its associated designs. We learn that He commissions human art, inspires human art, and empowers human art. And while we live in a new era this side of the cross, in many w...

Genesis 1-2 - We begin a new series on the place of art and creativity in the Christian life with a consideration of the creativity of God. In Genesis 1-2, we learn that God is the metaphysical creator, the ordering craftsman, and the delight-giving artist. We also learn that He is the archetype, maker, and partner of human artists. We even get a glimpse of God's posture toward his creation after...

Psalm 100 - The fourth traditional Advent theme is “love.” In this poem, the psalmist calls us into thankful, celebratory praise over the fact of God’s loving, good, faithful character. He reminds us that we have been created by God, that we belong to God, and that we are lovingly shepherded by God. All of this finds its fullest expression and fulfillment in both the first and second advents of Je...

Various scriptures - We step into 2025 with a refresh on our central vision and values as a church--our four pillars--and their connection to this year's unique vision of replacing technology's yoke with Jesus's. Our pillars are the cross (defining our theology), community (defining our membership), simplicity (defining our philosophy), and the city (defining our mission). The world and what we’ve...

Psalm 98 - The third traditional Advent theme is "joy." Joy can be a vulnerable feeling to share with others as it is often associated with naivety or guilt. But joy is a major theme across both the Psalms and the whole Bible itself as well as the appropriate response to the character and salvation of God. In Portland earnest, expressive, vulnerable joy in Jesus might be one of the most counter-cu...

Psalm 85 - This psalm, a psalm of lament, invites us to consider our need for peace, what peace is, and when peace will come. But the Hebrew word for peace, "shalom," speaks of something far deeper than we typically think: a kind of universal wholeness and flourishing that only God can provide. Ultimately, God has delivered and will deliver this deeper peace through His Son, Jesus, who promised, "...

Psalm 132 - We'll be spending Advent 2024 considering the traditional themes of hope, peace, joy, and love through the Psalms. In this sermon, Cameron introduced the Psalms as a book of poems, songs, and prayers that have led the people of God in how to bring their whole selves to God in worship and prayer. Psalm 132, specifically, is one of the "songs of ascents," sung by pilgrims on their way to...

Galatians 4:4-7 - After establishing the genuine divinity of Jesus the creed turns to establish the genuine, full humanity of Jesus. In order to seek and save a people for Himself, God the Son entered the sin-stained world in actual flesh. He fully identified with us—even in our weakness—without ever giving in to sin. All of this that we might become the righteousness of God in Him through faith....

Colossians 1:15-17 - There are at least two ways to argue for the divinity of Jesus: First, from biblical statements about His identity as the Son of God and second, from biblical statements about what He did and does. This section of the creed reminds us that Jesus did something that only God can do: He created all things. It also reminds us of the other amazing things that Jesus did that led so...

John 1:1-18 - One of the primary aims of the Nicene Creed was to clarify what the Bible says about the divinity of Jesus. He was neither a lesser, "created" god nor a god with the (false) appearance of humanity. He was, as the creed declares, "the only-begotten Son of God, who was begotten of the Father before all ages, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten, not made, having the same...

1 Corinthians 8:5-6 - The second article of the creed focuses on the second person of the trinity--God the Son. This opening declaration that we believe in "One Lord, Jesus Christ" tells us about Jesus the human, Jesus the Messiah, and Jesus the divine Son of God. Each of these will be explored further in the creed, but for now we let them shape our answer to Jesus's greatest question: "Who do you...

Genesis 1:1-2:3 - The creed declares God to be "maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible," and thus declares the natural outflow of who God is as life-giving Father almighty. In considering God as creator, we are pushed to consider Him as loving provider of free gifts of grace. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 4 of our series "The Nicene Creed: The Ancient Theology of the Tri...

John 17:1-3 - The Nicene Creed rightly emphasizes the identity of God as "the Father, the Almighty." These two qualities together--the loving, compassionate, self-giving, life-generating fatherliness of God AND the endlessly powerful, capable might of God--distinguish this God from all others and are a powerful cornerstone of the Christian gospel. May we cherish the privilege of being made His son...

Exodus 3:13-15; John 14:8-11; Acts 2:1-4 - The Nicene Creed begins with an affirmation that there is "one God," though it makes clear as it goes on that it is not only the Father, but also the Son and the Spirit who are also to be worshipped as God. With this statement, we are plunged into the heart of the mysterious, beautiful doctrine of who the Christian God is: the doctrine of the Trinity and...

Jude 3 - In an age where ideas and information come and go at the speed of light, there is a deep need for timeless truths that transcend our present moment. In the Nicene Creed we find a summary of “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” and step into a tradition that unites us with Christians across time, geography and the various branches of Christianity. As we anchor ourselves in this...

Genesis 1:26-28; Matthew 22:36-40; Mark 10:28-31 - We are living amidst a loneliness epidemic. There are many reasons for it, but at least one is our retreat from embodied, flesh-and-blood, local communities into digital spaces. In the age of "the machine," it could be that one of the most valuable counter-cultural things we can do is fight for community among the people of God. And perhaps our mo...

Psalm 104 - We continue our 2024 vision series considering more ways in which our digital culture leaves us feeling dehumanized and disembodied. In Psalm 104, we find a model for how to reclaim the lens of our ancient faith by moving from distraction to focused attention, from disenchantment to divine recognition, and from disposability to cherishing. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 2 of our 2024...

Matthew 11:28-30 - We begin our 2024 vision series with an examination of the dehumanizing, technological, inhumane age we find ourselves in: what we might call the age of the machine. Amidst all the other stressors of life, it seems our culture is uniquely suited to leaving us feeling distracted, disembodied, and disenchanted. We are anxious, lonely, and tired. Amidst all of this, Jesus's words a...

Colossians 1:1-4:18 - The public reading of Scripture has been a significant practice for the people of God throughout history. As a church, we join the global and historic church in declaring that the Bible is the divinely inspired, wholly infallible, and completely authoritative Word of God that points us to Jesus, the Word of God made flesh. If this is true, then it is the case that every time...

Colossians 4:2-18 - Paul concludes his letter to the church in Colossae with a set of final commands around prayer and witness before sending his greetings to and from a group of first century Christians. Even here we see that Christ has been faithful to knit together an improbably diverse community around Himself through HIs amazing grace. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 7 of our series "Paul's...

Colossians 3:17-4:1 - In this passage Paul takes his ideas about the new humanity in Christ and imports them into the Greco-Roman household codes. The result is not the destruction of the household or its roles, but instead the radical reorientation of them all around Jesus. For those who listen, marriages, parent-child relationships, and economic relationships never were and will never be the sam...

Colossians 3:1-17 - In this passage, Paul turns the corner from the largely doctrinal to the largely practical. In light of who Jesus is and what He has done, how then shall we live? But rather than giving us license to sin or laws to perform, Paul centers our motivation on the gracious, saving work of Jesus and the new humanity He is bringing about. Secure in our life with Him, we are to acknowle...

Colossians 2:6-23 - Every culture in every age has its particular vision of spiritual enlightenment. In this passage of Colossians, the Apostle Paul challenges the ones the Colossian church were tempted by, reminding them that a truly flourishing life and a genuinely deep spirituality is only found in Christ. Do you want something deeper? The only place to go is deeper into Christ Himself. A sermo...

Colossians 1:24-2:5 - In this passage Paul writes of his suffering on behalf of both Jesus and his gospel as well as the Colossian Christians he has never met. In Paul's example we are reminded that suffering is inevitable, but our faithfulness through it is dependent upon the depth of our love. Thankfully, Christ was faithful through His suffering first. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 3 of our...