Holy Trinity Silicon Valley - Homilies & Sermons

This week we celebrated 250 years as a country, with all the good and the hard parts of that history. But our scriptures point us to a freedom that goes deeper than any nation can offer. The prophet Zechariah calls believers "prisoners of hope," and it's a phrase worth sitting with. Because of who God is, hope never runs out. In this message by Deacon Cindy Millwer we look at Zechariah 9, Psalm 14...

What does it actually cost to follow Jesus, and what do we gain when we do? In this message from Holy Trinity Silicon Valley, Rector John Gorin turns to Matthew 10:37-39, where Jesus tells his disciples three times that loving family, comfort, or life itself more than him makes us "not worthy" of him. Drawing on the Greek word Axios, the root of our word "axiom," the message explores how worthines...

What happens when following Jesus moves from the joy of the harvest to the hard work of facing real opposition? Continuing our journey through Matthew's Gospel, this message picks up where Jesus commissions his disciples. He doesn't offer a sugarcoated vision, but speaks honest words about what lies ahead. He sends them out "like sheep among wolves," warning of councils, persecution, and even divi...

We live in the heart of Silicon Valley, a place that is completely obsessed with scaling up, massive innovation, and huge tech launches. It is easy to get caught up in wanting our own lives and careers to have that same kind of massive impact. In this episode, Rev. John Gorin asks a great question. What if the most important startup out there is not the next big tech company, but the one Jesus sta...

We all know that feeling when our internal "injustice radar" goes off. Maybe it is a terrible call by a referee during a game, a favorite artist getting snubbed at an award show, or a painful personal betrayal that cuts deep. In this episode, Rev. John Gorin talks about our natural instinct to demand justice and explains how Jesus completely flips the script by introducing a radical, life-changing...

What if a 500-foot cathedral could teach us more about the Trinity than a theology textbook? Returning refreshed from travels through Germany, England, and Wales, Rev. John Gorin moves past the ancient debates of the fourth-century church—the arguments over a single Greek word, homoousios—to ask a more personal question: How do we actually experience the Triune God? His answer takes us inside the...

A sound like wind. Tongues like fire. And a question that has shaped the Church for two thousand years: what is all of this for? On Pentecost Sunday, Deacon Cindy Miller turns to Acts 2 and to Paul's answer in 1 Corinthians 12 to explain that the manifestations of the Spirit are given, he writes, for the common good. Not for spiritual elites. Not gifts to collect. This is power lent for the sake o...

The Ascension arrives quietly. No trumpets, no fiery chariots, just a cloud, a question, and a commission. In this sermon on Acts 1, David McGaw sits with the disciples' last conversation with Jesus: Is it now? Are you finally bringing the kingdom back? The answer comes not as correction but as handoff. The kingdom is coming, but it's coming through you. Plural. All of you. Together. Drawing on N....

What does it actually mean to "abide" in Christ, and why does Jesus repeat the word eight times in just four verses? In this teaching on John 15, we sit with one of the most contemplated passages in all of Scripture, the vine and the branches. Drawing on voices from Augustine to Luther to Calvin, the sermon unpacks what Jesus meant when he called himself the true vine and invited his followers to...

Samuel Adams was called "the grand incendiary". He was man whose words were so dangerous the British sent soldiers to silence him. In a culture that prefers spiritual language tame and private, the simple sentence "I follow Christ" remains one of the most subversive things a person can say. A meditation on identity, pressure, and the long arc of faithful witness, from 1 Peter 2. When pressure rise...

In the heart of Silicon Valley, it is easy to believe that if we just had a little more data, we could finally solve our problems and ease our anxieties. We crave knowledge, stress over building massive data centers, and hire consultants and coaches to ensure we are on the right path. But what if the guidance we truly need is not found in acquiring more information, but in choosing who we follow?...

Two disciples walk the road to Emmaus, grief-heavy and uncertain. A stranger joins them. It is only when bread is broken at supper that they realize who has been beside them the whole way. In this sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter, Rector John Gorin traces a thread that runs through Scripture, the modern courtroom, and the ordinary rhythms of our lives: the weight of witness. Drawing on the ey...

Deacon Cindy Miller preaches on why the risen Christ's first words to his frightened disciples were "Peace be with you," and why he had to say them more than once. Drawing from John 20, Acts 2, and 1 Peter 1, she traces a thread from that locked upper room through Peter's bold Pentecost sermon to his letter written thirty years later, showing how even those closest to the events needed constant re...

On Good Friday, Deacon Cindy Miller walks us through the final hours of Jesus' life as recorded in John's Gospel, from the cross to the moment the soldiers find he has already died. What did Jesus mean when he said "It is finished"? Cindy traces the larger arc of Scripture, from Abraham's promise that "the Lord will provide the lamb" to the cross where that promise is fulfilled. In less than twent...

This Easter Sunday, we explore the moment the risen Jesus asks Mary Magdalene a deceptively simple question at the empty tomb: "Who is it that you are looking for?" From John's Gospel, we walk through Mary's journey from grief to revelation, and consider how that same question speaks to three kinds of people today: those searching for a Jesus they once knew, those waiting for a God who will finall...

In a valley that celebrates power, ambition, and agency, Palm Sunday confronts us with something radically different. Rector John Gorin walks us through Matthew 27, where Jesus stands before Pilate in what can only be described as peak powerlessness: betrayed by a friend, denied by another, facing injustice, and mocked by the crowd. Yet in that moment, Jesus models something our culture rarely tea...

What do you do when God seems late and the situation has already gone past the point of no return? This sermon sits with the hardest question faith asks us to hold: not whether God can bring life from death, but what we do while we wait. In this final Sunday of Lent before Holy Week, David McGaw explores the painful pause between death and resurrection through the lens of Ezekiel's valley of dry b...

Why does Jesus ask a Samaritan woman for a drink - and what does her story have to do with your deepest longings? In this Lenten sermon, Mayo Adigun traces the thread of thirst from Israel's wilderness in Exodus to a quiet well in Samaria, where Jesus crosses every barrier (ethnic, social, and moral) to reach one woman carrying the weight of five broken covenants. Drawing on John 4, Genesis's well...

In this sermon, Rev. John Gorin draws on the harrowing story of the Donner Party and the quiet, prayerful faith of Patrick Breen, a father who kept a diary of devotion through months of starvation and freezing cold to explore what it means to hope in God when circumstances feel impossible. From the headlines of military escalation in the Middle East to sweeping AI-driven layoffs, and from the pers...

What if temptation isn't something to be embarrassed about, or dismissed with a wink and a smile? In this first Sunday sermon of Lent 2026, David McGaw takes on one of Christianity's most misunderstood topics and reframes it entirely: temptation isn't cute, but it doesn't have to be crushing either. It's an invitation to grow. Opening with a crowd-singalong of The Temptations' "My Girl," David dra...

As we observe the final Sunday in the season of Epiphany, we move from the revelation of the wise men to the ultimate revelation of Jesus’ divine nature. In this episode, we explore the Transfiguration, a pivotal event recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke that confirms Jesus as both incarnate and divine. To find out more about Holy Trinity Silicon Valley head to: https://www.holytrin...

What would it take to completely reset your life? In this Ash Wednesday message, Rev. John Gorin of Holy Trinity Silicon Valley opens the Lenten season with a powerful reflection on letting go of ego, self-reliance, and the worldly scorekeeping that pulls us away from God. Drawing on the remarkable story of U.S. Olympic skier Colby Stephenson, who survived a devastating car accident and returned t...

In this sermon delivered on Mission Sunday during the liturgical season of Epiphany, we explore the calling of every believer to be an agent of rescue in a world that is "harassed and helpless". Drawing from the dramatic true story of a young boy's grueling swim to save his family stranded at sea, the message frames our mission through three distinct lenses: rescue is our experience because we sha...

Podcast Episode: The Foolishness of God In the series finale of "Church Matters," we explore Paul’s letter to a Corinthian church struggling to find its identity amidst a culture obsessed with **money, sex, and power**. While the world demands visible signs of strength and sophisticated intellectualism, the Gospel offers something seemingly contradictory: a crucified Messiah. This episode dives in...

In this episode, we dive into the second part of our "Church Matters" series, exploring Saint Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. While the Corinthians were "sanctified" and set apart for a special mission, they found themselves deeply fractured by earthly allegiances and personality cults. From favoring the intellectual rhetoric of Apollos to the traditional roots of Cephas (Peter), the early...