Trinity Heights Church Podcast

In part 2 of our 3 part series on the Trinity as Community, we explored how Trinitarian ideas intersect with contemporary discussions in art and science. We proposed that God as the Trinity is the foundation of our reality. This might seem to contradict contemporary scientific understandings, which focus on string theory, quantum fields, and the Big Bang. Today, science is our primary tool for exp...

Oftentimes, Christians and Skeptics alike view the concept of the Trinity as a kind of Christian mythology, a strange part of the story, off to the side, mysterious and nebulous.   And, as a result we struggle to understand just how fundamental and essential Trinitarian Theology has been throughout the ages with many early Christians and theologians coming to the conclusion that the Trinity is in...

In this episode, Chris Lawrence delivers our reflection.   A week after Easter, we see Doubting Thomas standing alone, out of sync with the rest of his friends, unable to bring himself to believe, unable to match the energy of their ecstatic belief.   Yet, we see that he was not ostracized.   Thomas wasn’t left behind to figure things out for himself. Instead, Jesus shows up on his behalf, embrace...

On Easter Sunday we celebrated the miracle of Christ’s resurrection and explored the implications of his crucifixion and return from the grave, often misunderstood to be the way that we might go to heaven when we die and leave this world behind, a world destined to end. Stephen stated that, “it may come as a relief to some of you to know that while it is true that the Easter message is at the hear...

Like us during an election cycle when hopes ride high that if we can get the right person elected they will make the world a better place, the crowds had high hopes for Jesus when he entered Jerusalem. They hoped that King Jesus would banish the Romans who taxed them into poverty and executed them when they complained.  The Pharisees offered a solution to the Roman problem: we need to follow the T...

Luke chapter 9 and uses the phrase, “He set his face towards Jerusalem.” Luke is referring here to Jesus and his resolute focus on the holy city with the direction of Luke’s gospel hinging on these words. Once Jesus turns his face towards Jerusalem, everything that follows falls in the shadow of this idea. The city of Jerusalem in Jesus’ day was many things. But most importantly, Jerusalem was the...

When Jesus is warned that Herod wants to kill him, he says, ‘Oh Jerusalem Jerusalem you who stone the prophets and kill those sent to you.’ Jesus recognizes that Herod is the most recent iteration of a long history of Israel’s leaders defending themselves from people like him in order to maintain the status quo. Matthew’s gospel tells us that Herod had all the baby boys in Bethlehem two and under...

The prophet’s ability to predict events decades if not centuries into the future can seem mysterious and appear as if they have psychic powers or a crystal ball. But when we read Jesus’ words closely - and the words of other prophetic voices - we discover that Jesus and other prophets understood how their time and place was really functioning - regardless of how others said it was functioning. In...

During a TV interview, British comedian and outspoken atheist, Stephen Fry, was asked, “What would you do if you died and found out God existed?” Fry responded that he would walk up to God and say, "Bone cancer in children. What’s that about? How dare you create a world where there is so much misery that is not our fault. It’s evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded God who creates a...

The prophet Jeremiah witnessed the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of Solomon’s Temple at the hands of Babylon. Even after being allowed to remain with his people in Judah instead of being taken to Babylon, he had to flee to Egypt where he eventually died, never having returned home. A tragic sequence of events for a prophet of Israel who understood full well that the very prophetic traditio...

We are inundated by messages that say that “hopeful” or promising language is too much, too idealistic for this world. The prevailing wisdom tells us repeatedly, this world is a violent world that needs violent solutions. We are confronted by the “facts” and we clam up.  “Hope... is an absurdity too embarrassing to speak about, for it flies in the face of all those claims we have been told are fac...

We often get the impression that the prophet operated as a lone voice over and against the rest of society. This idea is reinforced when we flick through the prophetic books of the bible and find that they are all named after particular prophets: Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Jeremiah etc. Certainly, there were times when the prophets felt alone. Remember Elijah sitting by himself, wishing for his own...

This episode contrasts the imperial imagination with the prophetic imagination. The imperial imagination tells us that this is the way things are, this is the way things have always been and this is the way things are always going to be. In other words, the imperial imagination is very good at perpetuating the myth of its own eternity.  On the other hand, the prophetic imagination can see through...

The history of Biblical prophetic tradition has everything to do with the relationship between the prophet and the Creator God for whom the prophet functions as a mouthpiece. Continued to this day, it’s a tradition that has been fostered by communities throughout history from generation to generation. Freidrich Nietzsche felt that abstract ideas were easier to understand when they found their root...

In this enlightening podcast episode, Pastor Stephen Cheung delves deep into the profound mysteries of the doctrine of the Trinity, drawing from the Gospel of John and the Athanasian Creed. Through a careful examination of scripture and historical context, he explores the intricate nature of the Triune God and its significance in Christian theology. Cheung eloquently guides listeners through the p...

On this Easter Sunday, Pastor Stephen delves into an encounter between the Apostle Paul and a group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in Athens, as recounted in the book of Acts. Paul's preaching about Jesus and the resurrection intrigued some but left others skeptical. However, Paul seized the opportunity to share the message of the resurrection with them, emphasizing its significance in the Ch...

What does it mean to be human? Amidst our daily routines and societal discussions on rights, the notion of humanity remains elusive and complex. Drawing from existentialist perspectives and cultural observations, Pastor Stephen navigates through the intricacies of defining humanity in a world that demands its rights fervently. Through a journey spanning cultural reflections and biblical insights,...

12.11 [Sermon] To rescue us from the "lullaby effect" that comes from overfamiliarity with the Christmas gospel narratives, Eric contrasts Jesus with his contemporary and attempted assassin, Herod the Great. The latter's excessive wealth, paranoia, and brutality leads us to especially welcome Jesus as the Prince of Peace. This Advent series explores the vast implications of the birth of Christ and...

12.4 [Sermon] You've probably heard, "Glory to God in the highest," especially around Christmastime. Why do we pursue fleeting glory--fame, beauty, and bliss? How would our lives be transformed by pursuing the everlasting glory of God? This Advent series explores the vast implications of the birth of Christ and the resounding love, joy and peace imbedded in the story of the creator God who interve...

11.20 [Discussion] The Story Behind the Doctrine: Part Four - Mezzanine Discussion - Stephen and Eric recap the sermon series and discuss the four main ways doctrine tends to be  misunderstood aka 'The Four Flips'. Eric plugs the BEMA podcast and finally opens up the conversation with four questions: 1. What do you think of when you hear the word doctrine? Have you ever thought of doctrine as bein...

11.13 [Sermon] The Story Behind the Doctrine: Part Three - Trinity - Stephen Cheung presents on the doctrine of the Trinity; the deeply mysterious state of God as three in one. Three distinct beings, yet still one God, immersed in a perpetual state of relationship. And, if we allow ourselves to view God this way, our ideas of a bearded, power hungry monad in the sky start to dissolve as we begin t...

11.06 [Sermon] The Story Behind the Doctrine: Part Two - Resurrection - Stephen Cheung explores ideas in and around the doctrine of Resurrection, tying it into last Sunday's teaching on Incarnation and reinforcing the idea that the bodily resurrection of Christ is not only central to the Christian faith but also stands as a life and creation affirming gesture as God stakes his claim to the creatio...

10.30 [Sermon] The Story Behind the Doctrine: Part One - Incarnation - Stephen Cheung explores the doctrine of Incarnation; the mystery of the creator God who takes on human flesh and immerses himself in his own creation. A being both fully God and fully human; a paradox pointing to the question, "What does it mean to be human?"   In our present day, the idea of ‘doctrine’ is often understood to b...

10.23 [Sermon] International Justice Mission - Miguel Lau - This IJM Sunday we explore the work of International Justice Mission to end trafficking and slavery and hear from Miguel Lau. Miguel serves as Senior Officer of Church Partnerships for IJM. In this role, Miguel leads IJM’s engagement with the Church globally, and guides IJM’s offices around the world as they seek to develop creative partn...

10.02 [Sermon] Being Disciples: Part Four - Staying Power - Chris Lawrence wraps up our series 'Being Disciples' and explores how resilience is not in fact a gift but is a habit that needs to be learned. Or maybe it's something to be “caught” by association, from those who have found themselves pushing through threatening and painful experiences.