Trinity United Presbyterian Church

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." Proverbs 29:18 Trinity's new Mission Statement (Living Proof of a Loving God) begins today! Trinity's mission is NOT new - it's exactly what Jesus said in Acts 1:8. It's the bedrock statement of our church's purpose. Together with a few other things (our values, our strategy, and our mission measures), it makes up our church's vision -- a clear and co...

God has dreams for us to flourish. The Israelites were in captivity, but God had better plans for them. We can be part of moving people from a place of desperation and hopelessness, to flourishing and LIFE.

God alone is worthy -- can we realize that? Once again we consider how we worship God. Worship allows us to see the majesty of God, even when the reality of our struggles and daily lives might occupy us.

There is more to "reality" than meets the unaided senses! As the Apostle John experienced, things are not as they seem (that is, not merely as they seem) in our lives. God is at work; God has a purpose; and the all-powerful King Jesus is with us always.

Worship is not our creation or even our idea -- it is an imitation of what has been done in heaven for eternity; and it is a reflection of what every living being is drawn by God to do. Using Isaiah's vision, we will consider how God's presence in worship inspires us, instructs us, and sends us into the world with a purpose.

The first request that Jacob made of God is that “God will be with me.” The Lord’s presence overshadowed his loneliness. God met Jacob, a man who was a deceiver. Not only can we see the evidence of God’s work in Jacob’s life and the fulfillment of God’s promise, but we also realize that only God’s direct intervention in Jacob’s life could accomplish the events that are about to unfold. With Nathan...

Every prophet's vision had both dreams and nightmares. Also, the people of God live in a world where disappointment, suffering, pain and sin exist along with joy, the love of family and friends, and forgiveness. It is often a challenge to reconcile and thrive in a sinful and fallen world. We ask, how do we deal with God's greater dreams for us? God's Word helps us with our disappointments, bringin...

With a Missions Emphasis in worship, we consider how God guides us. In this brief passage, there are four ways God leads Paul and his companions. And guidance comes to believers because God cares how we spend our lives and has a mission field for each of us.

Joseph (of Mary and Joseph) has two significant dreams. One telling him that Mary's child was conceived from the Holy Spirit; the second telling them to flee to Egypt. In the first case, it helped him love and protect his wife; in the second, he preserved his family from danger. God cares about families!

Introduction to series; God sometimes speaks in dreams or visions. What can we learn from these moments of strange communication? In this story, we see the differences between the “Isaacs” of our lives (miracles God plans for us) and the “Ishmaels” (the things we settle for and/or try to manufacture ourselves). Are you ready to trust God enough to dream a little dream? (Note: passages read will be...

The roles of the Holy Spirit include being our advocate, reminding us of God's truth, convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; glorifying Jesus. The Spirit awakens our conscience to the true nature of things.

The Resurrection gives us the assurance of heaven -- but what's heaven like? We MUST use our imagination, since we cannot understand an existence we have never experienced. So we'll (briefly) consider five imaginations of Heaven - Paradise (Lk 23:43), Banquet (Is 25:6-8), Worship (Rev 7:9f), New (Rev 21:1-4) and House (Jn 14:2-4).

How does the Resurrection change how we read Scripture, or how we hear and trust God's promises? Peter tells us that before that 1st Easter, the Prophets wanted to know HOW God would redeem us, but were not told. So, a great deal of what they said and wrote was not only for their time but for us. What a privilege to have our Bible and to have faith and life that comes from God's Story and the open...

The Resurrection gives us the experience of forgiveness, and the promise of ...trouble.

Identity / Inheritance... Our living hope is not just for some day long from now. The resurrection ushers in an entirely new identity for followers of Christ. It reorients how we see God, ourselves and others. It fuels our priorities and directed our obedience.

What is the present-day impact of the Resurrection of Jesus? 1 Peter 1 gives nine (!) ways that Jesus' Resurrection changes our lives today.

On a dusty road, going away from Jerusalem, two disciples don't recognize that the Risen Jesus walks beside them. His miracle ignored and his greatness unnoticed, Jesus speaks with them as they go -- as he often does with us as well. But on that journey, those two disciples are startled by...hope. Even before they know they are with Jesus (!), they are encouraged and thrilled that 1)God is faithfu...

Through the meticulous preparation for the Passover meal, Jesus not only underscores the significance of tradition, but highlights his pivotal role in redemption, foreshadowing his imminent sacrifice on the cross.  Communion serves as a poignant reminder of the depth of God’s love,  the transformative power of Jesus sacrifice and redemptive work in our lives. 

After such a joyous entry into Jerusalem, Jesus probably surprised the crowd by...weeping. It wasn't the first time he wept over the city (Lk 13:34). What saddens him so is that people do not notice his arrival, his coming near (or "visitation"). God still longs to be noticed, and when his approaches go unnoticed, it brings him to tears.

In life - and especially in the life of following Jesus - it is often a struggle to "keep the main thing the main thing"! Eugene Petersen says, "The Puzzle is why so many people live so badly. Not so wickedly, but so inanely. Not so cruelly, but so stupidly. …People, aimless and bored, amuse themselves with trivia and trash. Neither the adventure of goodness nor the pursuit of righteousness gets h...

As Jesus is "on the way" to Jerusalem, he now sends his followers out to minister in advance of his presence. They are Envoys (another word derived from "via") in that they - and we - act as ambassadors of Jesus. Thus, his instructions to them are also for us as we live as Christ's ambassadors (see 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:1)