Stay up to date with the weekly teachings from Trinity United Presbyterian Church located in Santa Ana, CA.
Trinity United Presbyterian Church
This Sunday, we'll understand what kindness means from a biblical perspective. In our culture, it seems that kindness and politeness are the same idea, but as we study this fruit (our Spiritual qualities), we see a different meaning. Kindness, as we see in Galatians chapter 5, is really a spiritual quality encouraged by the Holy Spirit that relates to others with goodness, generosity, and graciousness. We'll explore the cost of kindness, our motivation, and how we can be agents of kindness to the world around us.
The word "love" gets used to describe everything from our favorite food to our deepest relationships, but in 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul strips away every shallow definition and reveals what love truly is in the Kingdom of God. This message dives into the richness of the biblical understanding of love — patient, selfless, enduring, and rooted not in feeling but in intentional choice — painting a picture of love that looks radically different from what our culture so often celebrates. As followers of Jesus, we will explore what it practically looks like to live out this kind of love every day, allowing the fruit of love to grow in us and flow through us into every relationship and every corner of our lives.
We live in a world that rewards volume and power. What does the counter-cultural value of gentleness look like, and how can we better express it in our lives and our speech?
This Sunday, we will explore how to grow the fruit of joy in our lives. Pastor and author Paul David Tripp notes, “A joyful life of grace towards others grows best in the soil of gratitude.” We bear the fruit of joy when we thank the Lord for being the “giver of immortal gladness.” He has turned mourning into dancing, shame into glory, and graves into gardens.
Our happiness varies according to circumstance, but deep joy remains even when life is hard. This Sunday, we'll talk about the Joy Takers and Joy Makers in our lives.
Spiritual growth isn't about trying harder or doing more — it's about tending your inner life so that who you are on the inside starts to show up on the outside as a real, visible reflection of God. The fruit Paul talks about isn't something you manufacture; it's something that grows when you stay close to Jesus. It's really about laying that foundation and inviting people into that kind of deeper, inside-out walk with God.
Celebrating 150 YearsMeditation: “Remember”Rev. Gary Watkins, Former Associate PastorRemembrance videoRev. George Munzing's Prayer for Trinity's future.Meditation: “Embracing God's Future”Rev. Dr. Doug Rumford, Former Lead Pastor#TUPCSA #TrinityTrinity United Presbyterian Church
In this passage from 1st Peter chapter 5 we see that Peter is speaking first to an elder audience about how it is that they are to shepherd the flock and the character that they are to exhibit while they are shepherding. Second, there is the call to those who are younger people in the life of the church to put on humility rather than pride. Third, Peter then encourages the church as to how they manage adversity, anxiety, and demonic attack. Forth, there is also a final encouragement of how God's grace and healing will restore them after they have lived faithfully.
We'll explore one of life's most important questions: What does a changed life actually look like for someone following Jesus? In 1 Peter 4, we'll discover how Christ transforms our mindset, priorities, relationships, and purpose—and why that transformation often becomes visible to the people around us. Join us as we learn how to live in such a way that people are pointed to Jesus.
The truth is this: a beautiful life, lived by a woman OR a man, single or married, can speak powerfully of the love and reality and transforming power of Jesus.
"Living Well in the World" -- Consulting Pastor Scott Palmbush
As we continue to celebrate the resurrection in these post-Easter days, we are studying Peter's words to the church and learning how to live in the world. This week, Peter reminds us that we are loved by God and that our true home is with Him. Then he challenges us to live “good” lives deeply rooted in that love and confidence. When our behavior matches our beliefs, God will use our lives to change hearts. The most powerful example comes from the way we respond to unjust suffering. Not easy, but we rely on the Spirit, and we look to Jesus, who modeled it for us as he went to the cross. This Sunday, we'll dive into how our lives can reflect the truth of the Gospel and how our example can really make a difference in those around us.
"Living Well in the World" -- Consulting Pastor Scott Palmbush
We live in a world that rewards winning — winning arguments, winning debates, winning people over to our side. But what if the life we're really meant to live looks completely different? This week in our 1 Peter series, we explore what it means to love one another deeply, from the heart — not just on the surface, but the risky, real, vulnerable kind. Drawing from 1 Peter 1:22–25, we'll ask some honest questions: Why is it so hard to let people in? What does it actually cost us to choose relationship over being right?
How do we follow Jesus faithfully, in a culture that holds different values?
Have you ever experienced something so unexpectedly good that it felt too good to be true? In this message, we'll explore how the resurrection of Jesus first sounded like nonsense—even to His closest followers—yet became the event that changed history, created the Church, and still echoes into our lives today. Through the empty tomb and Jesus' invitation to the unlikely and undeserving, we'll discover that what seems too good to be true is actually the greatest hope ever offered—an open invitation into the family of God.
The Jerusalem Council seeks God together amid disagreement, listening carefully to Scripture, testimony, and one another. Their conclusion—“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us”—reveals that discerning God's will is often a patient, communal process shaped by God's Word rather than individual certainty.This week, practice discerning God's direction by slowing down, engaging Scripture, and inviting trusted believers into the process rather than rushing to conclusions alone.
Jesus teaches that seeking God through prayer means coming to Him with bold persistence and deep trust in His goodness. Perseverance in prayer is not about wearing God down, but about growing in reliance on our good Father. Application: This week, practice seeking God by praying consistently and expectantly, trusting that God uses persistent prayer to shape our hearts and deepen our dependence on Him.
Written from the wilderness, Psalm 63 captures David's deep longing for God, where physical hunger and thirst become metaphors for a soul desperate for His presence. Within the Seek series, this psalm reveals how deprivation—whether chosen or imposed—can train our hearts to desire God above comfort, success, or relief.
"Confidence & Humility", James 3:13-1813 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness
Pressure can be as recent as your last thought, but pressure is nothing new. Centuries ago, James (the half-brother of Jesus) gave encouragement and guidance to Christians who faced intense challenges. Dispersed by persecution and hardship, James' words invite them – and us – to let life's pressure points guide them toward a deeper journey with Jesus. Learn how faith in Christ can transform life's most difficult choices into opportunities for wisdom and joy.
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