Holy Trinity Silicon Valley - Homilies & Sermons

What makes someone a saint? On All Saints Sunday, Reverend John Gorin shows that saints aren’t people who drifted through life untouched by trouble. In Scripture, “saints” means “holy ones”: people set apart by God, often tested, and sometimes opposed. And if you belong to Christ, that includes you.
Rev. Gorin starts with the story of Augustine, a brilliant philosopher who came to Milan to pick up speaking tips from Bishop Ambrose. Instead, he found a man who cared for the poor and lived out what he preached, and Augustine came to faith and was baptized by Ambrose. From there, he works through Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:18 and its three gifts:
The hope to which God has called you: a future that keeps us going when life doesn’t go as planned, and a cure for the “shrinking back” the early Church called acedia.
The riches of God’s inheritance in the saints: not only what we inherit, but the surprising truth that God counts his people as his own treasure.
His incomparably great power: the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, given in daily portions to people whose own batteries always seem to be running low.
Drawing on Revelation 7, Luke 6, John Chrysostom, John Calvin, and N.T. Wright, this message invites us to thank God for the saints who came before us and to take up our part for the generations still to come.
Readings: Ephesians 1, Revelation 7, Luke 6
Visit us: Holy Trinity Silicon Valley is an Anglican church in Palo Alto, and all are welcome, whatever you believe. Learn more and plan a visit at holytrinitysv.org, or join us in person at 3373 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.
Coming this Advent: Lessons & Carols, an unhurried hour of Scripture and song, on Thursday, December 10 at 7:30 PM. It’s free and open to everyone: https://www.holytrinitysv.org/lessons-and-carols-2026

Election ads, hard weeks at work, family worries, an unsettling doctor’s visit: all of it can slowly pull us away from the experience of God’s love. In this sermon on Matthew 22:34–40, we look at Jesus’ answer when the Pharisees ask which commandment matters most, and at how we can rekindle our love for the God who first loved us.
In this sermon:
God is the priority of our love. “Love the Lord your God” is covenant language. When our feelings run thin, the command keeps us turning toward the One who watches over, provides, and stays present.
We bring our whole selves. Heart, soul, and mind (dianoia): our passions, our prayers, and our full capacity to think and reason, offered to God.
Love is never only vertical. Jesus joins the Shema to “love your neighbor as yourself.” We express our love for God by loving the people around us.
Along the way: Blaise Pascal’s “Memorial” from the night of November 23, 1654, C.S. Lewis on why good philosophy matters, and David Brooks on how self-emptying love points to God.
Scripture: Matthew 22:34–40 · Deuteronomy 6:5 · Leviticus 19:18 · Genesis 15 · Mark 7:9–13 · John 15:9–14
Preached Sunday, October 25, 2026 at Holy Trinity Silicon Valley, an Anglican church (ACNA · C4SO) at 3373 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Everyone is welcome. Learn more at holytrinitysv.org.

How do we keep the joy of the Lord when life is wearing us down, or when God hasn't done what we hoped he would by now?
Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, a young church born in conflict and persecution, and praised them for receiving the gospel "in the midst of severe suffering, with joy given by the Holy Spirit." Through that letter and the prophet Malachi, this sermon looks at three things:
1. Joy is the hallmark of the Christian life. It's more than a mood. Drawing on Dallas Willard and J.I. Packer, joy is a settled confidence that rests on who we are in Christ and what he has done.2. Life's difficulties can erode our joy. Like Israel after the exile, prolonged disappointment can lead to doubt, and doubt to quietly pulling away from God.3. We can recapture joy. God's call through Malachi is an invitation back: to give ourselves to him again in time, Scripture, community, and resources, and to wait on him with prayer.
Scripture: Malachi 3:8–12 · 1 Thessalonians 1:4–7 (with a look back at Philippians 4:4–7)
Holy Trinity Silicon Valley is an Anglican church (ACNA · C4SO) at 3373 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Sunday worship is open to all.Learn more: https://holytrinitysv.org

How do you stop worrying in an age of anxiety? In the final sermon of our Philippians series, Rector John Gorin preaches on Philippians 4:4–7: “Do not be anxious about anything.”
Paul wrote this letter of joy while under house arrest in Rome, and in it he gives a simple pattern for anxious people:
Give your worries to God, through prayer, specific petition, and thanksgiving.
Receive God’s peace in return, the peace that “transcends all understanding” and guards your heart and mind like a detachment of soldiers.
Leave it in God’s hands, without picking it back up or putting God on a timer.
Along the way, Fr. John speaks to the anxieties of life in Silicon Valley right now: uncertainty about AI, a tense news cycle, and the private worries we carry about family, health, and friends. He also shares how Holy Trinity’s lease renewal came through after a season of prayer when a move seemed likely.
Scripture: Philippians 4:4–7; Matthew 6:25–34; John 11
Holy Trinity Silicon Valley is an Anglican church in Palo Alto (ACNA, Diocese of C4SO). We are a liturgical community at 3373 Middlefield Road, serving Palo Alto, Stanford, Mountain View, Menlo Park, and the wider Bay Area. Visitors are always welcome.
🌐 holytrinitysv.org📍 3373 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306

What does it actually mean to be spiritually mature? Drawing on years of hospital chaplaincy with people facing the end of life, Deacon Cindy Miller reflects on Paul's letter to the Philippians and the difference between achieving success and pressing on toward Christ.
In a place where it is easy to measure our lives by money, status, and who we know, Paul offers a countercultural vision: maturity isn't a status we reach, but a daily, humble reliance on God. Cindy explores how we can keep turning back when we drift, why this life isn't meant to be lived alone, and why we don't have to wait until the end to reorder what matters most.
Scripture: Philippians 3; Isaiah 5:1–7; Matthew 21:33–46Preacher: Deacon Cindy MillerRecorded: Sunday, October 4, 2026
Holy Trinity Silicon Valley is an Anglican church (ACNA / C4SO) gathering in the heart of Silicon Valley.Learn more and join us on Sunday: https://holytrinitysv.org

The Palace of Versailles was built to keep everyone asking one question: where do I stand? We may laugh at blue coats and red heels, but Silicon Valley has its own ladder. It just has closer rungs.
In this sermon, David McGaw looks at Paul's letter to the church in Philippi, a Roman colony of army veterans where life was organized around rank and privilege. Paul calls the church to regard one another as better than themselves and to take on the mind of Christ, who emptied himself (kenosis) and came down to serve.
Drawing on N.T. Wright's translation and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together, this message asks what humility looks like when something feels scarce, especially our time. Bonhoeffer's answer starts with listening and with letting God interrupt our plans through the people around us. Christ stepped down from the ladder, and he invites us to step off it too.
In this episode:
Why status-seeking survives even in "egalitarian" cultures like ours
Humility in abundance versus humility in scarcity
Listening as the first service we owe one another
The hymn of Philippians 2 as a model to follow, not just a theological artifact
Scripture (Proper 21, Year A): Ezekiel 18:1–4, 25–32; Philippians 2:1–13; Matthew 21:23–32Preached Sunday, September 27, 2026
Holy Trinity Silicon Valley is an Anglican church in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others (C4SO). We serve Palo Alto, Mountain View, and the wider Stanford and Silicon Valley community. We're rooted in ancient liturgy and practice, and we gather to worship, listen, and serve together. Learn more at holytrinitysv.org.

Peter asked Jesus how many times he must forgive, and offered a generous answer: seven. Jesus' reply, "seventy-seven times," moves forgiveness beyond anything we can count.
In this sermon from Holy Trinity Silicon Valley, the Rev. John Gorin looks at the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:21–35). He calls it both comforting and disturbing. It is comforting because it shows the scale of God's mercy toward us. It is disturbing because it makes clear that forgiving others is not optional.
In this episode:
Why we have a God-given "justice reflex," and why staying there blocks our path like a mudslide on Highway 1 through Big Sur
How unresolved offenses spread through workplaces, families, and churches, including a medieval dispute over communion bread during the East–West split
The unpayable debt: what the king's mercy cost, and what Christ's mercy cost
The link between receiving God's forgiveness and extending it (Matthew 6:14–15)
A practical step: naming the offense and declaring forgiveness in the name of Jesus, even before our emotions catch up
Insights from Lewis Smedes' The Art of Forgiving on relapses, lingering anger, and patience with the healing process
Why "mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13)
Scripture: Matthew 18:21–35; Matthew 6:9–15; James 2:13Resource mentioned: Lewis B. Smedes, The Art of Forgiving: When You Need to Forgive and Don't Know How
About Holy Trinity Silicon ValleyHoly Trinity Silicon Valley is an Anglican church in Palo Alto, California, part of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and the Diocese of Christ Our Hope (C4SO). We are a liturgical, sacramental community rooted in ancient tradition and engaged with the life of Silicon Valley. Learn more and join us on Sunday at https://www.holytrinitysv.org.

Summer's over but autumn hasn't shown up yet. Deacon Cindy Miller notices that we're living in that same gap spiritually: the Kingdom of God is here, and it also isn't here yet.
She'll tell you she doesn't usually bother titling her sermons. This one she did, because the week leading up to it was one of the hardest she's had, and the in-between is where she found herself sitting with some genuinely difficult scriptures. Ezekiel gets called as a watchman. Matthew hands the church an uncomfortable process for what to do when someone sins against you. Paul, in Romans 12, says your love has to be sincere, then keeps going: bless the people who persecute you, mourn with those who mourn, live in harmony.
The question Cindy keeps returning to is why. Why does God ask us to do the hard thing and go to the person who hurt us? Her answer is that he's teaching us how to love the way he loves, and that's a lifetime of formation rather than a switch that flips. Keep short accounts. Go to people in a way that's loving and respectful, because you have no idea what kind of week they've had. And when someone won't hear it, you don't write them off forever, you just move them out of your close circle and keep leaving the door open.
She lands on three things from Romans 12:12 to carry into the week. Be joyful in hope. Be patient in affliction. Stay faithful in prayer.
One line worth the whole sermon: love is an action, not an adjective. Anyone who's been married a long time already knows that.
Holy Trinity is an Anglican church (ACNA / C4SO) in Palo Alto. Sermons are posted weekly.

Every team has conflict. Most of us just hope nobody brings it up.
Rev. John Gorin starts this week with Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team and its second dysfunction, the fear of conflict, before turning to a much older one in Matthew 16. Jesus tells his disciples that whoever wants to save their life will lose it, and whoever loses it for his sake will find it. Every disciple has to decide which life they're actually trying to keep.
From there John looks at why the alternatives have such a pull on us. Money, power, sex, and the applause of other people were good gifts in the garden before they got bent, and they still promise a security they can't deliver. Peter finds this out the hard way. He's just been called the rock, he takes Jesus aside to talk him out of the cross, and he gets one of the sharpest rebukes in the Gospels. Not because he's malicious, but because well-meant advice can still come from the wrong place.
The last stretch is practical. John calls them "little habits": bookending the day with Morning Prayer and Compline, being honest about the conflicts you'd rather deny, and giving thanks in all circumstances even when you don't like how things are going. Small things, done for years, by saints who never faced anything as dramatic as Calvary.
Also in this one: Romans 7, Tim Keller on counterfeit gods, Bruner on what self-denial is and isn't, and a Supertramp reference that will land for about a third of the room.
Holy Trinity is an Anglican church (ACNA / C4SO) in Palo Alto. Sermons are posted weekly.

For two thousand years, Christians have practiced their faith by gathering weekly as a church. So it may come as a surprise that Jesus mentions the church only three times in Matthew's Gospel. In one of them, He tells us almost everything we need to know about what the church is for.
In this sermon, Rev. John Gorin turns to Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God". John then asks what the church looks like when it is at its best. He offers three marks: a church with Jesus at its center, answering rightly the question of who He is; a church engaged in the mission it has been given, breathing the Lord's life into strained relationships, offenses, and the ordinary demands of a week; and a church rooted and grounded in love, honest that none of us has arrived.
Along the way, he takes up the long-contested question of what Jesus meant by "this rock". Rev. John explains how Catholic, Reformation, and Anglican readings differ and offers a corrective on the gates of Hades: gates are defensive, not offensive. The church is not bracing for attack. It is advancing with an offer of life.
Holy Trinity Silicon Valley is an Anglican parish (ACNA / C4SO) in the heart of the Bay Area.