http://www.trinityopcnovato.org Serving Novato, Marin County, California and the World Wide Web. This site provides information about the Christian ministry of Trinity Presbyterian Church, OPC. This site also broadcasts the latest sermons and Sunday schools from Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Novato, CA. Our sermons seek to exposit Scripture, preaching Christ and the cross, and understanding the impact and demand of the Word on our lives. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:54:18 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Copyright © by W. Reid Hankins and Trinity Presbyterian Church, 2011 info@trinityopcnovato.org (Rev. W. Reid Hankins) info@trinityopcnovato.org (Rev. W. Reid Hankins) Religion & Spirituality:Christianity 1440 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/tpc-vertical144.jpg http://www.trinityopcnovato.org 144 144 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?feed=podcast Sermons and Sunday Schools Serving Novato, Marin County, California and the World Wide Web. This feed broadcasts the latest sermons and Sunday schools from Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Novato, CA. Our sermons seek to exposit Scripture, preaching Christ and the cross, and understanding the impact and demand of the Word on our lives. Church, Novato, Marin, Hankins, Sermon, Christian, OPC, San Rafael Rev. W. Reid Hankins Rev. W. Reid Hankins info@trinityopcnovato.org no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2011/01/16/delight-god-worship/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2011/01/16/delight-god-worship/#comments Mon, 17 Jan 2011 01:47:36 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1167 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2011/01/16/delight-god-worship/feed/ 0 0:40:34 Sermon preached on Psalm 84 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/16/2011 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Novato, Marin County, CA Psalm 84 01/16/11 The Delight of God in Worship Wh[...] Sermon preached on Psalm 84 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/16/2011 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Novato, Marin County, CA Psalm 84 01/16/11 The Delight of God in Worship When you are hungry, it’s hard to ignore your body’s desire for food. When you are thirsty, it’s hard to ignore that craving as well. Hunger and thirst are both mental and physical cravings for something we truly need. The sensations of hunger and thirst can be powerful. They help us to survive, even. Well, this psalm describes a craving and a desire. It’s a craving and desire to be in the House of God. It’s a passion to be with God and to worship God in his holy temple. C.S. Lewis rightly referred to this as an “appetite for God.” As the Bible tells us, man does not live by bread alone. That physical hunger and thirst alone is not enough to meet our basic needs. Man also has a need to be in communion with God. This psalm expresses that fundamental need. And so we’ll be studying this psalm today as the third and last sermon in our short miniseries on worship. Two weeks ago we talked about the Glory of God in Worship. Last week we talked about the Fear of God in Worship. Today I had originally planned to talk about the Grace of God in Worship. In fact, that’s still a large part of what we’ll be talking about today. But I retitled the sermon after further meditation. I changed it from the “Grace of God in Worship” to the “Delight of God in Worship.” The point I wanted to make with the original title is that we come to worship God in part because of the grace that God gives us as we worship him. I wanted that to be another motivation for us to prioritize this time each week. That’s certainly true. And yet as I reflected on Scripture about that, I was reminded of one way in which Scripture expresses that. It expresses that in passages like this, where the delight of being in worship and communion with God comes out. This “appetite for God” is partly the result of the grace of God in worship. The result of God’s grace coming to us in worship is this craving and desire to be in worship. That’s what I always wanted to highlight today. And so I changed our messages’ title to help bring that out. I hope you see the contrast to this message, compared to our last two messages. When we discussed the glory of God and the fear of God, we rightly said that we should prioritize worship because of who God is. Who he is, his greatness, is the chief reason for our weekly worship of him. Exalting God is the chief reason to be here. And yet, as true as that is, there’s another real reason to be here too. We come here too because it is so good for us to be here. God blesses us so wonderfully as we worship him. The result should be such delight from us to be here with him! That’s the wonderful balance expressed in the first catechism question – what’s man’s chief end? To glorify God and enjoy him forever. Our first two sermons on worship focused on the glorifying God part of our worship. Today’s message focuses on the enjoying God part of our worship. Let’s dig into this passage and get a taste of this truth from this wonderful psalm. Here in this psalm we see the psalmist expressing his strong desire to be in the house of God, that holy tabernacle in Jerusalem. It’s a psalm of pilgrimage to worship God in the tabernacle. Many think that this psalm may have originally been about King David, and possibly also written by King David. You’ll note that in verse 9 it asks God to look upon his anointed one. That’s certainly referring to the king of Israel. As you read this psalm, then, what comes out is that the king of Israel is not currently in the tabernacle, but is longing to return [...] Psalms, Worship Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2011/01/09/fear-god-worship/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2011/01/09/fear-god-worship/#comments Mon, 10 Jan 2011 01:35:46 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1163 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2011/01/09/fear-god-worship/feed/ 0 0:35:42 Sermon preached on Psalm 111 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/9/2011 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Psalm 111 01/09/11 The Fear of God in Worship: “Holy and Awesome is H[...] Sermon preached on Psalm 111 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/9/2011 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Psalm 111 01/09/11 The Fear of God in Worship: “Holy and Awesome is His Name” Today we continue a short three part miniseries on worship. Last weeks’ message was on “The Glory of God in Worship.” Next week we will consider “The Grace of God in Worship.” Today, however, we’ll consider “The Fear of God in Worship.” Now I recognize that in today’s age the concept of the “Fear of God” is not very popular among man. People don’t want to fear God. If they believe in God at all, then they usually want God to be their best friend, or maybe even their lover. But not someone they should fear. Now, I could have easily titled our message today the “Reverence of God in Worship,” and given essentially the same sermon. The word “revere” and the word “fear” are actually close synonyms to each other. And yet ty experience shows that for some reason, people today tend to have less of a problem with the idea of revering God, than with fearing God. When I talk about fearing God, it often raises lots of questions from people. When I talk about revering God, people usually have no problem with that. Probably because people in their minds they might tend to lighten what “reverence” is all about. It’s probably just a sort of holy respect in many people’s minds. And so I intentionally named our sermon today about the “fear of God.” Technically, “reverence of God” would have gotten at the same idea. But I think we need to really recognize the importance of actually fearing God, in the biblical sense of such fear. OPC minister and professor John Murray said, “The fear of God is the soul of godliness.” If that’s true in general for godliness, how certainly it’s true when it comes to our worship of God. We can’t properly worship God without a right sense of fear of God. Now let me right away get an important clarification out of the way. There’s one important sense in which Christians ought not to fear God. We should not fear God in terms of judgment. 1 John 4:18 says that perfect love casts out fear. You see, there are different senses to the word “fear.” Christians don’t fear that God will judge us. We know God loves us and has saved us. Faith in that love casts out that kind of fear. And yet 1 Peter 2:17 still tells us to fear God. There’s a fear of God that’s not about fearing judgment, but that appreciates all who God is. We can fear God in a way that recognizes his awesome and even terrifying power. The very fact that God could have brought judgment upon us, could certainly install this same kind of proper fear of God. Christians should always have this right sort of fear of God. Fear that recognizes that God is God, and we are not. Fear that recognizes how everything is in his hands. All is in his control. He has the power to do whatever he wills. This fear is a sort of holy respect, but it’s more than that. Its constantly recognizing the almightiness of God in a way that stands in awe of him. His greatness should grip you in a way that can be called “fear.” I don’t want us to lose that word. For Christians, this is not a negative fear. It’s an amazing fear. It’s even a good fear. And it’s the one enduring fear we will always have in our life. This passage talks about the fear of God today. And it relates that fear to our worship of God. Three concepts are actually prevalent in this psalm. The fear of God, the praise of God, and the works of God. Those three ideas are connected in this psalm. The psalm starts and ends with a general reference to praise[...] Psalms, Worship Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2011/01/02/glory-god-worship/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2011/01/02/glory-god-worship/#comments Mon, 03 Jan 2011 07:32:54 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1128 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2011/01/02/glory-god-worship/feed/ 0 0:37:06 Sermon preached on Psalm 29 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/2/2011 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Novato, Marin County, CA Psalm 29 01/02/11 The Glory of God in Worship Today[...] Sermon preached on Psalm 29 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/2/2011 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Novato, Marin County, CA Psalm 29 01/02/11 The Glory of God in Worship Today we begin a short miniseries on worship. This series will be a trilogy – a simple three part series. Today’s message will be on “The Glory of God in Worship.” Next week will be “The Fear of God in Worship.” The last topic will be “The Grace of God in Worship.” And so today we’ve just read a psalm about the glory of God. It’s a psalm that calls for God to be glorified. Before we dig into this psalm, I think it would be helpful actually define in broad terms what it means to glorify God. Well, the word “glorify” comes from the word glory. So to glorify something, is to give glory to something. To give glory to something then is to attribute honor and praise to something. It’s to exalt something. It’s to draw attention to its beauty and majesty. It’s to highlight its value. You can glorify something in a false way. Like false flattery. False flattery is giving glory and honor to someone who is undeserving of it. That’s glorifying someone, but the glory you are attributing to that person isn’t true glory. The glory you’re attributing to them is a lie. But not so with God. When we talk about glorifying God, we’re talking about exalting him before all with the glory that is actually his. We honor him, and praise him, for who he is. For what he’s done. For our special relationship with him. Write those down. When we think about what we are glorifying God in, think of those categories. We can glorify God for who he is, for what he’s done, and for our special relationship with him. Those three categories can give you an endless source of content for which to glorify God. How you glorify God can be done in different ways. You can glorify him in your efforts to live godly. If that’s done in response to his majesty, it glorifies him. You can glorify him through your evangelism, telling others of his glory and his plan of salvation. Those are just two examples. But probably the most natural way to glorify God is through our public worship. It’s that aspect of glorifying God which we’ll be considering today. As we look at this psalm, we realize that it is especially calling us to glorify God in public worship. And so we’ll think about this psalm from that perspective. As we look at this psalm, we’ll see that it talks about God’s glory poetically. It gives a poetic picture of God’s glory through the context of a storm. This psalm shows how God’s glory is seen in a powerful storm, full of thunder and lightning. Evidently this has been a psalm typically read to children or even congregations during a big storm. The storm points us back to the glory of God. Let’s dig in and analyze this psalm, and think about how it calls us to glorify God in our worship. The first section of the psalm is in verses 1-2. This is a common thing we’ll read at the Call to Worship in our Sunday service. Simply put, it’s a call to glorify God. It makes this call very poetically, using typical Hebrew repetition and parallelism. Verse 1 repeats the call twice. It uses the same command “give” twice here. Some translations use the word “ascribe”. I prefer that translation, but it’s the same idea. Give, ascribe, unto the Lord glory and strength. It’s a call to acknowledge and identify the glory of God to all. It highlights his strength here too, which is yet another thing that brings glory to God. Verse 1 had parallelism in it, repeating the call to give glory to God. Verse 2 is now a parallel of verse 1, and it has parallelism within it as well. V[...] Psalms, Worship Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/06/07/worship-and-the-order-of-service/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/06/07/worship-and-the-order-of-service/#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:09:15 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=389 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/06/07/worship-and-the-order-of-service/feed/ 0 0:37:51 As Paul corrects the Corinthian church’s abuses concerning spiritual gifts, we learn several valuable insights concerning the order of worship. Sermon preached on 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Tri[...] As Paul corrects the Corinthian church’s abuses concerning spiritual gifts, we learn several valuable insights concerning the order of worship. Sermon preached on 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 06/07/2009 in Novato, CA. Manuscript: Worship and the Order of Service Worship Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/05/24/worship-and-the-people-of-god/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/05/24/worship-and-the-people-of-god/#comments Mon, 25 May 2009 05:51:34 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=380 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/05/24/worship-and-the-people-of-god/feed/ 0 0:45:30 We’ll consider how God calls his people to worship together as a family as we look at Joel 2 and God’s call for corporate repentance to Israel in light of the coming Day of the Lord. Sermon preached on Joel 2 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins duri[...] We’ll consider how God calls his people to worship together as a family as we look at Joel 2 and God’s call for corporate repentance to Israel in light of the coming Day of the Lord. Sermon preached on Joel 2 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 05/24/2009 in Novato, CA. Manuscript: Worship and the People of God Worship Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/05/17/worship-and-the-covenant-of-grace/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/05/17/worship-and-the-covenant-of-grace/#comments Mon, 18 May 2009 02:30:35 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=373 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/05/17/worship-and-the-covenant-of-grace/feed/ 0 0:42:35 Consider what it means for our worship to be covenantal as we look at Hebrews 10 and contrast the old covenant with the new. Sermon preached on Hebrews 10:1-25 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) o[...] Consider what it means for our worship to be covenantal as we look at Hebrews 10 and contrast the old covenant with the new. Sermon preached on Hebrews 10:1-25 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 05/17/2009 in Novato, CA. Manuscript: Worship and the Covenant of Grace Worship Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/05/10/worship-and-the-law-of-god/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/05/10/worship-and-the-law-of-god/#comments Sun, 10 May 2009 23:10:18 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=367 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/05/10/worship-and-the-law-of-god/feed/ 0 0:45:26 Today we continue our sermon mini-series on worship.  We look at the golden calf incident in Israel’s history to see God’s zeal that his worship be conducted according to his terms.  In the process, we are reminded of Christ’s inte[...] Today we continue our sermon mini-series on worship.  We look at the golden calf incident in Israel’s history to see God’s zeal that his worship be conducted according to his terms.  In the process, we are reminded of Christ’s intercession and atonement for us. Sermon preached on Exodus 32 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 05/10/2009 in Novato, CA. Manuscript: Worship and the Law of God Exodus, Worship Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/04/26/worship-and-the-holiness-of-god/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/04/26/worship-and-the-holiness-of-god/#comments Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:07:23 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=354 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2009/04/26/worship-and-the-holiness-of-god/feed/ 0 0:31:59 Today we will begin a new five week mini-series on Worship.  In this first sermon, we’ll look at God’s interaction with Moses through the burning bush and see what it reveals about our worship of God, and God’s holiness. Sermon pre[...] Today we will begin a new five week mini-series on Worship.  In this first sermon, we’ll look at God’s interaction with Moses through the burning bush and see what it reveals about our worship of God, and God’s holiness. Sermon preached on Exodus 3:1-12 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/26/2009 in Novato, CA. ** Due to technical difficulties, the last few minutes of this sermon were not recorded.  We apologize for the inconvenience.  Please refer to the manuscript for the remainder of the message. Manuscript: Worship and the Holiness of God Exodus, Worship Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no