In this passage Jesus summarizes the Law of God to an inquiring scribe.  The scribe responds relating the Moral Law with the Ceremonial Law.  As he does that, we see Jesus telling the man that he is not far from the kingdom of God.  Join us as we look at how understanding the Law in relationship to Christ is foundational to entering Christ’s kingdom.  And we’ll also see how this is a fitting passage to consider on this Sunday before Thanksgiving.

(Due to technical difficulties, the entire sermon was not recorded.  Please refer to the sermon manuscript for the completion of the sermon.  We apologize for this inconvenience.)

Passage: Mark 12:28-34
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 11/23/2008 in Novato, CA.

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 More Than All the Whole Burnt Offerings and Sacrifices [25:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (130)

People are great at appearances.  We do everything we can to make a good first impression.  No matter how many times you were told growing up, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” the reality is that people do all the time.  We live in a world where appearance can be everything.  Society tells us that the outward and external is so very important.  And yet, even society can tell a fake.  You’ve probably met someone before who had the outward appearance of being rich, famous, and smart, the appearance of being a “somebody”, but really wasn’t.  Once you got to know them, you realized that they were a fraud. 

This is the issue that Jesus is dealing with from a religious perspective in our passage.  Jesus is confronted with the Pharisees and scribes who in the name of religion outwardly adorn their every action, but their hearts were hard and defiled.  We’ll look at how Jesus calls us to be concerned first and foremost about the condition of our hearts.

Passage: Mark 7:1-23
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 06/29/2008 in Novato, CA.

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 But Their Heart is Far From Me [34:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (128)

Passage: Mark 1:40-45
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 02/17/2008 in Novato, CA.
Other Scripture Readings: Leviticus 13:45-46; Hebrews 13:10-13

Have you ever felt like an outcast?  In our passage for today, we see a leper who would have surely been just that – an outcast.  Among Israel, according to the Old Testament Law, lepers had to live alone outside the camp, away from everyone else, and wherever they went they would have to cry out “Unclean! Unclean!” as a warning to any around them.  And as we look at this passage and see Jesus heal this leper, we’ll see how this beautifully shows forth the nature of the kingdom which Jesus was bringing.  And we’ll see how the cleansing of this leper look forwards to the cleansing that Jesus would bring on the cross for all of us – for we all are ultimately outcasts from God because of our sinful rebellion.

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 I Am Willing -- Be Cleansed! [36:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (142)