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, 02 Feb 2012 18:45:42 +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/2010/12/19/blessed-is-the-fruit-of-your-womb/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/12/19/blessed-is-the-fruit-of-your-womb/#comments Mon, 20 Dec 2010 04:38:23 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=991 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/12/19/blessed-is-the-fruit-of-your-womb/feed/ 0 0:33:10 Sermon preached on Luke 1:26-45 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/19/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Luke 1:26-45 03/14/10 Blessed is the Fruit of Your Womb It’s tha[...] Sermon preached on Luke 1:26-45 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/19/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Luke 1:26-45 03/14/10 Blessed is the Fruit of Your Womb It’s that time of the year again. This week we celebrate Christmas and especially remember the birth of Jesus. It’s typical at this time to remember all the praise and worship of Jesus at his birth. We probably think first of the angels who sang, “Glory to God in the highest,” and the shepherds who quickly spread the word. We also are probably quick to think of the wise men who came and worshipped Jesus and presented him with presents. And yet even before all of that, and even before he was born, people were praising and acknowledging the life of Jesus. We see that here today. Here in this passage you have praise abounding for Jesus while his human body was just beginning to be knit in his mother’s womb. In this passage you see John the Baptist, himself in the womb, leaping in praise for the unborn Jesus. You have Elizabeth, John’s mother, confessing and proclaiming this unborn child as her Lord. The angel Gabriel here comes down before any of later angels who meet the shepherds in the field, and here he heralds the coming of Christ. He heralds the virgin birth, the incarnation, and the glory of the messianic ministry of Jesus. Mary, takes this all in, responding in faith submitting herself to obedience. Months before the larger world would celebrate the birth of Jesus, here we get a snapshot of four people already celebrating, John, Elizabeth, Gabriel, and Mary. Let’s spend a few moments thinking about the roles of various people we see here in this passage. Let’s think first about the role of John the Baptist and Elizabeth here in this passage. What role do they serve in this passage? Their role is a confirming role. A confirming role. Mary is essentially sent to go visit them, with the purpose that what the angel said would be confirmed to her. We too have this record to find confirmation about Jesus. Look at verse 39. After Mary met with the angel Gabriel, she pays a visit to her relative Elizabeth. This is the mother of John the Baptist, who is also on the way, though about 6 months farther along in her pregnancy than Mary. Verse 41 tells us what happened when Mary arrived. Mary shows up and the fetus who is John the Baptist leaps inside Elizabeth’s womb! Now, it’s quite normal for babies at that point to move around inside the mother’s womb. It’s quite normal for the mother’s to feel them. And yet this is more than just a big kick. The text tells us otherwise. Twice we’re told the reason here. First the narrator tells us the fact. Verse 41. As soon as Mary greeted Elizabeth, the baby John the Baptist leaped inside her. After that Elizabeth gives us her inspired interpretation of this leaping. Read verse 44. She tells Mary, “As soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.” I mention that this is an inspired interpretation by Elizabeth because verse 41 tells us that Holy Spirit entered Elizabeth upon Mary’s arrival. And what you have going on here with Elizabeth and John the Baptist is that they are essentially confirming the identity of Jesus. They are identifying the baby within the womb of Mary, as the Lord. That’s actually Elizabeth’s words in verse 43. She’s calls Mary the mother of her Lord. That means that she’s saying that that little unborn baby inside Mary is Elizabeth’s Lord. Baby Jesus was probably just a small little bundle at the time… maybe not even big enough to see, if you could peer insider her womb. Mary might not even have been showing at that time. And yet Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, gives her confession of faith. She confesses and[...] Christmas, Deuteronomy Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/12/05/he-will-provide-atonement-for-his-people/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/12/05/he-will-provide-atonement-for-his-people/#comments Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:46:19 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=980 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/12/05/he-will-provide-atonement-for-his-people/feed/ 0 0:42:49 Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 31:30-32:521 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/05/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 31:30-32:52 12/12/10 “He Will Provide At[...] Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 31:30-32:521 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/05/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 31:30-32:52 12/12/10 “He Will Provide Atonement For His People” Here we have the Song of Moses. It was introduced in chapter 31, which we studied last time. Today we’ve read the song itself and now have the opportunity to study it. Last time we saw how this song was meant to be a warning to Israel. It would warn them of the consequences of forsaking the one true God. It warned them of the consequences of breaking the covenant that they had with God. That’s certainly a dominant theme in this song. The song has a lesson to teach – turning from God has consequences. We call this a song, because chapter 31, verse 30, calls it that. To what degree they actually sung this or just recited it, is an open question. Probably some of both. But the song certainly is Hebrew poetry, which itself is a very broad category. In addition, this song has the marks of wisdom literature as well. It has some similarity to the Proverbs, which of course is also written poetically. You’ll notice this right in the opening verses. Verse 1, “Give ear… and hear the words of my mouth.” Verse 2, “Let my teaching drop as the rain.” These opening verses are typical of what you see in some of the other wisdom literature in Scripture, such as the opening chapters of Proverbs. There and her you see the author calling you to take careful heed to his teachings. And so this would have been a poetic song that was in the wisdom literature category. It has features of both the psalms and proverbs. Of course, there are psalms that clearly are proverbial in nature. Psalm 37, for example. This song is something like that. It’s poetic, it’d be memorable, particularly in the Hebrew, and it’d be instructive. As it said in chapter 31, this would be something to teach to the next generations. They should memorize this. They should sing and recite it to themselves all the time. They should contemplate and consider its message. A central part of that message is stated right at the start. Verse 4. “Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock.” It goes on to say that he is perfectly just, repeating this idea in typical Hebrew poetic fashion. The first real teaching of this song is that God’s glory is proclaimed and the people are called in turn to glorify him. And the description given here of God being their rock is introducing a theme used throughout this song. Who would be their rock? Would it be the one true God? Or would they try to set false gods as their rock? That’s the question dealt with throughout this song. And so right at the start, this song calls the people to set God as their God and to glorify him. In contrast, he is exalted as a just God. This means that they should not be surprised if he judges them when they rebel against him. This is what they should learn from this song. They need to hold fast to God and his covenant laws. That’s what Moses says in summary after the song as well, verses 46-47. They are to set their hearts on the words of this song and learn that lesson, that they may live. And so this song teaches and it warns. It points to God’s future justice when Israel would later turn from God to idols. When they did, they’d be punished severely. That’s what this song teaches. It’s a function of this just and righteous God. That’s what the people needed to remember and contemplate. And yet this song doesn’t only teach about that warning. It also points to the hope of God’s compassion that restores and forgives and atones for the sins of this people. It ends with a triumphant note. Not a triumph of Israel’s faithfulness. But a victory of Go[...] Deuteronomy Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2008/04/06/salvation-workout/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2008/04/06/salvation-workout/#comments Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:34:32 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/2008/04/06/salvation-workout/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2008/04/06/salvation-workout/feed/ 0