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The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

This year for our Christmas sermon I want us to reflect on the genealogy of Jesus Christ.  When we look at the Bible, we see lots of genealogies throughout.  And that is fitting.  Right from the fall of mankind God had made a promise to Adam and Eve.  God promised that the seed of the woman would one day crush the seed of the serpent.  That meant humanity had to be on the lookout for the promised child.  Family trees were then recorded.  Genealogies passed down.  But for generation after generation, the promised seed still hadn’t come.  And then we find God renewing that promise along the way through other men as well.  And so the records kept building until one day they found their fulfillment in Jesus.

Passage: Matthew 1:1-17
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/21/2008 in Novato, CA.

Click here for the manuscript.

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All That She Had

People like to judge ourselves and others all the time.  Usually it comes from a self-centered desire to exalt ourselves over man.  We want others to praise us.  And yet it is God alone who deserves all praise, and it is Jesus alone who is the judge of all.

As we look at this passage we’ll see Jesus address these common human tendencies as we compare the scribes with this poor widow who gave everything she had.

Passage: Mark 12:38-44
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/14/2008 in Novato, CA.

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How is He then His Son?

It’s the Christmas season already.  For many in Marin this is a time of goodwill.  It’s a time to spread love and to give gifts.  Of course, this holiday used to have a more Christian emphasis in our culture, but that’s quickly becoming less and less the case anymore.  And yet, even among people who don’t go to church regularly, Christmas might be one of the times that they do.  It’s hard even for the secular public to get away from the fact that Christmas is a day for many to remember the birth of Jesus Christ.

And yet, even though many people might know that is what Christmas is historically about, that doesn’t mean people really know who Jesus is.  Sure, they might know something of Jesus Christ.  They might know something about his teachings.  They can probably even quote you a few sayings of Jesus.  But that doesn’t mean they really know who Jesus is.  They might know the human Jesus in some general historical way, but that doesn’t mean they know who he really is as the Christ.

Passage: Mark 12:35-37
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/07/2008 in Novato, CA.

Click here for the manuscript.

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More Than All the Whole Burnt Offerings and Sacrifices

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.

Click here for the manuscript.

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