Sermons

Reformed sermons preached at our church.

The God of the Living

In our passage for today, a question about marriage comes up.  And yet marriage was just the focal point of a bigger issue.  That bigger issue in our passage is about the resurrection.  Jesus tells us that our marriages are temporary, while telling us that our lives are eternal.  So let’s look at what this passage has to say about both marriage and the resurrection.

Passage: Mark 12:18-27
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 11/16/2008 in Novato, CA.

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Rendering to Caesar and to God

We just finished a presidential election.  During the campaign, we saw candidates telling us about what they’d do as the next president.  And of course, one of the main subjects was taxes.  Each candidate had to tell the American people how they would handle our taxes.

In our passage for today, we see Jesus getting questioned on taxes.  What’s his position on taxes?  What would his policy on taxes be if he were elected Messiah?

Now, of course I’m being a little funny here.  Nobody gets elected Messiah, and Jesus was not on a campaign trail.  But as we think about this last election that we just went through, there certainly is some similarity to think about as we introduce our passage for today.  You see, most people don’t like to pay taxes.  That’s true today, and the same was true back then as well.  But it was especially true for the Jews back then.  The Roman taxes reminded the Jews that they were not free, even though they lived in the Promised Land.  It made them long all the more for a Messiah whom they hoped would give them freedom from taxes, and freedom from their Roman oppressors.

And so in some sense Jesus is being put on the spot as one who claimed to be the Messiah.  This question about taxes really was a question about his agenda as the Messiah.  Much like how the recent presidential candidates had to tell us what they’d do if they were president, Jesus was being asked what he’d do as Messiah.  Would he free the people from the bondage of the Romans, including the hated Roman tax?  And so as Jesus is questioned here, we learn more about his role as the Messiah and about the nature of his kingdom he promised to bring.

Passage: Mark 12:13-17
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 11/09/2008 in Novato, CA.

Click here for the manuscript.

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The Baptism of John, Was it from Heaven, or of Men?

Our country’s elections are fast approaching.  If you turn on the radio or TV, you hear more and more advertisements.  You probably are receiving spirited pleas from various people about why you should vote for one candidate or another.  The passion and rhetoric is picking up.  Things are getting heated.  Why?  Why does everyone get so excited about the elections?  Because we are picking who will lead our government.  And our government is our nation’s authority.  We recognize that the people in authority have a very powerful role over our life.  And since we live in a nation that allows us to have a role in picking the leaders in our government, we take that responsibility seriously.  And so we pick the people we want to submit to.  We recognize that the government is in a position of authority, and so we want to pick the leaders who we want in that position of authority over us.

You see, that’s what I want us to think about today – authority.  That’s the question that is raised in our passage for today.  There is a question of authority in our passage.  This question has to do with Jesus.  Simply put, by what authority is Jesus acting?  Jesus is obviously acting from a position of authority, but whose authority is it?  Let’s take a look at this passage and find out.

Passage: Mark 11:27-12:12
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 11/02/2008 in Novato, CA.

Click here for the manuscript.

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He Found Nothing But Leaves

Is Jesus about blessings and grace or about curses and judgment?  Well, the answer is “yes.”  Jesus came talking about both.  Many churches want to emphasize the blessings and grace of Jesus.  That’s actually right.  That’s the right emphasis.  I’ll talk a little bit about that today.  But in this passage, Jesus’ focus is primarily on curses and judgment.  The emphasis in today’s passage is about judgment.

We see Jesus illustrate judgment in this incident with the fig tree.  We see Jesus issue judgment as he cleanses the temple.  And I think we even see him predict future judgment against the temple and Jerusalem in this passage.  And so today we’ll be looking at Jesus talking about judgment.  Of course we can’t help but think about Christ’s grace when we think of his judgment.  But I want us to really reckon today with judgment.  Jesus is holding out the threat of judgment to the Israelites.  Let’s really understand and wrestle with that.  And as we do that, we’ll see how the judgment applied to Israel is also an ongoing warning to us to remain steadfast in faith in God.

Passage: Mark 11:12-26
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/26/2008 in Novato, CA.

Click here for the manuscript.

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