Sermons

Reformed sermons preached at our church.

For of Such Is the Kingdom of God

Two weeks ago, we saw how the disciples misunderstood the scope of Christ’s kingdom.  They tried to stop a man who was casting out demons in Christ’s name, because he wasn’t formally following along with the other disciples of Christ.  They tried to forbid the man from serving Christ.  But Christ challenged the disciples to see that that man was a part of Christ’s kingdom.  In today’s passage, the disciples are again confused about the scope of Christ’s kingdom.  Here they try to forbid children from being brought to Jesus.  Jesus again corrects the disciples.

You see, you don’t have to be an adult to be a part of Christ’s kingdom.  You don’t need to be grown up to be a Christian.  Jesus in this short passage gives us good news for our children and he gives good news for all of us.  He tells us that the kingdom of God belongs to children and to all who receive the kingdom as a child.  This calls us to examine our own attitude toward Children.  Do we bring our children to Jesus?  It also calls us to examine how we relate to the kingdom of God.  Are we receiving the kingdom of God as a child?  We’ll consider these questions as we study this passage.

Passage: Mark 10:13-16
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 09/28/2008 in Novato, CA.

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What God Has Joined Together, Let Not Man Separate

Divorce is a very real issue today.  This was also a very real issue back during Jesus’ earthly ministry as well.  Just like today, many people were looking for easy and convenient divorces.  And so let’s look at Jesus’ teaching concerning marriage and divorce and understand marriage according to God’s original design.

Passage: Mark 10:1-12
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 09/21/2008 in Novato, CA.

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Have Salt in Yourselves

In our passage for today, Jesus calls us to weigh the options of eternity.  Here we find Jesus engaged in an intense time of teaching to his disciples.  In the previous passage he just taught the disciples that there are only two camps – those who belong to Christ and those who don’t; those who are Christ’s disciples, and those who are not.  Now in this passage he looks at those same two groups from an eternal perspective.  Those who do not belong to Christ are headed on a trajectory toward hell.  Those who do belong to Christ, are those headed toward heaven, the place described here as “life” and the kingdom of God.

Passage: Mark 9:42-50
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 09/14/2008 in Novato, CA.

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He Who Is Not Against Us

The disciples in our passage thought they were part of something exclusive.  They were part of Jesus’ official disciples, and for that matter, part of his inner circle of twelve who followed him everywhere.  And so when they encountered a man who was casting out demons in the name of Christ, but who wasn’t part of their ordinary group of followers of Jesus, they objected.  They tried to stop the man because he wasn’t one of them.  The disciples evidently thought they were part of something exclusive.

And in one sense, they were right.  The Christian message is in many ways an exclusive message with exclusive claims.  For example, Jesus says that salvation is only through him.  In some important ways, however, Christianity can be very inclusive.  For example, Jesus calls us to deliver the gospel of salvation to everyone in the world.

But looking specifically at our passage for today:  Did the disciples do the right thing here?  Jesus says no, and teaches them more about being a part of his kingdom.  The disciples didn’t properly understand the scope of Christ’s kingdom.  And so as we think about the exclusiveness and the inclusiveness of Christ, we have to look to Christ to define that for us.  In other words, we see the disciples here didn’t fully understand what made someone a part of Christ’s kingdom.  And so we’ll look today at what Christ teaches us about who is with him and who is not.

Passage: Mark 9:38-41
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 09/07/2008 in Novato, CA.

Click here for the manuscript.

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