Sermons

Reformed sermons preached at our church.

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Share

The Lord Has Need of It

Jesus is my Lord and Savior!  Amen?  Is that true for you?  To call Jesus your Lord and Savior is to use some very common titles for Jesus.  Other than the title of Christ, I don’t know of any more common titles that we use to describe Jesus.  He is rightly called our Lord and Savior.  These titles describe who he is and what he has done for us.  He is our Lord – the king of kings; the God-man who is the ruler of the heavens and the earth.  And he is our savior – the one who saved us from eternal damnation through his life, death, and resurrection.  Jesus is indeed the Lord and Savior, and I hope that you too affirm this.

These are essentially the same titles that are given to Jesus here in our passage as well.  And yet back then, just like today, people can utter these words without really understanding them.  Today, calling Jesus your Lord and Savior can become cliché.  We can utter those words in vain because we don’t really understand them and their importance.  It’s very appropriate to confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but he wants us to really understand and mean that confession.  The same is true with this Palm Sunday passage.  All sorts of people were there making these praises over Jesus.  But did they really understand what they meant?  Scripture shows that for the most part they did not.

And yet Jesus had a plan.

Passage: Mark 11:1-11
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/19/2008 in Novato, CA.

Click here for the manuscript.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Share

What Do You Want Me To Do For You?

In our passage for today, we have three specific events all of which are very similar to things that have already happened in Mark.  I mean, yes, they are new and distinct events in the history of Jesus’ ministry, but what’s going on and the general lessons that are being taught are some of the very same specific points that have just been taught in the last few chapters.  And so our temptation today might be to zone out.  We could say, yes, yes, I’ve heard these lessons before.  And yet the fact that Jesus is reteaching even the disciples here some of the same lessons, shows that we sometimes need these lessons repeated.  And so let’s look at what this passage has to say about Jesus’ mission of suffering, and even how we relate to that mission.

Passage: Mark 10:32-52
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/12/2008 in Novato, CA.

Click here for the manuscript.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Share

With God All Things Are Possible

The peril of riches.  Often that is the topic introduced when looking at this well loved passage about the rich young ruler.  Commentators sometimes point to the tenth commandment, or even the first, as the specific sin of this man.  Others see this passage about two alternative ways to heaven – one hypothetical one through law-keeping, and another superior one by following Jesus.  These different interpretations do possess some valid insight.  And yet they fall short, if they do not understand the message in this passage in relationship to the kingdom.  It is the kingdom which is under discussion in this passage.  We must look to see what Jesus is teaching us about the kingdom today, and what he says about our relationship to it.

Passage: Mark 10:17-31
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/05/2008 in Novato, CA.

Click here for the manuscript.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Share