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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:35:17 +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/2012/02/12/word-lord-jonah-time/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/02/12/word-lord-jonah-time/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:04:16 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1619 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/02/12/word-lord-jonah-time/feed/ 0 0:33:04 Sermon preached on Jonah 3 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 2/12/2012 in Novato, CA. Sermon preached on Jonah 3 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 2/12/2012 in Novato, CA. Jonah Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/02/12/redemption-applied-perseverance/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/02/12/redemption-applied-perseverance/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:59:18 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1617 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/02/12/redemption-applied-perseverance/feed/ 0 0:41:37 Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 2/12/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series going through the book Redemption Accomplished and Applied by OPC Minister and Professor John Murr[...] Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 2/12/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series going through the book Redemption Accomplished and Applied by OPC Minister and Professor John Murray. This week we completed considering Part II, Chapter 8, on Perseverance. Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/02/05/salvation-lord/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/02/05/salvation-lord/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:23:02 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1612 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/02/05/salvation-lord/feed/ 0 0:00:01 Sermon preached on Jonah 1:17-2:10 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 2/5/2012 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Jonah 1:17-2:10 2/5/12 “Salvation is of the LORD” So, I[...] Sermon preached on Jonah 1:17-2:10 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 2/5/2012 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Jonah 1:17-2:10 2/5/12 “Salvation is of the LORD” So, I have to admit. When I was younger and would read the book of Jonah, I’d often want to quickly move through Jonah chapter 2. Almost skip over it essentially. If I recall, I didn’t skip over it, because that seemed wrong. But I’d quickly read it as quick as I possibly could to get back to the story line, or at least that’s what I thought. Jonah chapter 2 is clearly something different. It’s a song, a psalm. And its poetry – a different genre than the rest of the book. And yet, as I’ve grown, I’ve learned to appreciate Hebrew poetry more, and so I’ve spent a good deal more time studying it. What I found, is that like most poetry, you need to slow down when you read it, not speed through it. And like most poetry, I found I greatly appreciated it, after more serious reflection. That’s what I found in Jonah chapter 2, and I hope that today you’ll share in that joy as we look at this lovely psalm. Now, sometimes it might seem strange to us that right in the middle of a story like this, that we find the narrative of Jonah almost interrupted to have this song sung. And yet that’s something in our own culture we’ve done. Just watch some TV episodes of I Love Lucy, and they regularly interrupt the storyline to have a song or musical performance. Even more so, this is not out of the ordinary in Scripture. There are several places where in the midst of God’s great salvation, that the people stop to sing some praise. Miriam, Moses, Deborah, Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary, are just a few saints whose songs are recorded for us in the midst of historical books. In the midst of narrative. It’s the idea of the new song. That a new song is sung to celebrate some new saving act of God. That is what Jonah is doing here. Jonah realizes from the belly of the fish that he has been saved. Just remember from last week what had happened. Jonah had disobeyed God. He went on the run. He got on the ship and tried to sail away from God. That proved futile when God sent a big storm after him. When the sailors discovered from Jonah that the huge storm was directed at him, they asked what should be done. Jonah said that they should throw him overboard. That’s ultimately what they did. Jonah should have died at that point. When you are thrown overboard in the middle of the ocean, far from land, in the midst of a great storm, you are going to die. That is, unless some salvation comes to you. Well, that salvation came to Jonah. Chapter 1, verse 17, God had a fish swallow Jonah to save him. It’s in this song, that Jonah acknowledges that salvation. And it’s in this song we learn a little bit more about the story of Jonah. We get to see a bit of what was going on inside him after he was thrown overboard from the boat. On the boat he had no signs of repentance, and we saw no prayers out of him. Finally, this psalm reveals a change in Jonah’s heart as he fell to his death in the mighty waters of the sea. So let’s begin then today by analyzing the structure of this passage and this psalm. I had us read beginning in chapter 1, verse 17, because despite the later chapter breakdowns, that verse really serves to bracket this psalm. 1:17 and 2:10 are the narrative hooks for this passage. They both focus on God’s action with the fish. In 1:17, God appointed a fish to swallow Jonah and save him from drowning. In 2:10, God commands the fish to spit Jonah up on dry land. So these verses are like the introduction and conclusion to this passage. Chapter 2, verse 1, then is the transition to the psalm. It’s there that we find when he uttered this psalm. It[...] Jonah Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/02/05/redemption-applied-sanctification-part2/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/02/05/redemption-applied-sanctification-part2/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:20:12 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1610 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/02/05/redemption-applied-sanctification-part2/feed/ 0 0:00:01 Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 2/5/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series going through the book Redemption Accomplished and Applied by OPC Minister and Professor John Murra[...] Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 2/5/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series going through the book Redemption Accomplished and Applied by OPC Minister and Professor John Murray. This week we completed considering Part II, Chapter 7, on Sanctification. Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/29/sea-ceased-raging/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/29/sea-ceased-raging/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:37:49 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1604 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/29/sea-ceased-raging/feed/ 0 0:38:28 Sermon preached on Jonah 1:1-3 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/29/2012 in Novato, CA. Sermon preached on Jonah 1:1-3 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/29/2012 in Novato, CA. Jonah Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/29/redemption-applied-sanctification-part/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/29/redemption-applied-sanctification-part/#comments Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:32:57 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1601 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/29/redemption-applied-sanctification-part/feed/ 0 0:37:43 Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/29/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series going through the book Redemption Accomplished and Applied by OPC Minister and Professor John Murr[...] Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/29/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series going through the book Redemption Accomplished and Applied by OPC Minister and Professor John Murray. This week we completed considering Part II, Chapter 7, on Sanctification. We did not complete the chapter and will finish it next week. Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/22/word-lord-jonah/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/22/word-lord-jonah/#comments Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:02:55 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1594 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/22/word-lord-jonah/feed/ 0 0:38:28 Sermon preached on Jonah 1:1-3 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/22/2012 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Jonah 1:1-3 1/22/11 “Word of the LORD Came to Jonah” This m[...] Sermon preached on Jonah 1:1-3 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/22/2012 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Jonah 1:1-3 1/22/11 “Word of the LORD Came to Jonah” This morning we begin a short sermon series through Jonah. Today’s message will be a little different than normal. I read through the first few verses as a way to introduce us to this book. And that’s what we’ll do this morning. Today’s message will serve as an introduction into this book. This is one of those books where the whole story together has a point to tell, and I’m hoping we can capture some of that day. That we don’t miss the forest for the trees as we dig into the details in the next few weeks. So, today we’ll consider the introductory aspects of this book. We’ll think through some of the basics: the genre, the main characters, the mission of Jonah, the main themes of the book, and the audience. Let’s begin then with briefly noting the genre of the book. For the most part, it would fall under the category of historical narrative. The exception would be most of chapter 2, which contains a psalm that Jonah sang, and so that would fall under the genre of Hebrew poetry. But notice that I said, this is historical narrative; emphasis on the “historical.” Scholars agree that this book is narrative. It clearly is telling a story of a prophet named Jonah. Sadly, however, there are a some today who acknowledge that it is narrative, but want to throw out the historical part. Some for example, have said that the book of Jonah is just a parable. Like how Jesus told parables. Life stories that people can relate to in order to understand a spiritual point. Well, that might sound nice to say about the book of Jonah, but the question becomes why would you come to that conclusion? What evidence inside the text or even outside of the text would lead you to come to that conclusion? Usually, what seems to lead people to that conclusion is unbelief. They just think the story of Jonah sounds too outrageous to them. Well, the fact that there is miraculous material in a historical narrative of Scripture should not be surprising to a believer. We shouldn’t take something to be a parable that otherwise presents itself as historical narrative. For example, in the gospels, people can tell when Jesus is speaking in a parable. There’s not a question if he’s telling them a historical fact or not. For that matter, parables don’t tend to be filled with stories of miracles. They tend to be filled with stories of everyday normal occurrences. They explain a spiritual truth by making points with natural truths. Jonah as a parable doesn’t seem to make sense as a parable because there is nothing ordinary about it. It’s all about supernatural, miraculous interactions with God. Rather, instead, the book of Jonah itself claims historicity. It’s not just any random made-up person named Jonah, it is as verse 1 says, Jonah the son of Amittai – a historical person. And Jesus himself stamps it with historicity when he refers to Jonah in the New Testament. For example, Matthew 12 sees Jesus refer to Jonah. In the same breadth, he refers to Solomon and the Queen of the South. Those who want to deny Jonah’s historicity try to explain that verse away – it’s just Jesus’ referring to the truth of what they would call the Jonah parable. But that’s not the best way to take the evidence. No, everyone would agree that Solomon is a historical figure and that the Bible paints the Queen of the South as a historical figure. Jesus talks about all these characters in the same way in Matthew 12, as real historical people. And so at the end of the day, Jonah is a historical narrative, and the only real reason to take it otherwise would be someone’s [...] Jonah Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/22/redemption-applied-adoption/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/22/redemption-applied-adoption/#comments Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:55:51 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1592 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/22/redemption-applied-adoption/feed/ 0 0:37:43 Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/22/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series going through the book Redemption Accomplished and Applied by OPC Minister and Professor John Murr[...] Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/22/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series going through the book Redemption Accomplished and Applied by OPC Minister and Professor John Murray. This week we completed considering Part II, Chapter 6, on Adoption. Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/15/overwork-rich/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/15/overwork-rich/#comments Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:47:29 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1589 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/15/overwork-rich/feed/ 0 0:38:20 Sermon preached on Proverbs 22:22-23:11 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/15/2012 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Proverbs 22:22-23:11 1/15/12 “Do Not Overwork to be Rich[...] Sermon preached on Proverbs 22:22-23:11 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/15/2012 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Proverbs 22:22-23:11 1/15/12 “Do Not Overwork to be Rich” Americans know how to work hard. This can be one of our greatest strengths. Americans also know how to overwork. Too often the American dream, a good thing in itself, can be twisted into American greed. Greed expressed in a love of money and pursuit of riches resulting in too much work, too much stress, and not enough time for rest, and family, and friends. From a spiritual standpoint, this certainly has its effect. When you ask people how their time of devotions have been going, their time in the Word and prayer, what’s the most typical answer it seems? I just haven’t had the time. Usually that’s because other work has taken first priority in our lives. Don’t get me wrong. Work is a good thing. The Bible tells us that. Money is not a bad thing, in itself, either. The Bible acknowledges we need money, and certainly paints a picture that poverty is not something to be sought after, per se. Rather, we are to work hard to provide for our families, to give back to God, and to have something to share with others. The Bible acknowledges this, and certainly the book of Proverbs acknowledges this. And yet this passage reminds us that even good things can be perverted with the wrong focus. So often man’s wisdom perverts the good things of God. This verse, however, presents us with God’s wisdom. God’s wisdom on work, particularly as it relates to the pursuit of wealth. And so today we’ll begin first by analyzing verse 4 in some detail – what is it specifically saying. Second, we’ll spend some time assessing the teaching – trying to understand it within the larger context of the Bibles’ teachings on work and wealth. Lastly, we’ll think about how to apply it to the Christian’s life. So let’s begin with some analysis of verse 4 – what is it saying? In typical Hebrew poetry, there are two parallel parts here. The first part is the first half of the verse, “Do not overwork to be rich.” The second part is the rest of the verse, a call to cease. Let’s begin with the first part. It’s a command to not overwork. This word of overwork here is about hard work; working to exhaustion. This word can be simply translated as labor, but there is also a more general word in Hebrew to be used to simply refer to someone’s job or business. And so here the focus of this word is the kind of work that involves toil; lots of effort; hard work. To translate it as overwork is slightly interpretive of the NKJV here, but it is within the scope of the idea of this word. A more literal translation would be like the KJV, which simply has “do not labor to be rich.” The ESV is similar, “Do not toil to acquire wealth.” I actually prefer those more literal translations because they better bring out the subtle nuance here. The word for overwork here is not something you’d usually translate as “overwork” in Hebrew. It’s a general enough word used for labor or toil. It’s a word in Hebrew that is often used to refer to legitimate hard work. You see the problem is not the toil, per se, it’s the purpose of the toil. It becomes a problem when the purpose of the toil is simply for the pursuit of riches. When you labor and toil with the chief goal to become wealthy. Wealthy like the royalty mentioned in verse 1. Then it becomes foolish and unwise. And so the wisdom of verse 4 is expressed in the negation. In the word translated as “Do not”. In other words, “don’t!” Don’t do this! Don’t spend all your life’s energy on the pursuit of wealth – just[...] Proverbs Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/15/redemption-applied-justification-part-ii/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/15/redemption-applied-justification-part-ii/#comments Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:43:07 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1586 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/01/15/redemption-applied-justification-part-ii/feed/ 0 0:35:02 Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/15/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series going through the book Redemption Accomplished and Applied by OPC Minister and Professor John Murr[...] Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 1/15/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series going through the book Redemption Accomplished and Applied by OPC Minister and Professor John Murray. This week we completed considering Part II, Chapter 4, on Justification. Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no