Trinity Presbyterian Church North Bay — Sermons & Sunday School

Sermon preached by Rev. Brian Tsui, during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 01/07/2024 in Petaluma, CA.

Sunday School class led by Rev. Brian Tsui, at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 01/07/2024 in Petaluma, CA.

Sermon preached on Galatians 4:4-7 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Christmas Eve Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/24/2023 in Petaluma, CA. Sermon Manuscript Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. While this is not the most traditional of Christmas passages, it indeed has a rich message for us this Christmas Eve. It even sets ... Read more

Sermon preached on Genesis 26:6-33 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/17/2023 in Petaluma, CA. Sermon Manuscript Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. In last week’s passage, a famine came upon the land of Canaan. God then appeared to Isaac and told him to not leave the land ... Read more

Sermon preached on Genesis 25:19-26:5 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/10/2023 in Petaluma, CA. Sermon Manuscript Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. You may be aware of the slogan, “Real men pray.” When thinking about masculine stereotypes, strength is probably one thing that comes to mind. Yet, ... Read more

Sermon preached on Genesis 25:1-18 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/03/2023 in Petaluma, CA. Sermon Manuscript Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. We come to the end of Abraham’s earthly sojourn. Verses 7 summarizes his life, noting he lived a good long life to the age of ... Read more

Sermon preached on Genesis 24 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 11/26/2023 in Petaluma, CA.

Sermon Manuscript

Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.

As we near the end of Genesis’ account of Abraham, we turn to see how God will be fulfilling his promises through the promised seed of Isaac. That will require Isaac to get married and have at least one child. Today’s passage shows us how, by faith, Abraham secures a bride for Isaac. First, we will see how Abraham seeks to honor God in his pursuit of a wife for Isaac. Second, we’ll see how Abraham through his servant seeks a wife of good character for Isaac. Third, we’ll see how the parties in today’s passage recognize God’s plan and providence at work here. As we study a passage like this, it may seem like a strange way to find a wife. While there are some applications we can take from this passage in matters of marriage, there are several things here that are not normative. Let us dig, then, and learn these and other applications.

We begin first by seeing how Abraham sought to honor God in how he went about trying to find a wife for Isaac. We can see this first by how serious he takes this task. Due to his advanced age, he entrusts this task to a servant, and not just any servant, but to his most senior and most trusted staff. He then has him take an oath to seek a wife for Isaac within very specific restrictions, which clearly Abraham meant those constraints to honor the Lord.

The first restriction is found in verse 3-4. The wife for Isaac must not be from among the Canaanites. Instead, the servant is to find a wife for Isaac back in Abraham’s former home country of Haran, where his relatives still live. There are several reasons Abraham may have required this. The Canaanite peoples were wicked people who were growing in their wickedness. For example, in two chapters we’ll see that Esau, son of Isaac and Rebekah, will marry two Canaanite girls who end up causing trouble for the family. Abraham surely didn’t want Isaac to mix with godless pagan peoples. Likewise, God had already told Abraham back in Genesis 15 that the Canaanite peoples were going to be soon destroyed in judgment once their wickedness grew to the full. Abraham wouldn’t want his son through marriage yoked to a condemned people, lest their judgment come upon him too. That judgment is also when God will hand over the land of Canaan to Abraham’s offspring. Abraham surely didn’t want to come to possess any of that land via marriage with a Canaanite, but through the Lord’s gracious giving of it. So, Abraham looked to honor God by imposing this restriction against a Canaanite wife for Isaac.

By application, let us also seek to honor God by whom we are marry. If you are looking for a spouse, remember the Bible teaches that we should not be unequally yoked in our marriage. If you are looking for a spouse, you should seek to be married to a Christian. Now, yes, sometimes a Christian for various reasons finds themselves married to a non-Christian, and they shouldn’t divorce them but be the best spouse they can be, as a witness to them. But for the single person who is looking for a spouse, we should honor the Lord by looking for a spouse who shares our same Christian faith.

A second restriction that Abraham puts on his servant is that he must not take Isaac back to Abraham’s former home at Haran. If the servant finds the right kind of girl for Isaac, but she won’t relocate, Isaac is not to move to Haran. Remember in chapter 12, God brought Abraham out of Haran to the land of Canaan. God promised this land to Abraham’s offspring.

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 11/19/2023 in Petaluma, CA. This week we considered J. Gresham Machen’s classical book Christianity and Liberalism at its 100th Anniversary.

Sermon preached on Psalm 106 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 11/19/2023 in Petaluma, CA. Sermon Manuscript Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. As our nation celebrates the Thanksgiving holiday this week, we as Christians remember today the importance of being thankful to God. Psalm 106 ... Read more