Trinity Presbyterian Church North Bay — Sermons & Sunday School

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 06/20/2021 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our series on eschatology.

Sermon preached on Luke 1:5-80 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 06/13/2021 in Novato, 

Sermon Manuscript

As we dig into Luke’s historical narrative concerning Jesus, he begins not with the birth of Jesus, but with the birth of the forerunner to Jesus, John the Baptist. Indeed, we learn of both in today’s passage and see the similar way in which both were announced via the angel Gabriel. So then, we will look first today at Gabriel’s announcement to Zechariah about the birth of John. Then we’ll look at Gabriel’s announcement to Mary about the birth of Jesus. Then, in our third point we’ll step back and see how the work of the Holy Spirit is so marvelously showcased here in God’s work to bring about the redemption of his people through the coming of Jesus Christ.

We begin then first by observing Gabriel’s announcement to Zechariah foretelling the birth of John who would go on to be known as John the Baptist. Beginning in verse 5 we are introduced to this Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. We note they are both of Aaron’s priestly lineage and that Zechariah is serving as a priest. They were righteous people, with such wonderful praise given here for how above reproach they conducted themselves. This was a very godly and spiritually mature husband and wife who really loved the Lord. Yet, we also learn that they were childless as Elizabeth was barren, and they were both old now, and in other words, beyond the point of time when one normally had children.

So then, we are taken into the context of Zechariah serving at the temple, specifically presenting the offering the incense. This was a fragrant offering given daily, morning and evening at the temple. It is here, in the context of his performing his priestly service, that the angel appears before him and begins to speak to him. Righteous Zechariah is struck with fear, which is a commendable response in a such a situation. Likewise, the angel Gabriel tells him not to fear. This is assuring Zechariah that he didn’t come for judgment but with a word from the Lord. He is told of the miraculous birth of a son that they were soon to enjoy – miraculous in opening a barren womb, and that in their old age. They were to name this miracle child “John”, which roughly means gracious gift of God.

But then the angel tells us more about what this child will be destined for, starting in verse 16. This John will bring joy and gladness to many as the forerunner to the Lord’s coming. This was something God had already prophesied, such as in Malachi 3:1 which says, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.” John would be the one to cry out in the words of Isaiah 40:3, “A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” As the forerunner to the Messiah, he is described as coming in the spirit and power of Elijah, something also prophesied by the prophet Malachi (4:5). John’s arrival will not only signal the imminent coming of the long-awaited Messiah, but he will prepare the way for the Messiah.

And the angel helps us understand what his role will be in preparing the way. It says, he will turn many Israelites back to God. John’s forerunner ministry will be to call Israel to repentance. As Zechariah prophecies at the end of our passage in verse 77, this includes John telling people of the salvation and forgiveness of sins that they will find in the coming Messiah. And how fitting that our passage ends by telling us that John was in the wilderness until his public appearance to Israel. In fact, it was the wilderness at the Jordan river where John conducted the bulk of his ministry. That is the right spot for someone in John’s role where he is basica...

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 06/13/2021 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our series on eschatology.

Sermon preached on Luke 1:1-4 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 06/06/2021 in Novato, CA.

Sermon Manuscript

Today we conclude our series through James by considering how our faith is put into practice through prayer. This is a fitting conclusion to this letter which has called us to consider how to put our faith into practice amidst different trials and temptations we endure. Prayer is certainly a chief way we put our faith into practice in such circumstances. James briefly pointed us to that back at the start of the letter when he urged us to pray for wisdom when our faith is being so tested. He has briefly touched on prayer in other places in this letter too. But now, in a fitting conclusion, he ends his letter with an extended exhortation and teaching on prayer in various circumstances. There are many wonderful things to learn about prayer as a means of grace in today’s passage.

In our first point then, let us observe a couple reasons James gives us here for personal prayer. What I mean is that this passage also includes teaching on prayer that involves praying with and for others. But it begins with two specific reasons for why we should each be praying personally. The first one is at the start of verse 13. James says, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.” There are several hypothetical anyone’s or someone’s in this passage. This is the first one. If someone is suffering, they should pray. If you today are a Christian who is suffering, you should pray. Again, we see how this fits into James’ theme in this letter that has spoken a lot about Christians who suffer for their faith. Just last week’s passage said we needed patience amidst that suffering until the Lord returns. But here he tells us something in addition to having patience that we can do until then. We can pray. We should pray.

When praying because of suffering, what are some things that we should include in our prayers? This letter has already told us several things. One, we should pray for wisdom in the midst of our suffering. How would the wisdom from above have us to think about our suffering and act in light of our suffering? Let us pray for wisdom amidst suffering. Two, we should pray for endurance and steadfastness amidst our suffering. James told us that we want steadfastness amidst trial in chapter 1. In this chapter, he has given us the example of Job as someone who was steadfast under suffering. We want to see our faith endure and remain steadfast when we go through hard times. Three, we should pray that God would grow our faith in the midst of our suffering. Remember, James said in chapter 1 that we could count suffering as all joy because it had the effect of maturing our faith and growing us in our sanctification. So, in the midst of suffering we should pray that God would grow us and mature us. Fourth, we should pray that we wouldn’t sin when we are suffering. James’ whole letter is full of one example after another on this. Like how he addressed our tongues. Yes, others might try to pick fights with us. Others might treat us harshly or say harsh things to us. That is real suffering. Or when one of those wicked rich persons tries to afflict us, James taught us not to become sinful vigilantes in such circumstances. So, let us pray that we won’t sin in our sufferings, even if others are sinning against us.

So prayer in the midst of our suffering is one thing we should be personally praying for. James then gives a second thing we should be personally praying for in verse 2. He says, “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.” Now, yes, here he doesn’t say “let him pray”, but as we see taught in the Psalter, songs of praise and prayers are closely related, such that that psalms are often described as prayer...

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 06/06/2021 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our series on eschatology.

Sermon preached on James 5:13-20 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 05/30/2021 in Novato, CA

Sermon Manuscript

Today we conclude our series through James by considering how our faith is put into practice through prayer. This is a fitting conclusion to this letter which has called us to consider how to put our faith into practice amidst different trials and temptations we endure. Prayer is certainly a chief way we put our faith into practice in such circumstances. James briefly pointed us to that back at the start of the letter when he urged us to pray for wisdom when our faith is being so tested. He has briefly touched on prayer in other places in this letter too. But now, in a fitting conclusion, he ends his letter with an extended exhortation and teaching on prayer in various circumstances. There are many wonderful things to learn about prayer as a means of grace in today’s passage.

In our first point then, let us observe a couple reasons James gives us here for personal prayer. What I mean is that this passage also includes teaching on prayer that involves praying with and for others. But it begins with two specific reasons for why we should each be praying personally. The first one is at the start of verse 13. James says, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.” There are several hypothetical anyone’s or someone’s in this passage. This is the first one. If someone is suffering, they should pray. If you today are a Christian who is suffering, you should pray. Again, we see how this fits into James’ theme in this letter that has spoken a lot about Christians who suffer for their faith. Just last week’s passage said we needed patience amidst that suffering until the Lord returns. But here he tells us something in addition to having patience that we can do until then. We can pray. We should pray.

When praying because of suffering, what are some things that we should include in our prayers? This letter has already told us several things. One, we should pray for wisdom in the midst of our suffering. How would the wisdom from above have us to think about our suffering and act in light of our suffering? Let us pray for wisdom amidst suffering. Two, we should pray for endurance and steadfastness amidst our suffering. James told us that we want steadfastness amidst trial in chapter 1. In this chapter, he has given us the example of Job as someone who was steadfast under suffering. We want to see our faith endure and remain steadfast when we go through hard times. Three, we should pray that God would grow our faith in the midst of our suffering. Remember, James said in chapter 1 that we could count suffering as all joy because it had the effect of maturing our faith and growing us in our sanctification. So, in the midst of suffering we should pray that God would grow us and mature us. Fourth, we should pray that we wouldn’t sin when we are suffering. James’ whole letter is full of one example after another on this. Like how he addressed our tongues. Yes, others might try to pick fights with us. Others might treat us harshly or say harsh things to us. That is real suffering. Or when one of those wicked rich persons tries to afflict us, James taught us not to become sinful vigilantes in such circumstances. So, let us pray that we won’t sin in our sufferings, even if others are sinning against us.

So prayer in the midst of our suffering is one thing we should be personally praying for. James then gives a second thing we should be personally praying for in verse 2. He says, “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.” Now, yes, here he doesn’t say “let him pray”, but as we see taught in the Psalter, songs of praise and prayers are closely related, such that that psalms are often described as prayers.

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 05/30/2021 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our series on eschatology.

Sermon preached on James 5:7-12 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 05/23/2021 in Novato, CA.

Sermon Manuscript

As the saying goes, patience is a virtue. It is also a command. As Christians we recognize that we need God’s grace to cultivate patience in our lives, even as we seek to pursue putting it on. There are many reasons one needs patience. Sometimes patience is needed for relatively trivial things – like waiting for the pot to boil on the stove. Other times patience is needed for more significant things, like for realizing big life goals that are only met after years of hard work toward them. But sometimes, patience is needed when things are just hard and difficult and you just want to give up. That’s along the lines of what James brings to our attention today. Let us consider then what James has to say about patience here and why he says it is important for us to have this patience.

Let us begin then looking at verses 7-8 where James twice commands us to “be patient”. Notice verse 7 begins with the word “therefore”. What is that therefore there for? Well, most immediately it draws our attention back to the previous passage where James declared judgment on the wicked rich who persecute the righteous Christians. So, he wants us to think about patience in light of being persecuted and afflicted by those with power and influence in this world. By extension, we can also see how this word “therefore” also signals that James is concluding his whole letter because the themes he brings up in this passage return to what he introduced in chapter 1. There, he began the letter with the call for Christians to remain steadfast under trial, and, if we do, we will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him, James 1:12. Here he reiterates that call from chapter 1, urging us to be patient under trial and affliction and the various tests of our faith.

So then while that is the context for why there is a need for patience, let us observe what James says we are to be patiently waiting for. He says we are to be waiting for the coming of the Lord. That too he says twice in verses 7-8. That’s why we should have patience amidst the afflictions and troubles of this life. Because Jesus is coming again and we he comes he will vindicate us. His coming will be to be the terrible wrath of the Lord upon the wicked of this world who hate us. It will be for us a day of salvation when we finally find relief from our enemies who have tried to put us down. And this relief will be permanent and everlasting. This is key to patience. If someone was in a horrible situation and it was never going to get better, then you wouldn’t tell them to have patience. If someone’s situation was so bad that there was no hope for it ever to get better, you wouldn’t tell them to be hopeful. But James tells us that we should have patience because our hardships and trials will go away – when Christ returns.

James gives us an analogy about this patient waiting for Christ to come back and save us. The analogy is there in verse 7 – the analogy of a farmer waiting for his crops. A farmer has to do a lot of waiting. Yes, there’s work along the way. He needs to sow the seed in the right time, typically after tilling the soil. Depending what you are growing, there may be weeding or pruning or other care that needs to happen throughout the growing season. But there is a lot of waiting. And you see it mentions that part of the waiting is even for the rain throughout the season – the “early and late rains” it mentions. That’s a waiting for things that are outside of the farmer’s control. But ultimately the farmer’s patient waiting is for the crop to finally come up so he can harvest it and enjoy it.

 Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 05/23/2021 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our series on eschatology.

Sermon preached on Psalm 66 by Rev. Wayne Forkner during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 05/16/2021 in Novato, CA.