Category: HPBC Pastors

A Force to be Reckoned With (Part 2)

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Pastor Matt Tarr

– Scripture: Mark 5:1-20

– Christ’s power is unmatched and terrifying in its scope. So much so that, when He demonstrates His power and authority by casting out a legion of demons from a possessed man, the people in the region beg Him to leave due to their fear of Him and their unwillingness to submit to His supremacy. And although this is a sad commentary on man’s depravity, it is an opportunity to see the Gospel at work as Christ commissions the very first missionary.

– Add. Ref.: Galatians 5:19-21

A Force to be Reckoned With (Part 1)

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Pastor Matt Tarr

– Scripture: Mark 5:1-20

– After just demonstrating His authority over creation at the end of the previous Chapter, in Mark 5 Jesus immediately gives another demonstration of His authority by commanding a host of demons numbered in the thousands, and they immediately obey Him. This ability to readily command some of the most powerful and dangerous created beings shows how Christ’s own power is truly something to be reckoned with.

– Add. Ref.: Mark 9:20-22, 2 Kings 19:35

Cause to Fear

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Pastor Matt Tarr

– Scripture: Mark 4:35-41

– At the very end of Mark Chapter 4, Christ calms an unprecedented storm with no more than a word. For although the storm was had made the disciples terrified, they did not understand that they had with them the Son of the Living God, and the power and authority which he possessed was far more cause for fear than the worst natural disaster man could ever possibly encounter.

– Add. Ref.: 2 Thess. 1:6-10

Kingdom Parables (Part 2)

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Pastor Matt Tarr

– Scripture: Mark 4:26-34

– We can rest knowing that God will grow His Kingdom by His sovereign will, but what exactly will it look like? Christ explains this to us using the Parable of the Mustard Seed, and we see by this description an example of what the Kingdom will be like as it grows, and also how it applies to us in the context of the Church.

– Add. Ref.: John 3:3-5

Kingdom Parables (Part 1)

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Pastor Matt Tarr

– Scripture: Mark 4:26-34

– How Christ’s kingdom grows is outside the control of human beings. While men scheme and devise worldly tactics to grow their churches numerically, we see in Mark how Christ explains that evangelism and discipleship are the work of God, not men. It is our job to scatter seed, to deliver a faithful proclamation of the Gospel, and it is God Who grows His Church accordingly to His sovereign will.

– Add. Ref.: John 12:23-24; Joel 3:11-13; Matthew 13:24-30; John 4:34-42

The Divine Intention

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Pastor Matt Tarr

– Scripture: Mark 4:21-25

– Facing the knowledge that we do not control the soil (heart) of those in whom we sow the seed of the Gospel, the Christian may wonder what our purpose is? Christ Himself reveals the divine intention of our work to us in Mark Chapter 4 by using the parable of the lamp to define our duty in evangelism. Our job is to scatter seed and be a light in the darkness, and our Gospel proclamation is the only method God has ordained for His message of salvation to spread. The Christian, therefore, is responsible for putting their light on a lampstand where it can shine forth and pierce the darkness, rather than hiding it away.

America: A Religion of Lies (Part 2)

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Pastor Matt Tarr

– Scripture: Romans 1:18-32

– In light of the recent Supreme Court ruling in favor of same sex marriage, many Christians might be asking what God has to say about the current situation in our country. We can look no further than Romans 1 to find the answer, as we come to understand that judgement is, in fact, not coming to America, but rather it has already come. The verdict has already been rendered by God and this most recent case is only evidence of that. With that in mind, we begin to examine three imperatives: 1) Our nation’s relationship to God, 2) The nature of society’s perversion, and 3) The Church’s response.

– Add. Ref.: Rom. 1:15-17; 1 Cor. 5:9-13; Ezekiel 37:1-6

NOTE: The listener is encouraged to listen to this message together with the preceding message (Part 1) for proper context.

America: A Religion of Lies (Part 1)

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Pastor Matt Tarr

– Scripture: Romans 1:18-32

– In light of the recent Supreme Court ruling in favor of same sex marriage, many Christians might be asking what God has to say about the current situation in our country. We can look no further than Romans 1 to find the answer, as we come to understand that judgement is, in fact, not coming to America, but rather it has already come. The verdict has already been rendered by God and this most recent case is only evidence of that. With that in mind, we begin to examine three imperatives: 1) Our nation’s relationship to God, 2) The nature of society’s perversion, and 3) The Church’s response.

– Add. Ref.: 1 Cor. 6:9-11

NOTE: The listener is encouraged to listen to this message together with the following message (Part 2) for proper context.

What Do You Hear? (Part 3)

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Pastor Matt Tarr

– Scripture: Mark 4:1-20

– Over this three part sermon in the fourth chapter of Mark, we have come to understand that it is not the sower or the seed itself, but the quality of the soil that determines whether or not seed will yield a crop. It is merely the sower’s job to sow, not to tamper with the seed. And now, looking back into this passage, we see how the type of soil represents the heart of the hearer in which the Word is sown.

What Do You Hear? (Part 2)

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Pastor Matt Tarr

– Scripture: Mark 4:1-20

– Christ spoke in parables not to enlighten the masses or to make His messages more palatable and understandable, but to purposefully mask the true meaning of His words. This was in response to a people who had heard Him preach for two years and had seen countless miracles proving He was Who He said He was, and yet they still did not believe. However, to those who did believe in Him, He would explain the meaning of the parables, and whether or not the meaning meant anything to them all depended on what kind of “soil” they were.

– Add. Ref.: John 6, Hebrews 13:17