A New Year, A New Beginning: Saying Goodbye to a Congregation of 17 Years

A New Year, A New Beginning: Saying Goodbye to a…

On Dec. 31, 2013, Dr. Ligon Duncan said on his Facebook page, “Today is my last day as senior minister of First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, MS. 17+ years of joy and privilege. I am deeply grateful to God and to this wonderful congregation.” The chancellor has moved his extensive library to RTS/Jackson and his assistant Jan Hyde will also be going with him to assist him at the seminary.

A Farewell Benediction

If you have your Bibles, I’d like you to turn with me to Acts chapter 20 verse 32. My heart is filled with many very specific thanks and if I get started on those thanks I would leave someone out and so as much as I want to do that I am going to restrain myself. I do think that I need to publically thank Anne and Sarah Kennedy and Jennings who have enabled me to do the job that I have been called to do here at First Presbyterian Church, often quietly and behind the scenes bearing the cost of my ministry and making it possible for me to do what the Lord has called me to do in this congregation. So I do want to thank Anne and Sarah Kennedy and Jennings who have been partners with me in this ministry and will continue to be partners with me in ministry. Then I will simply have to,…

Let My Soul Live and Praise You

Well tonight makes, I think, about twenty-four weeks in Psalm 119. Even though there are only twenty-two sections you’ll remember that one Lord’s Day Evening we read through the entire psalm in one sitting, something that I don’t think I’ve ever heard anywhere else but here at First Presbyterian Church. And then we did sort of a one message overview of the entire psalm and then for the last number of weeks, over a period of time, we’ve been working through section by section. And so tonight we come to the final letter in the outline of this alphabet psalm, Psalm 119 verses 169 to 176. And again, a theme that we have mentioned repeatedly has been “Living by the Book.” Our study has been called, “Not by Bread Alone,” referring to that passage that Jesus quotes…

The Great Shepherd of the Sheep

If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 13. We’re going to be looking at the final verses of the book together as we come to the end of our exposition. Over and over again in our study of this book we have said that it is emphasized that Jesus is better – Jesus is better than Moses, better than the high priests, better than the Old Testament sacrifices. Jesus is better. And this final section of the book has been very much about the living of…

Pastor’s Perspective December 6, 2013

This coming Lord’s Day, we will (DV) bring to a conclusion our study of the book of Hebrews, looking at the glorious benediction and final words in Hebrews 13:20-25. “20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.…

Great Peace Have Those Who Love Your Law

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Psalm 119 again to verse 161 as we come to the second to the last section of this psalm. God willing, on the evening of the 15th, we will complete our journey through Psalm 119. Now if you have Bibles that have headings for each of these sections you have seen an English rendering of the name of the letter of the Hebrew alphabet, perhaps, over each of these sections and for this one you have one that looks like “Sin” or “Shin” – probably…

New Testament Pastors’ Prayer Requests to their…

From these passages we can glean at least eight things we can pray for ministers: Gospel fruit in ministry; dependence on the grace of God in ministry (and not earthly wisdom); boldness and clarity in proclaiming Christ and the Gospel; faith and faithfulness even in suffering for Christ; Gospel opportunities and successes; deliverance from evildoers and persecutors; ministry to be well-received by God’s people; and the joy and refreshment of being with God’s people

Obey Your Leaders

If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 13. We’re going to be looking at verse 17 as we return to our study of this book and its last chapter. If you were going to give a topic heading for Hebrews 13:17-19 it would be, “The Responsibility of the Congregation to Its Spiritual Leaders.” And I think you could outline it in two parts: obey and pray. And we’ll look at the obey verse today, verse 17, and then we’ll look at the pray verses, 18…

Pastor’s Perspective November 22, 2013

Last Sunday morning I announced that our church is now debt free. This is a cause for thanksgiving to God and for a little explanation. When I arrived as your pastor back in the summer of 1996, you had just completed the Study Center, and we had significant debt on the books in association with that project. We paid that off in a couple of years, and, as I recall, we were debt free in 1999. Then came Twin Lakes expansions, phase one and phase two, the purchase of houses and property adjacent to…

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