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RTS 2024 Generosity Report

Many of our Reformed Theological Seminary friends and supporters have probably been receiving the RTS 2024 Generosity Report that was just recently mailed out. It is a testimony to God’s generous provision and to the faithful, sacrificial giving of thousands of our partners. We give thanks for what the Lord has supplied, what he has enabled us to do, and indeed what he has given us the privilege to do for him, for the church, this last year. Below are just a few of the highlights. In 2024, RTS donors contributed $12.9 million to RTS, supporting 2,038 students, and enabling them to take…

Everything That Lives and Breathes

If you have your Bibles, I would invite you to turn with me to Psalm 150. Sixteen years and two months ago, on September 1, 1996, I preached my first Sunday evening sermon as the minister of First Presbyterian Church on Psalm 1. Sixteen years and two months later, here we are at Psalm 150! Now if I had preached it all the way through, we could have done it in three years, but it was the first book of the Psalms, and Genesis, the second book of the Psalms, and Exodus, the third book of the Psalms, and then Numbers and Leviticus got — they happened on Wednesday nights mostly, but then I did the fourth book of the Psalms more recently, and in between the third and fourth book of the Psalms, Derek Thomas came on and preached a lot of Sunday nights for a decade or more at First Presbyterian…

Happy Giving: Because You Want To

The Lord’s Day Morning November 4, 2012 “Happy Giving: Because You Want To” 2 Corinthians 9:5-7 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. The stewardship committee has chosen 2 Corinthians 9 verse 7 as our theme verse this year: “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” But I want us to concentrate on 2 Corinthians 9 verses 5, 6, and 7 this morning, and before we do that, I want you to see the big picture of 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. Paul, in these two chapters, is laying out a theology of giving. In these two chapters, Paul explains what the standard of our giving ought to be, he explains what the dynamic of…

A New Song

If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Psalm 149 as we continue towards the end of the Psalter and as we continue through this series of praise psalms that began with 146. It's entirely possible that this psalm flows out of the final verse of the psalm that we looked at last Lord's Day Evening, Psalm 148 verse 14. “He has raised up a horn for His people, for the people of Israel who are near to Him.” The focus of this psalm is entirely upon the people of God and especially the people of God in the context of a great victory that God has won for them. Their horn has been exalted. So it's entirely possible that Psalm 149 flows out of the thought of Psalm 148 verse 14. Now another thing about this psalm is that it looks like a victory psalm, the kind of…

Enduring Trials in Light of Jesus’ Return:…

The Lord's Day Morning October 28, 2012 “Enduring Trials in Light of Jesus’ Return: Pauline Prayer Request” 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III A very appropriate hymn for this Lord's Day. Four hundred and ninety-five years ago on Wednesday, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five points of debate on the church door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany, and sparked the Protestant Reformation. Five hundred million Christians in the world today trace their…

All Creatures of Our God and King

If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Psalm 148. This psalm is one of five nature psalms that you find in the Psalter. It is a psalm that, like the other nature poems, handles its material in such a way to reflect all praise to God. So instead of nature worship, it is a call for nature to worship God. Instead of worshiping nature as if it were the product of its own self-creation, we're acknowledging God as the author of the entire created order and calling upon that…

Enduring Trials in Light of Jesus’ Return: Early…

The Lord's Day Morning October 21, 2012 “Enduring Trials in Light of Jesus’ Return: Early Benediction” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, if you’ll look with me at the last two verses in that chapter. You will notice immediately it's just one sentence; these two verses comprise one sentence and that sentence is a benediction. Some scholars of early Christianity call…

Good and Pleasant Praise

If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Psalm 147. We’re coming close to the end, not just to the fifth book of the Psalter but of the entire Psalter, and you can feel, in these final psalms, that the arranger is building to a crescendo of praise to God. This psalm, like many other praise psalms, begins and ends with an exhortation for us to praise the Lord. You’ll notice that at the beginning of verse 1 and at the end of verse 20. But there are three fairly easily…

Enduring Trials in Light of Jesus’ Return: Saved…

The Lord's Day Morning October 14, 2012 “Enduring Trials in Light of Jesus’ Return: Saved through Sanctification” 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. We’re going to be looking at verses 13 to 15 together today. In the Christian life, there are certain truths that we need to grasp firmly and hang on to in order to live in the trials and the tribulations that we must…

While I am, I Praise

If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Psalm 146, the first of the final hallelujahs of the Psalter. These psalms supply us with the substance of the praise that we will be giving to God forever. In that day, when we stand before Him for the first time to begin never-ending worship, none of us will say, “Lord, I wish the preacher had told me more about how to make money. Lord, I wish the preacher had told me more about how to be successful in this world.” But we’ll…