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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…

Living in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Good Report…

The Lord's Day Morning June 17, 2012 “Living Life in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Good Report of Faith and Love” 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles I'd invite you to turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 as we continue our way through this the first letter of the apostle Paul. As you’re turning there to 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 we're going to pick up in verse 6. I want to say happy Father's Day to our fathers and say I may have a few words for you from this passage because even though we're working straight through a book of the Bible, Paul has some things that are particularly relevant to us as Christian fathers as we consider this His Word. I want you to be on the lookout for three things as we read. First of…

The Joy of Unity

If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Psalm 133. Psalm 133 has been sung at Presbyterian General Assembly for probably close to five hundred years now and if you've ever been to a Presbyterian General Assembly you’ll know why it needs to be sung there because unity is not something that Presbyterians are known for at their General Assembly. It used to be said that if the Scots couldn't find somebody to fight they’d fight one another and that national characteristic has apparently followed Presbyterians historically over the decades and centuries. But perhaps in faith and as an ideal, typically our General Assembly closes every year — it will be next week in Louisville, Kentucky — with the singing of this psalm in a metrical version, an aspiration…

Living in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Pastor Who…

The Lord's Day Morning June 10, 2012 “Living Life in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Pastor Who Loves His People” 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:5 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. We’re going to read to the end of that chapter and then into the first few verses of 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. You remember the last time we were together in this passage we were saying that Paul has detractors in Thessalonica who are slandering him. They’re saying things to the Thessalonians Christians like, “Paul only cares about your money. What he's really after is money,” or, “He only cares about building up a group of followers. He's looking for position. He's looking for respect. He's…

The Lord Swore an Oath

If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Psalm 132 as we continue our way not only through the fifth book of the Psalms but through the songs of ascent. This psalm recalls several themes together in one compass. First of all, it recalls David's desire to build a temple for the Lord and that takes you back to 2 Samuel 7. You remember in 2 Samuel 7, David expresses to Nathan the prophet, his friend and the faithful prophet of God in Israel, a desire on his part to build a…

Living in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Word at Work…

The Lord's Day Morning June 3, 2012 “Living Life in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Word at Work in You” 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. We’re going to be looking at verses 13 to 16 today as we continue our way through this, perhaps, the first letter of the apostle Paul to the churches, and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to you and to me. As we read this passage…

Living in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Gospel…

The Lord's Day Morning May 27, 2012 “Living in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Gospel Attested by Conduct” 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn to Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, the first letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 2, and we're going to be looking at verses 1 to 12 this morning. I want to bring to your attention this aspect of what Paul is doing in chapters 2 and 3. Paul is defending his…

Content to Fill a Little Space, if Thou be Glorified

If you’d take your Bibles in hand and turn with me to Psalm 131, we're continuing our way through the fifth book of the Psalms together. And as we're working through the fifth book of the Psalms, we are also working through the psalms of ascents, those songs that were sung by the pilgrims on the way to Jerusalem during the great, holy festivals. And this psalm is a psalm about submission to the Lord's providence, repose, and rest in Him, even when the circumstances of your life are…

Living in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Turn to God…

The Lord's Day Morning May 20, 2012 “Living Life in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Turn to God from Idols” 1 Thessalonians 1:7-10 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. We’re going to be looking at verses 7 to 10 today but I want to pick up reading in verse 6 so that we're not picking up in the middle of a sentence. And I also want us to connect this passage with the passage we studied last…

I Have Met the Enemy, and He Is Us

It's hard to sing that song and not go on to the fifth stanza where the resolution comes, but we’ll be able to sing that, God willing, at the end of the service tonight. I love Luther's rendition of Psalm 130. You can sense his own investment in the truth of this psalm even in the way he paraphrases it, in the way that he roots it in the glorious story of Christ's redemption of it. Well we're in Psalm 130 tonight and when you approach this psalm you have to ask yourself a…