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New Testament

Pondering These Things in Our Hearts

The Lord's Day Morning February 8, 2009 Luke 2:8-20 “Pondering These Things in Our Hearts” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III We’ll be looking at verses 8-20 today — a passage very familiar to us, especially at Christmastime. It's been a tradition for many years at First Presbyterian Church during the family Christmas Eve Carol Service for the whole of Luke 2:1-20 to be read in the beautiful old King James or Authorized Version, and so there's no telling how many times many of you have heard this passage. One of the real delights in studying it outside the context of Christmastime is that perhaps its overly familiar text can get through to us in ways that it might not when our hearts are filled with the sentiment of the season. Now throughout this passage that we're going to…

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

The Lord's Day Morning December 19, 2004 Luke 2:13-14 “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you’d take your hymnals in hand and turn with me to No. 203, we’ll look at the text of this hymn that the choir has so beautifully sung, and we’ll consider it before we read the passage upon which it is based. We’re going to be looking at Luke 2, verses 13 and 14, and this carol by Charles Wesley, one of the many hundreds of carols that he wrote, is one of the best hymns ever written. It's reckoned by many hymnologists to be among the three or four best hymns ever written. It was certainly one of the most popular hymns in Protestant hymnals in the middle part of the twentieth century. A survey was done of some 60 or 65 different Protestant denominational…

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

The Lord's Day Morning December 5, 204 Luke 2:21-35 “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III Let me invite you to take your hymnals in hand …we’ll turn to the Scriptures in just a few moments, but take your hymnals in hand and turn with me to No. 196. After the sermon today as we close our service in praise, we're going to sing the first and the fourth stanzas of Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, those two stanzas in this hymn written by Charles Wesley. This is the first Sunday morning message in our “Songs of Christmas” series, and if you haven't gotten information about that and you’re visiting with us today, there are red cards with information about this series that will be on Wednesday evenings, and Sunday morning and Sunday evening…

Fulfilling the Law-Finding the Messiah

The Lord's Day Morning March 1, 2009 Luke 2:21-40 “Fulfilling the Law — Finding the Messiah” The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III For a number of weeks now we've been working our way through this great Gospel. We've taken a break the last couple of weeks for our Missions Conference, but we return picking up right where we left off, in Luke 2:21, as Luke introduces us to the very earliest days of Jesus’ life. Now as he does this, it's important for us to remember that the…

Luke Christmas Liturgy – Nunc Dimitis

The Lord's Day Morning December 24, 2006 Luke 2:29-32 Luke's Christmas Liturgy Nunc Dimitis Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III Amen. If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke, chapter two. We come today to the fourth of those songs of the Nativity in the Gospel of Luke that we've been studying this month. Isn't it interesting the similarities that these songs have? They regularly celebrate the fulfillment in Christ of God's original promises to Abraham They…

In My Father’s House

The Lord's Day Morning March 8, 2009 Luke 2:40-52 “In My Father's House” The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III Turn with me to Luke 2:40, as we continue through this great Gospel together. We’re at a very special passage when we come to Luke 2:40-52. It is the only story that we have of Jesus between the time of His infancy and the beginning of His ministry as an adult of around thirty years old. So from the time He's a very young child, just weaned, to the time that He is an…

John Came Preaching Repentance

The Lord's Day Morning March 15, 2009 Luke 3:1-20 “John Came Preaching…Repentance” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III Turn with me to Luke, chapter three. We’re going to be looking at the first twenty verses of this chapter, and as we do so, I'd like to walk you through the outline of what Luke teaches us here about the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry. The first two verses of the chapter give us the context for John's ministry, and it's a sad context, very…

Jesus’ Baptism

The Lord's Day Morning March 22, 2009 Luke 3:21-22 “Jesus’ Baptism” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III Both Matthew and Mark record the baptism of Jesus. Interestingly, Luke's account of the baptism is shorter than both Matthew and Mark. It is not surprising that it's shorter than Matthew. It's perhaps surprising that it's shorter than Mark. Mark typically is pretty quick and to the point as he recounts history, and Luke is even briefer in describing the baptism than Mark is. In…

Jesus: Son of David, Son of Abraham, Son of Adam, Son…

The Lord's Day Morning March 29, 2009 Luke 3:23-38 “Jesus: Son of David, Son of Abraham, Son of Adam, Son of God” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III Amen. If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke 3, as we continue to make our way through the Gospel of Luke. We come today to the genealogy of the Lord Jesus, and as your eyes look at Luke 3:23-28, you may be thinking to yourself quietly (so as not to admit to these thoughts to those around you) Why in the world did Luke…