RTS – Introduction to Preaching
I’ve never taught a more gratifying course than Introduction to Preaching. During the first half of the semester, men prepare their sermons; after spring break, they preach. Yesterday at Grace Chapel James Ritchey and Martin Antoon preached the first sermons of this year’s class. To watch the next generation of ministers deliver sermons that expound the text, exalt the Savior, and edify the congregation is a tangible reminder of God’s determination to provide his church with faithful shepherds.
Read MoreWhat a treat to have Nathan Henderson on campus today exploring opportunities to study at RTS Jackson! I was Nathan’s pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. Nathan is majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Auburn University, and has a special interest in systematic theology.
Read MoreO ETERNAL GOD, grant unto us that thy holy name may always be magnified among us; and that thy mighty holy Word be so imprinted on our hearts, that we undertake nothing against thy godly will; to the intent that we continually depend on thy good providence, and be replenished with that joy that shall uphold our hope of all those good things which thou has promised to us through Jesus Christ. AMEN. – Prayers on the Psalms from the Scottish Psalter of 1595 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2010), 62.
Read More“We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 John Calvin comments: From this we may gather a brief definition of true Christianity – that it is a faith that is lively and full of vigour, so that it spares no labour, when assistance is to be given to one’s neighbors, but, on the contrary, all the pious employ themselves diligently in offices of love, and lay out their efforts in them, so that, intent upon the hope of the manifestation of Christ, they despise everything else, and, armed with patience, they rise superior…
Read MoreThirty-five years ago I finished college and began preaching full-time. For a year, I served as student pastor of Wales Presbyterian Church in Tennessee, a congregation in the old Southern Presbyterian Church (PCUS). Almost everything I owned fit into my 1970 Chevrolet Impala and off I went to preach the gospel. In addition to a King James Bible, my preaching Bible at the time, I took three valuable books. One was was actually a booklet, the outlines and notes from John Stott’s expositions on Romans delivered at the 1979 Urbana Missions Conference. The first-time I heard Stott preach, I determined to follow his pulpit example best I could. A model expositor – clear, persuasive, and, above all, faithful to the text – he preached Christ and him crucified. At…
Read MoreMERCIFUL FATHER, who desirest not the death, but rather the life and amendment, of the sinner, extend thy grace, mercy and goodness to us, and bury all our iniquities, that, being guarded with thy goodness, we may rejoice in thee, living in all uprightness, as we are instructed by thy Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. – Prayers on the Psalms from the Scottish Psalter of 1595 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2010), 61-62.
Read MoreTo RTS Jackson Students: Due to weather conditions the campus is CLOSED today, Thursday, March 5.
Read MoreA point to ponder from 18th century British statesman, member of Parliament and political thinker, Edmund Burke: “. . . Politics and the pulpit are terms that have little agreement. No sound ought to be heard in the church but the healing voice of Christian charity. The cause of civil liberty and civil government gains as little as that of religion by this confusion of duties. Those who quit their proper character, to assume what does not belong to them, are, for the greater part, ignorant both of the character they leave, and of the character they assume. Wholly unacquainted with the world in which they are so fond of meddling, and inexperienced in all its affairs, on which they…
Read More“If you see the grace of God working in your life, and if you recognize material blessings that have come your way as a consequence, do not forget to thank Him. It is sad when there is nothing for which we feel grateful to God, but it is serious when there is something and we fail to show gratitude, and it is tragic when we are so busy asking for more that we forget to thank Him for what we have received.” – William Still, Letters of William Still (Banner of Truth, 1984), pp. 34-35
Read MoreFATHER OF LIGHT and fountain of all goodness, be helpful unto us in time of our affliction: and when we are in greatest danger, hide not thy face from us; yea, whatsoever thing fall unto us, strengthen our hearts, that we may have a continual hope of all the good things, which thou hast promised to us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN. – Prayers on the Psalms from the Scottish Psalter of 1595 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2010), 58.
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