More than 270 Southern Seminary students received degrees – ranging from certificates to doctorates – during commencement exercises on the seminary’s lawn, May 18, 2012.
“We set [graduates] loose to do what God has called and gifted and empowered them to do – to teach and preach the Word of God, to shepherd the flock of God, to guard the good deposit and to follow the pattern of sound words, to herald the good tidings of the gospel, to teach the church, to counsel believers, to reach the unreached and to comfort the afflicted,” R. Albert Mohler Jr. told the 209th graduating class. “They are set forth to defend the truth, to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints, to mourn with those who mourn and to minister in Christ’s name and stead.
“Take everything good you received here, and leave anything that does not glorify God and strengthen Christ’s church. Remember all who made this possible for you, knowing that all these things were provided so that the church may be faithfully taught and the nations gladly reached.”
Also at graduation, Mohler presented the Findley B. and Louvenia Edge Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence to Peter J. Gentry. Joining the seminary in 1998, Gentry is professor of Old Testament interpretation. He is also the author, along with SBTS’ Stephen Wellum, of the forthcoming book, Kingdom through Covenant, available this summer.
Mohler’s entire address is available in audio and video at the SBTS Resources page, www.sbts.edu/resources. A complete transcript of the address, “To Utter What Has Been Hidden Since the Foundation of the World,” is available at www.albertmohler.com