The Love of Christ Put on Display at SEBTS Convocation
January 19, 2017
Binkley Chapel was filled with new and returning students, faculty and staff for the fall 2015 Convocation service celebrating the sacrificial love of Christ.
On the morning of Aug. 18 Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary’s (SEBTS) first chapel service of the semester featured President Daniel Akin preaching on John 13.
Akin spoke about Christ’s “new commandment” for his followers to serve others as he served them. He highlighted Christ’s humility as he washed his disciples’ feet on the eve of his crucifixion.
The sermon was titled, “How will the world know that we belong to Jesus?” He posed the question “What does it mean to love others as Jesus has loved us?”
Akin believes that Christians’ “love for others will show Jesus’ love to the nations.” He stated that by the way Christians live, love, serve and die they show that they belong to Jesus.
As an example of someone who lived this kind of life, Akin shared the story of Christian missionary and martyr Eleanor Chestnut. She was an orphan in the late 19th century whose faith in Christ led her to medical missions in China. Her sacrificial work in China led to the growth of a local church to 300 members
In 1905 at the age of 37 she was martyred in China for her faith. Years later, the community spoke about how Chestnut’s loving care of others made them think of Jesus.
To conclude the service, Akin and his wife Charlotte, along with a few of the SEBTS faculty, put the message into practice by washing the feet of five students.
Ken Keathley was installed in the Jesse Hendley Chair of Biblical Theology. Ed Hindson, dean of the divinity school at Liberty University and author or more than 40 books introduced the new chair. Jesse Hendley was a well-known teacher and evangelist in America during the 20th century.
Akin recognized two new members elected to the faculty at SEBTS including Stephen Eccher, assistant professor of church history and reformation studies, and Jim Shaddix, professor of preaching and W.A. Criswell Chair of Preaching.
Also during chapel, Provost Bruce Ashford presented Chuck Quarles, professor of New Testament and biblical theology, and Matthew Mullins, assistant professor of English and history of ideas, with the “Faculty Excellence and Teaching Award.”
Regular chapel services are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the semester.
To watch this message online, click here.
To view photos from Convocation, click here.