First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge

If you knew that Jesus would be crucified within the week, what would you want to say to him? What would you give him that might ease his way? A word? A gift? A service? What would you do to give him the comfort that he was loved by you? These are the questions that stirred inside the woman we know as Mary of Bethany.

For several years now, on the Thursday before Easter, we finish our service and go into the church garden. We stand by the tomb and sing the question, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” The event happened two millennia ago in a land far across the sea. It occurred amidst people who spoke a language very few of us today can understand. How could we possibly have been there? But still we...

Remember that very word matters, and therefore we must meticulously craft words within the body. Put away speech that isn’t fitting of sacred living stones when you speak of one another. Because every word matters, intentionally craft words to yourselves that are true. The truest words about you are those that God declares about you. Because of your faith in Christ Jesus, you are pronounced forgiv...

Money is amazing. Money is disappointing. Money is respectable. Money is promiscuous. Money is freedom. Money enslaves. Money is earned. Money is given. "Getting Right with Money!" Gerrit Dawson

"Love has always been mean." Now that’s not a sentence you often hear. But once we think about it, we know it’s true. Nobody hurts us like those we love. And we treat the worst the people we love the best. It’s true in families. It’s true in teams at work. It’s true in churches. Paul acknowledges this reality as he encourages his readers to bear with one another in love. He calls them to forgive o...

Let's face it; we all have stress. But how do you manage your stress? "Stress and Peace" Philippians 4: 4-9

Can you remember when you became aware of the Golden Rule? "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." One of the most famous of Jesus’ sayings. The Golden Rule. It’s so simple preschoolers can begin following it. It’s so deep, we will be continually challenged and inspired by it even if we live a century.

The daily fidelity to his longing for us led Jesus through three ordinary decades of extraordinary faithfulness to his Father. From the hours of small talk gladly accepted came the three years when he spoke the words of eternal life.

We can sometimes feel powerless as political forces, domestic and abroad, threaten our way of life, and we can wonder where God is when calamity strikes personally. Because circumstances constantly war against us, we need the book of Esther to help us understand the times. "God's Hand in History" Esther 4: 12-17 Darin Travis

When one comes to Christ as Lord and Savior, he becomes, in reality, a member of the Body of Christ. Collectively, physically and spiritually, believers indwelled by the Holy Spirit, Christ's Spirit; are in reality Jesus on this planet. We are the Church, the Body of Christ. Christ in us and we in Christ is the very definition of the Christian faith.

The child in the manger became the savior on the cross. He has broken down every wall of disconnection. He has reconciled you to God and therefore reconnected you to your whole life! Peace. The end of hostility. The end of restless wandering. The end of running anxiously. The end of working furiously to work out the guilt you don't think you should have but cannot help but feel. The beginning of c...

The child in the manger became the savior on the cross. He has broken down every wall of disconnection. He has reconciled you to God and therefore reconnected you to your whole life! Peace. The end of hostility. The end of restless wandering. The end of running anxiously. The end of working furiously to work out the guilt you don't think you should have but cannot help but feel. The beginning of c...

We read one of the most important verses in the Bible: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. The invisible God showed his face. The Creator of the universe pitched a tent among us. He ventured into the world where we live, as one of us. He hung out as a man. The omnipotent One let himself be shac...

You don’t have to stay where you are. No matter how rusty the hinges, you can crack the door. No matter stuck that heavy door seems, it can still open. God is moving toward you. Will you move toward him? Look within. You still have the power of choice. No power in heaven or earth can stop your reaching Christ if you will step towards him.

This Advent, we’re taking up the prologue to John’s Gospel. Nothing like this has ever been written in human language. Nothing could ever surpass it. An elementary school child can grasp the simple meaning of most of the words. But no one can get to the bottom of these. You can get to the bottom of every kind of literature. Shakespeare, Eliot, Tolkien. eventually wear out of fresh meaning. But Scr...

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

The strength of faith and the courage of character it takes to choose to release someone who has done you grievous harm requires having access to a deeper source of forgiveness. It requires the maturity to know that you, too, are a sinner, capable of anything, and forgiven only at enormous cost. It requires experiencing yourself that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin. That the blood of...

What is the meaning and purpose of the Judgment Seat of Christ? Also, how can you and I prepare for it? Jim Solomon 2 Timothy 4: 1-8

The next phrase in the Apostles' Creed declares, Jesus ascended into heaven. It’s a crucial, but neglected event in Christ’s history. Luke 24: 50-53 Gerrit Dawson

Christ died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. There is the whole Third Day Christian life put into one sentence. That we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who for our sake died and was raised. There was something that happened in the world. The world of history. The world of place and time. Jesus lived....