First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge

God himself rolled up his divine sleeves and said, “All right, I’m on the way. Nobody can fix you but me. And it’s going to take an ingenious fix. An extraordinary rescue. An expensive solution. But I’m coming to do it.” Crucified. Dead. Buried. It’s emphatic. The only Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit underwent a human death. No wonder the earth quaked and the sun went dark. God died. The...

Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried. Our God is not a stranger to our pain and suffering. He is not aloof from our tears. He rode the crazy train. He rode the crazy train of the world of Pontius Pilate until it ran right off the rails into a cross.

The paradox at the heart of our faith: Our savior and Lord Jesus is fully God and fully man. He is of the same stuff as any ordinary person. He is of the same stuff as the only true God. This is the mystery of the incarnation.

The desire for God without the knowledge of God allows for idols. Ben Cunningham "Created to Know Him" Acts 17: 22-27

The Christian understanding is "I am THOUGHT, therefore I am" (Joseph RatzInger) rather than "I think, therefore I am." The meaning of life cannot be found in isolation as a choosing individual. It's only found in relationship. God the Creator thinks of you. All the time. You only exist because God thinks of you. He holds us together by always holding us in his thoughts. "Creator of Heaven and Ear...

For all who call upon the name of the LORD will be saved. Your heavenly Father loves you. He just wants you home. He just wants you to turn to him, for the first time or the millionth time. "The Father Almighty" Gerrit Dawson

So how do you know the correct way to interpret the Bible? What’s the key to faithful interpretation? How do you keep from going wrong when you read the Word? One core story is the key that unlocks the whole story. The Creed is the story that pulses with energy. It leads us to meet Jesus, the real Jesus of history, the one Redeemer and Lord of all.

So we all try to get rid of guilt. Whether we are believers or atheists, whether we are hyper-aware or completely oblivious, every one deploys a strategy for diminishing the power of guilt. It seems there are three attractive but ultimately futile ways we try to deal with such guilt. For fun, we’ll call them the Karma Shift Spin. "It All Comes Out in the Wash" Psalm 32 Gerrit Dawson

Idols come wrapped in a different story than the story of God’s redeeming work in Scripture. They come with an alternate story about the purpose of human life, its main problems and what to do to overcome the problem and have a good life. They challenge the understanding that we are beloved creations of God, who are also sinful and in need of a savior. We exist to glorify God and enjoy him forever...

Hannah’s song teaches us that the Triune God of Grace works on a level far above our sight. He is working in our lives beyond every expectation. We can’t get this God to do what we want. But we can learn two important markers. The proud will get taken down. Whenever I think I am self-sufficient, I am heading for a reversal. When I think I don’t need the God who made me for himself, that I can solv...

The Lord reveals himself to Samuel. Darin Travis 1 Samuel 3: 1-21

God is faithful and therefore demands faithful allegiance and leadership, but He also faithfully provides the means to do so. In the dark shadowy description of Eli’s worthless sons, there emerges a piercing beam of light. "Eli and His Worthless Sons" 1 Samuel 2: 12-36 Darin Travis

The wisdom of Hannah’s story from 1 Samuel tells us, “Go to the place of your pain and there you will find God waiting.” There, in that place where you hate yourself for failing to speak up again, where you loathe yourself for your timidity, God is waiting to give you courage. There, in that place of unfulfilled dreams, that place where life has not turned out to be anything you expected it to be....

It's impossible to glorify God in isolation from others. He made us for community and calls us to a particular, committed community so that each local congregation can join with the universal church in harmonious praise. As we live out following Jesus together, we are connected to the worldwide church and our worldwide mission. When we love, steadily and determinedly through the years, the world s...

True mothers are a lot like our Lord: They’d rather “let go” and grant life than hold on and cause death. Christ is the Author of Truth and the Author of Life, no matter how a life was conceived. "Who's Your Mother?" Jim Solomon 1 Kings 3: 16-27. #mothersday #firstpresbyterianbr #1kings #mothersday2019

God alone can create. But he created us to participate in advancing his creation. God alone can save. But he allows the work that we do to become part of his great purposes in the world. Whatever you do that is wholesome, honest and productive contributes to God’s purposes in the world. Your work for God is not only when you are at church. It’s all the time that you are giving yourself to the high...

Inside the faith is the most honorable position for doubters. There is no such thing as standing objectively aloof from all faiths. That in itself is a faith position. It is the position that truth cannot be known, or does not exist. That is a worldview to which one commits; such agnosticism is its own kind of faith, no matter how much it hides under the cloak of “scientific objectivism.” Thomas d...

It is a matter of trust. By no means easy. For if I release my will to this Jesus, will he turn out to be a tyrant? Or an abuser? A controller? A stifler? Or will he turn out to be the one who died and rose to everlasting life and wants to share that life with me? Am I willing to trust the one who pre-paid his love for me? He already expended himself entirely on my behalf. Can I not now trust that...

Palm Sunday is the preview before the crucifixion that the powers of hate do not have the last word. Joy is ours. It is not a shallow joy, but joy from the very wells at the heart of creation. For in the joy of Jesus, no tear will be unaccounted for. They are each numbered and kept in the Lord’s bottle, as the Psalm says. Yet, joy will catch up and transforms all sorrow. Palm Sunday assures us tha...

God has provided a mediator for us. The mediator has a plan for making peace. But we are required to submit to the mediation. We have to waive our right to a trial. We have to enter binding arbitration and accept whatever outcome the mediator gives. There can be no recourse after that.

Jesus is the Shepherd who cares deeply for our well being. And more. Jesus is the very entryway from the wild night into the safety and peace of the fold; he is the morning passageway from the fold back to the green pastures. His motivation as the Door and the Shepherd is that we, the sheep, might have fullness of life. His desire is that we find in him a life of peace and safety, of abundance and...