First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge

How do we understand the filthy straw of the manger wherein the Savior of the human race laid his sweet head? Advent is a time of remembering the past in order that it becomes a part of the one expectation and hope. Matthew takes us through the "rag and bone shop" of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. There's a Savior coming. He even stops at the foul rag and bone shop of our hearts. The eternal Son o...

The world outside the circle of union with Christ has questions for us. They want to know if we are any different than they are. They want to know if Jesus is real to us, and if we are real about Jesus. And every Christian must be able to speak what makes Jesus true and real in our lives. That means that for the sake of the world we are called to live passionate, authentic lives in Christ. So Paul...

Here’s the secret. We submit, respect, love, cherish, obey, rule, manage, and work always and ever for the Lord Jesus Christ. You may not want to listen to your spouse and be supportive and admiring on any particular day. But you can ask yourself, “If this were Jesus telling me about his day, would I be interested? If this were Jesus asking me to do this task, would I be happy to do it?” Well, the...

See to it that you fulfill the ministry which you have received from the Lord. That's a mission statement for life. It's the reason we love our church. Fulfill your ministry. In your homes, in your work and in your church. What a deal that we get to have a part in what Christ is doing! "Fulfill Your Ministry" Colossians 4: 17 Gerrit Dawson

We get dressed in the awareness that all we do is as a representative of Christ. We enter the world and enter our day as Christ’s ambassadors. We dress to reflect well on our master. So we dress in compassion, forgiveness, love, peace, gratitude and joyful worship. We also go forth in the power of Christ’s name. We’re not making this stuff up. He has given us his life. His story is the one that ma...

Certain things change us when we put them on. The first time a judge puts on the robe. The first time a policeman wears the badge. It's not the metal or cloth that dons us but the authority that comes with them. Darin Travis "Put on the New" Colossians 3: 5-11

1) Since you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is. 2) For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 3) When Christ, who is your life, appears, you also will appear with him in glory. All that Jesus is and does belongs to us. But he waits for us to ask before he releases that power. He holds back until we ask him to join the death of Jesus t...

You can’t talk your way out of legalism. You can’t reason your way out. After all, it’s a good thing to confess sins, pray sincerely, share the gospel, pick up trash and apologize to people you offend. It’s a good thing to walk 15,000 steps, stand up during the day and eat healthy. It’s a good thing to enact spiritual disciplines and read Christian books. You can’t reason your way out of legalism...

Your sins have been nailed to the cross. This grace is free. You can’t earn it, buy it or manipulate it. But it ain’t cheap. Colossians 2: 13-15 Gerrit Dawson "Nailed to the Cross"

Your faith has propelled you in a journey into Christ. Along the way, watch out for deceit. Deceit wants to steal your joy. It wants to raid your assurance. It wants to capture your freedom and throw you off course. Colossians 2: 5-12 Gerrit Dawson "Walking in Christ"

Lord Jesus Christ, Mystery made known, Savior of the outcasts, Christ in us, the hope of glory, Treasure of wisdom and knowledge, Live in me. Colossians 1: 24-2: 3

In Christ, God turns himself to humanity In order to turn humanity to God. Reconciliation = The Wonderful Exchange

This is what happens when people discover the divine Kingship of Jesus. They don't get lost in a lot of swirly ideas theological debates. They get moved in the core of their beings by a love that envelops them. They meet the Force at the center of the universe and realize that he is personal. He showed himself to us as the man Jesus Christ. He is the source and the goal. He is the point of life ri...

"He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col. 1: 13). From this one verse, we learn that we are those who have been transferred from one spiritual address to another. We no longer live in the DD, the Domain of Darkness, but now reside KBS, in the Kingdom of the Beloved Son. "Living KBS" Colossians 1: 13-14 Gerrit Dawson

The Apostle Paul tells us there are four ways we can walk worthy of the Lord: 1. Bearing fruit in every good work 2. Increasing in the knowledge of God 3. Being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might 4. Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you Paul prays for a life of growthful joy for his beloved church. He knows there will be trials to endure and enemies to face,...

We cannot escape the defeats that will come our way. BUT we can make choices. We can try to live in denial. Or anger. Or live drugged. Or just fake our way through. OR we can sail straight into the truth. And behold the God who suffered the Great Defeat in order to secure final victory. Jesus Christ declared, “I am the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore” (Rev. 1: 18). The one wh...

The LORD, he is God. It is he that made us, and not we ourselves. It is he that made us, and we are his. It’s quite a blow to learn that I actually cannot become anything I want to be. It’s shocking to come face to face with the truth that I do not create my own life. It can even be infuriating at first to learn the truth that I am not my own. I do not exist just for me. But I am something much mo...

If you show up, if you worship, if you go to the stay-retreat, if you join a small group, give your tithe, serve on a team, bring your kids to youth group, if you do all of these really mundane, ordinary things that we might just label, “participating in the life of Christ’s body,” then something amazing is going to happen to you- you are going to grow deeper in Christ.

Animosity, confrontation, confusion. from cable news right down to our kids' classrooms, Christians are waking up to a world very different from the one we once knew. We are quick to blame everyone else from Hollywood to Washington, but it is not the culture's fault God is sidelined. If God is missing from the conversation, then it is because his people have failed to represent him there. Christia...

What happens when Christians doubt? Is that possible? Do Christians ever doubt? And if so, what do I do with those thoughts? "To the Doubters" John 20: 24-29 Derek McCollum

Your prayers are heard by the God of the universe; the god who created YOU. It is amazing to think that this almighty, powerful god wants to hear from you. Rather than thinking about how or what to pray, let's think about for whom to pray. Pray for ALL people. Not just for those we know and love, or for those who love us, but for even those unlike us. Maybe even for someone who doesn't like you at...

How do you know you have eternal life? I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5: 13).

God's love is unique in that it is not like the world's love. The world's love is often self-centered and self-serving, where God's love is self-sacrificing; yet we need to surrender to his kind of love.