First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge

The joy of working in the master’s vineyard is so much deeper than standing around wasting your life on yourself. "Working the Vineyard" Matthew 20: 1-16 Gerrit Dawson

Transfer your trust from yourself to the Lord. "Judgement or Rule: Tyranny or Benevolence" Darin Travis Luke 18: 9-14

God has made our salvation, not our punishment, to be his glory. He lets us run up charges on his grace, and he does not make us pay it back. He bears the loss himself so that we might go free. When the accounts of our lives are looked at, they are found wanting. Even among the best of us, all our good works amount only to a total wasting of the Father’s gifts to us. We have no personal credits to...

Eternity is in our heart. We know we are meant for more. But we don’t know how to get there. By ourselves, we can’t figure out who God is or what he is doing. Gerrit Dawson "Eternity in Our Hearts" Ecclesiastes 3: 1-15

Solomon asks the question, “Is there a thing of which it is said, “See this is new?” (Ec. 1: 10). He means it as a rhetorical question. He doesn’t expect a reply. For there is nothing new under the sun. The world grinds on same as it ever was. It is what it is. And he was weary of the game. BUT several hundred years later, the LORD would answer with a tantalizing hope through the prophet Isaiah: B...

Just like Solomon, our hearts have appetites for some awful things. We are prone to seek life in "dead" things. We are deceived into thinking that lesser things can deliver what only God can give. We need to guard our hearts. Gerrit Dawson "They Turned His Head" I Kings 9: 1-9, 11: 1-8

The Temple is three things: The Building, Jesus Christ, The Congregation.

"Solomon on Solomon" Proverbs 28: 13-14 Rev. Jim Solomon True confession requires vulnerability and can feel very risky. But listen to what Solomon says: Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

The Way to Life Proverbs 3: 1-12 These are the words of life and peace: do not let steadfast love and faithfulness get away from you. The steadfast love and faithfulness of God extends from his character to the story of our lives. When we live intentionally in covenant with this God, we discover that the paths of our lives are taken into the paths of God. The right roads, of course. As we love and...

Solomon did not demonize nor did he minimize. He believed that a mother’s heart for her child is a fierce love shared by women across every descriptive category. He also knew there are some bad mothers, people who give in to jealousy, panic, rage and envy. People who would rather see you fail with them than let you succeed. Solomon knew that human beings are sinful. He knew that human beings are c...

The heart of wisdom is very simple. We give ourselves wholly to the Lord Jesus Christ who has called us to himself. He is the king, and we bow to him. We ask to be commanded. Then we give ourselves to those he places in our midst. We do our work. We live our lives. We trust his guidance to emerge as we are yielded to him.

Living from the Lord's Prayer, Part 8 Revelation 5 Josh Maddin

Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017 Living from the Lord's Prayer, Part 7 Revelation 1: 4-8, 17-18 The ancient hold of death and Satan upon us has been broken. The fear that plagues us has been taken by Christ the Savior. And now people are getting into the Zōn. They are repenting of their sins, giving their lives to Christ and being washed clean by his blood. Even though it looks like the world has gon...

"Deliver Us From Evil" Living from the Lord's Prayer, Part 6 Gerrit Dawson Ephesians 6: 10-13 It’s the biggest story ever. The most important story. The truest story. That’s why we tell it every year. So we can feel it again and believe in Jesus more and more.

I pray “Forgive us our sins,” and look to the merciful God that showed himself in Jesus. But that’s not the whole line, is it? Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. God’s forgiveness of me seems to be linked to my forgiveness of others. Yikes! Just in case we think Jesus didn’t mean this, right after he gave them the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus clarified, “For if you forgive others their trespa...

The two phrases go together: Your will be done. Give us this day our daily bread. We’re yours. Provide for us and others. We’re willing to be the answers to prayer. We will participate in your provision. John 6: 30-35, 51

Augustine did not know peace. He did not know love. He did not know God. That is, until he gave his heart to Christ. He yielded his will to God’s. And so he could pray, In your service is perfect freedom. You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you. In your service is perfect freedom. Seeing the results of surrender motivates us to yield more. But s...

To pray, “Your Kingdom, let it come” is a life changing prayer. It means first that we recognize this world is not all right. This right now is not the kingdom. I see suffering. I see brokenness. I see lostness and need and chaos and madness and violence. And it is not all right. It is not the way it should be. So I pray for the Kingdom to come. God bring your rule of peace and forgiveness and lov...

It's great fun praying for God to hallow his name. It means that we get restored to the deep intimacy with our Father for which we were made. Ezekiel 36: 22-28

Who knows what tomorrow may bring? Not a job, not a home, not a person, not a breath is guaranteed. Who knows what tomorrow may bring? Not I. I know only that I will need him every hour, more than ever. That is the dying of pride, and, what do you know, it feels wonderful! To need him without hesitancy, without pride, is joy sweet and deep. The things that can be shaken have been shaken. But what...

Hysterical. Fearful. Anxious. Does the current atmosphere in our country leave you feeling any of these things? James 3 and 4 tell us that the peace, confidence and faith that allows us to remain steady comes from above (James 3 and 4). And remember, "The LORD is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?" (Psalm 27)

Why did I say that? No human being can tame the tongue, says James (1: 8). Don’t we know the truth of that? James tells us nobody can do it perfectly. And simply biting our tongues will not really change us in the heart. We need to understand more deeply how speech relates to our God. We human beings are made in the image of God and speech is unique to us among earth’s created order. So we can bet...