First Presbyterian Church Of Baton Rouge

Purpose, deep, fulfilling purpose comes from worshiping, serving and loving the King through offering myself to him anew every day. To do whatever I do for him.

What is justice? What is Biblical justice? What is social justice? Does social justice=Biblical justice? a Christian approach to social justice

What is Critical Race Theory? Problems with Critical Race Theory Excursus on Robin DiAngelo Conclusions and book recommendations

Critical Theory: Why should we care? What is Critical Theory? What are the problems with Critical Theory? Logical implications Conclusions and book recommendations

Death appears to be utter aloneness and darkness. There is no more contact. No more connection. It is the end. Such isolation is hellish. That is the fate of all human beings doomed to die and it fills even our best thinkers with terror. BUT WAIT! The Son of God took up our flesh and blood in order that he himself could die like we do. He has been to the dark regions and filled them with his light. He has endured the utter isolation so that we need never experience it. The life of God has entered the realm of death and nothing has been the same. Love penetrated hell and set it ablaze with light.

What do we do with guilt? Deny nothing! Admit all. Confess. Be willing to change. Rely wholly on the good news: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. Rely with all your heart that Jesus already nailed your guilt to his cross. It is finished. Go to him there again and again and let the truth fill you with joy.

The Spirit fills our inner loneliness with reconnection to God. But how do I get the Spirit to do that? What if I don’t feel that connection? The secret rises from this Scripture: if you love me, you will keep my commands, and I will ask the Father and he will give you the Spirit. We turn to Christ Jesus. We open our hearts to him. We say, “I want to obey you. I want my will to be synced up to your will. I want to grow in my love for you. Please, Jesus ask the Father to send the Spirit!”

We welcome to our pulpit this morning Apostle Albert White of Abounding Love Ministries

We freely elect our government officials. We govern by rule of law, with powers divided between 3 branches, the model of liberty for the world. We still have remarkable freedom to express our opinions and exercise our religion. Moreover, we have the ability to critique ourselves, to have the conversations that lead to change. Are we perfect? Of course not! But this July 4th, God’s people in this land rise with gratitude for all we have. And respect for those who sacrificed and labored and fought to make it so.

There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. (KJV) Proverbs 30: 18-19 found four things too wondrous to consider. But certainly there are more. Though the world is hard, evil is relentless and weeping abounds, there is yet much joy. The world is full of wonders. There is much for which we give thanks.

Abraham gave his son Isaac thereby giving himself, to God. He did it as an act of faith. He did it as an act of worship, the first time worship is mentioned in Scripture.

Jesus said, do not fear those who can merely kill the body. Fear God who can cast your soul into hell. That gets your attention! And raises your hackles. We forget that Jesus was the scariest teacher that ever lived. Gentle? What’s gentle about “He who calls his brother a fool will be liable to the hell of fire” (Mt. 5: 22)? What’s safe about the man who said, “Many will say ‘Lord, Lord’ and I will reply, “I never knew you. Depart from me’” (Mt. 7: 22-23). Nobody scares me more than Jesus. And he meant to strike fear in us, to burst our bubble of safety so we could come awake to Reality.

Whatever season you are in, this present moment is open to you. To choose. To trust God. To give yourself to him. To do the next right thing. Right now. To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. The night has passed and the day lies open before us.

In spite of dying, hope does not die in the human heart, even when we want it to. God has set eternity into men’s hearts. We know there has to be more. But on our own we cannot find out what God is up to. We cannot solve the eternity ache. For centuries and centuries people lived only groping after the enigma of eternity and God. But now, the unknown God has been revealed.

Existence seriously, sadly runs away. The time is short and all good things come to an end. Vanity of vanity all is vanity. But there is still life to be had. There are wonderful things to do: pleasures, work, design, treasure, art. The speaker in Ecclesiastes tried them all. He did everything. But he hadn’t yet learned that love, only love, is the inner lining that gives meaning to everything. Without it, nothing satisfies.

It’s silly to think the measure of worship is merely whether or not I get something out of it. Or whether or not the message and the music are right. Worship is huge! And it’s a priceless gift. For an hour I get to step into the stream that has been flowing from all eternity. I get connected to every believer around the world. And even throughout time. What else could I possibly rather be doing?