First Presbyterian Church Of Baton Rouge

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 higher purpose contained in all good and faithful efforts. Your labor is not in vain! Rejoice in whatever God gives you to do, for all good work glorifies God. "Made for Work" Gerrit Dawson Genesis 2: 15; Ephesians 2: 10 and Exodus 31: 1-11

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 doubted from the position of having thrown his hat into the ring. He put his heart and soul into Jesus for three years. "Believing Thomas" Gerrit Dawson John 20: 19-31

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 his way is the way to life? If you are on the outside looking in today, you know what a risk this is. To give up ownership claims to your life. To entrust yourself to a faithful Savior. Might he turn out to be a harsh Master? It’s a risk. But you sit surrounded by people who will testify to you that Jesus is good. That he is love. That we found comfort in life and in death when we submitted to the truth that we belong not to ourselves. We are not our own, but his. And paradoxically, in his service we find freedom. In dying with Christ to self, we find that we live, more alive and more ourselves than ever before.

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 that Jesus will be seen to be the center of a teeming, intimate and glorious new humanity enfolded into the everlasting life of the Triune God, ruling with him over a restored creation. "Let It Out!" Luke 19: 28-40

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 satisfaction. Jesus is the soul’s comfort and the heart’s treasure. What we have been looking for all along. The voice we most long to hear.

More than 80 times in the gospels, Jesus refers to himself as “the Son of Man.” Do you think that’s odd? The other New Testament writings almost never use that title. It seems particular to Jesus himself. He preferred Son of Man. But what kind of title is Son of Man? Is it humble or exalted? Is it clear or is it mysterious?

For you, little child, Jesus Christ has come, he has fought, he has suffered. For you he entered the shadow of Gethsemane and the horror of Calvary. For you he uttered the cry, “It is finished!” For you he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and there he intercedes — for you, little child, even though you do not know it. But in this way the word of the Gospel becomes true. “We love him, because he first loved us.” James Torrance, Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace

DAWN. Jesus is always meeting us with the sunrise of his love. He is always on the way. Dawn is a name for Jesus and the light he shines into us. DAVID. Jesus is the Key of David. The key lets in. The key gives understanding. Liberation. Future. DESIRE. Jesus is the Desire of Nations. He is what the nations have been seeking all along (Haggai 2: 7), looking too often in wrong and weary places. He is what we most truly want.

Welcome to Lent, a season of preparation for the celebration of Easter in six weeks. Our tradition at church has been to focus intently together on the person and work of Jesus Christ. We don’t talk so much about giving up pleasures in Lent as we do about adding practices that cause us to pray more, study more and reflect more on Jesus. This year, we’ll be taking up a different name of Jesus each day over the next 42 days. Our study will be called "Lord Jesus Christ: Living into His Name." "I Live by His Name" Gerrit Dawson

Jesus! what a friend for sinners! Jesus! Lover of my soul. Friends may fail me, foes assail me, He, my Savior, makes me whole. Hallelujah! what a Savior! Hallelujah! what a Friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.

"Father, give me the desire to desire what you desire for me?” When we can honestly and wholly pray that prayer, we are praying with the mind and heart of Christ. We desire to glorify the Father with whom we are now in eternal relationship. What is at the top of your list? "What Is Your Heart's Desire?" John 17: 1-5

Jesus received the woman. He received her extravagant gift. He received her touch. He received her in that immediate moment despite her poor timing, out of control life and shameful behavior. Stopping her would have been declining to be her savior. He could save the appearances but he would lose this soul. Jesus made the choice he would always make no matter the cost. He did in this moment for her just what he would do on the cross for all of us. He took sin and returned forgiveness. Ordinary people would be defiled by a sinner’s touch. But our sin did not defile Jesus. Rather, he takes sin, absorbs it into his holiness, burns it up, and then offers forgiveness. He received the filthy touch in order to offer love’s peace. This woman’s sins were borne by Jesus. As she poured out her regret, her shame, her love, her hope, it was as if her very life was taken up in his. And so that life was returned cleansed, her sins were forgiven and her touch declared to be an act not of inappropriate impurity but faithful lo