First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge

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.

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.

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.

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?