First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge

Mary turned round and saw Jesus. He spoke her name. And her tears were turned. He speaks your name as well, deeply into your heart. Jesus is the great turner of the tears. Jesus lives again. Arise!

Jesus plunged farther, died deeper, was crushed finer than we can imagine on Holy Saturday. This quiet service reflects on five psalms that sustained Jesus in this time.

Nancy and Rick Spiller & friends reflect on isolation and our Lord’s passion.

Interactive Service of Shadows: Participate at Home! Wherever you are, you can take an active part in our annual Holy Thursday Service of Shadows. Here’s what to do: secure four candles, a lighter, bread, and a cup of juice/wine. Watch and listen as we move through the story of the passion. Wait for the signal to light and/or extinguish candles, and for the time when we can all take communion in our homes, yet spiritually together!

Elder and professional counsellor Sue Miley discusses the difficulty people are having in making decisions in uncertain times and the process she uses for moving forward.

Gerrit explains how to prepare for participating in Thursday’s service of shadows. Four candles, a piece of bread and a cup of wine or juice, and you’re set to interact with the passion of Jesus and connect to him, together with our whole church, through the Lord’s Supper.

Our beloved pastoral care minister invites us to the challenge of Tuesday lunch-fasts and how such practice can ignite your prayer life. Jim also asks that you check out the guidelines and insights on fasting that are included on our denomination’s website (epc.org) especially if you will fast not only on Tuesdays at lunch time but also the entire day on Good Friday, April 10.

Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the Sanhedrin council. For political reasons he had to keep his loyalty to Jesus hidden. So why did he risk his position to approach Pilate? Only love could have made him do it. All he cared about was honoring Jesus in his burial.

Too late to speak.
Too late to stop them.
Lord, I tried to work quietly behind the scenes.
But I was only protecting myself.
For what?
Without you, nothing I have matters.
This world is dead to me.
These positions a joke.
I know I could not save you anyway,
There were too many of them,
But I ache to have tried harder.
No more hiding!
I will get you off that cross.
Gently, with dignity that befits a king.
I will save your body from the dogs and the gawkers.
You shall have my burial place.
I will tend your tattered form
With all my love and care,
With all the power at my disposal.
Too late, I know, to save you
But not too late to let them know
I am yours, and I will love you forever.

Joseph just wanted to honor his slain master. He just wanted the cruel shame to end. So he was willing to sacrifice politically, socially, personally to give Jesus a proper burial. And what a difference it has made! If Jesus had been dumped in a mass grave, there would have been no empty tomb to point out on Easter. If he had been discarded in an unfindable place, the resurrection would have seemed like a mere fabrication. But the world saw Joseph take Jesus to his home address. They saw the Lord laid in a tomb with a stone rolled over it. They beheld the Roman soldiers guarding it. So Joseph’s gift became an essential, everlasting witness to the resurrection of Jesus. He was buried in Joseph’s tomb. On Sunday, the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty. Jesus really died. A lost cause. He also really rose. The triumph of love.

FPC deacon Jamy Comeaux, and his wife, MDO teacher Brittany, share gratitude for gifts.