First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge

The child in the manger became the savior on the cross. He has broken down every wall of disconnection. He has reconciled you to God and therefore reconnected you to your whole life! Peace. The end of hostility. The end of restless wandering. The end of running anxiously. The end of working furiously to work out the guilt you don't think you should have but cannot help but feel. The beginning of coming home to God.

1 John 3: 1-3
Gerrit Dawson

We read one of the most important verses in the Bible: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. The invisible God showed his face. The Creator of the universe pitched a tent among us. He ventured into the world where we live, as one of us. He hung out as a man. The omnipotent One let himself be shackled to the urgent needs of hunger, sleep, washing and even elimination of waste. He only grew to be so tall. He could only make his voice so loud. He only had the ordinary strength of a man. He risked accidents and violence and misunderstandings. He had to learn how to communicate with tone of voice and style of touch. He had to make a living by the sweat of his brow. He had to be tempted to acts of greed, lust, envy or anger. He ventured a life fully like ours.

You don’t have to stay where you are. No matter how rusty the hinges, you can crack the door. No matter stuck that heavy door seems, it can still open. God is moving toward you. Will you move toward him? Look within. You still have the power of choice. No power in heaven or earth can stop your reaching Christ if you will step towards him.

This Advent, we’re taking up the prologue to John’s Gospel. Nothing like this has ever been written in human language. Nothing could ever surpass it. An elementary school child can grasp the simple meaning of most of the words. But no one can get to the bottom of these. You can get to the bottom of every kind of literature. Shakespeare, Eliot, Tolkien. eventually wear out of fresh meaning. But Scripture is inexhaustible. Its truth goes on and on. And in the glorious crown of God’s Word, John 1 is surely one of the brightest jewels.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

The strength of faith and the courage of character it takes to choose to release someone who has done you grievous harm requires having access to a deeper source of forgiveness. It requires the maturity to know that you, too, are a sinner, capable of anything, and forgiven only at enormous cost. It requires experiencing yourself that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin. That the blood of Christ is a true drink indeed from the River of Life.

What is the meaning and purpose of the Judgment Seat of Christ? Also, how can you and I prepare for it?

Jim Solomon
2 Timothy 4: 1-8

The next phrase in the Apostles' Creed declares, Jesus ascended into heaven. It’s a crucial, but neglected event in Christ’s history.

Luke 24: 50-53
Gerrit Dawson