Hebrews
August 9, 2015 - November 22, 2015
Run with Endurance
October 25, 2015 • Rev. Dr. Gerrit Dawson
First Presbyterian Church Baton Rouge is a church passionately committed to Christ Jesus our Lord and ardently engaged in studying the Scriptures. We love reaching out to our city and world with the love of Jesus. You'll see a church ready to welcome new faces. You'll see a church with a vision to go Deeper into Christ and Further into the World.
Faith of Our Fathers
October 18, 2015 • Barry Phillips
Fully entrusting ourselves to the one in whom we have placed our trust, is perhaps the most difficult part of our Christian faith. It means giving him who we are. It means not withholding but deferring to him as the Lord of everything in our lives. It can be a scary thing.
What is Faith?
October 18, 2015 • Rev. Derek McCollum
Faith is simply the rope that ties us to Christ. But if that rope is not anchored on Jesus, it’s worthless. If our confidence is in our ability to make sense of everything, we will be disappointed. And if our confidence is in our own ability to have faith, we don’t have much to hold onto. Our confidence must be in Jesus.
The New and Living Way
October 11, 2015 • Rev. Dr. Gerrit Dawson
Faced with such a stark, eternal choice, every believer would say, “I pick Jesus!” So why do we live every day as if we could set aside the sacrifice Jesus made and build our own kingdom? Why do we get bored with the idea of his blood making us holy and stop pursuing him? Hebrews’ encouragement to draw near with confidence is not given as a marketing tool in hopes that I might decide to buy the Jesus product this week. It’s not a spiritual option presented as an alternative should I get tired of myself. It’s a command. Scripture’s says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice.” That’s not a suggestion. It’s a directive. Not only your immediate fulfillment depends on making full use of your first class ticket to the Father. The eternal evaluation of your life is based on your living from the Jesus who saved you by his blood.
The Iconic Savior
October 4, 2015 • Rev. Dr. Gerrit Dawson
Centuries of hints in Scripture burned into our souls the reality that none of us is true in heart. All of us are lawbreakers on the inside. We cannot get connected to God just by trying to be good, or by pounding out a record of good deeds. But God came to do for us what we could not do. The Father sent the Son who said, “A body you have prepared for me.” You gave me flesh and blood in order that I might live the life of faithfulness from the heart. I came to live what is required of a human being in right relation to his Father in heaven. Christ came to us to do the will of God on our behalf, and in the end to make a sacrifice of himself on the cross that would truly take away our sin. Hebrews tells us we have been made holy, made clean, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all.
Offering Life
September 27, 2015 • Rev. Dr. Gerrit Dawson
We yield to him our time, our bodies, our habits and our wealth. And we find that he takes up our offering as part of his own. He sends his Spirit to join us to himself. He appears before the Father in our behalf. So through Jesus we can cry “Abba Father!” And know that we are received. Glorious!
Complete, Continual and Perfect
September 20, 2015 • Rev. Derek McCollum
Does your relationship with God just stop when you stop? We have someone who is working for us, even when we’re not working. Jesus is our intercessor. He prays the right things on our behalf when we don't. Sometimes our prayer motives are questionable. Jesus' motives are always righteous on our behalf. Hebrews 7: 23-28.