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Look Out!
Posted on: August 31, 2021
by: Gerrit Dawson, Senior Pastor
by: Gerrit Dawson, Senior Pastor
As we go to press with the September newsletter, Ida has passed through. Donations can be made to FPC Hurricane Relief using the button below. Call the office to volunteer for clean-up teams.
Where are we going as a church? That’s always a relevant question. The answer, if we are faithful, is always some form of “in and out.” We’re pressing into the person and events of Jesus. We’re pushing out with his gospel to the world. Same old mission. Always and forever! But every season, if a church has energy and passion, that answer expresses itself in fresh ways.
This fall, we’re pressing in through a worship focus on Paul’s first letter to the young church in the Greek town of Thessalonica. It’s a beautiful, heartfelt message of encouragement. In Sunday school, two of our adult classes are studying Gospels: Mark and John. Our children and parents will be receiving copies of The Gospel Story Bible and their classes will focus on learning the big story of the Triune God’s redeeming work. The women’s studies will take up Esther; youth will study Gospel Foundations in Sunday School and Hebrews in midweek studies. Confirmation students study the Greatest Bible Stories of all time. Do you see a pattern here? We’re questing to meet Christ through Scripture all over the place. Meanwhile we interweave all of that with prayer and care for one another.
But I think you’ll notice most a ramping up of our looking out. Every week as part of worship, we will hear from our ministry and mission partners. We’ll hear ways to participate, whether it’s mentoring students, encouraging teachers, hosting international students or working with us on our seventh (!) Habitat House. That’s right, once more our church will work side by side with a new homeowner to construct a dwelling. Terrence Carter is a stroke survivor, the father of two sons, and a man of faith eager to partner with us. That all begins at the end of the month.
We’ll also introduce our first capital campaign in over a decade. Only it’s not to raise funds for us. We will be seeking to raise $1.5 million for building projects for four key mission partners. Imagine a whole over and above campaign to advance the gospel beyond us: an expansion at Gardere Christian School, a cottage for young women rescued from sex trafficking in Medellin, a high school and dorms in Uganda, helping Church of the Resurrection purchase a permanent site in New Orleans. We’ll be hearing lots more about the Building Up campaign in the coming weeks. I’m thrilled we’re daring to dream of investing so significantly in mission beyond our walls. I love to be on this journey with you, both “in” toward Christ and “out” to the world!Posted in:
From the Pastors' Desk
The church of Jesus faces particular challenges. We know we are sent to the most difficult and desperate people and places with the gospel of Christ. We know Jesus loved the outcast and challenged the powerful. We resonate with the yearning for equality. Yet we feel that something is amiss in the demands for justice that want to deconstruct the way we’ve always lived. It’s hard to sort out Christian compassion from “woke” compulsion. 
After a careful search, the board of the center was led to choose one of our current counselors to lead our center. You’ll know her! Sherry Kadair has been a counselor at BRCCC since 2011 and a member of our church since 2014. Sherry is currently a deacon and serves in both the media and music ministries. Sherry has been married to Howard since 2007. She holds an MA from Denver Theological Seminary and specializes in trauma care. Sherry also has significant experience in the business world and will bring great administrative skills, a cheery spirit, loving heart, warm comradery and a strong sense of the mission of the center and the church. Please pray for her as she steps into the huge role shaped by our founding director. 
23. Why? Well, as Nick Saban might say, it’s about respecting the process.
Palm Sunday. Easter Morning. Service of Shadows. It was so weird to lead those services looking into the lens of an iPhone. But this year we’re back! 
This Lent, we’re going to explore what it means that our truest home is Jesus himself. We’re going to pursue the mystery of what Paul meant by being “in Christ.” We’ll see how living in Christ and from Christ lights up everything in our lives. John Calvin called it a “mystical union” and declared it to be of highest importance to our faith. 
I’m very excited about the new advent calendar that’s been created for our daily readings during this sacred month. Beautifully designed by Katie Robinson, Katie Forsthoff and Mitzi Barber, the readings are coordinated with our sermons and include lovely breath prayers to take you deeper.
I also realized how much I value living in the flow of God’s blessing love. He pours in, and in reply we try to pour out, responsibly but proportionally. If we just kept it, like a dammed up pond, we’d stagnate spiritually, emotionally and even financially. We wouldn’t be as thankful, we wouldn’t feel God’s care as much, and I’m pretty sure, even if we had more dollars for a while, we’d feel not rich but poor. 
As the fall months come, we’re working hard to re-gather our congregation. On September 13 we will return to two Sanctuary worship services: Contemporary at 9 and Classic Reformed at 11. Sunday school will resume at 10.10 on Sundays. We’re learning to gather in ways that are as safe as we can. But I know it will take an effort. We’ve got to overcome the rhythm of just staying at home. We’ve got to push against the inertia of isolation. We’ve got to put up with the inconvenience of safety measures. We’re taking a gamble that we can fill in two worship services with enough people that it doesn’t feel like we’re in a cavern. I think it’s time! Come to church! Invite others to come. Let’s stitch up the fabric of our fellowship, one returning worshiper at a time..jpg)
words that are the Psalms. By making these prayers their own prayers, they have ascended through psalms straight into God’s presence. The Psalms were the very prayer book of Jesus himself. We find Christ’s heart for his Father when we pray psalms in communion with Jesus. We get drawn close to each other when we pray psalms together and for one another. We even find words to pray for our enemies when we pray psalms on behalf of those hostile to us! Psalms express our souls; they also transform our souls, taking us deeper than we could ever go on our own.
The director of our chancel choir ends his tenure with us this month. Dr. Steve Rushing has partnered with me in leading Classic Reformed Worship for the last fifteen years. His outstanding full-time vocal teaching at Southeastern University and then at Baton Rouge International School have meant that Steve’s service to us has always been on a quarter-time basis. With the arrival of our first full-time worship director who is fluent in both classic and contemporary styles, there is too much overlap to continue with two choir directors. So it is with both sadness and gratitude that we bid farewell to Steve in his official capacity. .jpg)
been used for Christ since the time of the ancient church, even in some manuscripts of the New Testament! The “X” represents Chi, the first letter in Greek for christos, or Christ. An X for Christ has also been found in English writing since the 15th century. 
was eager to enter the drama of his saving acts. Around that time, Godspell became a hit Broadway musical. I had the soundtrack and one Easter Sunday, my father took me to see a visiting production. The crucifixion scene against a chain link fence was simple, searing and sad: .jpg)
Living into His Name. We will be raiding the vaults of Scripture for treasure! Each day we will bring forth a jewel, a beautiful name for Jesus. We will study it and pray it, inviting Christ more deeply into our hearts as we more robustly praise him through his names and titles. 
“And it was always said of Scrooge, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, 'God bless us, every one!'" Keeping Christmas well. Isn’t that what we long to do every year?
to be together as a couple, and discover that turning 60 is not so bad. I’ve decided to stay young as long as possible. So, thank you! It was also grand to have time to work slowly and deeply on next spring’s Lenten prayer guide. We’ll be delving into the names of Jesus day by day. Finishing touches were also applied to Raising Adam: Why Jesus Descended into Hell. After five years of preparation, it will be a thrill to see it in print this October. 
outpouring of support following the death of her brother. How wonderful that it was the same week Caleb Daniel Dawson entered the world. Oh yes, a local grandchild to spoil! 
and message are the same in each service, but the order and music vary. I encourage all of our members to become multilingual in worship: to try each service during the course of a year. 
Every Sunday, we offer three distinctive styles of worship. The Scripture 
Augustine felt that the beauty in the world carried him into God’s presence. Every created delight awakened love in him. Yet none of these attractions in themselves were sufficient. All this world’s glory, both subtle and spectacular, directs away from itself to the deep beauty of our Creator. 
As ever, we will be distributing the guides for daily reading and prayer, starting March 5. (some advance copies will be available the week before for those who are traveling). We will also be inviting folks to sign up for six-week home groups to study the various parts of this brilliant prayer together. Personally, I like to have the physical book to hold and read, and I also like getting the daily readings sent to me by email so I can read them anywhere, anytime. If you don’t have the church app, this is a great time to download it and get signed up for daily readings.
Or Jesus never said half what the Bible says he said. It makes us wonder, “How did we get our Bibles? How do we know they are accurate? How do we know this is what God said rather than what man said?” 
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