First Baptist Church has been ministering in our community for over 75 years. Established in 1944, our church is committed to the preaching of God's Word, the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ, corporate worship, and the equipping of the people to grow and share their faith.
The city of Belle Chasse is located just 7 miles from downtown New Orleans, LA on the storied West Bank. Our church is located on Highway 23 in Belle Chasse, LA, just past the local high school and post office, and just 1.9 miles north of the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base of New Orleans. Our congregants are eager to welcome new visitors and help you to feel at home whether you are here for just one Sunday or many.
If you have any questions regarding our church, please fill out a Connect form and someone will contact you.
The city of Belle Chasse is located just 7 miles from downtown New Orleans, LA on the storied West Bank. Our church is located on Highway 23 in Belle Chasse, LA, just past the local high school and post office, and just 1.9 miles north of the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base of New Orleans. Our congregants are eager to welcome new visitors and help you to feel at home whether you are here for just one Sunday or many.
If you have any questions regarding our church, please fill out a Connect form and someone will contact you.
The Parables of Jesus
Everywhere that Jesus went, crowds followed. Jesus had a knack for challenging those who heard him speak, as one would expect from the Son of God. At the time that Jesus was ministering, he used parables to illustrate his lessons. This is not only an effective way to make instruction memorable and engaging, it is also a keen way of challenging others’s thinking. You may ask, “What is a parable?” In short, it is a fictional story that is told for the purpose of instruction. In his famous work titled Rhetoric, Aristotle identified two types of fiction: fable and parable. A fable is a fantastic, unrealistic narrative that is used as a cautionary tale to instruct the listener. An example would be the story of the mouse who removed a thorn from a lion’s paw. In that story, the lion and the mouse speak and the lesson is about helping others. A parable, on the other hand, is a realistic, entirely possible scenario that illustrates a life-lesson. An example would be the parable of the lost coin or the prodigal son. Parables were not only used by Jesus but in the Hebrew culture as well, including in the Old Testament. Jesus used stories to give instruction, to challenge the listener, and to communicate the Gospel. Upon inspection, we find that 35% of the recorded sayings of Jesus in the New Testament are parables. If this is how the Master chose to deliver his message, we must pay close attention not only to what he said but how he said it. Walter A. Elwell wrote, “The parables are not merely illustrations for Jesus’ preaching; they are the preaching, at least to a great extent. Nor are they simple stories; they have been truly described as both ‘works of art’ and ‘weapons of warfare.’ How one interprets the parables is not as easy a task as one might think. The way one understands the nature of a parable and the essence of Jesus’ message obviously will determine the method and content of interpretation.” Over the next few months, we will examine the most popular of Jesus’s parables. Namely, those that are featured in two or more of the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Interestingly, John did not record any of Jesus’s parables in his Gospel. However, many of Jesus’s parables were recorded in all three of the other Gospels. Join us as we carefully inspect the teachings of Jesus. 
Worship with us.
One way to worship with us is to attend a worship service on Sunday mornings. Our worship services are held once a week at 10:30AM on Sunday mornings. A typical service consists of worship through song, prayer, and a sermon from our pastor. We encourage families to worship together at First Baptist Church. Children ages 5 and up are invited to join us in worship and childcare is provided for children ages 4 and under. Our desire is that every member of your family will find worship at First Baptist Church to be engaging, edifying, and inspirational. The worship gathering is not meant to be your family's one exposure to God's word per week, but rather it is meant to supplement the study of the Bible taking place in your home and to celebrate how you and your family are living for God outside of the church. To view our video library of past worship services, visit our Watch page. Or, you can listen to past sermons in a podcast format by visiting our Listen page. Another way to worship with us is to join a small group. We have a number of groups for all ages meeting on Sunday mornings at 9:30. If you would like to be contacted with more information about small groups, please fill out a Connect form and someone will contact you. Worship through service. The most effective means of growing in your relationship with Christ and with the church is to serve. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, our areas of service are somewhat limited, but we do have needs in our nursery, children's ministry, worship team, and production team. If you would like to volunteer in any of these or other areas in our church, please fill out a Serve form and we will contact you. Worship at home. The most effective and lasting faith training happens at home. We want to encourage you to worship with your family and study God's word in your home. Joining us for a worship service is wonderful, but worship is a lifestyle. We want to encourage you to invite the Holy Spirit into your home and worship outside of the church as well as inside. Worship services will be live-streamed via Facebook Live at 10:30Am on Sundays, and past services are available on our YouTube Channel. Worship through giving. To keep our church financially healthy and able to do ministry, we need the financial support of our members and of those who feel led to give. Please use our online giving system to give your tithes and offerings so that the ministry of First Baptist Church of Belle Chasse may continue today and in the future. |
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