What does First B Jackson teach about christmas?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on Christmas keeps returning to one insistence: the birth of Jesus was not a warm seasonal moment but a decisive act of God breaking into human history. Pastor Mark traced this through the Gospel of Luke, showing that Luke uses the word 'today' five emphatic times from the manger to the cross, each one a declaration that something is happening right now. The angel's announcement to the shepherds, the first of those five, sets the tone for all the rest: a Savior has arrived, and the right response is immediate praise, the way the shepherds gave it.
Pastor Ray, preaching from John's prologue, pressed on what the incarnation actually cost and actually means. The Word that was with God before creation existed, the agent of everything made, pitched a tent among us. Ray pointed to the hinge of John 1:14 and held it there: transcendence and nearness are not in tension in Jesus, they are the same person. Law given through Moses could only expose the gap. Grace and truth were realized, made present and embodied, in Jesus Christ. The genealogy in Matthew that Pastor Ray also preached reinforced the same point from a different angle, showing that the line of the Messiah runs through broken and unlikely people, Gentiles included, because the blessing of God has always been moving outward toward all people.
The Christmas Eve services at First B have consistently brought this to a personal close with the candle lighting, drawing on John 8:12 and John 1:5 to say that the light that came into the world at Bethlehem is not extinguished when the candles go out. Pastor Blake, Pastor Mark, and Pastor Mike have each pressed the translation question behind 'peace on earth, goodwill to men,' and each has landed in the same place: whether the Greek points to God's broad favor toward all humanity or his favor resting on those who receive it, both are true, and neither lets anyone sit still. The shepherds heard the message and went at once. The question Christmas puts to everyone who hears it is whether they will do the same.
Taught from Luke 2:8-11 · John 1:14 · John 1:1 · Isaiah 61:1-2 · Luke 2:14
The passage taught · Isaiah 61:1-2
1 The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- December 15, 2024 From the Cradle to the Cross in Five Days Luke traces five moments where Jesus says "today", from the manger to the cross, showing that Jesus is still actively saving, seeking, and rescuing people right now.
- December 25, 2022 Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men A Christmas Day sermon from Jackson, Wyoming exploring peace on earth, the angels' announcement in Luke 2:14, and what it means to live out Christ's message of love and peace.
- December 4, 2022 The Word Became Flesh and Pitched His Tent Among Us Pastor Ray walks through John 1:1-18, tracing how the transcendent God became flesh in Christ, and shares three stories of lives changed by the Gospel of John.
- December 24, 2016 Christmas Eve 2016 (3) A Christmas Eve service at First Baptist Jackson: scripture readings, candlelight, and the message that Jesus, the Light of the world, cannot be extinguished by any darkness.
- December 18, 2016 The Lineage of the Savior - Traditional (3) Matthew 1 traces Jesus's ancestry through flawed, unlikely people, then shows Joseph's simple obedience to God's call. What is God asking you to do?
- December 24, 2014 Christmas Eve Candlelight Service (4) A Christmas Eve service celebrating Christ's birth, with candle lighting, Scripture readings from Isaiah, Matthew, and Luke, and a reflection on Jesus as the light of the world.
- December 24, 2014 Contemporary Christmas Eve Candlelight Service (3) A Christmas Eve service from First Baptist Jackson: scripture readings, candlelight, and a message about Jesus as the light of the world who came to bring eternal life.
- December 15, 2013 A Willing Body Mary said yes to God's grace before she understood it all. The pastor traces the word "grace" through Luke 1 to ask what willing surrender looks like for us today.
Mentioned along the way
- December 20, 2015 Listen to the Angels Sing A Wyoming pastor explores the angel's song from Luke 2, wrestling honestly with what "peace on earth, goodwill to men" really means and why it still matters.