What does First B Jackson teach about christmas meaning?
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 consistently pushes past sentiment to ask what the birth of Jesus actually accomplished and why it happened when it did. Several messages over the years have built from the same foundation: God acted in time and space with a specific purpose, and the biblical text does not leave that purpose vague. Ray, preaching from Galatians 4, 2 Corinthians 8, and John 3, pointed to a Greek grammatical construction, the purpose clause, that appears in each of those passages and tells the listener exactly why God sent His Son. God became poor so that we might become rich. God gave His Son so that whoever trusts in Him might not perish. God sent His Son under the law so that we might receive adoption. Each verse states what God did with certainty, and then states the intended result. That structure, Ray argued, is not accidental. It is God saying plainly what He was doing at Christmas.
Preston, working from Galatians 4 and Romans 5, brought in the Greek word kairos, the opportune moment, to show that Christmas happened at precisely the right time by God's design, not by historical accident. The fullness of time was not a coincidence. God's action arrived when humanity was utterly helpless and unable to close the gap the law revealed. The law could show people how far short they fell, Preston said, but it had no power to close that gap. Freedom in Christ is not freedom to ignore the standard but freedom from the endless, losing effort to earn what can only be received as a gift.
Pastor Mark and Pastor Travis, both preaching from Hebrews 1 and 2, brought the same theme from a different angle. The Son who arrived at Bethlehem is the heir of everything, the agent through whom the world was made, the brightness of God's glory, the one who holds all things together right now. He was made lower than the angels, took on flesh, and went through death and out the other side. The pivot in Hebrews 2, 'but we see Jesus,' was treated in both messages not as a comfort but as a factual claim. Jesus Christ really is that awesome, and that is an objective reality, not a feeling. What Christmas marks is not a holiday built on warmth and tradition but the entry of an eternal divine person into human life so that the work of rescue could be finished, and then sat down.
Taught from Galatians 4:4-5 · Hebrews 1:1-4 · 2 Corinthians 8:9 · John 3:16-17 · Philippians 2:5-11
The passage taught · 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10
9 For God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- December 22, 2024 Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men Pastor Ray explores the angels' Christmas declaration in Luke 2:14, tracing God's goodwill toward humanity through Greek grammar, scripture, and the tension between God's sovereignty and human responsibility.
- December 17, 2023 Born of a Woman at Just the Right Time A Christmas message from Paul's letters on grace, freedom in Christ, and seizing the moments God sets before us in the fullness of time.
- December 22, 2019 Jesus Christ Really Is That Awesome A Christmas sermon from Hebrews on why Jesus Christ truly is awesome, exploring His nature, the Incarnation, and what His coming means for every person.
- December 22, 2019 Jesus Christ Really Is That Awesome Hebrews 1 and Philippians 2 show why Christmas matters: Jesus Christ really is the radiance of God, the heir of all things, who emptied himself to redeem us.
- December 21, 2014 Christ Really Is That Awesome Hebrews 1 and 2 show why Christ alone is worth celebrating: Creator, sustainer, high priest, and the only one who could taste death so we would not have to.
- December 23, 2012 The So That of Christmas A Wyoming pastor explores three "so that" clauses in Galatians, 2 Corinthians, and John 3:16 to show why God sent His Son and what Christmas truly offers.
Mentioned along the way
- December 4, 2022 In the Beginning Was the Word The pastor walks through John's prologue to show how the eternal Word became flesh at Christmas, and why believing in Jesus transforms ordinary lives.
- December 21, 2021 Good News of Great Joy for All People Luke 2 reminds us that God sent angels to ordinary shepherds first. Hear how that good news of great joy still reaches ordinary people today.
- December 23, 2018 From the Cradle to the Cross in Five Days A Wyoming pastor traces five days in Luke, from the manger to the cross, showing how Jesus stepped into time and space to seek and save the lost.
- December 7, 2014 The Significance and Singularity of Christmas A Wyoming pastor explores what makes Christmas singular: Jesus is the only sinless savior in human history, and the only one truly able to rescue us from sin.
- December 1, 2013 The Shepherd's Dog Missionaries Ken and Lori McCune share how compassion for lost people drives their work among Spanish speakers in Wyoming, drawing from Matthew 9 and John 10.
- December 9, 2012 With Him or Without Him Pastor Ray walks through John 5:16-30, exploring what Jesus says about Himself and why that matters far more than church tradition this Christmas season.
- December 11, 2011 Christ Is What Christmas Is About A Wyoming congregation hears mission reports from Beijing, lights the Advent candle of joy, and shares communion on the third Sunday of Advent.