What does First B Jackson teach about christmas story?
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 Christmas story is taught not as legend or nostalgia but as something that happened in real time, to real people, and that still demands a real response. Pastor Ray has made the point that the time markers embedded in the nativity accounts, names of emperors, governors, and kings, are there on purpose. This was not myth. It happened in time and space, and we can trace it. Pastor Mark has pressed the same point from a different angle, tracing a single thread from the manger all the way to the cross to show that everything set in motion at Bethlehem was moving somewhere on purpose.
The people in the story are taught as models of what it looks like to receive a word from God. Mary was perplexed but not paralyzed. Joseph woke up and did what the angel told him. The shepherds said let's go and went immediately, found the baby exactly where the angel said, and then made it widely known before going back to their flocks. Ray has held up that last detail as its own small sermon: most of the time God does not ask us to leave what we have been called to do. He refuels us and sends us back to it, this time glorifying and praising Him as we go. The angel's announcement was addressed to a handful of shepherds on the lowest rung of the social ladder, and yet the message was for all people, which is exactly what the angel said: good news of great joy for all people.
The invitation the church keeps returning to is a simple one. Hear the good news, go and see it for yourself, and then share it. Pastor Jason has connected this to John 3:16 and the candlelight close of Christmas Eve services, noting that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it, and that the flame passing from candle to candle around the room is a picture of what happens when someone believes. The Christmas story, as it is taught here, is not something to receive passively. Every person in it who received a message acted on it, and the question the teaching keeps pressing is what you do with it when it comes toward you.
Taught from Luke 2:8-20 · Luke 1:26-38 · Matthew 1:18-25 · Isaiah 9:6-7 · John 1:5
The passage taught · Ephesians 4:11-13
11 He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers;
12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- December 21, 2025 The Message Came Toward Them Shepherds, Mary, and Joseph each heard a message from God and acted on it. A Christmas sermon on receiving what God says and responding in obedience.
- December 20, 2022 Good News of Great Joy for All People Luke 2 traces the shepherds from fear to faith to praise. Pastor Blake walks through what their response to the birth announcement means for us today.
- December 24, 2018 Christmas Eve Service - 6.00pm (2) A Christmas Eve service reading the nativity story, lighting the Christ candle, and reflecting on Jesus as the light of the world who came so we could have eternal life.
- December 24, 2017 Christmas Eve Candlelight Services (3) A Christmas Eve service from First Baptist Jackson featuring scripture readings, carols, and a message about Jesus as the light of the world that darkness cannot extinguish.
- December 17, 2017 Good News of Great Joy A Christmas sermon from Luke's Gospel on the shepherds, Mary, and what it means to receive God's message of good news and keep it faithfully.
- December 17, 2017 Good News of Great Joy Ray walks through the Christmas story, the shepherds' response, Mary's response, and what it means for anyone who receives the good news of a Savior born in Bethlehem.
- December 25, 2016 Christmas Day (3) A Christmas morning sermon on Matthew 2, tracing God's on-time, on-purpose plan through the wise men and Joseph's simple obedience, from Bethlehem to the final judgment.
- December 24, 2013 God Is With Us A Christmas Eve reading of the nativity story, candlelight, and a reminder that the Light who entered the world at Bethlehem cannot be extinguished.
Mentioned along the way
- December 11, 2022 Jesus Christ Really Is That Awesome Pastor Ray traces the genealogies of Jesus through Matthew and Luke, showing how God's promise to Abraham finds its fulfillment in Christ, who really is that awesome.
- December 23, 2018 Cradle to the Cross in Five Days Five days in Luke trace Jesus from the manger to the cross, showing a Savior born for all people who still calls, heals, forgives and saves today.
- December 13, 2015 The Greatest Love Christmas Play (4) A Christmas and Easter drama retelling the story of Jesus, from the manger to the empty tomb, performed by the congregation of First Baptist Jackson.