What does First B Jackson teach about faith?
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 Baptist Jackson, the teaching on faith starts with what faith actually is. From Hebrews 11:1, Pastor Brian explained that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not yet seen. He was careful to point out that the Greek word behind it, pistis, runs in two directions at once: it is the faith we place in God, and it is also the faithfulness of God himself. When we place our faith in his faithfulness, he said, we have landed on the right thing. And that faith, both Brian and Ray have taught, is never something a person generates on their own. Drawing on Thayer's lexicon, Brian described it as God's divine persuasion, a gift rather than an achievement.
Pastor Mark pressed on this when teaching Luke 17, where the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith. Citing Leon Morris, Mark put it plainly: it is not great faith in God that is required, it is faith in a great God. The mulberry tree illustration Jesus uses is hyperbole making a single point, that the objective faithfulness of God is what saves, when our own subjective faith is placed in it. Pastor Josh, teaching from Mark 11, returned to a definition he comes back to regularly: faith is being persuaded by God, yielding our will to his so that we come to know what he prefers. He connected that directly to prayer, pointing to Jesus' own prayer in Gethsemane as the model of someone who knew what he wanted but wanted God's plan more.
The Hebrews 11 messages are especially honest about what faith does and does not guarantee. Brian drew attention to the uneven outcomes in that long list of the faithful. Some conquered kingdoms. Others were sawn in two and died without receiving what was promised. What every person on the list shared was that their actions were done by faith, not by sight, and not by certainty about how things would turn out personally on this side of eternity. That same honesty came through when Pastor Carl taught Mark 2, noting the father in Mark 9 who said he believed but asked Jesus to help his unbelief, and saying that prayer belongs to all of us at one time or another.
Taught from Hebrews 11:1-40 · Hebrews 10:36-39 · Luke 17:1-10 · Mark 11:20-33 · Habakkuk 2:3-4
The passage taught · 1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- July 2, 2023 Faith in a Great God Jesus teaches His disciples about false teaching, forgiveness, faith, and service in Luke 17. One sermon on what it really means to follow Him.
- June 13, 2022 Have Faith in God Mark 11 shows Jesus teaching his disciples about prayer, faith, and forgiveness while religious leaders demand to know who gave Him authority.
- December 1, 2019 Faith Is the Assurance of Things Hoped for Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. A sermon through Hebrews 11 on what it means to live by faith, drawing from the lives of the faithful who came before us.
- December 1, 2019 By Faith: The Bread That Holds It Together Hebrews 11 shows that every believer across all time is united by faith in God's faithfulness. That same faith is what God calls us to live by today.
- November 24, 2019 Do Not Throw Away Your Confidence A verse-by-verse walk through Hebrews 10:32-39, set in the context of the whole book, on enduring hardship, holding fast to faith, and not shrinking back.
Mentioned along the way
- April 12, 2026 According to the Riches of His Glory Pastor William walks through Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3, showing why our inner being, faith, knowledge of Christ's love, and fullness in God matter more than anything outward.
- April 12, 2026 According to the Riches of His Glory Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 asks God to strengthen our inner being, grow our faith, deepen our knowledge of Christ's love, and fill us with His fullness.
- July 2, 2023 Faith in a Great God Pastor Ray walks through Luke 17:1-10, connecting four teachings on false teaching, forgiveness, faith, and service into a single picture of what it means to follow Jesus.
- February 5, 2023 The Gospel in Ten Words or Less Pastor Ray asks his congregation to sum up the gospel in 10 words or less, then shares responses from seven years ago while walking through what the good news of Jesus really means.
- January 31, 2016 Not Ashamed of the Gospel Romans 1:8-17 explores what the gospel really is, why Paul was not ashamed of it, and how every believer should be able to say it plainly in a sentence.
- September 21, 2014 Friendship, Faith, and Forgiveness Pastor Carl walks through Mark 2 to find three lessons in the healing of the paralytic: what true friendship, living faith, and the forgiveness Christ offers really look like.