What does First B Jackson teach about fellowship?
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 fellowship traces back to why John wrote his first letter. Pastor Ray worked through 1 John 1 showing that John was not writing theology in the abstract. He was an eyewitness who sat next to Jesus at the last supper, heard Jesus pray that every future believer would share the same unity the disciples had, and then wrote to make that unity real across every generation. Fellowship, in this teaching, is not a program or a feeling. It is the thing Jesus prayed for, extended to anyone who puts faith in him, and it is the reason John proclaims what he saw and heard.
That fellowship rests on one settled fact: God is light and there is no darkness in him at all. Everything else follows from that. If someone claims to be in fellowship with God while walking in darkness, John says plainly that person is lying, and the lying is its own additional sin on top of whatever the darkness already is. But when we walk in the light as God is in the light, something real happens on both sides: we have genuine fellowship with one another, and we have the assurance that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Pastor Ray was careful not to let that become abstract. He shared that he had woken up anxious in the middle of the night before that very service, not because his faith had collapsed, but because hard questions feel heavy at three in the morning. The point is not to perform a life without struggle. The point is not to pretend.
The Philippians 2 message adds a practical texture to this. Pastor Ray noted that the fellowship Christians share in the Spirit is something he most clearly recognizes when it is absent, when he is outside the church and cannot find that shared footing with someone who does not know Christ. The foundation underneath all of it is what Christ did first: he took the position of a servant, humbled himself, and died a criminal's death having done nothing wrong. Because of that, grace extended to us is what flows out to others. Fellowship is not built on obligation. It is a response.
Taught from 1 John 1:1-4 · 1 John 1:5-7 · 1 John 1:8-9 · Philippians 2:1-11 · 1 John 1:10
The passage taught · 1 John 1:1-4 (paraphrased, verses not individually cited)
1 That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life
2 (and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us);
3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4 And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- April 21, 2024 God Is Light and in Him There Is No Darkness at All Pastor Ray walks through 1 John 1, showing how confessing sin, walking in the light, and trusting Christ's forgiveness lead to real fellowship and freedom.
- November 27, 2015 Monday Nights @ First B (7) Philippians 2 calls us to serve others because Christ served us first. See what that looks like when humility moves from Sunday morning into everyday life.
Mentioned along the way
- September 7, 2014 Never Hoard the Blessing of God Pastor Ryan preaches on the five purposes of the church, calling First B Jackson to serve one another and their community as living expressions of the body of Christ.