What does First B Jackson teach about giving?
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 giving starts not with obligation but with grace received. Pastor Carl's walk through 2 Corinthians 8 held up the Macedonian churches as the model: people who were genuinely poor, under real pressure, and yet gave beyond their means without being asked. The key phrase he kept returning to was 'of their own accord.' The Macedonians heard about suffering believers in Jerusalem and asked to be included in helping. His point was that grace, by definition, is unforced, and that a compelled gift is not grace but a payment. He also noted that this pattern, the people with the least being the most open-handed, matches almost every missionary report he has ever heard.
Pastor Ray's teaching from 1 Corinthians 16 pressed into the practical side. Paul's instruction to the Corinthians was a third-person imperative in Greek, not a suggestion. 'Let each one' means every person, and it means every first day of the week, as a regular habit rather than a one-time act. The measure of giving is tied to how God has been prospering each person, a graduated scale. Ray told the story of R. G. LeTourneau, who made a commitment early in life to give back from whatever God prospered him with and by the end of his life was giving ninety percent of his income to Christian work. The regular, prayerful approach also protects against pressure and suspicion, which mattered to Paul and still matters now.
Ray's later work in Philippians 4 added one more layer. When Paul calls the Philippians' gift a 'fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God,' he is borrowing Old Testament temple language and applying it to a church that gave money to support gospel work. Paul was careful to say he was not angling for another gift. What moved him was knowing that giving like this adds to the giver's account before God. The whole section, Ray said, is about trusting that God sees what we cannot see and will provide what is actually needed.
Taught from 2 Corinthians 8:1-4 · 2 Corinthians 8:5 · 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 · Philippians 4:18 · Philippians 4:19
The passage taught · 1 Corinthians 10:31
31 Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- February 18, 2024 A Crown That Seldom Kings Enjoy Pastor Ray closes out Philippians, showing how Paul learned contentment in plenty and in want, and why "I can do all things through Christ" is about peace, not strength stunts.
- July 12, 2015 Far Be It From Me to Boast Pastor Ray closes out Galatians, covering stewardship, the authenticated gospel, and why Paul boasts only in the cross of Christ, not in law or human effort.
- March 15, 2015 Set Something Aside Paul walks through 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 to show what the Bible actually says about giving: who, how often, how much, and why it matters for the whole church.
Mentioned along the way
- September 4, 2016 By the Mercies of God, Present Yourself Romans 12 calls every believer to present themselves as a living sacrifice. Pastor Ray walks through spiritual gifts and what faithful service looks like in the church.
- November 8, 2015 The Biblical Reaction to Grace Received Paul shows from 2 Corinthians 8 how receiving God's grace naturally moves believers to extend that same grace to others, freely and voluntarily.
- 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.
- 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.