What does First B Jackson teach about god's will?
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 God's will starts from a clear conviction: God's will is not a mystery hidden from His people. Across multiple messages, the preachers have pressed back on the idea that followers of Christ are left to guess. Ray McDaniel pointed to Ephesians 1, where the phrase 'according to the purpose of his will' appears repeatedly, and showed that the Father's purposes are carried out through Christ and guaranteed by the Holy Spirit. The practical question Ray kept returning to is direct: would you rather have God work through your obedience, or in spite of your disobedience? Pastor Carl made the same point from 1 Thessalonians 5, noting that Paul's answer to an anxious church about end times was essentially to redirect them toward what God's will looks like on the ground right now, in community, in daily life.
The messages consistently show God's will operating on two levels. There is the revealed will, things Scripture states plainly, sanctification, thankfulness, the Great Commission, loving one another, and there is the particular path God leads each person along. Pastor Ray, in the series on the 12 Steps, taught from Step 11 that prayer ordered around God's will looks different from a list of problems: you ask God to show you what is yours to do today, and then ask Him for the power to do it. He connected this to John 15, where remaining in Christ is what produces fruit, and to Matthew 4, where Jesus answered every temptation with the word of God he had been filling himself with through prayer. The will and the power, he said, come from the same source.
Surrendering to God's will, Pastor Carl taught in the Step 3 message, is a volitional act, a decision, not just a feeling. He was honest that for people who grew up in church and assume they already know God well enough, that step can be the hardest of all. The posture all these messages land on is humble dependence: trusting God with your whole heart, consciously refusing self-reliance, and acknowledging God at every turn. That is what Proverbs 3:5-6 describes, and it is what Pastor Carl called the thread running through the whole book of James as well: holding your plans loosely and staying oriented toward what God has actually called you to do.
Taught from Ephesians 1:11 · Proverbs 3:5-6 · 1 John 5:14-15 · John 15:4-11 · 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
The passage taught · 1 John 1:7
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- October 13, 2024 Praying Only for His Will and the Power to Carry It Out Ray McDaniel walks through Step 11 of recovery: seeking God's will through prayer and meditation, and trusting Him for the power to live it out each day.
- July 14, 2024 Turn Over Your Will A Wyoming pastor walks through Step 3 of the 12 steps alongside 1 Thessalonians 5, showing how surrendering your will to God is at the heart of both recovery and faith.
- April 11, 2022 Our Lives Are Like a Morning Fog James 4-5 warns against trusting in tomorrow's plans or earthly wealth. The pastor explores what it looks like to walk humbly before God, day by day.
- May 28, 2017 Blessed Be God the Father Pastor Ray walks through Ephesians 1:3-14, a single sweeping doxology of Father, Son, and Spirit, woven together with stories from a mission trip to Guatemala.
- May 28, 2017 Learning to Lean on God's Will Pastor Ray weaves Ephesians 1:3-14 with stories from a Guatemala mission trip, showing how God works out His will through the obedience of ordinary people.
Mentioned along the way
- May 24, 2026 Pay Careful Attention to How You Walk Ephesians 5 calls believers to walk wisely, diligently, and in step with God's will, filled by the Spirit rather than wasting the season God has given.
- March 8, 2026 Outside the Envelope: Grace and Peace to You Pastor Ray opens Ephesians 1, showing how God's grace and peace, given through Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit, call the church into His will and purpose.
- August 3, 2025 The Vicissitudes of Life The pastor walks through Acts 21 as Paul pushes toward Jerusalem despite warnings, and draws honest parallels to a season of change at First Baptist Jackson.
- January 21, 2024 Do Not Be Overcome by Evil Romans 12 shows us how to serve, love enemies, and discern God's will, whether to persevere together or part ways, without conforming to the world.
- January 25, 2022 Your Grief Will Turn to Wonderful Joy Jesus promises His disciples peace and joy that no one can take away, even as trials come. A study in John 16:16-33.
- December 31, 2017 Work It Out: God Works In You to Will and to Do Pastor Mark preaches Philippians 2:12-18 on New Year's Eve, showing how God works in us to will and do His good pleasure as we shine as lights in a crooked world.
- July 9, 2017 First Be, Then Do A review of Ephesians 1-3 showing that who we are in Christ comes before what we do for Him, and that the church exists to carry God's wisdom to the world.