What does First B Jackson teach about grief?
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 grief starts with an honest refusal to minimize it. When Brad Yates preached on suffering in August 2024, just weeks after his own mother died, he pointed to John 11:35 and the plain fact that Jesus wept at Lazarus's tomb even knowing he was about to raise him. Jesus was not stoic in the garden, not stoic on the cross, and he never asked his followers to be stoic either. Grief is real, it is allowed, and the Christian tradition has never asked people to flatten their emotions. It has asked them to bring those emotions to God.
The teaching here also holds firmly that grief is not the same thing as hopelessness. Pastor Ray has returned to this in several hard seasons, including a Sunday shaped by two deaths in the congregation and the sudden loss of elder Mark Upton, preaching through 1 Peter and Psalm 23 without stepping around the weight in the room. The shepherd of Psalm 23 does not lead his people around the valley of the shadow of death. The path goes through it, with the shepherd already out ahead. And when Pastor Carl walked the Monday night group through John 16, he pressed on Jesus' own words to people he loved and was about to leave: your grief will turn to joy, and no one will be able to rob you of it. That promise was spoken to people who were days away from the worst experience of their lives, which is exactly why it carries the weight it does.
Practically, the teaching here places real responsibility on the congregation, not just the pastoral staff. When Brad addressed what it looks like to come alongside someone who is suffering, he held up Job's three friends in their best moment, sitting with Job in silence for seven days, as the model. Show up. Resist the urge to explain. Offer something specific rather than a vague offer to help. And be careful with scripture: truth applied to an open wound at the wrong moment can do more harm than good. The comfort God gives in affliction, as Pastor Ray taught from 2 Corinthians 1, is not just for the one receiving it. God resources his people with the actual capacity to carry that comfort to someone else who is in the same darkness.
Taught from Psalm 23 · 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 · John 16:16-33 · John 11:35 · Job 2:11-13
The passage taught · 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;
4 who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- August 11, 2024 Sunday, August 11th, 2024 - 11am Traditional Service - Guest Speaker Brad Yates - "Suffering Part 2" Brad Yates walks through what the Bible says to do when suffering hits, whether you're helping someone else through it or facing it yourself.
- August 11, 2024 There Is Another in the Fire: Suffering, Part 2 Brad Yates walks through what the Bible says about suffering: how to help others in pain, how to prepare yourself, and where lasting joy actually comes from.
- August 4, 2024 Normal But Not Natural Brad Yates of First Baptist Jackson explores why Christians suffer, what Scripture says about it, and why God's presence makes suffering bearable.
- August 4, 2024 Normal, But Not Natural Brad explores why Christians suffer, what Scripture says about evil, and why God's presence in our pain is the only answer that holds up when life falls apart.
- June 9, 2024 Sunday, June 9th, 2024 - 11am Service - Comfort in Christ: Sharing His Peace Through Suffering A pastor walks through 2 Corinthians 1 to show how God's comfort in our deepest suffering equips us to carry that same comfort to others.
- June 9, 2024 Comforted So We Can Comfort Pastor Ray walks through 2 Corinthians 1, showing how God's comfort in suffering equips believers to sit with others in their pain and point them to hope in Christ.
- June 18, 2023 The Lord Is My Shepherd Pastor Ray walks First B Jackson through Psalm 23, finding comfort in God as shepherd and friend during a week marked by loss and grief in their community.
- June 18, 2023 The Lord Is My Shepherd A Wyoming pastor walks through Psalm 23, reflecting on community, grief, and the God who searches for wandering sheep and restores weary souls.
- 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.
- January 5, 2020 By Faith: Men of Whom the World Was Not Worthy Hebrews 11-12 sermon on faith through suffering, tracing biblical heroes and beloved church members who lived and died trusting God's promises.
- September 16, 2018 The Word of the Lord Endures Forever A pastor leads his grieving church through 1 Peter 2 after the sudden death of an elder, finding hope and purpose in Christ's example of suffering and trust in God.
Mentioned along the way
- July 6, 2025 In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being The pastor walks through Acts 18-19, tracing Paul's journey from Corinth to Ephesus and showing how God works through the ordinary details of life to spread the gospel.
- February 1, 2025 All Things, These Things, All These Things Romans 8:28 is on coffee mugs for a reason, but Pastor Ray walks through the full passage to show what it actually promises and why it holds.
- December 31, 2023 Godly Sorrow Produces Repentance Pastor Russ unpacks 2 Corinthians 7:8-13 to show why godly sorrow leads to repentance and restored relationships, while worldly sorrow leads only to death.
- December 10, 2023 Near to the Heart of God A Wyoming pastor shares Psalm 145 and stories of unexpected divine appointments to show that God is near to all who call on Him.
- April 11, 2022 He Meets Us Right Where We Are John 20 shows Jesus meeting Mary, the disciples, and Thomas right where they were, in grief, fear, and doubt, and offering each one peace and purpose.
- September 16, 2018 The Word of the Lord Endures Forever A grieving Wyoming congregation turns to 1 Peter 2 for comfort after losing a beloved elder, finding hope in Christ's example of suffering, submission, and resurrection.
- June 3, 2018 Honor, Distinguish, Serve Pastor Ray walks through 1 Timothy 5, calling the church to honor, serve, and care for one another as family, with tenderness toward widows and the vulnerable.
- April 16, 2017 His Hour Had Not Yet Come Randy reflects on grief, friendship, and the resurrection, tracing Jesus's "hour" through John's Gospel and finding hope in a risen Christ who wept with us.
- July 10, 2016 The Sufferings of This Present Time Romans 8 holds hope, but Pastor Ray lingers on the suffering first, naming real losses and asking what it means to wait on God's glory while still feeling the weight.
- July 10, 2016 Not Worthy to Be Compared Romans 8 sermon on the sufferings of this present life and why Paul says they are not worthy to be compared with the eternal glory yet to be revealed.
- November 1, 2015 Good Grief The pastor explores 2 Corinthians 7, showing how godly grief leads to repentance and life, while worldly grief leads only to death, using Peter and Judas as examples.
- November 1, 2015 But God Paul's letter to Corinth shows how godly grief leads to repentance and salvation, while worldly grief leads only to death. A study in 2 Corinthians.
- September 16, 2015 WWW Be Right (18) Romans 5 shows that faith brings peace with God, access to Him, standing in grace, and confident hope, even through suffering that refines and strengthens us.
- February 11, 2015 Prisoner of Christ, Not of Circumstances A pastor shares Ephesians 3 on grace, the church, and suffering, including her own grief after a tragic loss in her home, and what she learned about God's faithfulness.
- February 3, 2013 The Raising of Lazarus, Traditions Jesus wept: two words that reveal Christ's humility, humanity, and holiness, and show us a God who grieves with us rather than sitting apart from our pain.