What does First B Jackson teach about making amends?
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 making amends grows out of a longer journey. Pastor Ray and Pastor Brian both situate steps eight and nine inside the full arc of the twelve steps, because the willingness to go back and repair harm only makes sense after a person has admitted powerlessness, surrendered to God, and done the hard work of honest self-examination. Step eight is making a list of everyone you have harmed and becoming willing to make amends to all of them. A useful shorthand offered in more than one service: everybody you have ever loved, and everybody who has ever loved you, because those are the people closest enough to hurt. The teaching is honest that this reframe lands hard, because the first instinct is usually to think of enemies rather than the people we were closest to.
Step nine is where the list becomes action. The instruction is to make direct amends wherever possible, except when doing so would injure the person or others. Pastor Brian has been clear that the limiting clause is not a loophole. Paying back money is straightforward, but some harm cannot be undone by a payment or an apology, and the question of how to move forward in those cases requires prayer, discernment, and a trusted person, whether a sponsor, a pastor, or a close friend, to help think it through. He described a real conversation with a man who holds himself responsible for a child's death, where returning to the family would likely unburden the one confessing while placing a new weight on people already carrying something unbearable.
The scriptural backbone for both steps runs through Matthew 5, where Jesus raises the standard well above the law's prohibition on murder and says that anger and contempt toward a brother already put a person before God's judgment. His direct instruction is to leave your offering at the altar, go first and be reconciled, and then come back. The teaching at First B Jackson takes that seriously: religious activity does not stand in for relational repair. James 5:16 and 1 John 1:9 ground the practice of confession and amends in the same soil as forgiveness and being purified from unrighteousness.
Taught from Matthew 5:21-26 · James 5:16 · 1 John 1:9 · Romans 12:18 · 1 John 1:1-3
The passage taught · 1 John 1:1-3
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.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- September 22, 2024 Direct Amends Wherever Possible A Wyoming pastor walks through Step 9 of the 12 steps, showing from Matthew 5 how making amends and seeking reconciliation is rooted in the teaching of Jesus.
- September 22, 2024 First Be Reconciled to Your Brother Step 9 of the 12 Steps calls us to make direct amends. A pastor and peacemaker Ken Sandy share why reconciling broken relationships can't wait.
- September 15, 2024 Love Must Have an Object The pastor walks through steps one through eight of a biblical framework for freedom from sin, focusing on willingness to make amends and pursuing peace with God and others.
Mentioned along the way
- October 20, 2024 Having Had a Spiritual Awakening Pastor Ray walks through all 12 steps, then Stoney Vance shares how recovery from alcoholism and cancer brought him back to God and his family.