What does First B Jackson teach about obeying god?
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 obeying God starts with a simple observation: when a message from God comes toward you, what you do with it is what faith actually looks like in practice. The Christmas messages traced the shepherds, Mary, and Joseph through that exact moment. Each of them received a word they had not asked for, from a messenger that frightened them, about something that would cost them something. And in each case, the response was the same: they moved. The shepherds said let's go and left their carefully guarded flocks behind. Mary said she was the Lord's servant and that it could be just as the angel had said. Joseph woke from his dream and did exactly as the angel commanded, and kept doing so through two more dream-messages after that. The pattern, as Pastor Ben put it, is hear the message and act on it.
Pastor Ray, working through Hebrews 11, returned to the same pattern across a much longer stretch of time. The phrase he kept coming back to from the text was simple: when he was called, he obeyed. Abraham went out not knowing where he was going. Sarah, after her laughter, considered God faithful who had promised. Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph each trusted a promise none of them lived to see fulfilled. What Ray held up in all of it was not the heroism of the individuals but the faithfulness of the God they were responding to. The righteousness that mattered was not their own. It was credited to them because they believed.
Carl, preaching from John 15 and 1 John, pressed the congregation on what makes obedience possible at all. He pushed back against the idea that Christian living is behavior modification. The means of obedience is not trying harder. It is staying connected to Christ the way a branch stays connected to a vine. When that connection is real, the fruit happens. The commands are not weight added on top of an already hard life. They are, Carl said, meant to free us. Loving God and obeying God are not two separate things.
Taught from Hebrews 11:8 · Luke 1:26-28 · Luke 2:15-16 · Matthew 1:24-25 · John 15:1-17
The passage taught · Ephesians 4:11-13
11 He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers;
12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- December 21, 2025 The Message Came Toward Them Shepherds, Mary, and Joseph each heard a message from God and acted on it. A Christmas sermon on receiving what God says and responding in obedience.
- December 21, 2025 What Do You Do With the Message? A Wyoming pastor traces how Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds each heard a message from God and acted on it, asking what we will do with the same message.
- January 4, 2022 Remain in Jesus Carl walks through John 15, where Jesus calls himself the true vine, and shows why remaining connected to Him is the only way we bear lasting fruit.
- December 15, 2019 When He Was Called, He Obeyed Hebrews 11 traces Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph as ordinary people whose forward-looking faith in God's promises shaped history and still speaks today.
- December 15, 2019 When He Was Called, He Obeyed Ray walks through the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, showing how Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph trusted God's promises without seeing them fulfilled in their lifetimes.
- September 7, 2015 Monday Nights @ First B (10) Pastor Carl closes out 1 John with a look at what it means to trust God, pray for one another, obey His commands, and keep Jesus at the center of your heart.
Mentioned along the way
- August 17, 2025 The Book of Jonah - Guest Speaker Van Jones Jonah ran from God's call to love his enemies. A sermon from First Baptist Jackson on obedience, repentance, and the mercy we resist giving others.
- August 17, 2025 No and Lord Van Jones walks through the entire book of Jonah, showing how God patiently pursues a reluctant, angry prophet and calls us to love even the people we most want to see judged.
- 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.
- February 16, 2025 No Distinction Peter's vision and Cornelius's angel encounter show how God breaks down barriers between people to bring the gospel to everyone, Gentile and Jew alike.
- December 12, 2024 Sunday, December 8, 2024 - 9 a.m. Contemporary Service - The Acts of the Apostles Peter and the apostles are jailed, freed by an angel, and hauled before the Sanhedrin again. Acts 5 shows why the gospel could not be silenced.
- December 8, 2024 If It Is of God, You Cannot Overthrow It Peter and the apostles face arrest again in Acts 5, yet keep preaching Jesus as Messiah. A study in boldness, suffering, and the unstoppable advance of the gospel.
- March 12, 2023 We Said Yes Glenn shares his family's adoption journey from India and how saying yes to God, despite fear and uncertainty, shaped their faith and family.
- 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.
- June 12, 2016 Union with Christ Is What It's All About A blind man's healing in John 9 opens up the question of what it means to obey simply, testify honestly, and worship faithfully when you are united with Christ.