What does First B Jackson teach about persecution?
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 persecution starts with a simple observation: opposition to the gospel is not a sign that something has gone wrong. It is the pattern. Pastor Josh traced this through Acts, showing how arrest, beating, scattering, and mob violence appeared in city after city, and how in every case the word kept going forward. The pressure that broke out after Stephen's death did not silence the church. It scattered believers into exactly the regions Jesus had named in Acts 1:8, and those scattered believers kept talking.
Pastor Kyle and Pastor Brian both worked through Acts 5, where the apostles were arrested, flogged, and ordered to stop preaching, and where they left rejoicing. Brian drew on James Montgomery Boice to frame what that pressure means: if a church is only going through the motions, there is little reason for opposition to bother it. Real witness draws real attack, and the congregation at First B has been taught to read that friction as a sign of movement rather than a reason to stop. Peter's answer before the Sanhedrin was the same both times: we must obey God rather than human authority.
Pastor Ray's walk through Paul's defense before Agrippa and Festus in Acts 25 and 26 brought the same thread forward. Paul was in chains, facing powerful people, and he used the moment to tell his story again, in full. The detail Ray drew out was the question Jesus asked on the Damascus road: 'Why are you persecuting me?' Jesus did not say 'my people.' He identified completely with those who were being dragged away and beaten, connecting directly to what Pastor Carl, Pastor Nick, and Pastor Mark all returned to in Acts 9, that what is done to the least of His brothers is done to Him. That identification is the ground beneath everything the church teaches here: persecution of believers is something Jesus takes personally, and He has not been stopped by it yet.
Taught from Acts 1:8 · Acts 5:12-42 · Acts 25:13-26:32 · Acts 9:1 · Matthew 25
The passage taught · Acts 12
1 Now about that time, King Herod stretched out his hands to oppress some of the assembly.
2 He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.
3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This was during the days of unleavened bread.
4 When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- September 28, 2025 Keep On Telling Your Story Paul stands chained before kings and governors in Acts 25-26, yet boldly tells his story. A reminder that God uses ordinary people to carry the gospel anywhere.
- June 8, 2025 Examine It Anew: The Bereans and the Light of Christ Paul reasoned from Scripture in Thessalonica and Berea, showing that Christ had to suffer and rise. Are we open, like the Bereans, to letting God correct our assumptions?
- February 2, 2025 This week's Sermon @ First B Jackson January 26th A Jackson Hole pastor traces the conversion of Saul in Acts 9, showing how God humbled a zealous persecutor and transformed him into a chosen instrument.
- January 26, 2025 Saul, Why Are You Persecuting Me? Paul's dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus shows how God humbles the proud, hears prayer, and transforms even the fiercest enemy of the church into His chosen instrument.
- January 26, 2025 Saul Is My Chosen Instrument Acts 9 traces Saul's dramatic encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus and his sudden transformation from persecutor of the church to proclaimer of Christ.
- January 12, 2025 Scattered to Spread the Good News Philip preaches in Samaria, a sorcerer believes but reveals a corrupt heart, and Peter confronts the sin of seeking God's power for personal gain.
- January 12, 2025 Elevation of Self vs. Elevation of Jesus Acts 8 traces the gospel spreading into Samaria through Philip, and warns against seeking God's gifts for personal gain through the story of Simon Magus.
- 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.
Mentioned along the way
- May 4, 2025 A Tale of Three Cities Paul and Barnabas face rejection, worship, and stoning across three cities, yet keep returning to preach the gospel and strengthen the believers they leave behind.
- February 2, 2025 Transformation Is Possible Acts 9: Saul's conversion shakes Jerusalem, Peter heals the paralyzed and raises the dead. God transforms the hardest hearts and builds His church through ordinary people.
- January 5, 2025 God Is Bigger Than the Box You Put Him In Stephen's longest sermon in Acts traces God's faithfulness through Abraham, Joseph and Moses to show that God is bigger than any temple, tradition or religious system.
- December 29, 2024 We Are On a Mission from God A Wyoming pastor walks through Acts 6, showing how the early church handled internal division and kept the gospel moving forward no matter the opposition.
- June 30, 2024 Submit for the Lord's Sake A sermon on 1 Peter 2 exploring why Christians submit to governing authorities, not for personal gain or national outcomes, but for the sake of Christ and His kingdom.
- March 3, 2024 See to It That No One Misleads You Ray walks through the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24-25, drawing out Jesus's core commands: stay alert, don't be misled, endure, and keep serving those around you.
- August 6, 2023 Jesus Is Lord of All Missionary Norris shares how ordinary people in The Middle East, Nigeria, Uganda and India are following Jesus and how forgiveness transforms lives from the inside out.
- July 16, 2023 Sunday July 16th 11am (Traditional) Service with Guest Speaker Brad Yates Brad Yates teaches Matthew 5:13-16, calling believers to be salt and light in their community, not for personal gain, but for the glory of God.
- July 16, 2023 A City on a Hill, Not a Cruise Ship Brad Yates opens Matthew 5:13-16 to show why God's glory, not our comfort, is the point of the Christian life, and what that means for how we live together.
- July 4, 2023 Remain Watchful and Prepared for His Return Pastor Carl walks through Mark 13, where Jesus warns His followers about false teachers, persecution, and His return, urging them to stay watchful and prepared.
- July 24, 2022 Commissioning of the 12 Jesus sends out the Twelve with nothing but His authority. A sermon on Matthew 10 about trust, rejection, and what it means to carry the gospel into a world that won't always welcome it.
- January 18, 2022 It Is Best for You That I Go Away Jesus promises His disciples the Holy Spirit as advocate and guide, even as hard times approach. A study of John 16:1-15 from First Baptist Jackson.
- January 2, 2022 Blessed Are You The pastor opens 2022 with Jesus's Beatitudes from Matthew 5, showing how the upside-down values of God's kingdom stand against everything the world calls strength or success.
- January 11, 2021 You Didn't Choose Me, I Chose You Jesus warns his followers that the world may hate them as it hated him, but the Holy Spirit walks with us as we bear lasting fruit and testify about Christ.
- January 19, 2020 Wrestle Until You Find Your Rest in God A pastor wrestling with Hebrews 12 on suffering and discipline, asking whether hardship has purpose and where God is when life is genuinely painful.
- November 24, 2019 Do Not Throw Away Your Confidence A verse-by-verse walk through Hebrews 10:32-39, set in the context of the whole book, on enduring hardship, holding fast to faith, and not shrinking back.
- October 6, 2019 Romanian Mission. REMM - Contemporary A Romanian missionary shares how prayer sparked revival through prisoners of war, communist persecution, and orphanages, tracing God's faithfulness across generations.
- February 3, 2019 Realize This: The Last Days List Paul's list of last-days vices in 2 Timothy 3 hits close to home, but the antidote is clear: rooted in Scripture, equipped for every good work.
- February 3, 2019 Realize This: The Last Days Are Here Pastor Ray walks through 2 Timothy 3, contrasting a sobering list of last-days character traits with the faithful life Timothy was called to live, grounded in Scripture.
- October 21, 2018 Entrusting Your Soul to a Faithful Creator When suffering comes for following Christ, Pastor James shows from 1 Peter how God uses that fire to refine us and calls us to keep entrusting our souls to a faithful Creator.
- September 30, 2018 Bearing Witness Through Suffering A sermon on 1 Peter 3:13-22 exploring how Christ's unjust suffering and vindication give Christians courage to stand firm, suffer well, and speak honestly about their faith.
- August 19, 2018 Born Again to a Living Hope Peter writes to scattered believers facing persecution, promising an imperishable inheritance, living hope through Christ's resurrection, and God's protecting power through faith.
- August 19, 2018 Standing on the Promises, Not Sitting on the Premises Peter writes to scattered strangers facing real persecution, pointing them to an imperishable inheritance, a living hope grounded in Christ's resurrection, and the mercy of God.
- October 9, 2016 The Seed and the Soil A Romanian missionary shares how the gospel survived communism and spread worldwide, preaching on the parable of the sower from Mark 4.
- September 13, 2015 Therefore We Do Not Lose Heart From 2 Corinthians 4, Pastor Blake walks through Paul's list of pressures and why hard-pressed believers are not crushed, forsaken, or destroyed.
- August 4, 2013 The Blood of the Martyrs Is the Seed of the Church Philip scatters the gospel into Samaria, a sorcerer's heart is exposed, and Peter and John make an unusual visit in Acts 8:1-25.