What does First B Jackson teach about praise?
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 praise starts with a simple claim drawn straight from Psalm 92: it is good to give thanks to the Lord. Pastor Ray walked through that psalm and told the congregation that devoting even a little time to God in the morning and evening does something real in a person. Praise is not a performance for God's benefit; it is an orientation that shapes the person doing it. Ray described how windshield time on a highway, watching landscape and listening to music, became its own form of worship, and he encouraged people to find a way to worship God in the middle of everything else going on.
Psalm 145 pushed the same idea further. The pastor who taught through it framed the whole psalm around a habit most people recognize in themselves: taking credit for what they have and complaining about what they don't. David's words push back on that. The psalm says God supports those who fall and raises up those who are bowed down, that He is near to all who call on Him in truth, and that He hears the cry for help. David wrote those words while living under the old covenant and already longing for more, which means praise for David was not easy optimism. He had plenty of psalms asking how long enemies would triumph, but he always found his way back to trust. Saying out loud that God is faithful is itself a form of sowing to the Spirit, even when a storm is underway.
Both messages carry the same pastoral point: praise is not reserved for easy seasons. Pastor Ray noted in Psalm 92 that the righteous are described as still yielding fruit in old age, full of sap and very green, and he acknowledged plainly that February and March fill up the counseling room with seasonal heaviness. The teaching at First B Jackson holds that looking to God and proclaiming His mighty acts, even in hard moments, is not denial. It is exactly what the psalms model, and it is the posture that positions a person to be lifted.
Taught from Psalm 92 · Psalm 145:10 · Psalm 145:18 · Psalm 145:21 · Psalm 19
The passage taught · Ephesians 2:4-6
4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- February 25, 2024 It Is Good to Give Thanks to the Lord Pastor Ray walks through Psalm 92, calling the church to tireless praise, honest humility before God, and the unending vitality promised to those rooted in Him.
- December 10, 2023 Sunday, December 10th, 2023 - 9am Contemporary Service Second Half - Peace in His Presence Psalm 145 sermon on gratitude, God's faithfulness, and speaking praise even when life is hard, closing with communion and the doxology.
Mentioned along the way
- December 28, 2025 Jesus Is Better Than All of These Things Hebrews 13 calls Christians to hold fast to grace, resist strange teachings, and offer God the sacrifice of praise, generosity, and care for one another.
- March 1, 2020 Do Not Be Carried Away Pastor Ray walks through Hebrews 13, warning against false teaching, calling believers to rest in God's grace and follow Jesus outside the comfort of the camp.