What does First B Jackson teach about purpose?
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 purpose begins with the resurrection. In a message preached by Ray on Easter Sunday, he walked through John 20 and showed that the risen Christ met each person exactly where they were, and that believing in him brings peace, purpose, and power in that order. The pattern Ray drew out was precise: Jesus spoke peace first to the frightened disciples locked in a room, and then immediately gave them direction, saying that just as the Father had sent him, he was sending them. Purpose, in that framing, is not something a person has to locate on their own. It follows directly from a living relationship with the risen Christ.
Eric Wacham, one of the elders at First B, pressed the same question from a different angle when he preached from Luke 9. He held up Jesus himself as the clearest model of purposeful living, a person who knew exactly who he was, exactly what his mission would cost him, and who set his face toward it without detour. Eric's challenge to the congregation was honest: how clearly do we actually see our own purpose? He walked through three encounters on the road where Jesus exposed divided loyalties in people who wanted to follow him, and his point was that nothing, not comfort, not family obligation, not the pull to look back, should rank above what God has called a person to.
A message preached by Florian, a friend of the church from Romania, tied purpose to everyday faithfulness rather than dramatic calling. Drawing from Colossians 1, he distinguished between the position God gives, holiness through Christ's work at the cross, and the faithfulness we live out day by day. The confident hope Paul describes in that passage is what keeps people walking with God when life drains them, and it also turns outward. Florian was not talking about grand programs. He meant waving at someone at the gas station, smiling at a stranger in the grocery store, and leaving the house each morning asking God to use you for at least one person that day.
Taught from John 20:21 · Luke 9:51 · Colossians 1:1-14 · Colossians 1:13 · Acts 1:8
The passage taught · 1 Corinthians 15:57
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- August 28, 2022 God, Use Me Today Florian, a Romanian pastor preparing to return to missions, shares from Colossians 1 on living as a child of God and asking Him to use you each day.
- July 17, 2016 Set Your Face Towards His Mission Eric Wacham walks through Luke 9 to show how Jesus kept His mission clear and what that means for how we set our own priorities and purpose.
- March 27, 2016 Easter Worship & Contemporary Praise (3) Ray walks through John 20 on Easter Sunday, showing how Jesus met Mary, the disciples, and Thomas with peace, purpose, and power after His resurrection.
- March 27, 2016 Peace, Purpose, and Power in the Resurrection A Wyoming pastor walks through John 20 on Easter Sunday, showing how the risen Jesus brought peace, purpose, and power to Mary Magdalene, the disciples, and Thomas.
Mentioned along the way
- April 13, 2025 Love Your Neighbor As Yourself Jesus defines neighbor as anyone in your path, and calls us to costly, sacrificial love for every person made in God's image, both inside and outside the church.
- 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.
- September 2, 2015 WWW Be Right (20) A study of Romans 1 exploring grace, the character of God, and what happens when a culture turns away from Him. Taught at First Baptist Jackson.