What does First B Jackson teach about shining your light?
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 shining your light starts with where the light actually comes from. Carl worked through Philippians 2:12-30 and connected the call to shine like lights directly to John 8:12, where Jesus calls Himself the light of the world. The point he kept returning to was that shining is not a matter of personal effort or personality. It is what happens when a person follows Jesus closely enough that His light becomes visible through them. The more a believer fills up with complaining and arguing, the less of God's transforming work is visible in their life.
Brad pressed into the same text and added a practical edge: shining in darkness requires actually getting into the dark place. He noted that his own work tends to keep him around people who already believe, a room so bright that a flashlight barely registers. Real shining, he said, looks more like the story he told of someone walking into a nearby witchcraft shop with a fellow believer and confronting people there with the gospel. He pointed to John 17, where Jesus does not pray for His people to be taken out of the world but to be kept from evil while remaining in it.
Both teachers were clear that this kind of life is not something a person generates on their own. Verse 13 was Carl's anchor for the whole passage: God is the one supplying both the desire and the power. Brad put the same truth plainly when he said, "We are not his because we press on. We press on because we are his." The light shines because the source is God working from the inside, not because the person carrying it is particularly strong or strategic.
Taught from Philippians 2:12-18 · Philippians 2:12-30 · John 8:12 · John 17 · Philippians 2:1-11
“We are not his because we press on. We press on because we are his.”
From Therefore: Action, Light, and Rejoicing
The passage taught · Colossians 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have toward all the saints,
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- August 9, 2026 Therefore: Action, Light, and Rejoicing A sermon on Philippians 2:12-18 about what it looks like to take action, shine brightly, and rejoice, following the pattern Christ set for us.
- September 20, 2022 Monday Night @ First B Sept 19th Pastor Karl speaks on the book of Phillipians Carl walks through Philippians 2:12-30, showing how obedience, joy and care for one another flow from what God has already done for us in Christ.
- December 31, 2017 Work It Out: God Works In You to Will and to Do Pastor Mark preaches Philippians 2:12-18 on New Year's Eve, showing how God works in us to will and do His good pleasure as we shine as lights in a crooked world.