What does First B Jackson teach about stumbling blocks?
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 stumbling blocks starts with a sober reading of what Jesus actually meant by the image. Pastor Ray, working through Luke 17, explained the Greek word behind 'stumbling block' as a bait stick in a snare, something that draws a person in through their own desires. The pull can come from two directions: toward empty rule-keeping on one side, or a 'nothing matters' licentiousness on the other. People working from either extreme, Ray said, are working against the gospel. The millstone warning is there to show how seriously Jesus takes it, and Ray applied it directly to his own role as a teacher, saying that softening sin to make it more comfortable is something far worse than careless.
Pastor Jonathan and Pastor Graham, both preaching through Matthew 18, pressed the same point from a slightly different angle. Graham noted that the word Jesus used for stumbling block is the root of our word 'scandal,' and that scandal around believers has always existed. The call is not to pretend otherwise but to refuse to be the source of it. Jonathan read the church discipline passage that follows in the same chapter as a continuation of that responsibility: the goal at every stage is to gain your brother back, not to confirm that you were right about him.
Pastor Carl, in Romans 14, brought in the Leviticus 19 background, where God forbids placing a stumbling block before a blind person. Carl connected that to moments of spiritual blindness, things a person was completely unaware were wrong until conviction landed without warning. A paving stone, he said, is not inherently a stumbling block. It becomes one because of where it is placed and when. Pastor Kevin, continuing that same series, made the practical point that knowing the difference between a neutral thing and a genuine stumbling block for a specific person requires actual relationship with that person.
Taught from Luke 17:1-10 · Matthew 18:1-6 · Matthew 18:7 · Romans 14:13 · Matthew 18:15-17
The passage taught · James 3:1
1 Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- July 2, 2023 Faith in a Great God Pastor Ray walks through Luke 17:1-10, connecting four teachings on false teaching, forgiveness, faith, and service into a single picture of what it means to follow Jesus.
- October 23, 2022 Responsibility to Others Jesus calls His followers to care for the vulnerable, pursue restoration over judgment, and forgive as they have been forgiven, in Matthew 18.
- October 23, 2022 Responsibility to Others A Wyoming pastor walks through Matthew 18, showing how Jesus calls his followers to serve, forgive, and care for one another as their core responsibility.
- November 20, 2016 Towards Unity and Diversity- Traditional (3) Romans 14-15 explores Christian unity across differences, what sin really is, and why staying grounded in belief is the source of lasting hope and joy.
- November 13, 2016 Nothing Is Unclean in Itself Romans 14 sermon on disputable matters, stumbling blocks, and how righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit unite believers across differences.