Category Archives: East Nashville

Are Sermons Effective?

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Steve Simms

Have you ever tested the effectiveness of sermons? I did. I was a brand new pastor in my first church — Mayfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Mayfield, Kentucky. After finishing three years of seminary, I had been preaching for about … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christ, Christianity, church, Cumberland Presybterian Church, East Nashville, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, kingdom of God, lifestyles, movement, mystery, mysticism, Nashville, organic church, praise and worship, religion, sermons, simple church, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, supernatural, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values, What is church?, worship | Tagged 225 Berry St., 37207, AA, afternoon, alcoholics, Alcoholics Anonymous, American, American Christianity, an oral test, Berry Street Worship Center, better caught than taught, brand new, called, captured by, Christianity, church meeting, church setting, congregation, considered, continued, creating, culture, Cumberland Presbyterian, decided, doctrines, effectiveness of sermons, evening, everyone has a, experience, exploded, facts, fads, first church, following, follows trends, functions, grow, help people change, hot to hold, house church, however, hymn, ineffective, influencing, interpretation, job description, Kentucky, lecture, less than, lifestyles, like, little happens, little power, Mayfield, meetings, membership, message, mind, much more, Nashville, noble, nobody, none, one simple and easy question, open participation, openly, organic church, overwhelming, passively, pastor, Paul of Tarsus, Paul's instructions, poems, preach, preaching, prepared in a, professional, questions, requires more than, response, revelation, right, shocked, simple church, simple questions, sit and listen, society, society's, something more than, sometimes, started, Sunday morning, test, the basic point, the main topic, The Salvation Army, three years of seminary, TN, to build, to reach people, tongue, treating, try, type, virtuous, visit, weekly, When you come together, word of instruction | 26 Comments

Christmas Chatter

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Steve Simms

Christmas chatter: ‘Tis the season to celebrate Jesus. Happy Christ Day! Merry Jesusmas! “When Christ entered our world, He didn’t come to brighten our Decembers, but to transform our lives.” –Rich Miller Have yourself a Holy Spirit Christmas. What we … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Christ, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, East Nashville, feelings, God, holidays, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, lifestyles, Lord, meaning, miracles, Music City, mystery, mysticism, Nashville, popular culture, praise and worship, prayer, Quotations, Quotes, Reason For The Season, self-esteem, shopping, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values, worship | Tagged 'Tis the season, a great time, All hail the power of Jesus' name, Alpha, amazing, awesome, becomes more real, begins, Berry Street, Bible, birthday, brighten, celebrate Jesus, chatter, Christ Day, Christ entered our world, Christ will fill, Christmas, Dan Schaeffer, Decembers, diminish, enthusiastically, everlasting Father, every Sunday morning, fact, God's love, Grander, happy, Have yourself a, heard, His presence, holidays, Holy Spirit, imagined, is His, Jesusmas, keep silent, King of Kings, let angels prostrate fall, lives, Lord of Lords, love, love for God, Merry, mighty God, more important, mysterious, Nashville, of the season, old song, Omega, openly, pages of the, part of everyday life, people, power, powerful, Prince of Peace, real, reality, Rich Miller, says, surrender, talk about Jesus, testify, testimonies, the best deal, the best shopping deal, The Salvation Army, transform, turn away, What a friend we have in Jesus, What God is doing, what we talk about, when was the last time, will, wiser, Wonderful Counselor, worked up, Worship Center | 1 Comment

Why Is Christmas The Most Celebrated Day Of The Year?

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Steve Simms

Why all the fuss and effort to celebrate the Christmas season? You know. The most celebrated day of the year is about the arrival of Jesus Christ on planet Earth. Isn’t it amazing all the time, effort, and money that … Continue reading →

Posted in Americans, awe, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, East Nashville, freedom, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, meaning, miracles, mysticism, Nashville, non-material reality, Oh my God, popular culture, praise and worship, Reason For The Season, religion, revelation, Savior, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, The Salvation Army, Why be a Christian? | Tagged 10:45, 225 Berry St., 37207, alive, all the fuss, all the time, amazing, around the world, Berry Street, birth, calls us back, celebrate, Christmas celebrations, Christmas season, come, confined, eager, effort, empowered, Enhance, experience, faithfully serve, freedom, gives, history, hope, human life, hundreds of millions, in our time, individuals, inner passion, inner witness, inside the human heart, inspires, Jesus, Jesus Christ, know, live a life of love, loves us, meaningless existence, mere, money, morality, most celebrated day, moves, Nashville, of the year, people, personally encountered, planet Earth, presence, present reality, random, rebellious, religion, respond, return, ritual, runaway, self-destructive behaviors, self-sacrifice, set free, shows, spent, steps out, stirs, Sundays, testifies, the arrival, the depths of our being, the living Christ, The Salvation Army, there is a God, there is more to life, TN, to believe, tradition, transformation, truths, try to deny, Why, working, Worship Center, you know | 6 Comments

Happy TGTD To You! (Tell God Thanks Day)

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Steve Simms

Happy TGTD! (Tell God Thanks Day) I wish you and your family a peaceful, grateful day today. May you be overcome with joy as you realize God’s blessings on your life and thank Him for all He has done for … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, conscience, East Nashville, freedom, God, gratitude, Jesus, Jesus Christ, life, meaning, popular culture, religion, thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day, The Salvation Army, thoughts, Uncategorized | Tagged 21st Century, 9/11, amazing opportunity, aware, being present, best friend, bondage to sin, brothers, Christ, commitment, daughter, death on the cross, deserve, difficult, disease, East Nashville, economic instability, evil, fallen apart, families, follow and obey, forgiveness, freedom, Friends, given, giving up, God's blessing on your life, government, grateful day, Gratitude, great mercy, happy, heart's love, history of the world, humans, hunger, I wish you, injustice, judgment, Lord, love, major terrorist attack, may you, midst, nemphews, nieces, non-traditional church, offer, overcome with joy, painful, parents, peaceful, power to live a life of victory, protecting the United States, reality, realize, rising from the dead, showing, sins, sisters, strength, Tell God Thanks Day, TGTD, thank, thank you, the greatest example of live, The Salvation Army, today, turn, violence, wars, wife, wonderful relationship, world's pain, years of my life, your family | 2 Comments

I Grew Up In Church Without God

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

My parents tell me that when I was a toddler, I used to talk to them about God. They didn’t go to church or have much interest in spiritual things, so they were quite surprised by my interest in God and … Continue reading →

Posted in Amazing Grace, awe, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Boy Scouts, change, Christianity, church, college, college students, East Nashville, feelings, fire, freedom, God, Hindu, Holy Holy Holy, I Corinthians 14:26, Jesus, Jesus freaks, Kumbaya, lifestyles, Nashville, non-material reality, organic church, Presbyterian, religion, revelation, self-image, simple church, spiritual, supernatural, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, University of Tennessee Martin, What is church?, Why be a Christian?, worship | Tagged 10:45 am, 225 Berry St., 37207, 41 years ago, a Christian, a million miles away, a real believer in, about God, actual Presence of, agnostic, all-consuming, amazing, an official church member, another thought, Arkansas, attending church, Berry Street Worship Center, Boy Scout, burns in my heart, campfire, childhood years, Christ, Christianity, closer to God, come and see for yourself, Come by here, Communicant's Class, confusing doctrines, congregation, creatively. modeled, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, describes, do church, dynamic relationship, eerie, elementary school, entered, every few monts, experienced, experiencing God, faint sense, felt, focused on, freely, freshman, funny thing, given the freedom, go to church, God's absence, God's awesome presence, high schook, Hindu, Holy Holy Holy, how to connect, hymn, I Corinthians 14:26, If you were born, immeciately, interest in God, invited to start, Jackson, Jesus Freaks, Jonesboro, junior year, know God, knowing God, Kumbaya, listened, living, living God, make me happy, mind, modern, more present, more real, mother, my Lord, Nashville, non-traditional, odd thought, older, parents, participate, passively, people, physical surroundings, popped into my mind, preached, preacher, Presbyterian Church, realized, regularly attending, rejected, relating to God, remember, results, rituals, sensed, series of classes, shouldn't church, shows up, something stirring inside, spiritual condition, spiritual fire, spiritual things, spiritually empty, suddenly exposed, Sunday morning, Sunday sermon, Sundays, support group, surprised, sweet Presence, talk, Tennessee, the Bible, The Salvation Army, The University of Tennessee Martin, think back to, TN, toddler, usher in, verse, Why do you think you are, with Jesus, wonder, wondered, words, you will be blessed | 4 Comments

George Barna’s 9 Challenges For American Christians

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Steve Simms

George Barna, founder of the Barna Research Group, issued nine challenges for American Christianity in 2002. Here is a paraphrase of his nine challenges along with how a church in Nashville, Tennessee, The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center, is attempting … Continue reading →

Posted in Barna Research Group, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, challenges, church, East Nashville, evangelicals, Gen Y, George Barna, Holy Spirit, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, Nashville, organic church, popular culture, race, racism, simple church, supernatural, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, worship | Tagged 37207, 50-50, allow peop;le to participate, amazing things, American, as led by the Spirit, asking God, attempting, attributed to, Barna Research Group, beliefs, believe, Berry St., Berry Street, Bible, bit, black and white, built-in cost, causes, challenges, changes, Christianity, Christians, church, churches, come, compete, cooperate with, cost, criticize, daily lives, different, do church, each week, eager to learn, encourage, encouraged, ethnic groups, evangelicals, exciting, expression, flow in the Spirit, follow, founder, fresh, Gen Y, George Barna, go, goal, good leaders, Gospel, I Corinthians 14:26, imput, issued, lack of, leadership, multi-racial, musical styles, Nashville, never know, nine, no matter what, non-traditional, not allowed, obey, one person, open, other, outstanding, paraphrase, power, prepared, produces, qualities, race, right in front of our eyes, sale old same old, seek, segregated, seriously, sermons, study, Sunday, Sunday mornings, supernatural, Tennessee, The Salvation Army, theological, to be involved, to meet, to share, to stand on God's word, toning down, uncomfortable, usually, visit, working of God, worship, Worship Center, worship leader, worship meeting, young adults | 1 Comment

Passion For The Christ — Spiritual Fire & Desire

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Steve Simms

Human history is sprinkled with lights — men, women, and children whose hearts were ablaze with passion for the Christ. Many are called “saints” and are remembered in our day. Untold millions of others, however, were unheralded in their day … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, books, Christianity, church, church history, East Nashville, house church, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus freaks, Nashville, National Football League, NFL, organic church, pentecostals, popular culture, Quakers, Quotations, Quotes, religion, saints, simple church, sports, Super Bowl, support group, The Salvation Army, TV ministers | Tagged 100, 10:45, 225 Berry St., 37207, ablaze, all over the world, Anabaptists, as fast as they can, banging their chest together, Baptist, based, being done, Berry Street Worship Center, best friends, best selling books, books, burning desire, Catholic, challenge, children, Christ, Christians, church, churches, come, concerts, conference, conferences, consistent, contain, dance, dart out of the door, determined not to show, doctrines, East Nashville, emotionless people, event, every Sunday morning, excitable churches, excitable. dutifully attend, excitedly, experience, expression, extremely bored, faces, filled, flaming, follow, forgotten by history, freaks, freeflowing, frozen in church, good ole American, grown men, had in common, heart-felt, hearts, heretics, high-fives, history, human, I Corinthians 14:26, in our day, in our heart, inspire, interest, Jesus, Jesus Christ, know, leave, lecture about God, light shines brightly, lights, line, listen to, living rooms, meeting, men, Methodist, millions, move, names, Nashville, nod off, obey, on and on, one thing, one way, Orthodox, our day, passion, passionate, passionless, passively, pastors, Pentecostal, people, playing a boys' game, prosperity, pumps them up, Quaker, quench the Spirit, quotation, quotations, regularly, religious fads, religious trinkets, remembered, right-wing politics, rush away, saints, see, seek out, shelves, singers, sitting like a statue, soulds like, spiritual, sprinkled, stadium, stir up the gift, stoic, Sunday morning, Super Bowl.every year, support group, T-shirts, talk to me, Tennessee, the Christ, The Quotable Saints, The Salvation Army, the thing, The Voice of the Saints, through, TN, TV ministers, type, unheralded, very hard to find, watch a ball game, watching, were, what about, when it comes to, women, words, writings, written word, yawn | 7 Comments

Down By The Spout Where God’s Glory Pours Out

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Steve Simms

I was in a church once and the pastor was trying to get some of the people sitting in the back rows to come and sit near the front. He told them: “Come down by the spout where the glory … Continue reading →

Posted in awe, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, East Nashville, God, Holy Spirit, house church, life, lifestyles, Nashville, Oh my God, spiritual, The Salvation Army, What is church? | Tagged 225 Berry Street, 37207, allowed to work, awe, back, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, carries, catch the current Holy Spirit's, church, church building, cultivate, degree, denominational affiliation, desires, discovers, eample, East Nashville, encounter, felt, flow, free, front, glory, glory of God, God's glory, God's presence, God's voice, heart, humbly, inner, inner rivers, Isaiah, Jesus said, learn, listen, manifest glory, meeting, meets, midst, most important thing, Nashville, non-traditional, obey, opinions, Out of your innermost being, overwhelmed, pastor, people, pours out, present, prophet, Quench not the Spirit, respond, responsive, rivers of living water, rows, sense, shall flow, spout, Sunday, Sundays, temple, The Salvation Army, thoughts, undone, work | 3 Comments

RAG — Religion, Atheism, Or God?

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Steve Simms

The idea of a Creator causes people to embrace one of three positions: RAG. That is, religion, atheism, or living God? Religion can be defined as acknowledging the existence of God and attempting to placate Him by formal human activity such … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheists, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, church, church history, Creator, East Nashville, freedom, God, history, Holy Spirit, house church, life, lifestyles, meaning, mysticism, organic church, popular culture, religion, simple church, spiritual, The Salvation Army, thinking, Uncategorized, values, What is church?, worship | Tagged 10:45, 225 Berry Street, 37207, a place, acknowledging, activity, actual Creator, amazing, and have your being, anyone, atheism, attempting to placate, Berry Street, but denying the power thereof, but hate your brother, can be found in libraries, check it out, close connection, come, couple, Creator, daily live, defined, denial of God, doing in their lives, East Nashville, formal, free, full of, Give, God, God's, good picture, hates his brother, having a form of godliness, he loves God, held, heretics, Him, human, human history, if a man says, if you have never, if you say you love God, In Him you live, kill, led by, liturgy, lived, lives as if, lives beyond, living God, lovers of the living God, met, millions of people, move, Nashville, near, New Testament, nowadays, of all that is, on the internet, one of three, openly, persecute, political power, positions RAG, power, practical atheism, proclaimed atheism, relationship stories, religion, rituals, sermon free church, share stories, show and tell, sincere, society, strongly influenced, Sundays, supernatural presence, the existence of God, the ground of all being, The Salvation Army, the truth is not in you, there is no God, through out, Twentieth Century, Twientieth Century, two kinds, until, used, verball, verses, weekly, what, what God has done, where, Worship Center, you're a hypocrite | 1 Comment

What Would Your Life Be Like If . . .

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Steve Simms

How would you be today if you had been born to a mother in poverty with several children by different men? What if you had been surrounded by depression, anger, fear, hopelessness, and despair? How would you be if you … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, disciple making, discipling, drugs, drunk, East Nashville, freedom, house church, human rights, Jesus, Jesus Christ, jobs, life, lifestyles, meaning, multi-racial, Nashville, organic church, popular culture, prejudice, race, recovery, rehab, religion, self-esteem, self-image, simple church, social justice, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values, What is church?, words | Tagged 10:45 am, 225 Berry St., 37207, a place, according to, advantages, America, Americans, anger, ask, befriends, Berry Street, better off, better quality of life, born, builds, built, buy, caring relationship, cheat, childhood, children by different men, church, close personal friends, college, community, cross, culture, cuss, demonstrating, depression, despair, desperately need, different, disciplined, doesn't, drugs, economics, encouraging, enviornment, environment, family, fear, few, financially, friend, get drunk, godly man, great advantages, groups of men, growing up, had never known, hand, handed, help, helped, helped along, helping, hopelessness, How would you, however, in the middle of, Jesus Christ, job, kept away, lie, lines, lived n their shoes, living, look down on others, looking for, loved, loving, make a difference, man, mean to others, mentor, millions, money, mother, Nashville, negative, neighbor, not so fortunate, opportunity, paid, parented, people's lives, personal, pobverty, positive example, powerful programming, practical help, profanity, question, raise, redirect their lives, rehab, relationship, relationships, sexual, sin, social status, socially, socio-economic, spearate, steal, struggling financially, stuck, Sundays, surrounded, the love of, The Salvation Army, TN, today, true, use drugs, violence, visit, vital, vulgarity, way to live, woman, Worship Center | 1 Comment

Category Archives: East Nashville

Are Sermons Effective?

Christmas Chatter

Why Is Christmas The Most Celebrated Day Of The Year?

Happy TGTD To You! (Tell God Thanks Day)

I Grew Up In Church Without God

Passion For The Christ — Spiritual Fire & Desire

Down By The Spout Where God’s Glory Pours Out

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Beyond Church: An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible

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