Your Church Has Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, & Teachers

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Steve Simms

Every church is full of gifts that God has given — apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (see Eph. 4:11). There is not just one pastor in a church and none of the other gifts.  There are many of these five-fold ministries in a church.

These gifts are not titles or official offices, but practical functions necessary in every church. Apostles are “sent ones” — people who are sent by God on special assignments. Has God brought some “sent ones” to your church? Prophets are those who boldly speak the truth in love. Evangelists are those who share the Gospel with non-believers. Pastors are people who help other people grow spiritually by maintaining a loving relationship with them. Teachers are people who help others learn how to live out their faith. If you think through the people in your church, you will see that your church is indeed full of people who operate in these gifts. Perhaps they should be free to function in their gifts during the Sunday morning worship service.

These gifts should be in operation every time the church meets.  Come see these gifts in action at The Salvation Army Berry Street, 225 Berry St., Nashville, Tennessee, 32707 on Sundays at 10:45 am.

Posted in church leader, church leadership, church meetings, church services, clergy/laity, Ephesians 4:11, evangelism, finding your gift, gifts, gifts to the church, giving, living out your faith, ministry, Nashville, Nashville adventure, Nashville church, Nashville tourist attractions, organic church, participation, Salvation Army, Salvation Army Corps, Salvationism, Salvationists, sent ones, simple church, spiritual gifts, you can all prophesy | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

6 Lessons from Reason-For-The-Season Sunday

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Steve Simms

I call the Sunday after Thanksgiving Day the Reason-For-The-Season Sunday.  Here are 6 lessons from Reason-For-The-Season-Sunday
1) There is more to the Holiday Season that shopping, consumerism, and retail sales. The greatest gifts are non-material.
2) Retailers may make their first profits on Black Friday but unless Christ-followers become true prophets and begin to live and speak truth into our culture all our financial profit will leave us confused and empty inside.
3) To gut the Holiday Season by leaving out the living, resurrected Jesus Christ turns this time of the year into little more than a mad rush for stuff.
4) New stuff will only make you feel good for a very short time and then will leave you yearning for the next popular or glitzy thing.
5) True treasure is within you and cannot be found in stuff.
6) When you surrender your desires to Christ, He will release such inner peace and satisfaction that you will be enjoying Christ*mas all year long!

Posted in Black Friday, Christmas shopping, Christmas shopping season, Christmas traditions, consumerism, gift giving, gifts, giving, Jesus, Jesus Christ, profits, prophet, prophets, religion, retail, retail sales, retail stores, retailers, shopping | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Do You Ever Get The Hear-Another-Sermon-Blues?

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Steve Simms

Do you ever get the hear-another-sermon-blues?  Well, don’t fret.  I can’t find the word “sermon” in the Bible.  Can you?

When you regularly share with others about what God is saying to you and about what He is doing in your life, you will grow spiritually strong.  However, most churches don’t allow regular people to speak and share in the worship service. Perhaps this is causing us ordinary people to miss out on many opportunities to grow strong in God.

Few, if any, family gatherings today are programmed and controlled by one person in the front of the room (like most church services). Instead family get-togethers involve spontaneous sharing and participation as people encourage one another and enjoy being together.

Hey, perhaps that would be powerful and effective if we tried it in Sunday morning church meetings!

“The early church, it seems, had an open system of communication, but we, in contrast, have preferred a closed one. Our ‘sermon’ tradition simply leaves no room for listener participation in the communication process. Thus, with nothing to say, ask, or contribute, the saints are rendered passive.” –Darryl M. Erke

“The exercise of the spiritual gifts was the characteristic element in primitive worship. Those gifts might vary in their nature and degree according to the capacity of each individual, but they were bestowed on all and room was allowed in the service for the participation of all who were present. ‘When you meet together,’ says Paul, ‘each of you hath a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, an interpretation.’ Every member was expected to contribute something of his own to the common worship.” –Ernest F. Scott

Experience participatory church for yourself.  Come and visit The Salvation Army Berry Street, 225 Berry St., Nashville, TN 37207 on Sunday mornings at 10:45.

 

Posted in Berry Street, blues, Darryl M. Erke, Ernest F. Scott, Nashville, Nashville church, non-church, non-church movement, non-liturgical, non-traditional church, nonconforming, open church, participatory church, quotation, Quotations, quote, Salvation Army, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, sermon, sermon-free, sermon-hearing, sermons, simple church, spirituality, The Salvation Army | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Christmas Lights

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Steve Simms

No man puts up dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of Christmas lights and then only lets one light shine.  He turns on all the lights and if any light or lights don’t shine, he replaces the bulbs.

Christmas lights

Perhaps God wants all of His lights (Christ-followers) to be allowed to shine and speak during Sunday morning worship, instead of only one.  (See 1 Corinthians 14:26.)

Come and experience a church meeting where all God’s lights are allowed to shine as everyday people show and tell what God has done:  Sunday mornings @ 10:45, 225 Berry St., Nashville, TN, 37207 — The Salvation Army Berry Street.

Read more in my book: Beyond Church — An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible,  available at Amazon.

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Posted in Christ followers, Christmas tree lights, church, church services, light, light bulbs, Nashville, Nashville church, open church, open sharing, organic church, participation in church, participatory church, Salvation Army, Salvation Army church, simple church, Sunday, Sunday morning, support group, you are the light of the world | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

An interview with Paul of Tarsus

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Steve Simms

(An interview with Paul of Tarsus based on 1 Corinthians chapter 14.)
Me: “So, Paul, who can prophesy?”
Paul: “You can all prophesy.”
Me: “What happens if everybody prophesies?”
Paul: “If an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, ‘God is really among you!'”
Me: “What does that mean for us believers who live in the 21st Century?”
Paul: “When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation.”
Me: “Are you saying that everybody should participate when we meet together?
Paul: “My brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy.”

Posted in 1 Corinthians 14:26, 21st Century, church meetings, church programs, church services, church structure, convicted of sin, God, God demonstrations, God experiment, God is really among you, God with us, hymn, judging, judgment, one anothering, one anothers, organic church, participation, participatory church, participatory sermons, Paul of Tarsus, prompted by the Spirit, prompting of the Spirit, promptings, prophesying, prophet, prophets, public speaking, public worship, quotation, Quotations, quote, Quotes, relevation, religion, revelation, secrets, secrets of your heart, sin, What is church?, When you come together, worship, worship center, worship gathering, you can all prophesy | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Church is not for sponges; it’s for sparks!

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Steve Simms

You are not simply a sponge, supposed to sit in a “service” and silently soak up a preacher’s ideas. You are someone who has spiritual insight to share.  Church is not for sponges, it’s for sparks!

Our desire at The Salvation Army Berry Street is to spark an epidemic of faith that will spread all across Nashville and around the world. Don’t quarantine yourself. Come on down and be a spark to help spread the fire of God!  Perhaps church needs less lecture and more Sunday morning demonstrations of Jesus’ loving lifestyle through everyday people like you and me.

You can feel God at The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center in Nashville, TN and see Him working in and through regular people like you.  At Berry Street your insights are valued and you are needed to show and tell what God has done!

When I was a kid in Little Rock, Arkansas, the city would sometimes open up a fire hydrant in the summer and let us kids play in the gushing water.  God wants to open up His church and flood His people with rivers of living water. Will we let Him?  Come and open up to God and to one another — every Sunday morning at 10:45, 225 Berry St., Nashville 37207.

Posted in Arkansas, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, church fire, church format, church leadership, church meetings, church program, church programs, church services, church structure, Little Rock, Music City, Nashville charity, Nashville church, Nashville tourist attractions, order of worship, organic church, simple church, sparks, sponges, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

“The Christmas Candle” Confirms The Concept Of Sermon-Free Church

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Steve Simms

The new movie The Christmas Candle is an amazing confirmation of The Salvation Army Berry Street’s participatory worship where everyday people show and tell what God has done.  I’ve been writing and posting, on my blog and on Facebook, for six years about sermon-free church and now a movie strongly confirms the concept.

Near the end of Max Lucado’s The Christmas Candle, a formal church service is interrupted as ordinary people, one after the other, begin to stand up and enthusiastically testify about how God is working in their lives! The preacher even sits down and allows the meeting to be led by the Spirit. Imagine that. Wow!

If you want to see this amazing kind of church meeting, not just on film, but in person, come visit us on Sundays at 10:45 am., 225 Berry St., Nashville, TN 37207.

Read more in my book: Beyond Church — An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible,  available at Amazon.

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Posted in angels, angels watching over you, burning heart, Christmas candles, church, church leader, church leadership, church meetings, church services, cynicism, demonstrations of the Spirit, glory, glory of God, interrupting a sermon, interrupting in church, miracles, miraculous, Music City, Nashville, Nashville charity, organic church, participatory church, Salvation Army, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvationism, Salvationists, sermon-free, sermon-hearing, testifying, testimonies, testimonies in church, testimony, The Salvation Army | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

One-man sermons & the John the Baptist leadership principle

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Steve Simms

One-word sentences/One-man sermons.

Limiting conversation to one-word sentences quenches communication. Example: Person A) Hello.  Person B) Hi.  A) Going?  B) Yes. A)  When?  B) Now.  A) Where?  B) There.   A) How?  B) Walking.  A) Good.  B) Thanks.  A) Bye.  B) Bye.

Perhaps limiting church to one-man sermons quenches the Spirit. Here’s an example: Maybe the Spirit has something for several people to say and/or do during the church meeting, but we don’t allow time for them.

When ordinary people speak from their hearts about God, an inner flow of the Spirit is released that radiates from their faces.

When you think of all the wisdom and spiritual experience of the people in a congregation on Sunday morning, it’s too bad that only one person normally gets to talk.

Perhaps we need to follow the John the Baptist leadership principle: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

When church leaders begin to decrease in power, authority, pride, titles, offices, and control, the presence of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ will increase in our midst.

Posted in automatic, Bible, communication, control, conversation, He must increase, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit promptings, I must decrease, John the Baptist, leaders, leadership, led by the Spirit, one word, one-word dialogue, pride, principle, Quench not the Spirit, quench the Spirit, Quotations, Quotes, sermon, sermons, spirit, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

What does it mean to “gather in Jesus’ name”?

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Steve Simms

Do we “gather in Jesus’ name”? (“Where two or three have gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” –Jesus)
* To so something in someone’s name means to act under that person’s authority and direction, not your own. Acting in someone’s name requires us to deny our own desires and instead to precisely follow and obey the other person’s direct leadership and instructions.
* “It is possible to have hundreds of people gathered for church and still not have two or three gathered in His (Jesus’) name.” –Jim L. Wilson

So what should be the focus in church? Who or what should get and hold our attention during a worship service?
A speaker? A message? A screen? A singer and musicians? A program? Or the living, resurrected Jesus Christ, Himself?
–Shouldn’t what is spoken and/or done in a church meeting, direct our attention to Jesus, who is actually present with us as we meet in His name?

Open, Spirit-led sharing and testimonies in a church service create a spiritual contagion that spreads from heart-to-heart, igniting passionate love for the living, resurrected Jesus Christ.  Perhaps this is church “in His name.”  Faith in Christ is more caught than taught.

Posted in church meetings, church programs, church services, DWhere two or three have gathered together in My name, Jesus Christ, Jesus' name, Jim L. Wilson, quotation, Quotations, quote, religion, religious words, there am I in the midst of them, What does it mean? | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

A Sunday soliloquy may satisfy some, but I love to hear God’s Heavenly harmony as ordinary people, led by the Spirit, let their voices blend as they testify and God’s glory fills a church meeting.

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Steve Simms
Posted in church format, church leadership, church meetings, church services, church structure, glory, glory of God, God's glory, heavenly harmony, order of worship, organic church, Sunday soliloquy, testifying, testimonies, testimonies in church, testimony | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment