Tag Archives: congregation

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

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

Chemistry Lab, Biology Lab, How ‘Bout Church Lab?

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Steve Simms

If you have ever taken a high school or college science class you have been to a lab class. For chemistry and biology, lecture is not enough. Students need to dissect an animal for themselves to really understand its anatomy. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, biology, change, chemistry, college, disciple making, East Nashville, freedom, God, high school, Holy Spirit, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, lab, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, religion, science, simple church, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 10:45, 225 Berry Street, 37207, actually, allow, anatomy, animal, ask, attenders, been to, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, biology, chemicals, chemistry, church, class, college, come, compounds, concerns, congregation, crazy. Bible's, directions, dissect, do it, faith, fellow, freedom, Give, God, God's power, good, hearts, high school, Holy Spirit, how to do church, I Corinthians 14:26, if you have ever, in the land, lab, lab partners, learning, lecture, like, listen, lives, lots of ways, Mary's, master, meeting, mere, mike, mix, most ignored, most unique, Nashville, Nashville's, needs, not enough, not good enough, one another, opportunity, people, personally, pray, produce, read, really, satisfied, science, Scripture, sermon, share, silenty, son, spiritual, students, Sunday morning, Sundays, take the time, taken, tell, The Salvation Army, together, told, understand, verse, vision, visit, Whatever He says to you, word, work, working, worship, worshippers | 2 Comments

What The Church Can Learn From The Oprah Show

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Steve Simms

The Oprah Show was not just entertainment. It connected with people, encouraged them, challenged them, and made a difference in their lives. Perhaps the 21st Century church could learn a few things from Oprah. * Allow spontaneity. The Oprah Show was … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Berry Street Worship Center, biography, change, Christianity, crying, house church, life, lifestyles, meaning, morality, morals, multi-racial, Nashville, Oh my God, Oprah, Oprah Show, organic church, popular culture, race, racism, religion, self-help, simple church, spiritual, tears, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 21st Century, 225 Berry Street, 37207, all races, allow, allowed, audience members, being human, Berry Street, caring, challenged, changed, check out, church, city, clap, congregation, connected, cried, declare, degrading, denies, different, draw viewers, dull, embraced, emotion, emotionless, encouraged, encouraging, entertainment, entire, exciting, expecting, express, fall for anything, features, felt, find a way, flow, focus, followed, freedom, fresh, gatherings, get out of the box, goal Christianity, God's image, greatness, grieved, guests, gushed, hand, harm, heart, hour, human emotion, humanity, ideals, ideas, If you're happy, important part, involved, irrelevant, it is time, Jesus, Jesus Christ, laugh, laughed, learn from, life-changing, like, lived, lives, look the part, made a difference, meetings, mike, mold, most, multi-racial, mutual, name of, Nashville, needs, nod, notify your face, on and on, online, Oprah, Oprah Show, participatory church, passive, passively by, people, places, popular, presentation, programmed, quite, race, raise, read, real-life, rejoiced, religious, respond, rest, reviews, rididly, ritual, sadness, same-ole, segregated, sensationalism, show, showed, sitting, society, someone has said, spectators, spectrum, spontaneity, stand for something, stay awake, struggling, Sundays, take the high road, talk TV, taught, The Salvation Army, things, to happen, trash, unexpected, unfortunately, uplifting, whole, Worship Center | 12 Comments

Uh Hum . . . What The Bible Says About Interrupting Church

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Steve Simms

Interrupting a church meeting has been considered taboo for just about as long as church has existed. I only remember two times being in a church service that was interrupted, prior to being part of an organic church. When I was … Continue reading →

Posted in church history, freedom, history, Holy Spirit, house church, mysticism, Nashville, Quakers, simple church, What is church? | Tagged a fresh word, adds, allowing, ambulance, Arkansas, arrive, assistant, attend, bold, carefully, change, church, church history, collspsed, congregation, CPR, deeply, disorderly, eagerly, early, earthquake, enthusiastically, excited, existed, gave, George Fox, gone to be with the Lord, halt, ignored, insight, interrupted, interrupting, Jonesboro, Kentucky, kid, kind, left, light, man, meeting, middle, movements, moving, Nashville, New Testament, open, organic church, Paducah, panic, participatory, pastor, pauses, perhaps, person, polite, powerful, prayed, preacher, Presbyterian Church, prophets, Quakers, quenching, raises a hand, responded, revelation, revival, rude, service, silently, sitting down, speaker, spiritual, stop, Sunday, taboo, tag team wrestling, Tennessee. sharing, the Holy Spirit, think, times, transitions, two or three, weigh, words | 11 Comments

Christian Spectators Or Christian Participants?

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Steve Simms

Are we Christian spectators or Christian participants? Do we sit, watch, and listen to Christianity or do we live, do, and demonstrate Christianity? Spectators are passive observers. They have no say in the outcome of the things they watch. TV … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Jesus Christ, lifestyles, Nashville, organic church, popular culture, religion, Uncategorized | Tagged about, acctually, active, active roles, adherents, Apostles, athletes, audience, begin, believers, Bible verse, Biblical role, book of James, bunch of, called, called to participate, Christianity, Christians, church attenders, concert attenders, congregation, demonstrate, describe, direct, disciples, do, doers of the word, entire, expected to be, followers, frequently, gather, go into all the world and make disciples, His, Holy Spirit leads, house church. link, I Corinthians 14:26, impact the ouctcome of the event, Jesus, just the oposite, l participatory, laymen, listen, litterly meaning, live, magazine article, meetings, members, more than conquerors, movie goers, movie makers, musicians, national, New Testament, no say in the outcome, not just hearers, obey, organic church, overcomers, participants, passionate, passive, passive observers, people, pews, platform, powerful, priority, purpose, sent ones, simple church, sit, soldiers, sometimes, spectators, sports fans, stage, the people in the pew, to take back, told, turned into, TV actors, TV watchers, umbiblical terms, watch, watching without doing, Western world, witnesses, words, worship and glorify God | 10 Comments

National Magazine Article About A Non-Traditional Church In Nashville

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Steve Simms

From: Priority Magazine of The Salvation Army What God Is Doing in … Nashville The Berry Street ‘Testimony Church’ by Robert Mitchell The year was 1970 and the Jesus Movement was at its height. Steve Simms, a freshman … Continue reading →

Posted in Creator, God, history, Jesus Christ, lifestyles, Nashville, organic church, popular culture, religion | Tagged 10:45 am, 225, 37207, Adult Rehabilition Center, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible-based, Christ, comfortable, community, congregation, Corps, country, East Nashville, employment, Facebook page, flag, flooded out, free church, Froot Loops, God's Word, grow spiritually, Holy Spirit, homes, intimate circle, Jesus, Jesus Movement, job, listened, love, microphone, miracles, Nashville, neighborhood, no sermon, officer, open church, participate, pews, prayer, Priority Magazine, professional musicians, pulpit, Robert Mitchell, Salvationists, Scriptures, services, share, style of worship, Sunday, testimonies, testimony church, The Salvation Army, traditional, University of Tennessee, What God is doing, zeal | 12 Comments

Tag Archives: congregation

Are Sermons Effective?

I Grew Up In Church Without God

What The Church Can Learn From The Oprah Show

Christian Spectators Or Christian Participants?

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