Tag Archives: house church

Did I See A Miracle Last Night? You Decide.

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Steve Simms

Last night I was in a home group of 9 adults (who I don’t know very well) who met to share, sing, support one another, and pray as led by the Spirit. As someone was praying an image came into … Continue reading →

Posted in awe, Bible, Biblical concept, Christ-centered, Christian, Christian community, Christianity, church, church structure, community, confession, congregational, disciple making, ekklesia, forgiveness, freedom, guidance, hearing God, hearing Jesus, Holy Spirit, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, improv, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Movement, kingdom of God, life, miracles, movement, non-church movement, non-material reality, non-traditional church, normal Christianity, organic church, participatory church, prayer, presence of Christ, presence of God, priesthood of the believer, prophesy, relational church, religion, repent, repentance, revelation, revival, show and tell, simple church, sin, Spirit-led, spiritual, spiritual formation, supernatural, support group, surrender to God, the cross, the way we do church, vision, voice of God, wages of sin, What is church?, When you come together | Tagged confetti, cross of Christ, forgiven, handwriting of ordinances, home group, house church, miracle, Scripture, the odds against | 10 Comments

Non-Church — Discovered In Japan & Other Places

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Steve Simms

I recently read about non-church when I heard about a Japanese man named Uchimura Kanzo. He started meeting with a group of friends in a small Christian gathering in Japan in the early 1900s where everyone was equal and everybody … Continue reading →

Posted in burning heart, China, Christian, Christian community, Christian history, Christianity, church, church history, church roles, church structure, congregational, East Nashville, heart-felt love, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, Japan, Methodist class meeting, Methodists, movement, non-church movement, non-traditional church, organic church, participatory church, priesthood of the believer, relational church, religion, simple church, spiritual formation, support group, the way we do church, Uncategorized, unprogrammed church, What is church?, worship | Tagged early Quakers, George Fox, house church, Methodist Class Meetings, Nashville, non-church, Uchimura Kanzo, Watchman Nee | 7 Comments

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 | 20 Comments

Finding Nashville’s Most Unique Church With Your GPS

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Steve Simms

–Get out your GPS (God’s Positioning System)– Enter that you are looking for a church where: * People are more important than programs; * Encouragement is more important than entertainment * Love is more important than liturgy: * Faith is … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, church, God, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, Jesus, Jesus Christ, lifestyles, meaning, movement, Music City, mysticism, Nashville, organic church, popular culture, religion, simple church, support group, The Salvation Army, values, What is church? | Tagged 10:45, 225 Berry Street, 37207, about, always, amazing, Berry Street, called, church, come, concepts, contagion, creating, encouragement, enter, entertainment, excitement, experience, faith, for yourself, fund raising, get out your, God's Positioning System, GPS, house church, however, Jesus, Jesus Christ, lead, lecture series, liturgy, lives, looking for, love, meetings, meets, more important than, more like, mornings, most unique, names, Nashville, Nashville's, organic church, participation, passivity, people, programs, several, show and tell, simple church, Sunday, support group, The Salvation Army, theology, TN, type, very well, what God has done, words can't describe, Worship Center | 6 Comments

If The Chosen Are Frozen, How Can God’s Fire Rage Through Our World?

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Steve Simms

We live in a world that is fastly fleeing from traditional social and moral constraints. People nowadays uninhibitedly express their feelings and views without regard for what is decent, right, or wholesome, even when they are sober. There is no longer a need to … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street, Christian history, Christianity, church history, discipling, drunk, Holy Spirit, house church, Jesus Movement, morality, morals, Nashville, organic church, prayer, religion, simple church, spiritual, What is church? | Tagged 120, 225, 37207, about, agenda, allow, amazing, as ever, attitude, Berry Street, Bible, break, burn, but denying the power thereof, cast aside, celebrating, check, chosen, Christian, church, church age, church attenders, church is in decline, church-service, command, contrary, crucifixion, decent, described, die to self, disciples, drunk, dry, encourage, entertaining, enthusiasm, events, every member, experience, express feelings, expression, fastly, filled, fire, flames, fleeing, flow, follow, formal, formalism, foundation, frozen, function, gathered, God's fire, God's light, group, having a form of godliness, hidden, hiding, history, Holy Spirit, house church, inhibited, Jesus, languages, living, loudly, love, mighty, moral constraints, morally, move of God, movement, Nashville, now, obey, one reason, openly, organic church, organized, original, passion, Paul's, Pentecost, perhaps, power, praising God, praying, presence, publicly, reclaim priesthood of the believer, Reformation, rejoicing, remove, restrained, restraints, right, run, scholars, see, share, show up, simple church, sit, sober, social, society, speak, speaking, spiritual inhbitions, spirituall, spontaneous, start, street, structured, suddenly, Sundays, tear down the wall, theatrical, theory, this out, time, traditional, turn away, turn the world upside down, under a bushel, uninhibited, uninhibitedly, views, wait, we live, wholesome, willing, without regard for, wonders, works, world, years | 1 Comment

The Most Unique Church In Nashville

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Steve Simms

This isn’t documented with an official survey or anything, but I think McFerrin Park has Nashville’s most unique church. It is diverse economically, racially, and socially. It has no pulpit and no sermons. It has a different worship leader every … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Holy Spirit, house church, life, lifestyles, Nashville, organic church, religion, simple church, Sunday school, The Salvation Army, What is church? | Tagged 225 Berry Street, 37207, a drummer, a need comes up, adults, anytime, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible study, box, brass band, chairs, changed, church, colored cloths, come and see, couch, couple, cross, curious, different, diverse, documented, during the week, each other, economically, every Sunday, every week, front yard, gathering, hanging on it, house church, intentionally, McFerrin Park, mix, most unique, Nashville, Nashville's, national magazines, nights, no pulpit, no sermons, non-traditional, offering, open discussion, open sharing, organic church, participation, pews, plate, play, pray for people, racially, really care about, Salvation Army, sanctuary, simple church, socially, somewhat, spend time together, Sunday, support group, takes the time, tambourines during worship, The Tennessean, Thursday, uniforms, visibly excited, wall, worship leader, written up | 3 Comments

Church — Lab or Lecture? Intellect or Votech? Academic or Epidemic?

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

Should church be academic or epidemic? Should it be based on the transfer of religious knowledge or on an ongoing contagion of spiritual life spreading like raging fire? Here is a quotation from Paul of Tarsus, the church planter who established … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, change, God, Holy Spirit, house church, lifestyles, mysticism, organic church, Quotations, Quotes, religion, simple church, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 225 Berry St., 37207, academic, academic study, accepting, agreeing to, area, based on, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Biblical doctrines, book of Acts, called, Christian votech, Christians, church, church planter, contagion, contemporary church, creed, daily lives, Dear children, deed, demonstrative, disciples, disciplined, dry intelect, epidemic, established, experiential learning, first Christian churches, follow and obey, followers, formation within, gave, go and make disciples of all nations, godliness has value for all things, Great Commission, hands-on activity, hearts, holy, Holy Spirit, house church, ignored, inflaming, intellect, isn't it time, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John the Beloved, knowledge puffs up, lab, laid-back, lecture, lifestyle, like, listening, live, living love, love builds up, make this change, making disciples, mental adherents, merely, move beyond, Nashville, New Testament, not love with words, nowadays, ongoing, organic church, others, passion for God, passivity, Paul of Tarsus, Paul's words, physical training, practice, quotation, raging fire, read, religious, religious knowledge, reproduce, return, said, seeking, sermons, serve, simple church, some value, spiritual athletes, spiritual formation, spiritual life, spiritual lifestyle, spreading, Sundays, talk, Tennessee, the apostle, The Salvation Army, Thursdays, time of, tongue, train, train yourself to be godly, transfer of, transformation, turned, visit a church, votech, with actions and truth, wrote | 7 Comments

Can A Church Be Full Of The Glory Of God?

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Steve Simms

A popular worship song says: “The splendor of the King; clothed in majesty . . .” It is great to sing about God’s splendor, but how do we bring it forth? There is a simple, but powerful answer to this … Continue reading →

Posted in church history, God, house church, Jesus Christ, music, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, prayer, religion, simple church, What is church? | Tagged among, awe, baton, Berry Street, Bible, blends, bring it, called, chaos, Christ's body, church, clothed in majesty, conductor, contributions, directory, do, do their own thing, experience, expressions, forth, gathered, gifted, giving, glorious, glory of God, God, God's splendor, great, hear, heart-felt, hearts, holy, Holy Spirit, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, indescribable, instructions, leading, leadings, member, men, morning, move, musicians, Nashville, obeys, open, option, orchestra, organic church, people, perform, place, popular, powerful, prayer, presence, responds, revelation, seek, shares, shines, silence, simple, simple church, sing, spiritually hungry, splendor of the King, stand, standing on holy ground, Sunday, symphony, talented, taps, taste and see, testmony, The Salvation Army, verse, women, word of knowledge, worship song | Leave a comment

More Original Organic Church Thoughts

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Steve Simms

Organic church is a term used to describe church that is based on spiritual life, personal relationships, heart-felt love, Spirit-led worship, and open participation, rather than on institutional structure or man-led meetings. It is also known as simple church and/or house … Continue reading →

Posted in church history, freedom, Holy Spirit, house church, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, mysticism, organic church, public speaking, religion, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged active role, based on, beautiful, believers, body of believers, builds, caring, Christians, church, comments, community, completely, conjecture, constantly seeking, creates, family, field, flooding, free, freedom, Friends, give people, heart-felt, Holy Spirit, honest, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, ignored, institutional structure, kindergarten, lecture, love, makes God real, man-led, meet in a house, meetings, minister, ministry, more effective, most recent, New Testament, one another, open, opportunity, organic church, original, originally, others, participation, perhaps, personal relationships, posted, professional, program, publicly, rare, rather than, religious, rivers, seek, service, sharing, show and tell, simple church, souls, spectators, spilling, Spirit-led worship, spiritual growth, spiritual life, spoke, stirred, superfulous, taught, term, the Spirit, theological, time, tweets, used to describe, verse, watch, what God has done, what to do, written | 2 Comments

Are We Missusing The Word “Church”

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Steve Simms

Our society has a big problem. Few people have ever asked the question: What is church? Are we missusing the word church? We think we know what church is so we don’t ask. “Here’s the church and here’s the steeple. Open it … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Bible, Creator, criticism, English, English literature, freedom, God, history, house church, human rights, Jesus Christ, lifestyles, Oh my God, organic church, popular culture, Quotations, Quotes, religion, self-help, social justice, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 1948, 24/7, according to, America, answer is wrong, anywhere, asked, attempted, Bible, big, called out ones, came to power, can't separate, China, Chinese, Christian, Christians, church and state, church buildings, Communists, don't ask, English, famiily, family of believers, first three centuries, genuine, get rid, government, Greek, group of people, Here's the church, here's the steeple, holding on to, house church, into, invented, It didn't work, less than 1 milllion, loving relationship, makes, means, million, missusing, mistaken definitions, movement, New Testament, numbers between, only, open it u, organic church, original, out of, out of government, people, physical location, position, problem, public schools, question, right now, Roman Empire, sense, shg tied, society, spiritual family, the question, the word, translated, Twentieth Century, used, very rarely, we think we know, Wednesday night, what, What is church?, Where do you go to church, with one another, write | 1 Comment

Tag Archives: house church

Did I See A Miracle Last Night? You Decide.

Non-Church — Discovered In Japan & Other Places

Are Sermons Effective?

Finding Nashville’s Most Unique Church With Your GPS

Church — Lab or Lecture? Intellect or Votech? Academic or Epidemic?

Can A Church Be Full Of The Glory Of God?

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