No, this is not a post about the Trinity. My wife and I had an opportunity to attend three different churches in Nashville, TN in less than a days time and I just wanted to reflect on that experience.
It had been quite a while since I had the chance to attend a church service somewhere other than NewSpring Church. I love the fact that this is true because I love my church and I don’t really want to be anywhere else on a Sunday.
Here’s our itinerary and a little bit of what we experienced:
Saturday, 5pm, Fellowship Bible Church – Christy Nockels of Watermark led worship. She has an incredible voice and humble stage presence. Her singing “Knees to the Earth” while we took communion was a very powerful moment.
Sunday, 9am, Cross Point Community Church – Pete Wilson is the lead pastor and we were able to talk with him for a few minutes before the service. He has huge vision and heart for his community and his church is making an impact. We really enjoyed the service and Pete’s message was strong. The staff and volunteers that we encountered were very helpful. I’d love the opportunity to spend some more time with these folks.
Sunday, 11am, Long Hollow Baptist – Long Hollow is a well established church in the suburbs of Nashville. Their pastor, David Landrith, is one of the best communicators I have ever heard. I have heard him on several occasions (this is my dad’s home church), so this was no surprise. The church has a very impressive children’s and student’s area and a 2500 seat auditorium. In David’s sermon he asked the question, “What will be your excuse to God for rejecting Jesus?”. He has a great passion for lost people and this was easy to see as he posed this question and called for people to respond to the gospel. David and a few of his leadership team attended Unleash this year and apparently were inspired to have their church write the names of lost people on their walls. It’s cool to see how we (the big “C” church) can inspire each other to do whatever it takes to reach our community.
The best thing about this experience was the opportunity to simply go to church with my wife and focus on worship. It was also a great reminder that there are churches everywhere with the same focus, passion and vision to reach lost people for Jesus. Along with those things, we took away a few ministry ideas.
A big thank you to these three churches, I wish you all Godspeed!
Quote:
The best thing about this experience was the opportunity to simply go to church with my wife and focus on worship.
Shane,
Good for you. I’m on vacation up here in Gainesville, GA. We went to Jentezen Franklin’s church, “Free Chapel” yesterday. I find it pretty difficult to disengage from my “Worship Leader/Worship Director/Staffer” mind and enter into the mind of just a person attending to worship.
Hey Shane. It was an honor to have you and Cherie here at Cross Point yesterday! I hope you’ll make yourself at home anytime you’re coming through Nashville!
Shane,
It is nice at times to go to other churches to just worship and be fed, not having to think about the process. Thanks for sharing how God spoke to you while you were at these 3.