HopeUC Nashville Word of the Week

HopeUC Nashville
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Religion

By God's grace we pray that HopeUC will always be a body, a church, a family and a home that is defined by God's presence. Worshipful, missional, prayerful, generational, creative, generous, thankful, authentic and completely passionate about people responding to the message of salvation. And with a shout that resounds through every part of our lives that HOPE is a person, and His name is Jesus. The songs and teachings range from adoration to warfare, but the message is the same, the Lord alone is worthy of praise. We believe that when people see God for who He really is, they can't help but worship loudly and extravagantly. Join us from the HopeUC Nashville barn every week as our team delivers a word that builds on our four core values. The Word is our foundation, Worship is our Honor, Community is our Heartbeat and His Presence is our Passion.

  1. May 26

    May 24th - Beatitudes | Blessed In Dependence by Pastor Dustin Smith

    In this episode, Pastor Dustin shares a bold, practical message on the Beatitudes and what it truly means to be "blessed" in a world that celebrates strength, success, and self-sufficiency. On a hillside under Roman rule, Jesus shocks His listeners by blessing the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the hungry, the merciful, the pure, the peacemakers, and the persecuted. Brad shows how this upside-down list confronts our pursuit of "enough"—enough money, success, influence, and control—so we don't have to need anyone, including God. Rooted in Matthew 5 (with insights from the parable of the talents, Isaiah, Nehemiah, and voices like Dallas Willard and N.T. Wright), Brad reminds us that the doorway into the kingdom is not achievement, but surrender. The Beatitudes are not just nice sayings; they form a journey of transformation and paint a portrait of Jesus Himself. We explore how poverty of spirit leads to real dependence, how meekness is strength under control, why hunger for righteousness moves us from passively wishing things were different to actively partnering with God, and how shifting from consumer to producer breaks a poverty mindset in every area of life. This message is an invitation to trade Western independence for kingdom dependence—and to live the kind of "blessed" life Jesus actually described. For more messages and resources, visit www.hopeucnashville.com or download the HopeUC Nashville app.

    31 min

  2. May 19

    May 17th - Beatitudes | Trusting His Presence by Brad Bichsel

    In this episode, Brad shares a practical, story-driven message on living aware of God's presence in everyday life—not just in church services or "spiritual highs," but in family chaos, travel, work, and uncertainty. Through funny and honest stories about awkward Christmas gifts, a Lego monorail with his grandfather, and a trip to Uganda with young kids where everything seemed to go wrong, he shows that the real gift is never just the present itself—it's the *presence*: time with a Father who is with us, teaching, guiding, and working even when we feel like we've missed it. Rooted in Psalm 139, Psalm 23, John 14, and a C.S. Lewis quote, Brad reminds us that we can't escape God's Spirit—"even there" His hand will guide and support us. The challenge is not whether God is near; it's whether we slow down enough to remember, pay attention, and say "thank you" for the ways He has already been faithful. We explore how to trust God's leading when life feels messy, how gratitude helps us stay awake to His presence, and why following the Good Shepherd is better than trying to control the path ourselves. This message is an invitation to bring your busy, imperfect days to Jesus and walk away with a fresh awareness that He is with you—before you, behind you, and all around. For more messages and resources, visit www.hopeucnashville.com or download the HopeUC Nashville app.

    22 min

  3. May 11

    May 10th - Beatitudes | Carriers Of Hope by Autumn Darden

    In this episode, Autumn shares a deeply personal and powerfully hope-filled message on what it means to live as people of hope in the middle of real pain, loss, and delay. Tracing her story from childhood trauma and teen pregnancy to suicidal depression, radical encounter with God's presence, and years of heartbreaking miscarriages and infant loss, she shows that biblical hope is not naïve optimism—it's a "confident expectation of good" rooted in the character of God. Along the way, she unpacks why hope is not optional for believers (it's one of the three things that "last forever" in 1 Corinthians 13), and why so many of us feel "heart sick" when our hope has been attached to our own plans instead of God's will. Autumn invites us into her testimony of "restitution"—how God spoke, "I'm making restitution," and over time restored what the enemy had stolen: reconnecting her with the son she placed for adoption, blessing her with more children after devastating losses, and eventually calling her family into foster care and adoption again. Through it all, she highlights the difference between adding Jesus to our agenda and truly surrendering to His, and how real hope flourishes when we seek first His kingdom. We explore how to hold on to God's presence when we don't feel Him, what to do with hope deferred, and why tying our hope to His heart—not just to outcomes—can transform seasons of disappointment into stories of redemption. This isn't theory; it's an invitation to bring your own expired dreams and deferred hopes to Jesus, and to leave with a fresh, Spirit-empowered expectation of His goodness. For more messages and resources, visit www.hopeucnashville.com or download the HopeUC Nashville app.

    57 min

  4. May 4

    May 3rd - Sunday Sermon With J. John | What Is Christianity?

    In this episode, we welcome special guest J. John, who brings a clear and compelling message on what Christianity really is—not a vague label or a religious system, but a personal invitation from God Himself. Using John 3 and the famous words "For God so loved the world…," J. John shows how the Christian faith can be summed up in three core gifts: forgiveness from the past, new life today, and a secure hope for the future. Through memorable stories—a father paying for his son's breakages, an artist buying back his damaged painting, and the "car of your life" illustration—he helps us see that Jesus doesn't just offer a ticket to heaven, but a total transformation that starts now. We explore why so many people's understanding of Christianity is actually a misunderstanding, why Jesus (and not generic spirituality) is at the center of the Christian message, and what it looks like to move Him from the "trunk" or passenger seat into the driver's seat of our lives. Far from dry theology, this conversation becomes a fresh invitation: to receive God's offer of forgiveness, to be "born again" by His Spirit, and to live as His invitation to others in a world that desperately needs hope. For more messages and resources, visit www.hopeucnashville.com or download the HopeUC Nashville app.

    50 min

  5. Apr 27

    April 26th - Worship | Presence Over Presentation by Kat Huskey

    In this episode, we explore how worship becomes the place where God quietly builds something in us that can hold when life falls apart. Through Kat Huskey's story of walking through infertility, the loss of her mom, and the sudden death of her husband Austin in a plane crash, we see communion with God not as a concept, but as a lifeline. The hidden, ordinary moments of choosing Jesus in worship turn out to be deposits of His character that we draw on in seasons we never saw coming. We unpack how worship is more than songs—it's agreement with what's true about God when our feelings and circumstances don't line up with what we know. Looking at David's honesty in the Psalms, Thomas touching the scars of the risen Jesus, Mary breaking her costly jar at His feet, and the table God prepares for us in Psalm 23, we see that pain doesn't disqualify us from worship; it often becomes the doorway into deeper connection. Instead of isolating or performing, we're invited to bring our real selves to the table He's already set—to partake, be fed, and let Him form something in us today that will sustain us tomorrow. For more messages and resources, visit www.hopeucnashville.com or download the HopeUC Nashville app.

    49 min

  6. Apr 19

    April 12th - Worship | Unity Releases Power by Pastor Dustin Smith

    In this episode, we explore what it means to live in the "power of all" in a culture that disciples us to do faith as individuals. Starting in Ecclesiastes 4, we look at God's original design for people to walk, fight, and stand together, then trace that design through the story of Azusa Street, the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11, and the early church in Acts, where unity wasn't a buzzword but a supernatural force that shaped whole communities. We unpack how agreement is a spiritual power—that your life moves in the direction of what you agree with—and how worship re-trains our agreement from fear, offense, and limitation to the truth of who God is. From Gideon's 300 to Paul's picture of the body in 1 Corinthians 12, we see that God isn't just looking for big crowds, but aligned hearts—every part, every voice engaged. We also dive into Jesus' prayer in John 17, where He ties the world's ability to see and believe Him to our willingness to walk in real, Jesus-centered unity. Along the way, we confront the lies of isolation, the temptation to make one expression "the only way," and the tendency to dam up the rivers of living water Jesus promised would flow from every believer. For more messages and resources, visit www.hopeucnashville.com or download the HopeUC Nashville app.

    1h 5m

  7. Apr 12

    April 12th - Worship | Prayer As Worship by Pastor Tom Trout

    In this episode, we look at what it really means for God's people to be a "house of prayer" in a culture that treats prayer as a last resort. Starting in Mark 11 and Isaiah 56, we see Jesus cleanse the temple and declare, "My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations," then follow that thread into the New Testament where *we*—the gathered people of God—are now His living temple. We unpack Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6, showing how the Lord's Prayer is not a magic script or religious routine, but a covenant-shaped pattern for relational prayer with our Father. We talk about the difference between formulas and real conversation, why "in Jesus' name" is about representing His heart and authority, and how Acts 4 models corporate prayer that results in Spirit‑filled boldness, not just shaking buildings. Along the way, we confront common distortions—prayer as performance, complaint, or vending machine—and invite you to rediscover prayer as worship: continual, trusting communion with God that reshapes your whole life. For more messages and resources, visit www.hopeucnashville.com or download the HopeUC Nashville app.

    56 min

  8. Mar 29

    March 29th - Culture | Families of Promise by Pastor Dustin Smith

    In this episode, we unpack what it means to live as a promise‑carrying family in a world where every home has fractures, pressure, and pain. Starting from Psalm 68:6 and Deuteronomy 6, we look at how God places the lonely in families, calls us to pass on His ways "when you sit at home and when you walk along the road," and invites us to build houses shaped more by His promises than by our problems. Using real stories and biblical examples, we explore the difference between being problem‑focused and promise‑focused. You'll hear how the twelve spies in Numbers 13–14 all saw the same giants, but ten rehearsed fear while two held onto God's word; why our conversations at the dinner table either disciple our families into anxiety or call them into faith; and why kids in the room aren't a distraction from the promise—they *are* the promise. We'll also talk about how revival fire doesn't just excite us; it often exposes what's broken so God can heal it, and why broken families are not disqualified families. This message also speaks practically into home life, spiritual family, and everyday rhythms: what it looks like for a promise‑carrying family to talk differently, forgive faster, show up, and stay; how to find and write down specific Scriptures over your home; and why simple habits like nightly blessings, spoken declarations, and consistent presence often do more than big, intense moments. You'll be invited to ask hard questions: What gets more airtime in my house—problems or promises? Am I discipling my family into fear or faith? And what small, consistent steps can we take to become a family that carries God's promise to the next generation? For more messages and resources, visit www.hopeucnashville.com or download the HopeUC Nashville app.

    44 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

By God's grace we pray that HopeUC will always be a body, a church, a family and a home that is defined by God's presence. Worshipful, missional, prayerful, generational, creative, generous, thankful, authentic and completely passionate about people responding to the message of salvation. And with a shout that resounds through every part of our lives that HOPE is a person, and His name is Jesus. The songs and teachings range from adoration to warfare, but the message is the same, the Lord alone is worthy of praise. We believe that when people see God for who He really is, they can't help but worship loudly and extravagantly. Join us from the HopeUC Nashville barn every week as our team delivers a word that builds on our four core values. The Word is our foundation, Worship is our Honor, Community is our Heartbeat and His Presence is our Passion.

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