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. 2d ago

    June 21st - Keys to the Kingdom | Jesus' Call to the Disqualified by Shane Willard

    In this episode, Shane Willard takes us into the Jewish world of Jesus to show Him as a real first‑century rabbi—and what it means to actually live under His yoke today. Shane explains how rare the title "rabbi" was, what a "yoke" is (a way of interpreting and living Scripture), and why Jesus was recognized as a rabbi "with authority" (s'mikah). With that authority, Jesus could offer His own yoke—easy and light—and overturn heavy, harmful interpretations that crushed people. Instead of choosing the best students from rabbinic schools, Jesus goes to the lake, calling fishermen and a tax collector who had already been told they weren't good enough. His simple words "follow me" re‑qualify the disqualified and invite ordinary people to carry His way into the world. Shane then shows Jesus' yoke in action: with the woman caught in adultery, Malchus in the garden, and Jesus on the cross. Rather than using Scripture to stone or disqualify, Jesus fulfills it through mercy, restoration, and radical love—even for His enemies.  This message calls us back to the real Rabbi Jesus: to be covered in His dust, to be known for love more than opinions, and to treat people the way He treated people—healing instead of harming, qualifying instead of canceling, and letting His cross‑shaped love shape how we read the Bible and live every day. For more messages and resources, visit www.hopeucnashville.com or download the HopeUC Nashville app.

    46 min

  2. Jun 15

    June 14th - Keys to the Kingdom | Faith Over Comfort by Pastor Dustin Smith

    In this episode, Pastor Dustin shares a passionate, practical message on faith as a "key to the kingdom" in a culture of comfort, convenience, and quitting when it gets hard. Preaching from Hebrews 11–12, he reminds us that faith isn't just what we believe but what we *do*—a real, costly substance. It's impossible to please God without faith, yet many of us try to follow Jesus at "safe speed," clinging to comfort and control instead of obeying when He says "go." Dustin uses the picture of the "bride of Christ"—the church—as something costly but worth it, like a groom who sacrifices time, money, and comfort to pursue the one he loves. Jesus gave everything for His bride, and we honor Him by investing our lives into His church, where so many of our stories began. From Hebrews 12:1–2, he calls us to "strip off every weight" and "the sin that so easily entangles" so we can "run with endurance" by keeping our eyes on Jesus. Dustin names five common "weights" that quietly choke faith: - **Apathy** – delaying obedience, living in neutral instead of acting like Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, or Peter.   - **Comfort & success** – not sinful in themselves, but deadly when safety becomes more important than obedience.   - **Complaining** – agreement with the wrong kingdom, spreading unbelief and offense.   - **Disappointment** – especially around unanswered prayers and loss; it can harden into unbelief when God doesn't move our way.   - **Weariness & isolation** – long battles that make us tired and pull us away from the very community meant to strengthen our faith. In this context, Dustin identifies the "sin that so easily entangles" as **unbelief**—staying put when God says "go," calling fear and self‑protection "wisdom." The way forward is not obsessing over our weakness but fixing our eyes on Jesus, "the author and perfecter of our faith." Like Peter on the water, we don't sink because of the storm but because we shift our focus off Jesus. This message is a call to lay down apathy, comfort, complaint, disappointment, weariness, and unbelief, and to become a people who keep saying "yes" to God—even when it's costly and we may never see all the fruit in our lifetime. In a hyper‑individual age, Dustin also calls us back to *community faith*: there are no isolated disciples in the New Testament. Faith is born, strengthened, and sustained in the family of God, the bride of Christ. For more messages and resources, visit www.hopeucnashville.com or download the HopeUC Nashville app.

    1h 7m

  3. Jun 7

    June 7th - Keys to the Kingdom | Endurance As Worship by Rick White

    In this episode, Pastor Rick shares a honest, practical message on endurance as a "key to the kingdom" in a world obsessed with ease, speed, and instant results. Preaching from Hebrews 12, James 1, and Galatians 6, he unpacks the Greek word *hypomone*—to "stay under pressure without collapsing"—the same word used for Jesus enduring the cross. Life, Rick reminds us, is more like a marathon than a sprint, yet many of us try to live the Christian life at sprint-pace, running on highlight moments instead of stable, daily obedience and biblical depth. Through his own story of being overwhelmed by responsibility, learning to care for his body, and watching God provide in tight seasons, Rick shows how trials can either crush us or grow us. We contrast a victim mindset ("life is happening to me; I can't help it") with a kingdom mindset ("Jesus, how do I partner with You and grow in this?"), and see how small daily decisions quietly shape who we become over years. Rick also addresses shame honestly. Shame is a terrible fuel for life, but a powerful signal that something inside needs healing. From Romans 5, we're reminded that while we were still weak and ungodly, Christ died for us. You may feel like you're failing, but you don't have to stay there. In Jesus' hands, conviction and even shame become doorways into transformation, not a life sentence. This message invites us to become people of *hypomone*—men and women who can carry the weight of life and calling without collapsing, because our eyes are fixed on the One who endured first. For more messages and resources, visit www.hopeucnashville.com or download the HopeUC Nashville app.

    53 min

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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
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Ratings & Reviews

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out of 5
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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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