GracePointe Church | Nashville, TN

This week we wrapped up our October series, “Haunted: Things That Go Bump in the Bible.” Our final installment focused on damnation, the idea that some people-- those who haven't prayed the right prayer or held the right beliefs-- will spend eternity in hell. Does Scripture say that? Would a loving God do that? What do we make of the references to hell in the Bible?⛪️ To learn more about who...

Last Sunday we continued our October series,  “Haunted: Things That Go Bump in the Bible.”  This week we focused our attention on perhaps the scariest concept in both the Bible and life: Death . What does the Bible say about death? What does it mean for the New Testament to claim that "death has been defeated" in the story of Jesus? Join us as we wrestle with these questions together! ⛪...

This we we continued our October series, “Haunted: Things That Go Bump in the Bible.” Last week, we explored the figure of Satan. This Sunday, we turned to a related, and perhaps even more mysterious subject: demons. The New Testament is filled with stories of demons, unclean spirits, and Jesus confronting the forces of evil. But what are we supposed to make of these accounts? What did people in t...

We started a new, spooky series this week! Each week of October our “Haunted” series will explore some of the things that go bump in the Bible: The Devil, demons, death, and damnation (hell). This week we kicked things off by talking about the Devil/Satan. Who or what is the Devil? Where do our ideas about Satan come from? What does any of this have to do with our shoes? Join us as we explore thes...

This week community member and theologian Kat Armas concluded our "Disturbing Red Letters" series by looking at some truly head-scratching words from Jesus. In Mark 9:43-48, Jesus says: If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it...

This week Josh brought us back into our " Disturbing Red Letters " series by looking at Jesus's words about "the way being narrow and the path hard that lead to life." Jesus went on to say "there are few who find it." That doesn't sound promising, considering there are billions of people on the planet, does it? How can we know if we are on this narrow way? Do...

How do we speak truth in love when the political landscape feels like a battlefield? This Sunday Pastor Josh Scott was joined by Doug Pagitt, Executive Director of  Vote Common Good , for a conversation that offered a practical vision designed to help you engage in open, honest political conversations with the people you care about most--without sacrificing your values, destroying your relationshi...

This Sunday we looked at more of Jesus's  Disturbing Red Letters , with special guest and friend of GracePointe, Colby Martin! Colby focused on a passage from Luke 17, in which Jesus tells his disciples that "a mustard seed-sized faith" is enough to do anything--it can even command a mulberry tree to be uprooted and transplanted into the sea. You won't want to miss Colby's ta...

 In Matthew 18, when asked about the number of times we should forgive someone who’s wronged us, Jesus’s answer is quite shocking.  He told his disciple Peter that we are challenged to forgive, not once or even seven times, but seventy seven times!  These Disturbing Red Letters feel almost impossible to practice. Isn’t this kind of forgiveness just condoning the action of those who wronged us? Doe...

We're looking at more of Jesus's  Disturbing Red Letters !  This week's challenging words come from Luke 18. After encountering a rich ruler who refused to give his wealth to the poor and follow Jesus, Jesus responded by saying,  “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” But what exactly does Jesus mean? Is he saying that rich people are going to miss heav...

This week we continued our new series called  Disturbing Red Letters , which focuses on the words of Jesus that can be experienced as exclusive, harsh, and downright impossible. This week we looked at two passages in which  Jesus says that, if we want to follow him, we must hate our families and even skip their funerals.  Yep, you read that right!  What do we do with these difficult words? What wa...

We began a new series this week called,  Disturbing Red Letters , which focuses on the words of Jesus that can be experienced as exclusive, harsh, and downright impossible. We are diving into the deep end right off the bat by talking about John 14:6, where Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  What does Jesus mean? Is this about...

This week Lead Pastor Josh Scott was joined in conversation by Melody Winderweedle. Melody is a pastor in Chattanooga, and they will discuss a provocative story from the Gospels of Mark and Matthew that depicts Jesus as learning something new and changing his mind as a result. Many interpreters have struggled with this story, but Melody and Josh find it fascinating and see it as an invitation to a...

This Sunday Lead Pastor Josh Scott was joined in conversation by Brad Davis, Co-Chair of From Below: Rising Together for Coalfield Justice. From Below is part of the West Virginia Faith Collective, a partnership of faith-based organizations who are pursuing social justice through community organizing and advocacy. This was an eye-opening conversation that connected to so much of what we've bee...

The Jesus we meet in the pages of the Gospels is a compassionate, generous prophet who announced the here and nowness of the Kingdom of God. He healed, fed, and included those on the margins, and taught his followers to do the same. How, then, did this Jesus morph into the Jesus who demonizes the poor, idolizes guns, and celebrates Christian Nationalism? Can we trace that metamorphosis? Can we rec...

The Jesus we meet in the pages of the Gospels is a compassionate, generous prophet who announced the here and nowness of the Kingdom of God. He healed, fed, and included those on the margins, and taught his followers to do the same. How, then, did this Jesus morph into the Jesus who demonizes the poor, idolizes guns, and celebrates Christian Nationalism? Can we trace that metamorphosis? Can we rec...

There is no story in the Bible that has been weaponized more in the service of harm and exclusion than the story of  Sodom and Gomorrah.  This we, as we celebrated Pride together as a community, Josh took us into the context of this story which helped us discover what is really going on. Can this story be deweaponized? Is it possible that the interpretation many of us inherited misses the real mea...

The first people Jesus invited to follow him were fishers. When they met Jesus they dropped their nets, docked their boats, and left everything to follow him. Have you ever wondered why? Why did Jesus start with fishers? Why did they immediately follow him? What is going on in the background of this story? The answer to that last question is a WHOLE LOT! In this sermon Josh takes us into the first...

This Sunday we jumped back into our  Bible Stories for Grown-Ups  series by talking about the story of the three Hebrew boys and the fiery furnace from Daniel chapter three. What does this story mean in its context? What challenges or comforts does it offer to us in our own context? Josh discussed all that and more in this week's sermon!  ⛪️ To learn more about who we are and what we do, visi...

This Sunday Lead Pastor Josh Scott and Founding Pastor Stan Mitchell were together in conversation. Here's a preview of their discussion: Inclusion is the very heart of the Gospel. So in this Pride Month, as the specific matter of LGBTQ+ inclusion is top of mind and heart, we are reminded of an even deeper reality…and that is that we are, all of us, included…that we are all a part of one anoth...

This week we were excited to welcome William Stell to GracePointe! William joined GP Founding Pastor, Stan Mitchell, for a discussion around his recently released book, "Born Again Queer: A History of Evangelical Gay Activism and the Making of Antigay Christianity."  About William: William Stell teaches in the Department of Religious Studies at New York University. A scholar of American...

This week, we returned to our  Bible Stories for Grown-Ups  series just in time for Pentecost. On the Christian calendar, Pentecost marks the arrival of the Holy Spirit and is often celebrated as the birth of the Church. While the central Pentecost story is found in Acts 2, there is far more happening beneath the surface than we often realize. In this sermon Josh Scott explores the depth, beauty,...

We were so excited to welcome our friend Rabbi Brian Mayer this week! He shared with us about his book "Rabbi Brian's Highly Unorthodox Gospel," and Religion Outside the Box. ⛪️ To learn more about who we are and what we do, visit https://gracepointe.net/about-us 🗣 For weekly event and ways to get plugged in, visit https://gracepointe.net/calendar 🙌 To become a sustaining member of...

This week we continued our Bible Stories for Grown-Ups series by looking at the story of Ruth. This teaching follows the drama of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz through loss, risk, and unexpected grace, all to discover how ordinary acts of faithfulness can open the door to extraordinary, transformative possibilities. We also explored how the story of Ruth challenges our own current moment, too. ⛪️ To lear...

This week we began a new series called  Bible Stories for Grown-Ups.  The idea behind the series is simple: Many of us were offered interpretations of the Bible as children and, either implicitly or explicitly, told that we had the right "answers" and that faithfulness meant keeping and repeating those interpretations for our whole lives. But that isn't how anything really works, is...