Nashville First Baptist Church

There is a particular exhaustion that the most capable people carry, and trying harder only makes it heavier. In Philippians 2:12-18, Paul writes four words to a tired church that take the weight off our backs: God is working in you. This message follows that one truth through three places it changes everything — the pressure to change ourselves, the habit of grumbling under the strain, and the ur...

Working through Philippians 2:1–11, one of the earliest hymns the church ever sang, Dr. Thomas West traces how Christ ran that whole instinct in reverse: refusing the glory that was already his and emptying himself all the way down to a cross. Then one word turns the story over — therefore. This is a look at why the way up runs straight through the way down.

Dr. Thomas West | Philippians 1:12-30 Everyone in the room walked in already finishing one sentence: for me, to live is ___. This message works through Philippians 1:12-30, where Paul answers that question from a prison cell — living is Christ, and dying is gain. Three times the world comes to take his joy: his freedom, his life, and his church. Three times it leaves empty-handed, because his joy...

Dr. Thomas West | Philippians 1:1-11 The most joy-soaked letter in the New Testament was written from a prison cell. In the opening verses of Philippians, Paul thanks God for a church he helped plant and points to where lasting joy actually comes from. Drawing a line between first-century Philippi and modern Nashville, this message sits with the question that hums beneath so much of our striving:...

Most of the moments that change everything don't announce themselves — from the inside, they look like an ordinary morning. In Acts 13, an ordinary church in Antioch is simply worshiping and fasting when the Spirit speaks and sets the global mission of the church in motion. Dr. Thomas West's message asks what a Spirit-filled church is actually for, tracing the marks of the kind of church the Spiri...

In this message from Acts 6, Dr. Scott Harris looks at how the early church faced that tension head-on—taking the complaint seriously, sharing leadership, and restoring unity instead of splitting apart. It's a picture of what he calls the beautiful mess of ministry, where the Spirit works through both supernatural and practical means. Along the way, we consider why caring for the vulnerable has al...

Dr. Thomas West walks through how a single afternoon at the temple gate previews what Jesus is still doing through his people. The sermon presses into the questions the text asks of every life: who is your king, what's coming back, what did you come for, and who is at your gate? A word for graduating seniors, exhausted parents, and anyone whose hope has shrunk to fit a May calendar.

Dr. Thomas West draws out four marks of a Spirit-filled church from Acts 2:42-47, each anchored to one controlling word: devoted. This is not a checklist to grade yourself against, but a description of what Christ produces through His Spirit in people He has bought with His blood. What Jesus began, the Spirit continues — and what the Spirit continues, He transforms.

This week in Acts 2, four answers emerge to the question at Christianity's center: not what it does for you, not what flavor you grew up with, but what the thing itself actually is. None of the answers are comfortable, and none of them let anyone stay where they are. If your faith has felt small or tired lately — or if you've walked away from what you thought Christianity was — this sermon is wort...

Today we gather at Pentecost — where wind roared, fire rested, and ordinary people were filled with the living God.

Discover that the day Jesus left, He gave you three gifts most Christians have never fully unwrapped: His presence. His power. His promise.

Today, we launch a new eight-week series through the book of Acts — What Jesus Began. It is the story of the Holy Spirit taking everything Jesus started and refusing to let it stop. It is the story of a movement that has crossed continents, survived empires, outlasted every opposition, and arrived — still moving, still unhindered — in this city, in this room, on this morning.

From John 20, Senior Pastor Thomas West, examines the evidence together — historically and personally — meet the man who held out the longest and confessed the most completely, and arrive at the moment this entire Gospel was written to produce: a verdict on the most important question: Who is Jesus Christ?

This morning, we arrive at the final sign in John’s Gospel — the biggest one. Not healing a sick man. Not restoring sight. A man four days dead. And Jesus is on his way. Join Senior Pastor Thomas West as we look at John 11.

In John 9, we encounter Jesus as the Light of the World—the One who doesn’t just explain our darkness, but steps into it. This isn’t just a story about physical sight. It’s about the deeper need we all share: to make sense of our lives, our suffering, and our next steps.

Dr. Scott Harris is preaching today with a sermon, “Jesus Is Your True Bread” from John 6:1-15. 

In John 5:1-15, this sign points to something deeper than physical healing. It exposes the truth about our condition and the only One who can truly restore us. We cannot heal ourselves. Our systems and traditions cannot save us. Only Jesus has the authority to make us whole.

In John 4, Jesus meets a desperate father and grows his fragile faith from a spark into a steady fire. This sign isn’t just about healing a child—it’s about how Jesus draws us through need, grows small faith, and invites us to trust His word before we see His work.

What if the same Jesus who fills your table with joy is also the one who flips it over? Jesus doesn’t disrupt your life because He’s against you. He clears what distracts you because He’s for you. He removes obstacles so you can truly meet God and find lasting joy.

This Sunday, Senior Pastor Dr. Thomas West begins the series leading up to Easter called READING THE SIGNS. Learn how Jesus reveals Himself through the Gospel of John. Today we look at Jesus' first miracle, turning water into wine.

What if being a Christian isn’t about what you believe, but who you’re becoming? In Matthew 4, Jesus doesn’t invite people to admire Him—He calls them to follow Him, be formed by Him, and join Him on mission. Discipleship isn’t an optional add-on to faith; it is the Christian life.

Senior Pastor Dr. Thomas West's sermon is from Colossians 1:15–20 and the theme is “First Things First.”

Pastor Thomas teaches from Acts 2:42–47, reminding us that the church is not defined by a building, but by a devoted people—formed through God’s Word, prayer, fellowship, and shared life together. Note: This message was recorded Friday night and rebroadcast on Sunday due to weather conditions.

What if the greatest threat to your faith isn’t rebellion—but neglect? In Deuteronomy 30, Moses reminds us that life and death are set before us, and the Word of God is not far away. It’s near, accessible, and meant to lead us to Jesus, who is our life.

What if the problem with our prayer lives isn’t discipline or technique—but the way we see God? Jesus teaches us that prayer comes alive when we stop performing and start trusting our Father in heaven, who is already at work bringing His kingdom to earth.