Brentwood Hills Church of Christ - Nashville, TN
Brentwood Hills Church of Christ
Sermon messages from the Brentwood Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, TN.
Episodes
Waiting Well | Real Mature - Growing Up According to James | Joel Singleton
Waiting is an essential part of Christian maturity, especially when circumstances remain unchanged. James reminds us that patience does not mean passivity, because there is still work God has placed in our hands. At the same time, there are outcomes, injustices, circumstances, and timing that only God can handle. Christian hope is ultimately bigger than waiting for something to change, because we are waiting for Someone to come. Jesus is coming, and that allows faithfulness without carrying the pressure to fix everything. Like the farmer waiting for rain, the work that belongs in our hands can be done while trusting God with what belongs in His. Even when the story remains unfinished, there is confidence in the character of the One who is coming: He is full of compassion and mercy.
Draw Near | Real Mature - Growing Up According to James | Joel Singleton
Real maturity requires humility, and humility requires loosening the grip on the things that pull the heart away from God. James exposes four of those things: (1) desires that divide us, (2) attachments that entangle us, (3) judgments that falsely elevate us, (4) and plans that exclude God. Each one reveals an area where the self can take a place that belongs to God. Spiritual maturity means learning to release those things rather than allowing them to control the heart. James brings everything toward the invitation to submit to God, draw near to Him, and humble ourselves before Him. Proximity to God and intimacy with God are not the same thing. The movement of the message is toward intentionally humbling ourselves before God and discovering again that God Himself is the treasure.
A Beautiful Life | Real Mature - Growing Up According to James
When we head the wisdom from God and not the wisdom from below, we lead a more beautiful life...one that radiates Jesus' beauty.
The Mighty Tongue | Real Mature - Growing Up According to James | Joel Singleton
Words have incredible power to steer a life, build others up, and cause damage that cannot easily be undone. James makes it clear that taming the tongue is one of the most difficult marks of spiritual maturity. But changing speech is about more than getting better at catching the wrong words before they come out. Jesus says that the mouth speaks from what fills the heart. Anger, resentment, pride, insecurity, and other things that fill the heart eventually find their way into speech. The Holy Spirit’s work within begins changing what flows out. What fills the heart eventually flows through the mouth, so changing words requires changing their source.
Faith Moves | Real Mature - Growing Up According to James | Joel Singleton
Spiritual maturity is more than knowing the right things about God. Mature faith moves from belief into action, and those actions reveal allegiance. James challenges a version of faith that can say all the right things while never actually doing anything. Correct belief by itself is not enough, because the demons know the truth about God. Faith becomes visible when loyalty to Jesus begins shaping choices, priorities, resources, relationships, and sacrifice. Abraham and Rahab show that allegiance becomes especially clear when faithfulness costs something. Is our faith costing us anything?
No Favorites | Real Mature - Growing Up According to James | Joel Singleton
Mature faith doesn’t play favorites because God doesn’t. James reminds us that favoritism begins with the way we see people, often valuing status, familiarity, or comfort over the image of God in every person. The world’s currency is status, but the Kingdom’s currency is faith. Deep friendships are a blessing, but they should never become barriers that keep others from experiencing the love of Christ. The gospel tears down the walls our preferences naturally build. When Jesus becomes the most impressive Person in the room, everyone else simply becomes someone to love. Mature faith intentionally makes room for the people who might otherwise be overlooked.
Coachable | Real Mature - Growing Up According to James | Joel Singleton
Spiritual maturity is not measured by how much Scripture has been heard but by how faithfully it is obeyed. James teaches that a coachable heart receives God’s Word with humility instead of defensiveness and allows it to produce real transformation. It is possible to mistake exposure to Scripture for spiritual growth, but hearing alone never changes a life. God’s Word acts like a mirror, revealing what needs to change, and the blessing comes when that revelation leads to obedience. Mature believers continue returning to God’s Word with a willingness to be corrected, repent, and respond. Obedience is not the first step beyond maturity; it is the lifelong path of maturity. The implanted Word ultimately changes what is said, how others are served, and how everyday life is lived.
Dueling Identities | Real Mature - Growing Up According to James | Joel Singleton
James teaches that temptation is not just about behavior but about trust and identity. Every temptation asks whether God’s goodness will be trusted or whether personal desires will take the lead. Desire itself is not the enemy, but it makes a terrible driver. Walking by the Spirit means allowing God’s truth to direct life instead of the cravings of the flesh. Spiritual maturity is learning to live each day from who God says His children are rather than who old desires say they are. The more confidence grows in the Father’s unchanging goodness, the less believable and effective temptation becomes.
Made Through Trials | Real Mature - Growing Up According to James | Joel Singleton
Before James tells believers what mature faith looks like, he explains how God produces it. God uses trials to develop perseverance, and perseverance is one of His primary tools for shaping maturity. Rather than viewing hardship as evidence that God has abandoned His people, James calls believers to see trials as opportunities for growth. God also promises wisdom to those who trust Him without divided loyalties. The goal of the Christian life is not merely to survive difficult seasons but to allow God to complete His work through them. God isn’t just preparing a crown for us, He’s preparing us for the crown.
Discipleship In A New Season | Enoch Rinks
As a new school year starts. What are some things to keep in mind as we live in a world needing to hear and witness the gospel of Christ?
The Servant King | Up Close With Jesus | Joel Singleton
August 2, 2026 - Jesus reveals the heart of God in a way the world never expects. The One who possesses all authority chooses to kneel with a towel before carrying a cross. The foot washing is more than an example of humility, it is a living picture of the Good Shepherd laying down His life for His sheep. Before anyone can follow His example, His cleansing must first be received. Because the Shepherd willingly laid down His life and took it up again. Seeing Jesus as a servant, and shepherd, changes the way we can be up close with him. When we see him in these ways, the Jesus that we show others changes too.
Healing In Gratitude | Up Close With Jesus | Joel Singleton
July 26, 2026 - Life moves in cycles, not straight lines. There are seasons of grief, moments of healing, and opportunities for gratitude, but they don’t always come in predictable order. This speaks to learning to stay connected to Jesus in each phase, trusting Him not just in outcomes, but in process.
Growing In Faith | Up Close With Jesus | Joel Singleton
July 19, 2026 - Faith is not a light switch that is either on or off, it is a lifelong journey of seeing Jesus more clearly. The man born blind begins with only enough faith to obey, even before he fully understands who Jesus is. Each encounter with Christ brings greater clarity, stronger conviction, and increasing boldness, and personal sacrifice. As Jesus becomes more valuable, the cost of following Him becomes less intimidating. Worship is ultimately a response to what is believed to have the greatest worth. The clearer Jesus becomes, the more valuable He becomes, until following Him becomes worth every sacrifice.
When Failure Meets Jesus | Up Close With Jesus | Joel Singleton
July 12, 2026 - Many people hesitate to bring their failures to Jesus because they fear His truth will condemn them. Through the stories of the woman caught in adultery and Peter’s restoration, this message reveals that Jesus is the perfect expression of both grace and truth. He never minimizes sin, but He never allows failure to become a person’s identity. Instead of crushing people beneath their shame, Jesus forgives, restores, and redirects them toward a new life and renewed purpose. Because of who He is, every person can trust Jesus with even their greatest failures.
Unstuck | Up Close With Jesus | Joel Singleton
July 5, 2026 - Jesus entered a place where everyone was looking for God to move, yet almost no one recognized that God Himself had already arrived. The crowd watched the water, believing hope depended on a single opportunity, while the religious leaders watched the rules, believing faithfulness meant protecting their traditions. Both groups missed the greater reality standing before them. Jesus reveals that the Father has never stopped working and that His own ministry perfectly displays the Father’s ongoing work in the world. Disciples are called to move beyond disappointment, assumptions, and certainty that limit spiritual vision. As people spend time in prayer, immerse themselves in Scripture, and grow in intimacy with Jesus, they become better able to recognize God’s voice and joyfully join Him where He is already at work.
Deep Wells, Deeper Thirst | Up Close With Jesus | Joel Singleton
June 28, 2026 - Every person lives with a spiritual thirst that cannot be permanently satisfied by success, relationships, possessions, achievement, comfort, or even religious performance. In John 4, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman who keeps returning to wells that cannot fully satisfy, and He reveals that the same pattern exists in every human heart. The problem is not simply that people choose shallow wells. Even the deepest earthly wells are not deep enough to satisfy the deepest thirst of the soul. Jesus offers something entirely different: living water through the Spirit of God. Rather than condemning the woman, He exposes the thirst beneath her behavior and invites her into a new source of life. True worship is found in Spirit and truth as people learn to pursue the Father through the Son and live in relationship with Him. The invitation is not to find a better well, but to drink deeply from Christ.
From Above | Up Close With Jesus | Joel Singleton
June 21, 2026 - Nicodemus approaches Jesus as a successful man who seems to have everything together spiritually, socially, and intellectually. But Jesus immediately confronts the way Nicodemus thinks about the kingdom of God. The kingdom is not entered through achievement, morality, influence, or self-improvement. Jesus tells him that life with God begins through being born again from above through the Spirit. Flesh can only reproduce more flesh, but the Spirit produces entirely new life. That means Christianity is not about adding religious habits onto an already existing life. It is surrendering the old life so God can create something completely new. The Spirit changes how work, family, relationships, purpose, and identity are viewed. Instead of trying to control God or optimize the flesh, followers of Jesus learn to live with open hands, repentance, humility, and expectancy for the Spirit to move.
First Encounters | Up Close With Jesus | Joel Singleton
June 14, 2026 - Every encounter with Jesus is personal because every heart is different. In John 1, Andrew is searching and receives an invitation, Peter is open and receives a new identity, and Nathanael is skeptical and is fully seen. The same Jesus meets each one in a different way, yet each encounter leads to something real and transformative. It becomes clear that knowing about Jesus is not the same as encountering Him. It is possible to understand and still remain distant. What changes everything is moving from information into relationship. Jesus is still present and still meeting people where they are. The invitation is not just to learn more, but to draw closer and experience Him personally.