Capital City Christian Church | Podcast

We kick off a series on things that made Jesus mad, with a focus on the cleansing of the temple. We will discover that what angered Jesus most was whenever insiders blocked access to the Father’s love.

What does a good dad look like? We can sometimes struggle with the examples of father figures in our own lives. But Jesus tells a story in the Bible that illustrates what a great dad does.

Some believe in God, but don’t act on that believe at all. Others make a commitment to do life with God, but don’t go all in. Our experience of God, though is shaped by how much we trust him. Habakkuk 3.17-19 is one of the most trust-filled passages in all the Bible!

Our nation is going through an extraordinarily troubled time. God’s judgments on Babylon in Habakkuk 2 seem eerily pertinent. And the hope God reveals in that same chapter is the same hope we desperately need!

Sometimes as Jesus-followers we have to “wait on God.” What does that mean? And do you know the difference between just waiting impatiently, and waiting faithfully?

Where is God? It’s a question asked by young kids wanting to know where God lives…and by adults who feel like God doesn’t exist. If God is here, why did ____ happen? This new series in the seldom opened book of Habakkuk may help us.

Last week we talked about our earthly mothers - the ones who brought us into the world and those who raised us. This week, we’re talking about the mother who birthed us and raised us in our spiritual lives - the Church.

We all have moms. Everyone was born to a biological mother who was either a good mom, bad mom, mom who wasn’t there or something in between. And some of us have been blessed with non-bio moms who have been rich blessings in our lives. No matter where our moms fall on the spectrum - we’re called to love and honor our moms.

What’s your life story? It may have a pleasant beginning or it might’ve started out pretty rough. In the middle, it probably has some high points, surely some low points. But what will the rest of your story hold? As long as you’re alive, there’s still more to your story.

Have you ever felt like you needed to get out of a hole? Maybe you feel stuck in life or you might feel like you’re stuck in a self destructive cycle. No matter what hole you’re in, or how you got there, God can help you out.

Are you tired and worn out? Has your spiritual passion faded and been replaced by depression or sadness? Does it feel like your spiritual heart is broken? God can help turn that heartbreak into heartburn.

When asked for a sign to prove himself, Jesus tells them the only sign he will give them is the “sign of Jonah.” We will explore what that sign is all about – the resurrection itself, the transformation of those who respond, and the amazing substitutionary love of our God.

Jonah is furious with God’s grace on the Ninevites, so God has to teach Jonah about the kind of God he is...the kind of God we need.

Jonah 3 begins Jonah’s “do over.” He warns to repent or die, and for some reason, they repent. The story shows God’s grace for even the worst of the worst.

It took the belly of a whale to break Jonah’s blindness to God’s grace. It takes a recognition of our sin, a recognition of our inability to fix ourselves, and a sense of what our salvation cost God to give us a sense of how amazing grace is!

The coronavirus is a big deal in the world right now. Here’s our response to the fear of a global pandemic.

In these verses we see three patterns of love: the quite inadequate love of Jonah, the stronger love of the sailors, and the perfect love of our wild and uncivilized God. Don’t miss the Jonah story as a love story!

Jonah’s antipathy towards both the Ninevites and the sailors can be traced to an identity based on his race, rather than his God. What comes first in our lives is our “god.” Anything we put in that first place other than God will skew both our view of our selves, and others.

The sailors on Jonah’s boat showed way more virtue than Jonah, the prophet of God. We will talk about Common Grace, and God’s desire we be committed to the Common Good – towards all who bear the image of God.

Not every storm is a result of sin, but every sin brings a storm. But God is neither inattentive, or passive. See how God works in the storms.

Although we come up with so many excuses, at heart sin is a refusal to trust God. Sin really starts with an assassination of God’s character. Will you trust him?

Jonah is way more than a “fish story.” It’s a story about a very flawed man, a very bad people, an extraordinarily good and gracious God and it’s a story about you and me.

This sermon wraps up our 2020 Vision series. We talk about what it means to be a Christian Church, especially in the “unity movement.”

In this sermon we lay out our strategy for growing Christ-Driven 24-7 Christians. We also discover that how we pursue life with God forms the foundation for how we “drag those we love” towards Jesus.

In this sermon we unpack the reasons for, our convictions about, and our strategies for evangelism.

Every church tends to drift from mission to tradition. So periodically we have to remember our “why,” and allow that to measure our “what” and our “how.” Are we, CapCity, on mission?

We wrap up the 2010s by refocusing on why we do church.

We close the serious with a closer look at the Magi. Bottom line, Jesus was the most offensive, and the most wonderful gift ever. The gift he came to give was not primarily peace on earth, but peace with God.

Christmas is supposed to be one of the most warm, familial holidays - but for so many, it can be very isolating. What do we do with the bitterness and loneliness that can come with Christmas?

What does a Jesus follower do when his WAS (his dream) turns into a BUT (a mess)? Whatever the confusion, just do what you know God wants you to do, and trust him.

It’s not about how you start with God, it’s about how you finish. Do live in such a way that you are always ready?

There is something in us that compels us to try to rescue a stranger. Perhaps that is a reflection of the image of God in us. And the nobility we feel when we try to rescue some stranger physically pales compared to rescuing some stranger spiritually. Jesus’ call for us to be his witnesses may be his greatest gift to us.

One of the hardest things God tells us to do is to share Jesus with those we don’t like, or who don’t like us. Sometimes being a “witness” starts with forgiveness.

Jesus calls us to be his witnesses, and tells us to start at home. The focus in this sermon will be on doing whatever we can to raise up a new generation of Jesus followers.

When you follow a hero, you tend to do heroic things. And there is nothing more heroic a Jesus follower does than to rescue someone they love by introducing them to Jesus.

We are made to worship God with other believers. God made us for community and by engaging God through God’s church, we are better together.

Following Jesus isn’t just about believing in God and waiting for heaven; nor even just about doing life for God; it’s about doing life with God right now. The discipline of a daily quiet time with God is extremely hard, but well worth it. Today we launch a 30 day “Verse of the Day” challenge.

Too often Christians define life with God as “sin avoidance” - doing the dos and avoiding the don’ts. Jesus points to a different way to do life with God, encompassed by just two commands: love God, and love others - his way.

Once we accept the rescue - what is different? What’s new? What’s next? And what does being rescued mean for me?

Who wouldn’t want real Christianity to be true? God recklessly offers grace: his undeserved, unearned, unearnable favor...through Jesus. This sermon wraps up part one of Life: A Hero’s Story which we’re calling “The Rescue.”

How could God get us to see our sin for what it is, and where it is taking us? With a cross God shows us the depravity and danger of our sin, how much he loves us anyway, and the way out.

We love hero stories - in part because they are echoes of our own story. Now, we tend to focus on what a hero does. But before the action, he or she often sees what others can’t see, feels what others don’t feel and may find intolerable what others have learned to tolerate. Today, we explore the heart of God.

We love hero stories - in part because they are echoes of our own story. The problem is, we see ourselves as the heroes, instead of those needing rescue. We kick off a series entitled “The Rescue.”

God gives us the means to be generous, and the honor of being used by him. Generosity not only helps those we give to, but stretches our faith and helps us live outside ourselves. We climax the series with an offering that will be donated to RIP Medical Debt.

Normal is spend, repay debt, pay taxes, save if there’s any left and give if there’s anything left after that. Jesus followers flip that around: give, save, live on the rest. We will especially focus on the spiritual principals behind “saving.”

Decisions we made in the past limit our options in the present – with respect to our money, too. Too often, our choices led to the prison of debt. What can we do to start digging our way out?

Money isn’t fun to talk about. It seems like we’ve always got problems and more money could solve them. Today we’re talking about the number one secret to managing your money well.

We think “Judge Not” means "Never make any kind of judgments at all, ever!” We’ll take a closer look at what Jesus really meant.

Today’s culture doesn’t like the concept of “absolute truth.” That’s where we get the saying “It doesn’t matter what I believe.” It’s tempting to accept that - some people have their truth and we have ours. But that’s not the way Jesus explained things.

We hear, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” But God never promises that. What he does promise is to be with us and that his grace is sufficient.