Capital Church Messages

“Great job!” “That’s awesome!” “You’re amazing!” Just two words delivered in less than one second can change someone’s day – maybe even their life. Encouragement is that simple. In a world where so many people use their words to tear others down, what if disciples of Jesus used their words to build people up? What if every time we saw someone act in kindness, compassion, service and love we took o...

We get irritated in traffic. We lament the long lines at the amusement park. We may get more panicked than we care to admit when our phone dies on our walk home. But what if we saw traffic as extra time listening to a podcast or audiobook that furthers our discipleship to Jesus? What if the long line at the amusement park gave us an opportunity to learn more about a friend – or make a new one? And...

The first time a ballet dancer attempts a pirouette, they can’t expect themselves to do so with the perfection and elegance of Misty Copeland. An aspiring screenwriter with innate talent can assume the first draft of their first screenplay won’t be The Shawshank Redemption. And while we’re at it, newlyweds – and those married for decades – may get a lot right, but they will most certainly get a lo...

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be the best in your field. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be a leader in your community. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to stand out in your friend group. There is a problem, however, with letting being the best, being a leader, or being the standout go to your head. There is a problem with using your status to your own advantage at the expense of o...

How would you respond to someone at the zoo complaining that the temperature inside the penguin house is way too cold? What would you say to the college student grumbling that the games at the daycare are childish? If someone who only speaks English goes to Sri Lanka and complains that all the signs are in Tamil, how would you react? You’d remind these people that the world doesn’t revolve around...

The stock market is complex and confusing. But there’s at least one thing we all understand. No one invests in a stock just because of its current value. They invest in a stock because they believe in what it can become. This week, Pastor Rob Harter takes us to the story of a man who encountered Jesus, and how Jesus didn’t see the man just as he was, but for who he could become.

Anyone who went to school with someone who grew up to be a successful musician will tell you: that person always acted like a musician. The way they talked, the way they dressed, the way they spent their time and money, everything was all about creating music. They didn’t wait until they had “made it” to live like a musician. They lived like it all along. As we continue our series  Unshakable...

Your phone. Your tablet. Your computer. They may appear to just be sitting on your desk. But the truth is, they’re always working, always running countless programs in the background, all of them working together to enable your devices to run properly. This week in our series  Unshakable , the Apostle Paul shows us that despite what our circumstances may lead us to believe, God is always at w...

You might give an infant a nursing bottle with smiling puppies all over it. You might give a toddler a puppy stuffed animal to cuddle with at night. And you may give your spouse a rambunctious puppy that loves to go for walks and play fetch. But you wouldn’t give your spouse the nursing bottle to drink from, and you wouldn’t give the infant or toddler the rambunctious puppy to take care of. ...

A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark are each a force on the court, always ranking near the top of every list of best players in the WNBA. Wilson is a three-time MVP and helped her team become back-to-back WNBA champions. Clark won WNBA Rookie of the Year and became the first rookie to achieve a triple-double. But Wilson couldn’t have done it without the rest of the Las Vegas Aces and Clark c...

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, MO is designed to sway up to 18 inches in either direction. The Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower in Chicago, can sway 3 feet in either direction. And astonishingly, if you’re at the top of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest building in the world, you could find yourself swaying up 6.6 feet! Why? Because the architects and engineers who designed them know th...

When a child wants to learn to play baseball, the coach doesn’t hand them a bat, tell the child to step up to the plate, and then throw them a 90-mph fastball. No, the coach puts the ball on a T, shows them how to swing the bat to hit the ball, and then lets the child give it a try. The way the coach teaches is by becoming like the child, doing what they want the child to learn to do, then letting...

You invested in a “hot stock.” But the stock tanked, and you lost a fortune. You quit your stable job to take a chance on a startup you really believed in. Now, the startup is fighting to stave off bankruptcy. You tattooed her name on your shoulder. Six months later she broke off your engagement. We all have regrets. But sometimes, those regrets aren’t just mistakes we’ve made – they’re sins we’ve...

“He literally died!”  “She loves soft pretzels!”  “I haven’t seen them in forever!” We throw words around as if they have no meaning. We play it off, calling it hyperbole. Hyperbole has been normalized, and the extreme has become expected. And the price we pay is that words – actual words and what they actually mean – lose their meaning and the significance they are meant to carry. So, because we’...

At some point, it happens to all of us. Maybe it’s in high school. Maybe it’s in college. Maybe it’s in our first corporate job. Regardless of when it happens, all of us experience the moment when we stop hiding who we really are and begin demanding others just let us be ourselves, accepting us and loving us for exactly who we are. Did it ever occur to you that God has experienced that moment, too...

If you’re a mechanic who needs to fix the engine of a car, the most inefficient thing you can do is ask your toddler for help. If you’re a rocket scientist, how wise is it to ask a pre-algebra student to look over the calculations for your current project? If you’re an architect in need of a second opinion on the design you’re working on, is your child who recently discovered Lego going to be your...

A good story, a story that has the power to truly change your life, draws you in by connecting you to the protagonist. Over the course of the story, you learn the most intimate details about the protagonist’s complex character through their actions. This is how the character draws you in, makes you fall in love with them, and want to, by some miracle, know and be known by them in real life. If you...

If a family member wounds us with their words, it’s normal to air our hurt to a therapist. If we have an especially awful experience at a restaurant, it’s normal to lodge a complaint with the manager. If a co-worker’s aggressive interactions make you feel unsafe, it’s normal to take your problem to HR. We’ve normalized expressing our sorrow and anger when others have mistreated us. But what about...

Most people in our world strive for greatness. They want to do great things so others see them as a great leader. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be great. But there is a problem with being great at the expense of being good – morally, ethically good. Our world is overrun with great people and great products. But it’s lacking good people, good leaders creating those products, organizations,...

Your house is wonderful. But there will always be someone whose house you think is more wonderful. Your career is satisfying. But there will always be someone whose career sounds more appealing. Your friends are amazing. But there will always be someone whose friends seem more invested and connected. So how do we remain content with where we are in life without ignoring or belittling the blessings...

Your jeans rip. Cover the rip with a patch. Problem solved. Raw chicken falls on the counter. Clean it with hot water and bleach. Problem solved. You report the pothole that caused a flat. The city fills the hole. Problem solved You do something you’re ashamed of. Or you feel shame because something was done to you. No patch, no amount of bleach, no substance will cover, clean or fix the wound cau...

We all have good ideas. We all have bad ideas. The problem is, we can’t always distinguish between the two in the moment. That’s because what’s in us taints the way we see the world around us. If we’re full of anger, envy, and fear, chances are we will respond to the world around us in kind. This week in our series Real, Peter thinks he has a good idea, but it turns out to...

In November 2022, Edwin Castro became the largest Powerball jackpot winner in history, winning $2.04 billion. That’s “billion” with a “b.” If it  could  happen to him, it  could  happen to you. Between 1942 and 1977, park ranger Roy Sullivan was struck by lightning 7 times. The odds of this happening are 1 in 10 octillion – that’s 10 followed by 27 zeros. Still… if it  cou...

Vintage furniture. Vintage guitars. Vintage clothes. Vintage motorcycles and cars. If you love anything vintage, you know what it is to love something with all its imperfections. You know what it is to be drawn to something that is, in many ways, defined by its imperfections. This week in our series  Real , Jesus shows Peter – and us – that he is more than aware of our imperfections, and how...

Forgiveness and grace. We love these defining qualities of Jesus. But we don’t always love that they’re supposed to be defining qualities of us as Followers of Jesus. We especially don’t love that we are supposed to be defined by the way we offer our offenders an inordinate amount of forgiveness and grace. This week in our series  Real , Peter asks Jesus a reasonable questions about the bound...