Capital Church Messages

What was the darkest season of your life? When we observe Easter today, it is a joyous celebration of the resurrection of Christ and our freedom from the trappings of sin. But on the first Easter the followers of Christ saw it quite differently. They had placed all their hopes and prayers on the belief that Christ would redeem Israel from suffering. When Jesus faced his death on the cross, they wa...

Do you have preconceived notions about who you think the messiah should be? Does it ever bother you when Jesus doesn’t do or say exactly what you think he should? The Jesus you’ll find within the pages of John’s Gospel is a Messiah who embodies radical, life-changing love. And, just like the love of a good parent, spouse or friend, sometimes love steps up and tears down what is killing you and you...

What is the least likely way you expect God to reveal himself to you this season? If you were to guess how God would to reveal the power and majesty of Jesus to the world, you might imagine something large and awe inspiring like moving mountains or parting seas. Yet the first miracle we see from Jesus comes in the form of creating wine from water at a wedding. How does Jesus helping newlyweds reve...

How do you feel about sharing your relationship with God with those around you? While there is a private and powerful nature to our faith, we are not meant to journey with him alone. In the Gospel of John, we see how the faith of one can plant and nurture the seed of faith in another. If you partner with people in Jesus, if you share your troubles and triumphs with fellow followers of Christ, you...

Do you wish God would speak more often or more loudly into your life? We live in a world filled with noise. Maybe it’s the T.V. we turn on when we get home, the radio in the car, the earbuds we put in as soon as we get to the gym, that playlist of nature sounds we listen to as we fall asleep… The more we surround ourselves with white noise, the harder it can be to hear the whisper of God’s v...

Would you consider yourself a Christian? What about a disciple of Christ? At the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gives his followers a mission, saying, “Go into the world and make disciples.”, but you wouldn’t necessarily know that by looking at his churches. We reserve the label “disciple” for the hardcore, the upper tier, the diehards. What are you seeking in your pursuit of spiritual truth? Foll...

Have you ever prayed for something that seemed perfectly reasonable only to never see that particular hope come to life? You prayed your heart out and for whatever reason, God chose not to grant your request. When God’s people were praying to be freed from the Romans, they were likely expecting him to show up with an army, not a lamb. The people of Israel wanted God to take away the evil-doers. In...

Have you ever faced a problem in your life so big, so unsolvable, it made you question if even God was competent and compassionate enough to lift it from your shoulders? Mankind has always struggled to comprehend our mighty God. When we stumble, when we make mistakes, when we feel buried in the stress and strain of the world even the firmest believer can begin to wonder if God hears his prayers. W...

As Christians, most of us will tell you the power of God’s grace has saved us. This truth alone is a beautiful gift, but it’s more than a one-time gift. It pursues us, strengthens, emboldens, and softens us. Can all of us say God’s grace has changed us? In our most honest moments, we know the ways we are broken. That brokenness can even make us afraid of coming to God, because we know when God giv...

As we continue to dive deeper into The Gospel of John, we see many stories of those who witness the glory of God and are forever transformed. As Christians, we know choosing to walk with Christ can change every aspect of our lives, great and small. We see the way God makes our problems his problems and no matter how many times we have turned away from him, he has never turned away from us. We see...

As we begin our new series unpacking the Gospel of John, we see the true character of Jesus and the God who sent him through those who were closest to him. In these eye-witness stories, we find Jesus coming not to people who deserved him, but people who needed him most. Just as God fulfilled his promise to be with them then, he meets us here and now with that same promise. May you put your trust i...

What spiritual activities and disciplines are helping you love God more and love others more? This is a challenge we face, particularly in America. We are living in a culture where the trend is one of greater and greater isolation. Our dependency on technologies like our cellphones and computers wrap us in a virtual cocoon, making our hyper connected nation the loneliest nation on earth. In the be...

Are the bad parts of our world influencing you? Do ever feel like there’s a carousel of negative thoughts running through your mind, telling you you’re not good enough, you’re not smart enough, God doesn’t love you and there’s no hope because you’ll never change? Some of us have trouble focusing on the lovely. In fact, we have a habit of dwelling on the unlovely. Are you more prone to think about...

As we conclude our series on fear, God has one more message for us. Like many of God’s messages, this one can be a little hard to hear because sometimes God asks us to do very hard things. He asks us to let go of what we desperately want to hold onto by giving or forgiving. Instead of fighting back, God calls us to love back even when everything in you wants to see them get their comeuppance. The...

What would our faith look like if we knew without a doubt that God was not only with us, but firmly holding onto us? Where would our focus be? What if we trusted Christ’s promise to always be in the storm with us? Would it change the way we dive into those difficult conversations with our spouses? Would it change the way we parent our children in their most difficult hours? What about when we’ve b...

How do you react when you’re faced with a difficult decision? Do you run with your impulse reaction? Do you lose sleep for days or weeks wondering how you to handle that difficult decision at work, that hard conversation you need to have with a friend or family member, or if you should say anything at all? Sometimes something as simple as a yes or no decision turns out to be anything but sim...

As we continue our series, Nothing to Fear, we pray it would sink into our bones that wherever we are, whether we’re curious or convicted, God is with us. He is with us when we’re joyful. He is with us when it’s the most wonderful time of year and we still feel sad every day. He is with us when we want so badly, especially as Christmas approaches, for our children to know Jesus. Even if we know we...

How big is your faith this season? Is it growing? Is it getting bigger and stronger? Or is your faith shrinking and dwindling? Have we been guilty of lashing out and reaching for things outside God’s will to accomplish our will? What if there’s a better way? Instead of fussing, fuming, and fretting, what if we lived like we have a shepherd who promises to lead and guide us even through the valley...

As Christians, we spend a lot of time talking, thinking, and praying about God’s will. How do we discern the will of God from our own desires, ambitions, and impulses? In 1 Samuel, we see David after he defeated Goliath now facing an enemy in King Saul. Saul has grown envious of the adoration David has earned among the people and even Saul’s own son and daughter. Saul can clearly see God is...

What do your fears tell you about your faith and where you’ve placed it? Do you fear conflict? Failure? Are you afraid of disappointing people? Are you terrified of looking stupid? So much of our misery in life comes from the fact we have begun to put our trust in doing our best. Consider how your fear of failure drives you to work ridiculous hours while your friends and family are neglected. Cons...

A lesson we learn about God in church is when our burdens pile up and we become overwhelmed, leaning on God through prayer is the first step toward relief. God is our father, our provider, our rock and foundation. What would you say if in response to your plea for help, God told you to go in the strength you have? You’d probably and understandably protest! Just like Gideon in the book of Judges, y...

Have you fallen under the power of fear’s spell? Fear convinces you to settle for a bad relationship. Fear persuades you to take a job you don’t love. Fear forces you to rush into a decision to escape the way you feel in the moment. Fear freezes you, making you believe you can never take a risk again, never trust again. What if we could learn to face our fears with faith? What if we could train ou...

When we began our study of the Sermon on the Mount with the beatitudes, Jesus called us to question our perspective of the world and our place within it. He offered simple yet profound instructions of how we can be transformed from the inside out. Each week we’ve examined a new truth about our old ways of living. If you’ve followed along with us through much of this study, odds are you had at leas...

How do you feel about money? Do thoughts of your wealth or the wealth you desire fuel your decisions and plans for your future? What we think about money and possessions radically affects the way we live and love. How we feel about stuff, more than almost anything in the world, influences the way we relate to God and others. What do you prize most? What would you hate to lose? What consumes your t...

This week in our examination of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shares some words of wisdom on the worries we carry in our lives and how we address them. Odds are, wherever you are today, there is something worrying you in your life right now. Between managing jobs, school, home, and our relationships, we all have a lot of people counting on us. This pressure to succeed weighs on our minds and hear...