Capital City Christian Church | Podcast

“Being heard is so close to being loved that, for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.” This quote comes from a guy named David Augsburger. He was a preacher, writer, and counselor. Do you agree with this quote? Do you feel this? Is there something in this that resonates deeply within you? If you made a short list of the people you like the most, you’ll probably find a common the...

We have some momentum. We’re consistently seeing life change happening in this church. So, I think it's the perfect time to double down. And I'm going to challenge you to participate. I’m not concerned with the 64 different people who baptized someone last year. I'm not worried about the people in the room who have five people they are working on. You're excited about what God...

"So, we’re going to challenge our whole church family to go through the Bible this next year using a plan called Core 52. A really sharp Pastor and Bible Prof by the name of Mark Moore -- he is the guy you saw in the video this morning – Anyway, Mark Moore has identified 52 of the most power-packed passages in the Bible … one big idea a week. By the end of 2026 you will have thought through m...

I don't know your specific reason for why you need hope. But I do know hope is directly related to living in this broken world. Hope is something that you cling to when you can't have what you are waiting for. So, while you wait, you need some hope. And … you need some resurrection. That’s where hope is found. What's fascinating about Christian hope is that it's not rooted in s...

Here’s the real question: Do you think the sorrow diminished, or extinguished, the joy? Does your pain diminish, or extinguish, your joy? There’s always a boatload of pain in the middle of our Christmas stories. Families that are not at peace. Maybe there is someone who can’t come home, or won’t come home, or someone you lost. Maybe there is pain because you couldn’t give the gifts you wanted, or...

Have you ever struggled because you can’t figure out what God is up to? Have you ever felt like you weren’t in the know, that there were secrets being kept from you? Have you ever wished that you could see and know and understand God’s plans? Have you ever felt like you weren’t important enough to be chosen by God? The Christmas story is one of the most ultimate “I know something you don’t know” m...

If peace is something that you are missing, don’t be afraid of the wrong things. Put your fear in the Lord and find his mercy pour out in your life, and it will be peace to your heart. It starts by making peace with God. That is, after all, what this is all about. That’s why Jesus showed up in the first place — not because he simply just wanted to ease our fears, not to simply call us to follow hi...

"Paul says, “In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in…” Now I just want you to imagine how you would anticipate this verse ending. How do you think it ends? It welled up in … welts … beatings? That would make sense. Maybe it welled up in … gold stars and a thumbs-up from God? Maybe even better. Maybe welled up in … eternal rewards … hea...

You probably know that as people get older, they tend to lose their filters. They just say things that might not have said when they were younger. It just comes out. Sometimes old people think they have earned the right to let loose. But here’s the deal: If, when you look inside, you see you in you, then what comes out in those “unguarded moments” is probably going to be pretty ugly. If, on the ot...

So, look at the people God picks. Each of them looks weak at some point in their life. Each of them looks unqualified. They aren’t the first choice. Each of them even have a great moment of failure. And yet … each of them have moments of great success — moments when you could potentially call them a … MIGHTY WARRIOR. What is it that makes them a mighty warrior? Is it something that they have withi...

God has made peace with you through Jesus. You didn't deserve it. You didn't earn it. But it’s true none-the-less. God made a two-way agreement with you where one side provided all of the collateral. And through it, he created reconciliation between you and God. But it comes with future expectations. If you are at peace with God, then you are to help other people come to peace with God....

So, where does God keep what is most valuable? It’s not in some sort of a safe that is in heaven. It’s not under lock and key. It’s not something that is hidden behind guard. It’s not something that He has security systems for to make sure that no one would come and mess with what’s most valuable to Him. God has placed what is most valuable to him — the truth of the gospel — in those who have acce...

"Our perception, our expectation, says MORE JESUS EQUALS MORE RULES AND MORE CONDEMNATION AND LESS FREEDOM. That’s what we believe, so that’s what we expect. The gospel changes and reverses our perspective because the reality is: MORE JESUS EQUALS MORE FREEDOM AND LESS CONDEMNATION. Is it true? Is the gospel about freedom and not rules? Because some people think that the Bible is a really big...

Guys, the gospel changes our perspective. Our perspective says avoid trouble at all cost. Our perspective says run from hardship, avoid struggles, pretend they don't happen, dodge negative energy. We see trouble, we see affliction as chaotic or some sort of a random piece of artwork that doesn't make any sense. But the gospel changes our perspective. If we can move a little and see the t...

Jesus teaches on prayer very specifically to the individual. But prayer, although an individual activity, also becomes a core community activity in the church. It’s directly linked to fellowship, which is really interesting to me. The pillar of fellowship is the piece that binds the rest of the foundation together. They listened to the apostles’ teachings … together, broke bread … together, and pr...

to get a better understanding of breaking bread, we're going to jump into Paul's letter to the first chapter to the Corinthians, his first letter to the Corinthians. So if you have a Bible and you want to follow along, or if you've got maybe an app on your phone and you want to follow along, I encourage you to pull that out. Take a look first Corinthians, chapter 11. Or you can just...

John says that we can’t claim to have fellowship with Jesus if we don’t do the things Jesus did. Kind of like high school. You can’t be on the football team if you don’t show up for the workouts or practices or games. You can say you are part of the team, but you’re not doing anything that tells me you’re truly part of the team. And you can’t be in the band if you don’t practice, or if you don’t s...

So, for most of the New Testament, that word "apostle" and "disciple" are kind of interchangeable terms. The twelve disciples become the twelve apostles with a little bit of change. When it comes to the apostles' teaching, we're talking specifically about men who were close followers of Jesus before His death and who saw him after His resurrection. The bigger question...

"Can you imagine the practical challenges the disciples faced? They’re out in the water, whatever body of water that they found to baptize people in, and they are staring at these long lines of people choosing Jesus. 12 guys baptizing 3000 people. Each guy baptizing 250 people. It’s going to take a while to baptize every single person. While they’re standing in the water, I wonder if they beg...

"At the end of Hebrews, the writer gives some very simple, practical teaching about what it looks like to be a Jesus follower. It's true for those anxiously waiting for the promises to be fulfilled, and it's true for those building rock monuments to remember the victories. It's true for all Jesus followers in all times and situations. This is what we remember in the meantime.&q...

"Promises are kind of a tricky thing. Promises aren’t anything special by themselves. They become special when they become fulfilled. You’ve been on the receiving end, or you’ve seen the receiving end of promises fulfilled – think of a marriage and vows. You’ve also been on the receiving end, or you’ve seen someone else on the receiving end of unfulfilled promises – think of a marriage and vo...

So, in this desert, they don’t see a God who can provide for them; they see a God who’s holding out on them. They cry out for food; they cry out for water. They complain because Moses has these meetings with God, and he takes too long. One time, it seems like Moses has been gone so long that he must be dead. Or, maybe Moses abandoned them. Everything’s always negative, everything’s always bad. The...

"I love roller coasters, but I hate when my life feels like a roller coaster. I hate when I feel like my future is unpredictable. I hate when I don’t know what’s next for me. I hate when I don’t know if my marriage is going to recover. I hate when I don’t know if my finances will work out. I hate when I don’t know if my kids will make the right choices. I hate when it feels like my life is hu...

The New Testament gets really serious about remembering as well. It’s in Jesus’ language and it’s picked up by the rest of the NT authors. And … a consistent theme that keeps coming up, over and over again, is the big idea that we have to REMEMBER JESUS. Now, that may be the most simplistic statement you've ever heard in a sermon of any church ever at any time, right? Well, duh, of course we...

A good friend of mine at the College put it like this: “Remember who you are and what you stand for.” Guys, listen: we aren’t Jesus followers just for ourselves. We do life his way because our kids are watching, and our grandkids, and our neighbors, and our classmates, and our colleagues … and our enemies, even. And who we are and how we live will be a far more powerful testimony for or against Je...