Capital City Christian Church | Podcast

"What do we need to grow spiritually? Last week we used this verse over and over, Ephesians 4:15. It says, “We will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Plants physically need space, temperature, light, water, air, and nutrients. Humans physically need food, water, clothing, shelter, sleep. At CapCity we've identified the growth catalysts that every human needs – we believe that if you want to grow spiritually, the things that you need are worship, connect, grow, and serve. Now that growth word … I know it’s redundant … we’ll get to that. But these are our catalysts for spiritual growth. If there's any part of you that wants to have a better relationship with God or even just a better life, these are the catalysts. These are the things that you're going to add to your soil of your heart to give you a chance to grow."

Now, whether we understand the importance of spiritual maturity or not, we are Jesus followers, right? We believe there is a real God. And we believe that the real God is revealed in and through Jesus. And we want God to be … God. And … And … God expects us to mature spiritually. He thinks it’s good for us. He thinks it makes for the best life possible. Do you?

What is our purpose as Christ-driven, 24/7 Jesus followers?

"Is there a God? This is our starting point. This, I believe, is every human … every person's starting point. " Ben Webb, Associate Minister

"What if Easter is true? What if the one who claimed to be the Son of God actually predicted his death and resurrection and pulled it off? What if … what if you really are the mess God thinks you are? And what if … what if God is right and you can’t fix your mess? And what if Christmas is about God providing a way out, a way back? What if Jesus really is … Emmanuel, God on earth to dwell with us, God on earth to save us, God on earth to give us a way to do life with God … the kind of life our Creator meant for us? If all that is true … then wouldn’t it be fair to say that any excuse we might have for marginalizing Jesus or pushing him away fades away into absurdity? What possible excuse could we concoct for marginalizing God or pushing him away?!"

One of the reasons Jesus shows up in a manger in Bethlehem is so that the mystery around God would be removed. Jesus would demonstrate to us who God is, who God likes, what God wants, what God values, and what God does. All those questions that we may have. This mystery around God is revealed in Jesus.

"To really understand the Christmas story, you have to go back even further … to the first chapters of Genesis … to the creation story … and the fall. You see, we learn from the creation story that we humans are special … we bear the “the image of God,” somehow. We are designed so we can do life with God, somehow. And, we learn that we humans rebelled against doing life with God … God’s way … and in so doing, we made a mess we can’t fix. We are messed up. And I’m not just talking about just Adam and Eve messing up; all of us mess up, all of us are messed up, all of us are broken … and we can’t fix us. That’s what the Bible says, and … I’ve never met the exception. Have you?

But, instead of blowing us off or snuffing us out, our Creator decided to give us a way back. Because, for some crazy reason, he loves us anyway … go figure. For some reason, God treasures us anyway … go figure. So, somewhere around 4000 years ago, our Creator God somehow made a deal with this really old twit named Abraham. God said, “Go from your country, your people, and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will (… barak) bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a (barak) blessing. I will (barak) bless those who (barak) bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be (baraked) blessed through you.” (Genesis 12.1-3) What does that even mean?"

"Marriage calls us to become servants of each other’s welfare. And that's not why you got married. In fact, you got married for the opposite reason. If we told people that's what marriage was all about, I think less people would get married. When I got married, it was because I thought she was going to bring some good stuff to my life. I got married because I thought that she was going to bring value to my life … that she was going to do good things for me. It wasn't about what I was bringing to her. Oftentimes that's the way we see it. And when we realize how selfish the other person is, we quit. Oftentimes we step into marriage with these selfish reasons because our motivations for getting married are selfish. It's all about what we think we can get. That's not what service is. Marriage calls us to become servants of others each other 's welfare.

And service costs you something. Service costs you something and benefits someone else. If it doesn't cost me something, if someone else doesn't gain something, then it isn’t service. Sacrifice isn't sacrifice until it costs something, right? If it hasn't cost me something, if I haven't had to pay something for it, then it really isn't sacrifice. Same with service."

This … big G God invented marriage, the coupling of a man and a woman till death do us part. Because our Creator, our Designer, thinks that model will work best … He thinks it will work best for your spouse, your kids, your clan, your community. And, our Creator, our Designer, thinks it will work best for you … it will help grow you into what you were meant to be … if … if you do it his way.

And his way is hard. God tells us about a kind of love that will make it work, and it’s a tough love. The kind of love that makes is work, he says, is “patient and kind.” Those are hard. The kind of love that will make it work is not jealous, or boastful or proud or rude, he says. Every one of those is hard. The kind of love that works does not demand its own ways, he says. And it is not irritable … How many of you guys love like that? How many of you guys practice that kind of love with your husband, or your wife? And then he says … “It keeps no record of being wronged.” “It keeps no record of wrongs.” It doesn’t maintain a database of your spouse’s failures. How many of you guys … practice that? In other words, God’s kind of love – the kind of love that will make it work – forgives … Is it worth it to you?

"I'll tell you the best funerals that I have ever been to have been for those who are Jesus followers. It may be weird to you, but it's true. At the end of life, having hope is so incredibly valuable. It changes the dynamics of a funeral. But … I've also seen people who were great Jesus followers have a significant burden at their funeral. I've seen people who had Jesus enter their lives late, and there were consequences, regrets, and pains from their previous lives. I've seen people who loved Jesus for much of their life but walked away late. There was an emptiness and hollowness in their service. They had Jesus … but there were signs of great dysfunction. There was celebration … but there was also lingering sorrow.

Is there something more to it than just simply saying Jesus? Do the best lives have a secret to them that goes beyond simply knowing Jesus?

What if it's perseverance? I've seen people who've persevered through life with or without money … that doesn't tell their whole story. I've seen people who've persevered through life with or without good relationships … and it doesn't tell their whole story."