"And if you’re a Christian, prayer isn’t an optional skill that you can choose to learn. It’s not like riding a bike in that sense. Some of you may not know how to ride a bike because you never desired to learn. Prayer isn’t that way for Jesus' followers.

Like what we saw last week with worship when prayer is mentioned in the Bible, it is often communicated as a command. Colossians 4:2 says, “Devote yourselves to prayer.” No invitation there. Just a straight demand. In Luke 18, Jesus teaches his disciples the necessity of praying. Jesus wanted them to know that “…they should always pray…”. Not an invitation. A command. And my personal favorite verse on prayer 1 Thessalonians 5:17. “Pray continuously.” No qualifiers. No explanation or exposition. Just a simple command.

We have to start today with an understanding that prayer, at its most fundamental level, is an act of obedience.

And it can look very formal. I personally love the few times I get to participate in a more liturgical service where there are corporate prayers. There is beauty in a congregation reciting prayers together. It’s all over the Old Testament, and you can see Jesus and his disciples practicing those prayers that had been learned. And we’re going to have an opportunity to do that today."

we’re going to kick off this new “Skill Set” series this morning by talking about worship … which is the most important thing we do as Jesus' followers. Do you buy that? We do. And we think it’s about way more than just sitting in this room for an hour on Sunday morning observing. Listen: We are here to worship our God because he’s worth it.

"We’ve got a vision, and we’ve got a mission. It’s bigger than any one of us, but if we all work together, we can see it come to reality." - Jon Sutphin, Executive Minister.

Join us as Doc discusses the myths about Christmas and shows the real reason for the season.

"Waiting is hard. Waiting on God is harder. But it’s an opportunity to be faithful and see something better than you could ever imagine."

"In the end, we have only two options. We can either say to God, "Thy will be done," or God will say to us, "Then, thy will be done." If we insist, God will grant us what we think we want - to be separated from Him...forever." - Stephen "Doc" Pattison

Reference:

Frazee, Randy. "Believe: Living the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus." Zondervan, 2015.

What if it’s not your body? What if you are just flat-out wrong? It may be your choice, but what if it’s not your body? Wouldn’t that mean that whatever choice you make matters to the one who actually owns your body? And … what if … what if it’s not your life. That’s kind of offensive to say, right? But what if it is … not. Your. Life? So … what if, in reality, you are not the boss of you. You think you are. But what if that is an illusion, or maybe, a delusion? And … what if there are things more important than … your rights? Way more important! What if a fixation on “my rights” makes me a bit of a jerk, way littler than I was created to be? Well … I’ll show you. Hang with me … please.

"Sometimes we have to move past our childish ideas, or they will mess us up. In fact, that’s why some people don’t like God. They have these childish ideas about God, and because their ideas about God are messed up, they don’t like … their imaginary God. I heard one guy say one time: “If I believed about God what you believe about God, I wouldn’t like him either.” But what if your ideas about God are wrong?"

Reference:

Frazee, Randy. "Believe: Living the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus." Zondervan, 2015.

"What if we really believed that all people are loved by God? What if we really saw all people as made in the image of God? All people?"

#believe #whatwebelieve

Reference:

Frazee, Randy. "Believe: Living the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus." Zondervan, 2015.

In this video, Stephen "Doc" Pattison, a well-known church leader and pastor, shares his insights about the church.

If you're a churchgoer or don't have much exposure to the church, this video is a great opportunity to learn about the church. Doc shares his thoughts on the church and its role in today's society.

"But “church” is about way more than just worship, isn’t it? Here at CapCity, we talk about more than just worshipping together. We talk about connecting, growing, and serving together … because going it alone just doesn’t cut it. Alone … we’re kind of wussy, we’re kind of weak. Together … we are a whole lot smarter, bolder, a whole lot stronger, and a lot gooder (… that’s a word … now). It’s kind of like … we drag each other to heaven, right?"

Frazee, Randy. "Believe: Living the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus." Zondervan, 2015.