"Now, sometimes it’s not your choice who you will imitate, right? You can’t choose your parents, but you’re going to imitate them … especially when you are little. And sometimes, even when you’re older, right? Have you old guys ever said something or done something, and you’re like, “Holy cow! That was my dad or my mom.” If you haven’t, you will. “Like father, like son,” right … even when we’re not trying. Because listen – this is huge: did you know that intimacy evokes shared behaviors and values? Let me say that again: Intimacy evokes shared behaviors and values. We become like those we do life with. Do you buy that? It doesn’t matter if you buy it; it will still work that way." Stephen "Doc Pattison

The truth is, God is writing your story … but you don't have to accept it. You don't have to accept it. God will actually let you write your own story. One of the more shocking things that God does is that he allows free will, which means that we have the right to hijack the story. That we can take the pen from his hands, and we can begin writing our own story. We can make ourselves the central figure – the lead character. God has ways in which he thinks we ought to answer and do things … he has his will … his story line of what should be … but we have the authority to do what we want.

"It means that creation rebelled against the Creator. It means that what God created as good fell; it broke; what it became was not what God meant it to be. It means that the Creator watched his creation fall, and it broke his heart! He cared! He watched us fall, and it broke his heart ... he cares! Do you get that? And do you know how much he cares? He cared so deeply that he took the form of a Galilean peasant and went to a cross to purchase our peace with his blood. Do you get it? A God who is infinitely powerful and infinitely smart, a God supreme over a creation unimaginably vast … cares for those as insignificant as us so deeply that he would take a form like ours so he could take the punishment we deserved for the mess we made … That means God is not only infinitely powerful and infinitely smart … it also means he is unfathomably good. How cool is that! ... For those who reaffirm the supremacy of Jesus."

Every generation has had to answer this question: “Who do you say that I am?” Who do you say that Jesus is? We answer those questions in lots of different ways … and if we get it wrong, we get everything wrong.

You see, we believe God meant it to be this way from the beginning. This is what God meant for his church to look like. Let me show you two weird verses: weird in that world and still weird in ours. The apostle Paul says, “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one … in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3.28) Those were the kinds of polarizations that caused wars back then. But not in God’s church! The Message puts it like this: “In Christ’s family, there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us, you are all equal (all of you). That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.” You see, God thinks our common allegiance to Jesus is way bigger than anything – anything -- that separates us. In another place, the apostle Paul puts it like this. He says, “In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. (That stuff mattered a lot in Paul’s world! But not in the church! No, he says:) Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.” (Colossians 3.11) Now … do you buy that? Do you really? Are you willing to try to live it out? Because that’s what we’re about.

"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?!"