There really is some truth in that adage: "All I ever needed to know I learned in kindergarten." Share. Play fair. Don&#039;t hit. Clean your mess. Say you&#039;re sorry. It is a life of taking responsibility for your actions and being a good example to others. Dr. Pattison begins his message in such a fashion, then allows us a look in to the first book that Peter wrote. The theme for the morning centers around 1 Peter 2:21: "For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps."

Capital City Christian Church | Podcast

The Crucible - In His Steps

A crucible is "a situation of severe trial, or in which different elements interact, leading to the creation of something new." It&#039;s a trial by fire. It&#039;s a testing. A purification process. Trials will come. They are inevitable. It&#039;s just the nature of life. But God tells us that we should be glad because of them. He is shaping us into being what He wants us to be. And we can have hope beyond our present circumstances.

The Crucible - Living Hope

The last of our Deny Self series. This last month we&#039;ve looked at denying ourselves through Paul&#039;s eyes. He wrote a wonderful, joyous letter to a church in Philippi. It was chock full of hope and good will. He was ecstatic for what God was doing for them and for him. All that positivity poured out of him as he sat shackled to two guards while he was in prison. That&#039;s crazy! He didn&#039;t have to pursue happiness in a traditional way. God gave him all that he needed and he found in in pursuing Christ.

Deny Self - The Pursuit of Happiness

Paul had every right to boast in the good things he had done. He had quite the resume. However, when he compared it to the glory of knowing God, he said it was all worthless. Do you consider your relationship with Christ to be the best thing in your life? It can be challenging to look at your life and see that you&#039;ve not really put Jesus first. You may have every desire to do so, but good stuff just gets in the way. You have a job. A family. Hobbies. "Me" time. And all of these things are good, they&#039;re just not Jesus. They are worthless compared to the best thing. Compared to Jesus.

Deny Self - Pedigrees and Resumes

Jesus was the greatest hero of all time. He was the only one who truly gave everything to help others. Philippians 2 says that he "emptied" himself. He was completely God, yet decided to empty himself of his "God-ness" so that he can do what he did for us. This seems impossible! Yet our God is in the habit of doing the impossible.

Deny Self - Be a hero. Be empty.

Let&#039;s face it: we struggle with self-denial. Our philosophy in this country is to get what&#039;s coming to you and hopefully it is more than the next guy. We don&#039;t deny ourselves much of anything. But God called us to live a different life. Christ taught us a better way to live. His example is one of true sacrifice and self-denial. What would our lives look like if we really began to think of others before we thought of ourselves?

Deny Self - Who Is on the Throne?

We finish out our "Re:Connect" series this week. Throughout, we&#039;ve asked our people to reconnect with God and his mission at this church. We want everyone who commits to this vision to worship, connect, grow and serve. Today, you&#039;ll hear from each of the ministers who lead those areas at CapCity: Steve Smith (worship), Vern Huber (connections), Mike Napier (growth) and Jon Sutphin (service). Their passion for God and his people drive them to lead with devoted hearts.

Re:Connect & ReCommit

"We are on a mission from God." Our senior minister loves to quote this phrase. It&#039;s probably because we forget it so often! We are called to be worshippers. We need to connect with God and his people. When we do that, we will feel the prompting to carry out his mission to the world. We are called to love and serve others. We should look so different from the world that the rest of the world takes notice. That comes across when we radically sacrifice ourselves to help those who are in need.

Re:Connect with God's Mission

You were not meant to go it alone. We aren&#039;t built to be loners. God created us for connection. And he was always meant to be smack dab in the middle of every relationship. We are told repeatedly to just DO for one another. Love one another, encourage one another, instruct one another, and so on. Here&#039;s the thing: we cannot fulfill these commands if we do not have these type of relationships. It is imperative that we seek out those connections, and not just for ourselves.

Re:Connect with God's People

"Emmanuel." We usually restrict our use of that name around Christmas. The name means: "God with us." When our Father sent Jesus to this earth, he put a plan in motion: a plan to have a relationship with YOU. God has never been content with you knowing that he exists. He wants you to know him and for you to walk together. Re:Connect with him today.

Re:Connect with God

The Church is supposed to be a family. We want to welcome you into our family time, not just when we gather together on Sundays, but every time we interact with another person. It&#039;s not enough to attend to church. We need to reach out to those who are in need and bring them into our family time. We don&#039;t want you to content to hang out in the foyer. And our intimacy with you shouldn&#039;t stop in the living room. We want to give you kitchen privileges!

Re/Connect - Are you in the foyer, the living room or the kitchen?

We wrap up our WYBIGB series today. "When you believe in God, but...you don&#039;t trust him." Worry can paralyze us. We get too concerned about what might happen and we forget that God is in control. And we forget how much he really loves us. Don&#039;t be a worrier. Be a warrior!

WYBIGB - You Don't Trust Him

You know what power we have if we have a relationship with Christ? Because of our belief in Him, we are given 24/7 access to the God of the universe. When Jesus walked this earth, he taught us how to pray. And yet, we don&#039;t do it, for a variety of reasons.

WYBIGB - You Don't Pray

Finances. Such a touchy subject to bring up in most circumstances. Churches in particular are criticized for bringing up money. But Jesus was concerned about money. He didn&#039;t need it. He just knew that people tend to become fascinated with it, even to the point of pursuing it instead of God. Where you spend your money is a great litmus test on what you value. So, are you a giver? If not, what is holding you back. Doc Pattison, our preaching minister, has got a challenge for you, one that comes straight from God. Test and see what God does for you when you give everything to Him.

WYBIGB - You Don't Give

We&#039;ve all been guilty of coming up with lines we shouldn&#039;t cross, then we cross them anyway. What if identifying the line wasn&#039;t really the point? Jesus taught about freedom from sin. He wants us to be from what all of that entails. Our worry, guilt and shame over such things can be debilitating. When Jesus spoke about lust in his sermon on the mount, he started a few phrases with: "You&#039;ve heard it said..." Society, family, friends, religion, peers all give us a line we shouldn&#039;t cross. But Jesus says, "I want you to live free." It doesn&#039;t mean we go on sinning freely. It means we kill that desire within us because He has shown us a better way. It is up to you to decide to follow that way, or just keep living like you&#039;re living. The question is: how has that worked out for you in the past?

WYBIGB - You Lust in Your Heart

Listen to Capital City&#039;s weekly messages and find ways to worship, connect, grow and serve at CapCity. Capital City Christian Church is a non-denominational, independent Christian church in Frankfort, Kentucky. We&#039;re committed to being a place where God is building Christ-Driven, 24/7 Jesus followers. A place of 100% truth and 100% grace.

hubhopper

Capital City Christian Church | Podcast

hubhopper