At 3Ci, we believe that all of scripture can be summarised in one word: “Father”. So like the disciples, we say “show us the Father and that will be enough for us”’ and through every moment and all our ministries, we pursue the Father heart of God for ourselves and those we do life with.
If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you.
After June 23, 2024, you will no longer be able to listen to podcasts in Google Podcasts.
Find 3Ci at:
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/3oKxWROzXvZ77ugbUmSBQg
iTunes
https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/3ci-capital-city-church-international/id1658974847
Alternatively you can catch us on YouTube or www.3ci.co.za
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.
After June 23, 2024, you will no longer be able to listen to podcasts in Google Podcasts.
Find 3Ci at:
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/3oKxWROzXvZ77ugbUmSBQg
iTunes
https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/3ci-capital-city-church-international/id1658974847
Alternatively you can catch us on YouTube or www.3ci.co.za
As a community filled with big capacity leaders, influencers and culture creators, scripture calls us to have a biblical view of work as a calling, worship, and service.
Vocational Calling PDF: https://downloads.3ci.co.za/Sermons/Galatians23/19_Vocational_Calling.pdf
After June 23, 2024, you will no longer be able to listen to podcasts in Google Podcasts, as google is closing it down.
Find 3Ci at:
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/3oKxWROzXvZ77ugbUmSBQg
iTunes
https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/3ci-capital-city-church-international/id1658974847
Alternatively you can catch us on YouTube or www.3ci.co.za
As the Father-heart of God cascades into our lives, there is a whisper for us to respond to Him rightly by knowing Him truly.
“So now I challenge you, if you are not going, do so - for each of us has a different task to do in the body of Christ. And also, I challenge and encourage you to continue to grow in Christ daily reading his word, praying, worshiping and fellowshipping. Do not be satisfied with staying the same person and doing the same mundane routine each day, but draw closer to God and move deeper than just ankle deep with him - every day you live, for it may very well be your last.” - BJ Higgins
Geoff and Jane Kirsten joined us to share an exciting update on Freedom City, their thriving church and what God is doing in Lisbon, Portugal.
www.freedomcity.pt
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!”
The cross of Christ is a declaration of God’s love for you, is a declaration that God understands your pain and it is the declaration that God can bring what’s dead, back to life.
My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. We are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.
I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles were – free from the law.
Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
What the gospel gives us is nothing short of the full rights of a first born son. Today Rory unpacks what this means for us in our day to day relationship with God.
God is saying to us: “I’ve given you my Promise. I wont delay. At the perfect time my plan will be revealed”. This Promise Agreement is dependent only on the Promiser
For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
Though I were innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy. Even if I summoned him and he responded, I do not believe he would give me a hearing.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.
Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."
What would it look like if what God did in our midst this year is still reverberating through the city in 2064? What if all we need is to know Him better? Ephesians 1
His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?” “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloth and lying in a manger.
We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!
For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us
Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.
For I know that I am not justified by works, but by faith in Jesus Christ, who loved me and gave himself for me.
When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.
Galatians is often like a good marinade, slowly transforming hard hearts to soft, gospel centred hearts. Join us as we gaze on the wonder of the gospel and trust in the life changing power of grace.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!
With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.
And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today.
God did this breathtaking, majestic creation, so that we would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, for he is not far from any one of us.
One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.
We’re not lone rangers. We live Christ together, we live Christ at home and we open our homes. We don’t take the easy way out. We Live Christ through what we do every day. For to me, to Live is Christ, and to die is gain
Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, "Tabitha, get up."
Morning by morning, I lay the pieces of my life on Your altar, waiting for the fire to fall. Here I am, your invited guest, waiting for directions to get through enemy lines.
Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting’... And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’...
So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.
But the word of God continued to increase and spread.
As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”
Grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness...
When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly.
Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God“
Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.
"Aren't all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya near Cyrene, Rome both Jews and converts to Judaism; Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"
The Kingdom of God is the place where Jesus rules without rival and throws open the floodgates of heaven. A place where anything can happen.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
So when we say “Hallowed be your name”, we’re asking: “Cause Your name to be HOLY,” We cannot make His name Holy, it is already Holy, Cause it to be Holy over me “Cause Your name to be SANCTIFIED.”
Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!
But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
The church was the only community where you would find a servant greeting his master with a holy kiss, because they lived free from prejudice arising from social distinctions, discrimination against the poor and partiality toward the well-to-do. Instead, in the church, masters and servants, young and old, sinful and saintly all stand equal at the cross.
God invites us to feast at His table, revelling in His faithfulness, rather than wandering on our own, making our way through valleys alone. Which table will you sit at this year.
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
Each of us should please his neighbour for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, for ever praised!
The Church I Grew Up In - Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkFopIhmFo4
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/track/6NXh3bYzUABYU2HEneRbMC?si=HPleXXCITHGZtxQp0kbQ3A&context=spotify%3Aplaylist%3A37i9dQZF1DWVYgpMbMPJMz
Love from the centre of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; outdo one another is showing honour.
Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.
Dolly Sonjica’s testimony of finding healing from grief after the loss of her husband and her son.
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.
While on the one side the Holy Spirit is convicting us of our poverty, blindness, slavery and captivity, on the other side, He has anointed Jesus to free us by dying on our behalf.
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, He will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgement.
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.
It is possible to keep in step with the Spirit, allow Him to produce fruit within you, and the outflow will be glorifying to God and witnessing to others.
“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people…”
‘Whether you are more artistically inclined like Bezalel, or more strategic like Gideon, or just in need of POWER like Samson, just ask the Holy Spirit and He will fill you where you’re, with what you need to accomplish the task set before you.’
Jesus never worked for His sonship, He worked from it. When we are full of the Spirit we will know: I am a son, He loves me, He’s well pleased with me, I’m adopted into His family, I’m not shaken by my family history, I overcome the temptation of self and power, and I tell people of the Lord’s favour.
The invitation is to open your hands, drop your defences and invite the Holy Spirit in.
He has a name written on him that no-one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
He has a name written on him that no-one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
In Romans 8 Paul asks ‘What then shall we say in response to these things? IF God is for us, who can be against us.’ What would it mean if God really was for us?
He helps us, He intercedes for us and He leads us according to the will of the Father.
And if the Spirit of him or raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit. Now the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace.
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin,and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Our hearts are prone to run from God, to turn from all that He’s done and all that He has for us. Today we look at what God has done to capture our wandering hearts.
Paul reminds us that worry, stress and anxiety are not meant to trap us in a valley of indecision, but rather that it should be a constant call to prayer.
“ Divine Favour, Wholeness, Wellness, Tranquility, Prosperity, Flourishing, Every kind of Good “
If your heart feels like that one person - all alone in a hazmat suit and gloves - trying to salvage something of your life, trying to clean up a mess that’s way bigger than you... The cross says - put down your gloves.
Learn how to climb the mountain. On the mountain we’ll see the promised land and the inheritance. We can only be effective if we know how to climb to the top of the mountain to be alone with God.
Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church
Revival waits for those who will pray with the intimacy and authority of a son. God is calling for His church to awaken again.
At 3Ci, what does it mean to live a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work.
This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name"
Do you know the Hope to which you have been called? How is it changing the way we live from this moment and into eternity?
Paul calls us to live far above by getting to know Jesus better, getting to know his ways better and getting to know his church better.
That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. - Eph 1:15-17
Throughout the centuries Christians have celebrated Advent as a way to set their expectations on the Christ of Christmas. What are your expectations this year?
Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.
God saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth (Palingenesia) and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
This week we step back and look at how Paul frames Romans 6,7, and 8 to better understand his overall approach to applying the gospel before we unpack these chapters in the coming weeks.
So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
Just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
We rejoice in our position in Christ, we rejoice in our pain, and we rejoice in our reconciliation to our heavenly Father.
Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
Come into the room to receive God's presence, and get to know Him, only then can we go out into the world
When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the believers and encouraged them
This week we look at Acts 8,9 and 10 and see how God changes the lives of his people, turning dusty roads into runways.
As we explore the book of Acts everyone can find their place in the Church that is not confined to a building but is unleashed and turns the world upside down.
God is going to build a community on this earth that looks like this prayer. Full of truth, glory, power, love, forgiveness, holiness, and that’s how we overcome the world. That’s the church we pray for.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.
To all who receive him, to those who believe in His name, he brings all that He is and all that He has - the entire arsenal of the power and presence of God to bear on your life, so that you can be His and live as a child of God.
The Word of God activates His purposes in our lives, allowing a change in the atmosphere around us, putting His glory on display.
God’s word is given to us to feed us, fight for us and make us fruitful. But where do we even start?
Looking back at Luke before lock-down it is evident that God used 2019 to prepare us for what was to come in 2020. Though much of what He said was lost on us, the word of God always comes a second time.
Jesus built a radically different, counterintuitive culture that shocked people – and set them free – and we get to be part of it.
God intended you to live on a mantel piece, a trophy of his grace, on a lamp-stand bringing light in a crooked and perverse world. Don’t let anything compromise your saltiness, your bright shining light, bring God-flavour to your world!
Jesus summarises all that we are called to with the command to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves. So it should come as no surprise that Jesus ends his ministry in Matthew 25 with a deep dive into what this looks like practically for us today.
Then David said to the whole assembly, “Praise the LORD your God.” So they all praised the LORD, the God of their fathers; they bowed low and fell prostrate before the LORD
Wisdom has built her house, and she invites us to a feast of fruitfulness, rather than a battle for balance.
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
The historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is so strong that even secular sceptics, if they try to do honest history, have no way of explaining the missing body on Sunday morning besides an actual resurrection.
Running through all five of these Old Testament books is the truth that freedom and fruit come through abiding in Jesus: living tenderly and flexibly, no matter where we are, and what we face.
Between the Dead Sea and dead sand, God says return to me, return to my people, return to my promises, return to my presence.
Finding love, freedom, adventure and most importantly, finding Christ in the Song of Solomon.
In the midst of the storms of life the book of Ecclesiastes asks the question - ‘Is God’s presence enough?’
Time to return to the maker! To the God of prayer, to the God who answers prayer, to the God who makes sense of things
In 2 Kings 4 we have a story that helps us understand how God invites us to trust Him in the midst of our lamentations.
The Megilloth is a group of books in the Old Testament; Lamentations, Ruth, the Song of Solomon, Esther, and Ecclesiastes. These are five books which the Hebrews would read every year, and they would learn about God. Our commitment this year is to follow in their footsteps as we learn about our incredible Father.
Our Prince of Peace brings us peace that does not depend on our circumstances, but rather reconciles us with our Father.
Our Everlasting Father shows us that we are all prodigal sons, who are provided for and persistently loved.
Let's allow our Everlasting Father, who surrounds us on every side, to set the tone of Christmas.
Join us as we dive into our new series, For Unto Us, and learn about our Wonderful Counselor.
When you are in Christ, you are in freedom. You don’t need to turn back to the weak principles of the world, because Christ is enough.
The greatest plot twist in all of history was the big reveal of the resurrected, risen Saviour. And we get to be the big reveal of Jesus to the world because He is in us – the hope of glory.
Jesus is the Head of the church, and when we make Him supreme, everything in our lives takes its rightful place.
Let us trust, that in the same way, this Gospel through the ages will take a hold of us, to redeem, restore and renew.
Welcome back to church! Join us for our first Sunday back as we dive into the book of Colossians.
In big moments of transition, we’re called to cross over into the new season with courage.
The fingerprints of God from the Old Testament and into the New, shows us a Father who steps into the uncertainty of our lives to speak His blessing.
Will we come out of this stronger? Instead of becoming dull, we are encouraged to endure, and through faith and patience - inherit the promises of God.
We are building for people to come to church and live under open skies with open doors leading to new adventures.
We should come together even more frequently, eager to encourage and urge each other on as we anticipate that day dawning
An incredible gospel encounter shows us the perfect knowledge, wisdom, power and love of Jesus. He saw you before you were born, He sees who and what you're destined to become, and He would stop a meeting just for you.
When all the other lights go out the morning star still shines in the dark announcing a new day.