Some of us let fear cripple and sabotage our success before we even start. Some are blessed in ways that have enabled them to never let fear stand in the way of chasing something significant. But what if what we're chasing will only be temporarily significant? What if, instead, we chased things of eternal significance? What if instead of asking God to back our plans, we asked him to open our eyes to what he's doing in our world? What if we pleaded for the faith to believe he wants us to join him in his work to do what only we can do? This week, as we conclude our series The Cycle of Grace, we're looking at what it means to be truly fruitful in our walk with Jesus as we partner with him to bring the kingdom of heaven to our corner of the earth.

Mechanics have the gift of being able to repair broken systems and restore the ability of beautiful machines to do what they were designed to do. Musicians have the gift of fusing lyrics and melodies in such a way that their songs bring people together and remind them: you are not alone! Baristas have the gift of crafting delicious drinks that not only can give people energy, but that remind us that joy can be found in the simplicity of the everyday. What each of these people have in common is that the most satisfying use of their abilities comes when their gifts are used to bring wholeness, healing, and joy to others. In the next part of our Cycle of Grace series, we look at a truth that runs throughout the Bible: God always intends for our gifts – whether our temperaments, talents, or resources – to be used to bless others.

If you're an aspiring athlete, could you imagine LeBron James inviting you over for a game of pickup basketball? If you're a movie lover, what would it be like to have a standing invitation to Friday night dinners with Octavia Spencer and Millie Bobby Brown? If music is your passion, how would it feel to get regular calls from Taylor Swift or John Legend to sit in on their studio sessions? What would your self-esteem be like if you were such good friends with these icons that any one of these scenarios were true? Do you realize that the Bible says you can be called a friend of God? Did you know Jesus wants you - yes, you! - to be so close to him that you consider him your most intimate friend! This week, long-time friend of Capital, Jeff Lucas, takes us on a journey through the Bible to show Jesus doesn't just call you to be his disciple, he calls you to be his friend.

You won't become fluent in a language in one day. You don't lose weight or gain noticeable muscle from one trip to the gym. You can't expect life-long trust to be built over just one cup of coffee. You have to study the language every day. You have to move your body every day. You have to show yourself trustworthy every day. This week, we explore the second part of The Cycle of Grace to learn from Jesus what we must do every day to live a life sustained by grace.

There are few things in our world as iconic as the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo statue, and the Taj Mahal. If a fire, earthquake, or war were to destroy these historical treasures, the world would lose more than works of art; we would lose part of our collective history. And only a fool would attempt to see any kind of insurance payout as a silver lining. Why? Because you cannot put a price tag on any of these irreplaceable works of art. In case no one has ever told you: the God of the Bible feels the same way about you - yes, you! The world would not be as amazing as it is without you because no one can fill your shoes. No one! This week, we look at the first part of The Cycle of Grace to discover how starting from a place of knowing we are accepted empowers us to move through life with an unshakable confidence and enduring hope.

Just over a century ago, a trip from Chicago to Los Angeles by horse and wagon would take you five months - and that's in good weather. Today, you can make the drive in twenty-eight hours, just over a day. A direct flight will get you there in 4 hours. Yet, when traffic adds an hour to our roadtrip, or being rerouted adds an extra couple of hours to our plane ride, we get fussy, don't we? But, how would someone who had made the trip in a wagon feel if they experienced our flight delay? Do you think their mindset would be a little...less fussy? Do you think the way they'd wait for their plane would be different from the way we typically wait for ours? Sometimes, we have no choice but to wait. However, we do have a choice when it comes to how we wait. In the final message of our series Overflowing Hope, we're steering into the reality of waiting, and allowing the Bible to instruct us on how to wait well during the most difficult seasons of life.

Maybe it was in grade school. It could have been on a roadtrip. Perhaps while waiting for your food at a restaurant. Whenever and wherever it happens, we all find ourselves staring at a Word Search puzzle from time to time. We know what it's like to scan a sea of chaotic letters in search of a few that are in order, that make sense, that form a word. It will never be more than a jumble of nonsense until we stop, until we focus, until we begin to look for the words the puzzle's creator put in it. This week in our series Overflowing Hope, we explore a poem from Lamentations that shows us hope can be found in even the most hopeless situations - if we know what to look for.

Cookies. Babies. Swords. What they all have in common is than none of them just...happen. They are the result of a process that takes time. And some parts of the process are more difficult than others. There are parts of our discipleship that are never instantaneous. Some parts of our discipleship only happen through a process that takes time. And some parts of our discipleship and character only come about through difficult processes we'd rather not have to go through. This week in our series Overflowing Hope, we're examining a seemingly unbearable process that has the ability to produce an unbreakable hope in us - one that, the more times we go through it, the more resilient our hope may become.

Let's play Would You Rather. Would you rather cross the ocean in a canoe or a cargo ship? Would you rather the cargo ship be riddled with holes or the hull be intact? Would you rather you be at the helm of the ship or an experienced captain? What all of these questions are asking is: what are you more likely to put your trust in? This week in our series Overflowing Hope, we're stepping into a story told in an ancient song. This song teaches us how to thrive in the hope of God, no matter what storms we may face.

In ancient times - you know, the 1990's - most people didn't have GPS devices in their cars that audibly gave them step-by-step directions for how to get where they wanted to go. Back then, they used paper maps to find their way to new places. This meant the driver had to continually check in with the map to make sure they were still on course as they journeyed into uncharted territory. The driver asks the question, "How do I get where I'm going." The map "speaks," offering guidance for the journey. In this way, the two are in dialogue. Only by continuing the conversation will the two work together to get the driver to her destination. This week in our series Overflowing Hope, the Apostle Paul hands us a key principle for getting where we need to go, no matter what obstacles we encounter, without losing hope.