“Before God, the main focus was doing what I thought we needed to do, and now I do what I think he wants us to do,” says Scott Read, from the Waterford Campus, about what worship means to him. … In the spring, Scott and Briana opened up an opportunity for friends and family to worship together over Zoom and watch Summit’s online services together, reaching people from different parts of the country.
Read MoreDuring his time on earth, Jesus’ ministry with people was never transactional. We know that he healed, he resurrected, he fed. But when you dig deeper into those same actions, you’ll also see that he touched hearts, he cried, he conversed. Jesus connected. With love deeper than oceans, he has always met us where we are with grace and an outstretched hand. And what a gift it is that we get to take the love and connection God has given us and share it with others through our acts of service!
Read MoreWhen it comes to God's truth, many of us assume we know what's in the Bible. But maybe we need to take a closer look. Engaging with the Bible isn't easy, even for people committed to following Jesus. When we love God, we genuinely desire to have a deeper relationship with him. But cracking open the Bible can feel like a chore. I think this happens for one of two reasons (or, more likely, a combination of the two).
Read More“I was just excited to get to ‘spend time’ with this amazing group of people that I definitely wouldn’t have been able to get to know otherwise...” I was so excited to hear about this virtual Connect group that formed after staying at home became the norm earlier this year. What could seem on the surface as an obstacle became for them what made it easy to “meet” together. And this being together, in prayer and in community, became so sweet in the hard months of this year.
Read MoreIf you are a follower of Jesus, you once were lost and have been found. And like many of us, you will remember how far away you were from hope. And most of us, even after being found by Jesus and experiencing the new life he offers, still go through seasons where we get turned around and feel lost. It’s a reality of life—an effect of the great lie of sin found at the beginning of the story of creation. It’s a separation and a break from the giver of life. But the greatest hope we have is knowing that God came to us on a rescue mission, sending his own Son to prepare the way for us to come back home, to have new life, real hope, and to be found and pointed in a new direction.
Read MoreI have never been very good at the whole Lent thing—even though I’ve successfully given something up for Lent a number of times. Growing up in the Southern Baptist church, Lent wasn’t something I had any awareness of. So as a freshman in college, newly involved in a church that celebrated the season with the option of fasting from something, I remember being genuinely excited to try it.
Read MoreI grew up Catholic, so the Lenten season is very familiar to me. I can recall many years trying to find something to give up, usually landing on chocolate or TV (because being in 2nd grade and not having chocolate is a real hard thing). For the past several years, since becoming a mom, I have tried to focus more on a specific spiritual practice to add into my life that will draw me closer to God rather than giving up something tangible.
Read MoreA little over three years ago, while traveling with my oldest son Samuel to visit friends in Uganda, I was struck by the thought that not everyone in our world or even in our church has a clear sense of our core identity as a church.
Read MoreThe first time I prayed a desperate, cry-from-the-heart, kind of prayer was when I was about 8 years old and our cat went missing. I went into my bedroom, kneeled in front of a small statue of Jesus, and begged him to bring Smutty Nose back. While I was still on my knees, I heard my sister yell from the driveway, “Guys! Guys! Smutty Nose is back.”
Read MoreThis past Vision Sunday, we celebrated our 14th birthday. It was 14 years ago that we officially opened our doors in order to fully engage with God’s mission in the world through his church. One of our core values as a church is making the most of our place in history. It is this value that has always resonated deeply with me.
Read MoreA commitment is an investment. It's a promise. It's a lot of really big and really beautiful words. It's saying "Hey, I know you're not perfect, but I see something really good in you, and I'm choosing to get behind that—to love it, to pursue it and to fight for it.”
Read MoreWhy are we doing communion every week this summer? It has been said—and I believe this—that partaking in the sacrament of communion is the most intimate act of worship we will experience this side of eternity. Think about the word: partake. We are ingesting physical elements that at least represent, and at most embody—in some mysterious way—the presence of Christ.
Read MoreYesterday morning, like you, I woke up to numbingly tragic news. As I absorbed the information, now pouring in from everywhere, I tried to find a context for my feelings. That effort led me into how I have felt in other tragedies, like the September 11th attacks, the Haiti earthquake, the Columbine shooting, the AIDS pandemic, and the Ethiopian orphan crisis.
Read MoreAs my friend and co-worker, Trey Colson, was combing through the liturgies that different church traditions have used to celebrate Holy Week, he noticed something that struck him— and as he shared it with me, it struck me as well. A seemingly small detail at the end of the Maundy Thursday service: The service continues on Good Friday.
Read MoreLet me start by saying, attending Partnership Class was a wonderful and impactful experience for me when I attended last fall - despite my expectations to the contrary.
Read MoreHave you ever considered what your best gift in ministry is? If you were to give the very best of yourself to God’s work in the world, what would that look like? I am guessing that you are a very gifted person. After all, you are reading this, so you know how to read and can use a computer. But your gifting probably extends well beyond that. You might be super organized, or a gifted strategist.
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