The Summit Church

In this message on the book of Philemon, Pastor Curtis asks, “If I’ve been wronged by someone, what is my role in making it right?” Forgiveness sounds great in principle, but in practice it can be a tough pill to swallow. Fortunately for us, God hasn’t simply told us THAT we should forgive; he’s also shown us HOW to forgive. In the tiny book of Philemon, we see the ultimate test of Christian forgiveness—and a path toward radical reconciliation.

In this final message from our “Goodness in the Middle” series, Pastor J.D. looks at the sufferings of the Apostle Paul, what he called his “thorn in the flesh.” Paul never asked for his thorn—in fact, he repeatedly asked God to take it away. And yet, through this painful situation, Paul learned to lean upon God’s goodness. Because if dependence is our objective, weakness turns out to be an advantage.

In this Mother’s Day message, Pastor Bryan walks us through the story of one of the Bible’s lesser known characters—Hagar. “Hagar” may not be a household name, but her experience is common enough: Isolated, mistreated, abandoned, Hagar may have wondered what in the world God was up to. But in the end, she would not only learn about God’s goodness. She would experience God’s goodness by seeing him—and more importantly, him seeing her—face-to-face.

This Easter, Pastor J.D. uses the Gospel of Luke to walk us down the path to Jesus’ tomb. Throughout our lives, we’ve all walked that lonely path in one form or another, wondering where life is headed. The bad news? It’s headed to the grave. The good news? It doesn’t have to stay there. Because of the resurrection, the path to true life doesn’t end at the grave. It begins there.

There are moments in life when we feel like kids on a long road trip. Whether the destination is great or not, one question dominates our minds: “Are we there yet?” What should we do when our faith feels stuck in the marathon of the middle? When we’re not where we used to be … but we’re not where we’re supposed to be, either? In this miraculous story from the Gospel of Mark, Pastor Curtis gives us four reminders to sustain us during the meandering “meantimes” of life.