The Summit Church

Have you ever considered that all it takes is one verse, one sentence, one word to change your life forever? Pastor Curtis kicks off our series, “This Verse Changed My Life” by taking us to a passage that has carried him more than once—Abraham’s fateful journey up the mountain with Isaac in Genesis 22. God has used this passage—and this Book—to change people, to change lives, to change circumstances, and to change eternities. And he can do it again today.

As we continue our series through the book of Daniel, Pastor J.D. teaches on the most famous story in the book–Daniel in the lions’ den. Daniel provides an incredible example of courage in the midst of adversity. But as much as we make of Daniel’s night with the lions, his courage was actually forged long before that fateful night. Courage is not summoned in a moment; courage is developed through a lifetime.

In this message from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Pastor Bryan challenges us to treat our enemies in a radically counter-cultural way. When we are wronged, nothing in the world seems more natural than replying in kind—"quid pro quo." Jesus calls us to overcome our enemies, not by insisting on our rights, but by laying them down. We win our enemies by losing our rights.

As we continue our series through the book of Daniel, Pastor J.D. preaches through Daniel 5, another story of God taking down a prideful, rebellious, selfish king. But this is much bigger than one king. Through this story, we’ll see God’s verdict on all of humanity: We have been weighed; we have been measured; and we have been found wanting. On our own, this news would crush us. But in Christ, all our insufficiency is swallowed up in his goodness.

As we continue our series through the book of Daniel, Pastor J.D. preaches about the danger of pride, the fruit of pride, and the cure of pride. In King Nebuchadnezzar, we see a mirror of our own story. As Nebuchadnezzar said, “All those who walk in pride God is able to humble.” That was true of Nebuchadnezzar. It’s true of Pastor J.D. And it’s true of every one of us.

As we continue our series through the book of Daniel, Pastor J.D. takes us to the fiery furnace of Daniel 3. Through the famous story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we will see an example of courage that could only come from faith in God. These three young men knew that God was bigger than anything life can offer us. And more importantly, that God was better than anything death could take away.

As we continue our series through the book of Daniel, Pastor J.D. walks us through Nebuchadnezzar’s confusing dream in Daniel 2. Through this wild and startling story, we’ll learn to view our culture the way Daniel viewed his—not through assimilation, not through separation, but through transformation. Because what was true for Daniel is still true today: “There is a God in heaven.” So where human strategies fail, God begins to work.

Pastor Bryan invites us to hear the words of Jesus in Revelation 2, “You have left your first love.” Does God want us to do things for him? Of course. Does he want us to work hard and sacrifice for him? Of course. Does he want us to engage in ministry and to serve others? Of course. But we must never let what we do get in the way of our “first love”—Jesus Christ himself. Never, never, never confuse being busy for Jesus with the first love of Jesus.

This weekend, Pastor J.D. will be welcoming Rebecca McLaughlin for a Q&A session during weekend services. She is the author of Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World's Largest Religion. She'll be helping us dive into some of these hard questions starting at our Thursday evening services.Some of the topics that will be discussed include conversations about gender and sexuality, which may not be appropriate for children.