Summitpa Sermon Audio

In part three of our series called Win By Losing, Pastor Mel interviews special guest Sgt. Shilo Harris. Shilo survived an IED blast in 2007 that left major burns on his body. Three of the five soldiers in Shilo's Humvee were killed in the explosion. Throughout the interview Shilo tells a story of resilience and dependence on God as he overcame seemingly impossible odds. So much of life, especially for a Christian, is characterized by the endurance of tragic suffering. The testimony of Sgt. Harris will give you hope and encouragement that by the grace of God you can make it through almost anything.

On Leadership Night Mel often presents information on how you might lead others well, but in this episode he teaches us how to lead ourselves. He explains why being a good leader requires that you own your mistakes. He talks a little about how to foster an atmosphere where leaders and employees aren't afraid to admit their mistakes. Being an effective leader also requires that you establish good boundaries. You need to know what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate relationships. Furthermore, every good leader needs to be able to respond well to adversity. Mel also talks about how a leader might recover lost credibility after a leadership failure. Q&A follows.

In the second installment of our series Win By Losing, Pastor Mel walks us through the four things we must lose in order to follow Jesus. Using selected scriptures, Mel argues that being faithful requires us to lose our minds. Romans 12:2 admonishes us not to copy the behaviors and customs of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Then we will learn God's will for us, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Being faithful also requires that we lose our own way. Jesus said, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me." Taking up our cross also means we must be willing to lose our lives. The fourth, and often most difficult, loss we must accept to be followers of Jesus is our loss of control. Accepting God's will for your life means submitting your own will, and thus your control, to God's purposes.

In the third part of his lecture series on Purpose, Dr. John Stanko teaches us why it's important to face reality when trying to discover your purpose. While we should be courageous and ambitious, it's important to accept honest feedback when others provide it for us. In the pursuit of purpose we should be prepared to embrace change. The apostle Paul experienced radical change when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. An important part of finding your purpose is following your joy. Does this thing make you happy? Life is difficult and growing in your purpose will be difficult, but constant misery while you work is certainly and indication that something is wrong and you may be pursuing the wrong things.

In the first message of our series called Win By Losing, Pastor Mel makes the case for reorganizing what you prioritize as valuable. Jesus said, "If you cling to your life you'll lose it, but if you give up your life for me you will find it." Our world teaches us to make sacrifices in an effort to win, but Mel explains why winning by itself is an improper motivation. Preaching through Philippians 3, Mel outlines the perspective which views everything else as worthless compared to the infinite value of knowing Jesus Christ. The message finishes with an illustration of the famous statue called, "The David" which Michelangelo carved from marble. The illustration teaches how God wants to shape us into something immeasurably valuable by subtracting the things which are not fitting to the image of Christ.

Special guest Pastor John Nuzzo joins us for an encouraging message called Pick Your Punctuation. John explains how inflection points in our lives can either drop a "period" or a "comma" in our stories. He makes the case that a "period" can be devastating because we allow terrible moments to define us. If we look to Jesus and trust in Him, then we can find power to turn major life events into "commas" which lead us into a better future. A "comma" reveals how God is not done using us if we should choose to remain faithful. John makes the case that God wants to give us good things, but we need to be steadfast in our posture to receive what He has for us.

In the second sessions of his three part series on Purpose, Dr. John Stanko teaches us how to define our purpose. The first step in defining our purpose is to seek God. Proverbs chapter 2 instructs us to cry out to God for discernment and lift our voices for understanding. Scripture teaches us that discerning the fear of the Lord leads to discovering the knowledge of God. Dr. Stanko also explains why in search of your purpose you should not overlook the simple things, you should be willing to work, and have the courage to face your fears. Believing that God wants you to do something is much different than wanting to do something yourself.

In the sixth and final message of our series on The Temple, Pastor Mel teaches how to cultivate an overcoming worship. What happens to your faith when trouble comes? Preaching through Revelation chapter 4, Mel explains how a durable faith requires worship, and how this kind of worship relies on a revelation of God. The less you know about God the less you will want to worship, while the more you know about God the more you will want to worship. Mel makes the case that your perception of God is incubated in your worship. The defining characteristic of God's people is God's presence, and faithful worship is vertical, horizontal, and reflective.

In a special edition of Leadership Night, our guest speaker Dr. John Stanko teaches how to identify your purpose. Teaching through Acts 6, John explains how being effective means being full of power to achieve results. He goes on to make the case that in order to be effective you must know your purpose. Dr. Stanko supports his claim by walking us through the personal purpose of several key figures in scripture. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Paul was charged with bringing the gospel to the Gentiles. Peter was entrusted with preaching to the Jews. John the Baptist had the duty of preparing the way for Jesus. What's your purpose?

In the fifth week of our series called The Temple, Pastor Mel examines seven different Hebrew words which are used in the scripture to describe worship. Working primarily through the Psalms, Mel explains the reasons why we worship the way we do. Raising hands during worship is an expression of surrender to, vulnerability towards, and dependence on God. Being physically expressive in your worship of God is not necessary, but it's a natural way to intensify the inner exultation which is at the heart of worship. The message concludes with Mel quoting A. W. Tozer who said, "The goal of every Christian should be to live in a state of unbroken worship."

In the fourth week of our series called The Temple, Pastor Mel preaches about the ark of the covenant which was stored in the innermost sanctum of the temple - the holy of holies. The holy of holies was a place only accessible by the Israelite High Priest, and even the High Priest did not enter lightly. Teaching through Leviticus 16, Mel describes these particular parts of the temple and he explains the processes the priesthood had to observe to maintain it. The message resolves with Mel showing how reverence for this part of the temple is symbolic of the reverence we should have for God today. He explains how the Jewish law was demanding, why God deserves great attention, and how our being intentional raises our awareness.

In the third week of our series called The Temple, Pastor Todd supplies a teaching on the altar of incense. The altar of incense was the last pass before entering the holiest part of the temple. Todd walks us through the Levitical process of sacrifice and explains what it means for our worship today. He talks about why God emphasized certain placement of the altar when designing the structure of the temple, as well as stringent particularity in the design of the altar itself. Todd traces the chain of possession of the sacrificial fire through the various rituals in the temple and shows that it originates from God Himself. The message culminates in the idea that God provides all that we need to worship and the means of sacrifice is not sourced within ourselves.

In the second week of our series on The Temple, Pastor Mel teaches all about the symbolic significance of gates and how they translate to your relationship with God. Gates serve a variety of purposes including protection, authority, and control of access. Psalm 100:4 teaches that we should, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name." As Christians we should be mature enough that we come into worship with expectancy and we don't need to be stirred up. Holy worship should result in holy obedience, because worship without obedience is little more than a superficial opiate numbing us against the pressures and pains of life.

In this edition of Leadership Night, Mel explains the hallmarks of a high-capacity leader. A high-capacity leader is someone who understands the vision. This kind of person advances the vision because they take ownership through their own expectations rather than from expectations set upon them by a manager. A high-capacity performer will draw the best out of his peers and knows how to win in a healthy way. Mel presents these descriptions and more to help you identify high-capacity leaders. Q&A follows.

In the first message of our series called The Temple, Pastor Mel gives a thorough explanation of what the Temple was, its layout, functions, and rules. He explains how the structure of the Temple was used to denote the holiness of God and our restricted access to God before mediation through Jesus Christ. Preaching through Ephesians 2, Mel goes into detail about how the gospel of Jesus Christ reconciles us to God. Access demands intimacy, and through Jesus Christ we have intimacy with God much like the high priest had in the innermost sanctums of the Temple.

In the final installment of our Jesus Over Everything series, Pastor Jake Schwertfeger from Overland Missions preaches on the sufficiency of Jesus. He presents a thesis that one of the greatest deceptions plaguing the body of Christ today is that we are begging God to receive what Jesus has already freely given and established in us. His message is one of encouragement to embrace what Jesus has already given us and trust Him to work in the most challenging areas of our lives.

In the third message of our series Jesus Over Everything, Pastor Mel explains what it looks like when the Church is in submission to Jesus. When we put Jesus over everything as a church, conflict decreases, health increases, and God's kingdom advances. Mel teaches why the key to healthy relationships is to love sacrificially and resolve conflict biblically. He points out how church health is measured by generosity, salvations, and baptisms. The sermon finishes by highlighting how Jesus was a church planter, Paul was a church planter, the apostles were church planters, and the Great Commission calls on us to be church planters.

In the second message of our series Jesus Over Everything, Pastor Stef preaches a verse-by-verse expository sermon on Colossians 3:1-4. She recalls some of the lessons Mel unpacked from the previous two chapters, and then makes the case for why Jesus should be Lord of our lives. Stef presents a practical dichotomy of what an earthly minded person might say and think over against what a heavenly minded person might say and think. She also explains why the greatest barrier between ourselves and God is not our sin but is our focus. Sin is a barrier, yes, but fundamentally our relationship with God is predicated on our aim. Idolatry is a sin with denotes aim because to have an idol means to allot worshipful focus on someone or something other than Jesus.

"Jesus Over Everything" is our theme as a church for this year. In the first message of our series Jesus Over Everything, Pastor Mel makes the biblical case for the supremacy of Christ. He argues that Jesus is supreme over our lives and over all creation even if we don't accept that He is. Through exposition of Colossians chapters 1 and 2, Mel teaches how Christ is the head of the Church, is the ruler of all kingdoms and all authority, and how Jesus alone is entirely sufficient for us. This section of Colossians also contains the famous warning against being captured by empty human philosophies crafted apart from Jesus, because in Jesus resides all the fullness of God.

In this episode of Leadership Night, Mel walks us through a handful of important lessons we've learned from one of history's great leaders - Martin Luther King Jr. He talks about the wisdom of taking action even when fear makes inaction seem rather tempting. A good leader is a leader committed to both intellectual and character growth. Effective leadership involves reading and learning on a daily basis. Mel fields questions in the second half of the episode, and one of the questions is whether ignorance or wickedness leads to worse leadership decisions. Check out the Back40 Session Mel references here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4PVWYgMWfE