Summit Spokane | Church

Sunday March 21, 2021

In Ruth chapter 3 we see Ruth, Naomi and Boaz facing situations where they have to take action in faith. We see God honoring the risks they took that were done in faith.

A Message from Pastor, Roger Osborne.

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Sunday March 14, 2021

Through Ruth chapter 2 we are reminded that the directional orientation of our faith is forward.

Sunday March 7, 2021

The book of Ruth is infused with the grand story of God’s redemption. The life and narrative of Ruth points us to the person of Jesus. A Worship Experience and Message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe.

Sunday February 28, 2021

We’re taught from a young age, you’ve got to be strong, you’re in control of your destiny, you are in control of your future. You’ve got to be strong for your family. You’ve got to be strong in crisis. You’re in control of your finances. But Jesus looks at strength and control differently. Jesus proposes a different way of living of you and I. 

A message from Executive Pastor, Nick Kimmet. 

Sunday February 21, 2020

Facetime with God immediately sets us apart from everybody else on earth - it’s that personal. When we live and walk in His presence, we think, act, respond, and communicate differently than the culture around us. 

A message from Care Pastor, Rory Lewellyn.

Sunday, February 14 2021

A team teaching setting with Pastor Grant and 4 of our Pastoral Residents: Christian, Maddie, Sierra, and Adam. They all share about what God been teaching them about the greatest commandment. 

Sunday February 7, 2021

In his masterclass on prayer, Jesus reminds us that we are in the grip of grace, the hands of a good and loving God. Temptation is real and we have a real enemy attempting to lead us away from the God who loves us.

A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe.

Sunday January 31, 2021

The truth of the present and on-going forgiveness in our own lives is both nourishment for our soul, and the fuel to live out being a forgiver of other image bearers of God.

A message from Adult Discipleship Pastor, Seth Battista. 

Sunday January 24, 2021

In this section of Jesus’ masterclass on prayer, he helps us confront our neediness and demonstrates how it can be a vehicle to deepen our dependence on God.  

A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe.

Sunday January 17, 2020

Sunday January 10, 2021

Examining the opening address and first request Jesus lays out in the Lord's Prayer reminds us that prayer is simple; an encounter and conversation with God. But the depth in these few words will be something we grow to know for all eternity. A message by Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe.

Sunday January 3, 2021

Prayer is a significant and limitless spiritual practice for followers of Jesus. The Lord's Prayer is a picture of how to pray, not what to pray. A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe.

Sunday December 27, 2020

Church at Home. A word of encouragement from a panel of Summit Pastors, looking back at this last year personally and collectively in the life of our church.

Teaching from Grant Bruscoe, Kelsey Weller, Rory Lewellyn, Jon Pemberton.

Thursday December 24, 2020

A special Christmas Eve message taught by Lead Pastor Grant Bruscoe, concluding our Advent series, "Behold the Wonder."

Sunday December 20, 2020

The Joy of the Lord is not just a possibility, but a promise from God, through the Gospel. But have you made room in your heart for joy?

A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe.

Sunday December 13, 2020

This week we wait in prayerful hope, anchored in the person of Jesus, for a move of the power of God, to bring reconciliation and restoration to our souls. That we may experience true peace, found only in the presence of God, and then walk in that freedom, bringing flourishing to all people and all of creation.

A message from Adult Discipleship Pastor, Seth Battista.

Sunday December 6, 2020

May we stand in awe and wonder of God as we anticipate celebrating the arrival of Jesus and the true hope we have in Him. A Message from Lead Pastor Grant Bruscoe. 

Sunday November 29, 2020

Compassion says, "I see you as you are and choose to care about you!" Jesus was moved with compassion in His interactions with people. But before we can be compassionate, we must accept Christ's compassion in our own lives.

A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe.

Sunday November 22, 2020

As followers of Jesus, living on-mission for God doesn't mean going to church events, it looks like living for God in a way that permeates every facet of our lives. A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe.

Sunday November 15, 2020

When we investment in community, we experience the life that flows from it. Vision and direction for Community Groups at Summit. A Worship Experience and Message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe.

Sunday November 8, 2020

What is the purpose of church? Why does the church exist? According to the Bible, followers of Jesus exist for God, for each other, and for the world. Pastor Jon describes how these three aspects of church must work together for the church to fulfill God’s purposes.  

A message from Cheney Campus Pastor, Jon Pemberton.

Sunday November 1, 2020

Our purpose, our reason for existence, is to love God and love people. The path of this purpose is abiding in Jesus. A message from Adult Discipleship Pastor, Seth Battista. 

Sunday October 25, 2020

Christ-followers together are "the church." As the church we want to live empowered lives that love and honor God, while carrying the mission of God forward. A Message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe.

Sunday October 18, 2020

A question that we’ve all wrestled with, and will bump into multiple times throughout of lives is, "Who am I?" A Message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe.

Sunday October 11, 2020

In this message, we are looking at the Parable of the Tenants in Matthew 25:14-30, and examining what it looks like to live a faith-filled life in the midst of uncertainty and fear. A message from Summit Students Pastor, Kelsey Weller. 

Sunday October 4, 2020

As a community of Jesus followers wandering is something we must learn to navigate. The church is a place of restoration! And how we go about wooing the wanderer is a process we cannot neglect. 

A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe.

Sunday September 27, 2020

There are multiple ways life-giving, authentic community expresses itself among those who are practicing the way of Jesus. 

Sunday September 20, 2020

How to respond in the face of suffering and how this helps shape our spiritual formation. A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe.

Sunday September 13, 2020

A message from Adult Discipleship Pastor, Seth Battista. A warning, encouragement and message of hope regarding our wealth, power, position and possessions.

Sunday September 6, 2020

A message by Summit Students Pastor, Kelsey Weller, in the series "James, Faith & Works." Through the study of James 4:11-17, we look at how our actions and responses reveal how we see ourselves in comparison to others. 

Sunday August 30, 2020

A message by Adult Discipleship Pastor, Seth Battista, in the series "James, Faith & Works." We are a double minded people whose war against God is met by a flood of grace. God draws us to repentance and salvation through the consistent application of his favor. 

Sunday August 23, 2020

A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe. Wisdom has two distinctions, worldly wisdom, and Godly wisdom. This message  contrasts these two types of wisdom. 

A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe, from James 3:1-12 on how the words we speak must merge with our faith. 

Sunday August 9, 2020

A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe. In the text, the writer James is saying a faith that does not draw out action is useless, ineffective, and dead. How we live must reflect Jesus in our actions.   

Sunday August 2, 2020

A message from Cheney Campus Pastor, Jon Pemberton. We see in the end of James chapter 1, that God has special concern for the fatherless, the widow, and the foreigner. Who is God leading you to serve?

Sunday July, 26 2020

A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe. Like bugs being drawn to a zapper, we are drawn away and are tempted. How do we deal with them? How do we respond? 

Sunday July 19, 2020

The first message in the series, "James, Faith & Works." This series is a study of the letter written by James, instructing the church how we are to live as Christ-followers. 

Sunday July 12, 2020

The concluding message join our series, "The Wilderness," taught by Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe. Attentiveness and obedience to the teachings of Jesus are foundational to a well-built life. 

Sunday July 5, 2020

A message co-taught by Worship Pastor, Nathan Lewellyn, and Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe. This message is about what it looks like to worship God in the midst of a wilderness. 

Sunday June 28, 2020

A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe. King David had the opportunity to manipulate and control his circumstances but he chose to trust God and be obedient. 

Sunday June 21, 2020

A message from Summit Students Pastor, Kelsey Weller. We study the story of 3 people: Abram, Sarai, and Hagar. God made promises to each of them, these promises came about not how they expected them to but exactly how God intended.   

Sunday June 14, 2020

A message from Summit Cheney Campus Pastor, Jon Pemberton. Jesus himself was led by the Spirit of God while he was in a desert wilderness and God provided for him. In the same way, God provides for us in any wilderness we face. 

Sunday June 7, 2020

A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe. We see in the book of Mark how Peter is reconciled in relationship with Jesus and how this reconciliation applies directly to us, today.

Sunday May 31, 2020

A message from Adult Discipleship Pastor, Seth Battista. We study Elijah's encounter with God, how God presents Himself to Elijah in a way we would't expect. 

Sunday May 24, 2020

A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe. There are many voices always screaming at us for our attention. As the people of God, we have everything we need for every season, in Him.

Sunday May 17, 2020

A message from Summit Students Pastor, Kelsey Weller. This message is a study of the Prophet Hosea's instruction and correction of the people of Israel and what we can learn from it today.

Sunday May 10, 2020

A message from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe. We are all, every day, being formed and re-formed. We are transformed into new people when we allow our minds to be made new. 

Sunday May 3, 2020

A message from Cheney Campus Pastor, Jon Pemberton, on the life and trails of Job. The wilderness provides great opportunity for God to shape us, if we allow it.  

From Sunday, April 26 2020

A message taught by Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe. We see over and over in the scriptures how God always provides for His people, even in the wilderness. 

From Sunday, April 19 2020

The first message in the series, "The Wilderness," from Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe. The wilderness is a time of revelation, formation, and preparation. God never wastes the wilderness. 

From Sunday, April 12 2020

A message taught by Lead Pastor, Grant Bruscoe, on Easter Sunday. The risen Jesus redirects our lament toward hope and our doubt toward faith.

From Sunday, April 5 2020

A message from Cheney Campus Pastor, Jon Pemberton, taught separately from a series. What are your expectations of Jesus?

March 29, 2020

The concluding message from Pastor Kelsey Weller in the "Counterfeit gods" series. 

March 22, 2020

A message from Pastor Grant Bruscoe in the "Counterfeit gods, series. 

A message from Grant Bruscoe. Luke 16:13-15 “No servant can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” 

A message from Grant Bruscoe. We are pre-conditioned to look to sex, dating, and romance to give us a sense of meaning and value, but they are simply are not capable of fulfilling those desires in a lasting or real way.

A message from Grant Bruscoe. This series is about identifying the counterfeit gods in our lives… and replacing them with a supreme desire to know God and love Him.

A message from Grant Bruscoe concluding the series on the book of John. "These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name."

A message from Summit Executive Pastor, Nick Kimmet. The resurrection of Jesus means a lot more to our lives than a ticket to heaven after we die on earth.

A message from Grant Bruscoe from John chapter 19. The cross of Jesus, is the our only hope. 

A message from Andre Lewis. Andre is a member of the Summit Teaching Team, and is the Executive Director of Youth For Christ in Spokane. The message from February 2nd continues on in our series, "So That You May Believe."

A message from Seth Battista from John chapter 17. Jesus isn’t simply praying for more knowledge for the disciples, he’s praying that they live lives continually surrendered to the plan and will of the Father.

A message from Grant Bruscoe. In Christ, we stand victorious. We will be impacted, but not crushed by the hardships we face. 

A message from Grant Bruscoe. The peace of Jesus is far beyond what the world can offer. The Holy Spirit makes it available to the troubled hearts of the disciples in John 15, and to ours.

John 15

Pastor Grant encourages us to be intentional with our lives as we spend time in the presence of God, growing in our spiritual formation as we engage the mission of God.

John 13:1-17

Life with Jesus is a process, and that process focuses far more on who we are becoming than what we are doing.

A special Christmas message from Grant Bruscoe. We look at the expectation, arrival, and aftermath of the birth of Jesus, the Savior of the world. 

A message from Grant Bruscoe. Jesus sees the heartache of humanity brought on by death and is moved in compassion.

A message from Kyle Veach, Lead Pastor of View Church in Snohomish, Washington. "John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

A message from Jon Pemberton. True discipleship begins with an acknowledgment of who Jesus is - God in the flesh - and everything else flows out of that truth.

A message from Grant Bruscoe. Jesus turned to the religious leaders and said, "Let whoever is without sin throw the first stone."

A message from Grant Bruscoe. Jesus feeds 5,000+ people with 1 small meal. He then says, "You chase me down because you liked the physical bread I gave you, but I have more for you than that."

A message by Seth Battista. Because of Jesus, we are people whose past is redeemed, whose future is certain and whose present is lived in the very presence of God. 

A message from Grant Bruscoe from John chapter 4 & 5. Jesus makes it clear that the mission of God is about both spiritual and physical restoration. 

A message from Grant Bruscoe out of John chapter 4. Jesus stepped into relationship with people; rich, outcast, sick, unpopular, and he offered them all living water.  

A message by Grant Bruscoe. We look at Jesus' conversations with Nicodemus about being born again. 

Before and after our message by Brad Williams, we take some time in service to install Grant Bruscoe as the new Lead Pastor of Summit as well as praying over, sending, and thanking Brad Williams for his nine plus years as Lead Pastor of Summit. 

A message from Kelsey Weller. The ministry and life of John the Baptist was never to draw attention to himself, but draw our eyes and hearts to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

The book of John was written, "... so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

A message by Brad Williams teaching out of Philippians 4 on rejoicing in the Lord in all things and not being anxious about anything.

A message from Brad Williams. Anxiety is like a weight or heaviness that we carry with us, and God wants to deliver us from this.

A message from Brad Williams, out of Galatians chapter 2. We look at the difference between living in religion and living in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus.

A study on Mark chapter 4, the parable of the sower, the 4 different types of soil, and how we all can be all of them.

This Psalm is built around the idea that what we focus our attention on, shapes and defines what we long for.

A look at the Biblical meaning and usage of the term, saint, and how it applies to our lives today.

Every time we choose anything other than the love of Jesus, we choose to be a heretic.

Questioning is a natural part of being human, and because of that, it's also a natural part of faith.

Listen along as Brad Williams shares a teaching on Micah 6:8 and his time spent in Africa with the organization, World Vision.

The entire narrative arch of the Bible is communicating to us that God can be trusted and will always make a way.

The Bible has the ability to change individual lives, and even entire nations, as we see in the life of King Josiah. 

Deep down our hearts are longing for something this life is unable to fully deliver, everlasting joy, that can only come from one source, Jesus.

1 John 4:19 "We love because he first loved us."

Listen along to the series conclusion of, Meaningless, a study of the Old Testament book, Ecclesiastes. 

The circumstances of you life, are not your life.

A perspective that is eternal in nature, will profoundly impact how you live in the present.

What if we could surrender the need to control every outcome in our lives? Jesus asks us to simply, follow Him, and He will do the rest.

This week we’re in Ecclesiastes 5, where we see how the writer puts our relationship with God in perspective. How God is near to us. 

In the original Hebrew language there are 3 different words for our English word, hand. We study these words and their meanings in context with Ecclesiastes chapter 4.

There is a time and season for everything under the sun. The hope is that we can trust God in the midst of life's constant changes.

Right in the middle of this seemingly meaningless life, we can find joy, peace and purpose. Listen along to the first message in the series, "Meaningless."

Reconciliation means making things right again, or bringing things back to the way they should be.

The grave couldn't hold Jesus down, and there is no physical or figurative grave that can hold us down either. Listen along to this Easter message at the Fox Theater.

Why was Jesus killed? He lived an inspiring life and talked about life change, love, and peace. So why did he go from peaceful teacher, to death row prisoner? 

My circumstances do not change who Jesus is, Jesus changes me through my circumstances.

When it comes to this simple statement, “Jesus is Lord,” what we believe and live out about this truth, will define every piece of our lives.

We dive into the original meaning of the word, slave, a person who had been purchased. And we also look at scripture saying when we are in Christ we are no longer owned by sin, but by Jesus.

Guest Speaker, Pastor Curt Harlow joins us at Summit sharing a message on the key elements necessary to build a great home.

Today we come the most common term used in our culture to identify those who follow Jesus, "Christian." But do we really know what it means? And do we understand it in a way that is actually identity-forming? 

1 Corinthians 6:19–20

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Today we study a word that we see used in the New Testament, and one that we frequent use today. The word: Believer. What does this mean and how does it impact our identity? 

God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 

We study the many uses in the Bible of the phrase referring to Christians as, "Followers of the Way," what this meant during Jesus' time and what it means today.

Disciples were chosen by the Teacher to follow and learn from them, only the best of the best received this calling. Jesus extends this invitation to every person, He wants all of us to follow Him.

May we discover who we are, not because of what we’ve done, what family we're from, or what we've achieved, but because who God says we are.

God’s not into emotional experiences so that you can bounce from one high to the next, He's into transformation. Listen along to the series conclusion of "Prayer & Fasting."

What is it about not eating that brings us closer to God? Food is one of our most basic needs. When our most basic needs are continually met and satisfied we don’t always have a desperation for God.

We can experience our Creator at a deeper level, feel His wind flow through us, and see Him at work in greater ways through 2 spiritual practices: prayer & fasting.

A study on Psalm 23, looking at what it means for the Lord to be our Shepherd.

Listen along to our special Christmas Eve message. Jesus is the light of the world, coming into our darkness to bring grace and love.

God isn't just with us on the mountaintop experiences of life, but He is with us in the valleys too. We get to know and trust God in the valleys.

The gospels are full of mini-Advents, mini arrivals of Jesus showing us that God is indeed with us, even when we are in a crowd. Some are you asking right now, "Does He see me?"

In order to answer this question, we need to unpack the three words that comprise this name of Jesus, “Immanuel,” God with us. This word becomes a blessing, an announcement, and a statement.

Listen along to the series conclusion of our study on the book of Daniel, being an influential minority in our context today. 

What is your faith worth to you? Is it worth a job? A romantic relationship? Family connections? Is it worth your life? Daniel is an example to us of a man who followed God no matter the cost.

Influence diminishes through pride, but increases through humility. When pride goes up, influence goes down. But when humility goes up, so does influence. Daniel chapter 4

There's a question the king asks Daniel and his friends. It’s a powerful one because it’s the one that we ask when we are find ourselves caught in the tension and the struggle. Who will save you?

Daniel's influence increased in the foreign culture he was in, because he built his life on the right foundation.

A study of Daniel chapter one, verses eight through twenty one. Daniel and his companions had favor in the eyes of God and the rulers over them because they did not compromise their beliefs.

The first message in our series on the Old Testament book of Daniel. We open this book to be recalibrated by the story of God, who He is, and who we are.

Listen along to the third and final week in our series about Forgiveness. In this message, we look at pursuing forgiveness with and for others.

There’s this word we use when someone has issues they can’t get over, we call it baggage. Jesus tells a story in the book of Matthew of one of his followers who had baggage he didn’t know what to do with.

Today we are kicking off a new three-week series on Forgiveness, inspired by a story in Mark chapter 2.

Peter was the guy who denied ever knowing Jesus. He was one of Jesus' guys, his friend. Peter knew Jesus, but did he really? Peter knew the rabbi Jesus. Peter knew the political messiah Jesus.
Peter knew the healer Jesus, the friend of sinners Jesus. The water into wine Jesus. But Peter didn’t know Savior Jesus, King Jesus, resurrected Jesus.

But what happened when he did? When he came to know Jesus personally? Not just knowing about Jesus but truly knowing him.

We could ask the question of everyone, "How has your summer been?" And we all would probably have similar stories to tell, "It was so busy!" Or, "Some really unexpected things happened that I was not planning for." We all do this — we have these packed, insane summers, and we look up, and suddenly it’s fall. And then of course, we have a packed fall, we look up, and suddenly it’s Christmas, and we do it again, and again, and again as the cycle repeats itself. We do this so often, we often miss everything that's going on right before our eyes.
Today, we're going to slow down and “Look Up.”

Today we walk through a story in the life of Jesus, a story that might confront some of your ideas about Jesus. And if you’re walking through circumstances that are particularly complicated, this story is for you. If you’re in a position where you’ve got more questions than answers, this story has very real application for you. If you find yourself on the fence of Christianity, like you believe with your heart, but you’re struggling to really lean into what you believe and let it make a difference, then this story is for you.

This story is about Jesus.
But it’s a story about Jesus that may challenge how you think about Jesus and what it means to be one of his followers.

As we read the New Testament, we see a theme of transformation... of growth and change, woven throughout. A foundational truth of following Jesus, according to the Bible, is that we can’t truly follow Him and remain the same, we continually transform by Christ's presence in us. But, how do we really do that every day? How do we really go after and continue to change?

Listen along to this stand alone message from one of Summit's Associate Pastors, Seth Battista.

The Kingdom is not a far off possibility that we enter into when we've breathed our last breath, but it is an ever present reality. The Lord's Prayer says, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." This is how we are to pray. We are invited into being active participants in the Kingdom of God advancing on Earth.

Today's message title can be taken several different ways. It can be a response to when someone says or does something that's out of line or rude, "Who do you think you are?" But the meaning for us in today's message is more literal, it's an identity question, "WHO do you think you are?" 

Summit Teaching Team member, Jon Pemberton, teaches from John 9, the story of Jesus healing the blind man. There are many difficult things that go on in our world, we have a hard time understanding why bad and unfair things happen. The blind man didn't have all the answers, but what he did know was once he was blind but after an encounter with Jesus, he could then see. When we encounter Jesus, He opens our eyes to truly see.

"To follow Jesus is to invite controversy in our lives. We need the compassion of Jesus and we need to embrace the controversy."

Listen along to the series conclusion of Cruciformity: The Spirituality of the Cross. This series has been dedicated to learning how to live the spirituality of Jesus. We're looked at how we understand ourselves, how we live toward God, how we live toward others, and how we live in culture and creation.

We’ve been talking about how the cross changes how we understand our identity in how we live toward God, others, and how we live toward creation. We're focusing on the last item in that list today, creation.
How do we live toward and live IN creation? Which, for many people brings up a secondary question, that deserves to be answered.

What does Cruciformity have to do with creation? Join us as we unpack these questions today.

What does the way of Jesus, the spirituality of Jesus, have to do with creation; this planet on which we live?

Do we shape the culture, or does the culture shape us? 

The direction, the flow, of culture right now is a flow toward division. Divisiveness. Do you pick up on that?
We live in a divided country, divided by labels and preferences and walks of life. But Jesus and the Bible teach unity. But how can we get there? How can we flip the culture script of division to unity and peace? Join us as we open the Bible to Matthew and Corinthians to reset our thinking and become Cruciformed in peace to one another.

Today we look at Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. We're digging deeper so as to not miss the whole story of the gospel in this encounter. Because this text demonstrates that when Jesus reconciles us to God, he also reconciles across every single divide that exists horizontally. Our gender differences, economic differences, our racial, our ethnic, and cultural differences.

When we get reconciled to God, we get reconciled to each other. And both of these things happen in this text. And anything less than this is not the whole gospel.

Today we look at one of the biggest questions we ask as Christ-followers, “How do I know God’s will for my life?” This question arises as we make big life decisions. Decisions about school, work, dating, marriage, where to live, what to drive, the list goes on and on. What’s God’s will for me? How do we find that out? Listen along as we open the Bible and talk about this big life question.

In this series we've been talking about how as followers of Jesus our lives take the shape of the cross. The cross is a symbol of submission and sacrifice - and it is the pattern, the path, the model, for how those who choose to follow Jesus live their lives. We've talked about the difference between believing and faith, serving God, serving others, hungering for God and now this week, we are going to talk about how we hear God.

We have been talking about Cruciformed faith, and today that shifts a bit. Today we’ll understand that , seeking in this Cruciformed life, leads to finding, and that leads to a hunger for God. What does it really look like for us to hunger for God and how do we know if this hunger we have is REAL?

There is a death that must happen in order for us to live. A death to our identity and a death to the labels we take on and allow society to place on us. Today we look at how we as Christ-followers can live a surrendered, Cruciformed life toward God, with Jesus being our example. When we desire to live a Cruciformed life, we desire to live a life patterned after the cross and how Jesus lived.

An authentic experience of Jesus requires that we enter into his often ignored and disregarded teaching to: deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and lay down our lives for his sake and others. The New Testament is filled with with references to ‘die’ to ourselves and submit our lives to the leadership of Jesus. But the story doesn't end in death, Jesus' story didn't end in death and neither does ours. We die to ourselves to be born into a new life in Christ.

“I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Galatians 2:20

In today's message, Grant Bruscoe teaches on living a transformed life when it comes to how we view our accomplishments and achievements. There's nothing wrong with performing well or being successful, but when we allow our achievements and even our downfalls to define who we are, we've greatly missed it.

Cruciformity: is crucifixion and conformity combined. It means a life that is patterned after the crucifixion.

In this series we will be studying what it means to biblically live a full and happy life. We will never know who we truly are or how to live until we learn how to find our identity in what Jesus did on the cross and what that means to us every day.

God is a loving Father who initiates an outpouring of grace on us, and we receive this grace through Jesus. No one is excluded from that!

North Pacific Foursquare District Supervisor, Gabe Barreiro, was with us Sunday teaching a compelling message on God's healing and plan for our lives through His grace.

A revival isn't something you do or go to, it's something that you experience, it's something that happens to you. But how do we experience this revival? In order for there to be a revival, for something to be re-vived and brought back to life... something has to die.

Today, Easter Sunday we look back at the most significant death and revival of all time. But this story doesn't end in death, give the Savior 3 days. Revival! He is risen! In the resurrection, we find new life.

Andre Lewis is the Director of Youth for Christ in Spokane. He and his family have attended Summit for several years and we are excited to have him preach again at Summit. Listen along to this message where Andre opens the Bible to teach about our inheritance as Christ-followers and what implications that should have on our daily lives everywhere we go.

Ultimately, all of the images and illustrations used in the Song of Songs are used to describe one thing. It’s this one thing, this one idea, that will wrap this series up. The poems in this book all capture the joy, the complexity, the intensity, of this thing that we call love. We dive into the deeper meanings of different types of love and go back to the greatest and first love.

Song of Solomon speaks to and inspires us regarding our most significant relationships. There are things like attentiveness to the needs of the other; appreciation of beauty, fidelity. There are certainly, principles embedded within the Song of Solomon which can be extracted and applied to our earthly relationships. But the Song of Solomon goes deeper than the superficial exchange between two passionate lovers. The song of Solomon unpacks the story behind the story. God's love story to us.

Even in the darkest nights and toughest times, our lover can be found.

There will be days that feel like nights... dark, cold, and lonely. There will be times when you’re just out of sorts, moments when you feel like you’re ‘missing’ someone, or something but you’re not sure who or what. And in those moments there is one who says, “If you seek ME, you’ll find me.”

Listen along to "Seek and you will Find" in our current teaching series on the Song of Solomon

The wisdom of being encouraged to not awaken love before it’s time is not implying that we should to dismiss our sexuality. This is not repression, the rejection and denial of feelings in shame rather this is
waiting to awaken love, acknowledges the inherent God given value in the act of sex. Listen along to Sunday's Message taught by Pastor Grant Bruscoe.

Why do a series at church on the book of Song of Solomon? It is precisely because of our society's obsession with romance, love and sexuality, that indicates something must be said. Something is off. Not in that we are sexual - God made us that way. Our inordinate obsession and deep crisis of unrealized expectations seems to indicate that we’re missing something. We’ve wandered into the woods, and we can’t seem to find our way out. We bring this longing and looking for love back to God and to the Song of Solomon.

As we open this Old Testament book of the Bible, we will start with going under the surface to ask, "What's really going on here?" There has always been a lot of confusion and misunderstanding surrounding this book, why it's in the Bible and how/if we can apply the text, to name a few things. We're diving into this series and the Bible to understand this book and how it can reshape our understanding of it and sacred sexuality as God intended it for us all.

This is where Acts chapter 28 opens, it’s like a scene from Survivor. They’re on the beach, Paul builds a fire, he gets bitten by a snake but doesn’t die. The whole beginning of Acts 28 is crazy. And of course, the people on the island are impacted by the gospel. Just like every where else the gospel went, even here, and even when it’s on accident, people are blown away. Listen along to our series conclusion.

In Acts 27 the ship that Paul is traveling on encounters a storm. A physical, literal, storm. But what we see in him; what we learn from him; in the middle of this storm, has direct application to the storms that we face, and we face very real storms. We have money storms, and relationship storms, marriage storms,
parenting storms, business storms, emotional storms. Storms are a very real part of a very real life. So how do we handle them? How do we navigate them?

Listen along to "The Storms of Life" message taught from Acts chapter 27.

What if, in life’s unexpected, unwanted, most challenging, and most confusing circumstances, we had a faith that completely redefined our emotions, or our responses, or even our perspective? What if our faith could leak into those times when we lose the game. When we didn’t get the promotion, when people don’t stay loyal, when things didn’t work out. A faith like that would be game changing. Which is why Paul’s story, and Paul’s experience, of putting his faith to work, even in the most confusing of circumstances, is so important for us to consider.
Listen along as we study Acts chapters 22-26.

Sometimes the tension builds in our lives, doesn't it? In circumstances and in instances, the pressure builds and stress compounds. And then, there’s that moment; that moment when, “Ok. Everything is going to be alright. And you breathe.” That’s what we hope today’s message accomplishes for you. And in the breathing, to know it comes from confidence in Christ and today we look at where this confidence come from.

The Ephesian Church worked very hard to walk in obedience to God; however, their work took first place in their lives. The moment our working and doing become void of our loving Jesus and one another, our work will all be in vain. In John 14 Jesus says, "Remain in my love... love each other in the same way as I have loved you." Listen along as Generations Pastor Grant Bruscoe teaches out of Acts 20 on abiding in Christ.

One of the reasons we're studying the book of Acts is that this book shows us real and authentic Christianity; and that is something we desperately need. Maybe you’re wondering, “What does a random story about a random group of people rioting have to do with me?” It's because people were making their own gods, idols. But how can something a mere mortal has made give us care, love, and protection. The answer is, it can't. This is where the gospel came in and exploded the crutch of false idols in people's lives then and now.

We light a candle, to remind ourselves on the darkest day of the year, that in the darkest moments of life, regardless of where they fall, we have a Savior who enters in that darkness and joins us, redeems us, and renews us.

This Christmas celebration is an announcement in the dark and cold of winter, that light and life are growing again and it is a symbol of what God can, and will do, in you.

We now come to Acts chapter 18 where the gospel continues to spread and be preached in new places to Jews and Gentiles alike. A new player comes on to the scene, Apollos, a Jew who spoke and taught accurately the things of Jesus but still himself needed to grow in his knowledge and understanding of the way of God. We can learn the things of Jesus from the most eloquent speakers, but until we dive into the Word of God ourselves, we will only go so deep in our personal spiritual maturity.

Athens, it was the intellectual and cultural capital of the world. Paul went to reason in the marketplaces and synagogues there, to bring the gospel to the people there. He comes up against two very distinct people groups with very resolved beliefs and accepted social structures. But Paul was bringing them something new, a REAL God, to them, an unknown God. Listen along as Brad teaches through the rest of Acts 17.

In Acts we have seen the beginnings of the church as they spread across the known world with new ones springing up in cities everywhere. We come to Acts chapter 17 where 2 of the apostles come to 2 cities, Berea and Thessalonica. "... the Jews there were more noble than the rest." Listen along to hear the unpacking of why they were more noble due to their great faith, submission, and humility.

The Romans didn’t care about this ‘Jesus’ being another God that people worshipped. People everywhere worshipped all sorts of gods. Why would one more matter? But the Jews understand something in the language that the Romans do not. And this small nuance, this little detail, makes all the difference in the world. When Paul presents Jesus as the Christ, as the Messiah, he’s presenting him as KING. That’s what the Messiah is. That’s who the Christ is. THE KING of all kings. So he’s spreading this subversive message: “There is another king, regardless of who may be ruling this land at any given time, and THAT king is Jesus.”

Looking at our text for the day out of Acts 16 has really solidified for Brad personally, WHY he is a Christian. We look at 3 different stories of people and how they encountered the power and grace of Jesus in their own individual way. The Gospel showed them a life that was more meaningful than the one they were living.

One of the often overlooked aspects of the gospel’s increased popularity in the world was WHO the people became, the people who started following Jesus. It turns out that there was something about their lives - something about WHO they were, that drew people in. How can we daily become individuals and a community like this? It all starts with the gospel

There are several different types of blindness: physical, spiritual, mental, but all of them mean having a lack of sight. Jesus came to heal every part of us, including our ability to see ourselves and others as He does. Pastor Keith Jenkins from Beaverton Oregon taught an engaging and challenging message on the power of a touch of God healing all our forms of blindness.

From the beginning of this series we've been studying the book of Acts to learn the history and beginnings of the first church so we might duplicate it today. What if we lived like they did? Not just behaviorally, but with the sense of the gospel of Jesus Christ resting on our shoulders to carry to the world. In today's message Brad focuses on the culture then and the culture of our world today and how we can be a part of a story so much greater than the empty one our culture is telling us. Emptiness breeds emptiness, the gospel produces life change.

We all know we need change in areas of our lives, but we just can't seem to change ourselves. We can't seem to make ourselves into the person we want to be. The amazing thing is, not matter what we've done and will do, we will never "out-sin" God's grace. "Everyone who believes is freed from everything." Now that's a transformational message. Listen along to this message about 3 Dimensions of the Gospel of Jesus.

If you wanted to strip the power from the church, quite possibly the best way to do that would be to distract us from the unseen aspects of what it means to be a Christian. "Everything we see is not everything that is." The Holy Spirit of God is among us and is our guide in life, but there is also an active enemy of our souls who is trying to be that distraction to us. But Jesus has victory through the cross and that enemy will never prevail. Listen along to this challenging message and equip yourself for the daily battle against our enemy, through the power of Christ.

President and CEO of World Vision is with us today talking specifically about the famine in East Africa how children specifically are endangered in this crisis. We as Christians are the ones called to be Jesus' hands and feet as He intended us to help change our world. Children in war-torn and famine stricken countries may just be someone else's kids, but their God's beloved children and when we choose to love the least of these in Jesus' name, we are loving Him.

It's a normal thing to question how any why the Bible is relevant to us today and the lives and stories we live out. Should it be a part of our story? Today in our study on the book of Acts we come to chapter 12 and unexpected circumstances. We all encounter unexpected circumstances in our lives; how do we respond to those circumstances? When we respond to unexpected circumstances with unexpected faith, we experience unexpected outcomes.

Understanding the Bible can be a lot like uncovering a masterpiece work of art. Peeling back layers of paint to show the true and vibrant colors for what they are. In this process and in this series on Acts, the gospel comes to the city of Antioch, for the first time in the recorded writings of the Bible the gospel is being brought to a city as a whole. Listen along to the foundational history in this account, the strength of the power of the gospel, and the heartbreak of famine and hunger and what our role as Christ-followers is in our world today.

Sometimes the fulfillment of what God places in our heart to do may take years, be full of ups and downs, peaks and valleys, and wins and loses to get there. The beauty and simplicity of this journey to God's plan for our lives is that we can trust Him, His promises, and His character. We aren't abandoned to interpret our circumstances, like a mysterious plan, God will unfold each step of the way.

Healings, the dead being raised to life, culture-shifts, norms being challenged and changed... these are some of the themes Grant teaches on today from our series on the early church in the book of Acts. Jesus has plans for our lives, He greatly desires for us to fully engage in His mission for the world. Are we fully open to the good works God has prepared for each of us to walk in? Be encouraged and challenged today as you listen along to, "The Aftermath."

"Conversion..." can be one of those seemingly scary buzz words we hear around Christian circles from time to time. But it actually has great depth, meaning, and significance. Especially in our study on the book of Acts. In this message we come to the event where Saul has a life changing encounter with Jesus and his whole life turns around. Brad teaches out of Acts chapter 9 and defines 3 key ingredients of conversion, specifically influenced by Saul's encounter with Jesus.

Last week we saw how impacted a man from Ethiopia was, by the message of the gospel. A beautiful picture of what happens when we get it "right." But what happens if we get it wrong? Is it possible to get it wrong? Is it possible to hear the gospel, but not get the gospel?
Can we not understand the gospel, and if so, what happens when we do? That is the question we’re asking, and answering today.

The reason we’re asking that is because of a very interesting story found in Acts chapter 8.
Right smack in the middle of what we looked at last week, Philip telling people about Jesus in Samaria; Philip baptizing the Ethiopian Eunuch; then there’s THIS story. And the there’s a very specific reason that Luke includes this. We start reading in Acts chapter 8 verse 9.

On Baptism Sunday at Summit we come to Acts chapter 8 of our series on the origins of the early Christian church. At this point people were scattered due to great persecution of the church. But that can't and won't ever stop the advancing of the gospel or the power of God. Listen along as this message correlates directly with the celebration of water baptisms taking place at Summit today.

"To follow Christ is to embrace rejection ... but such rejection leads to the expansion of the Gospel and the Kingdom of God." Andre Lewis is teaching today out of Acts chapter 6 & 7. We focus in on the story of Stephen, why he was persecuted for the cause of the Gospel and what it means when we are persecuted today.

The book of Acts is about the early church growing, but more than that, it is telling about the influence and expansion of the gospel. Today's message and study of scripture is a great one that points to how to navigate challenging situations. And more than that, Brad teaches on how navigating those situations well shapes us both individually, as a community of believers, and what it means for those looking on from a distance.

In chapters 4-7 of Acts we see the early church going through lots of opposition, specifically from the Jewish leaders. Their specific response to a situation in Acts chapter 5 is truly amazing and courageous. Are we capable of such boldness and courage in our daily lives? From the mundane to the situations that call for courage, how will we respond? Who will be the example we follow in these life situations? We know of one, the most courageous person to ever live... Jesus.

We open up the Bible to study the end of Acts chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5; the complex and crazy story of Ananias and his wife Sapphira. They made a huge decision and it had huge implications on their mortality. But we can learn from their mistakes, we must learn from their mistakes. Will we choose to living in hypocrisy in the choices we make and how people view us? Or will we strive to live transparent lives in the grace of Jesus Christ? When we live in openness and honesty, we experience the gospel, and we open the door for others to join in.

Andre Lewis continues our study of the book of Acts and the early church. We see how God answer their prayer as the early church is faced with opposition as they strive to live as a contrast community. They don’t say, God please give us freedom from this government, they say please give us boldness. "And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness." Acts 4:31

Spokane Youth For Christ Director and member of the Summit Teaching Team - Andre Lewis brings an encouraging and challenging message... "When God is the most impressive, powerful and stable thing in your entire life you will be bold."

“And suddenly, there was a sound from heaven…” Acts 2:2 The word sound, is the word ‘echos,’ it’s where we get our word echo. And what is an echo? There is a sound, then there are the reverberations of that sound off of other objects. It’s a repetition of something first heard somewhere else. This sound, from heaven, is like an echo. What we are hearing is an echo of heaven. There are reverberations of this event. And, this sound, this echos, is described in a particular way “…a sound like a mighty rushing wind…” Acts 2:2 Listen along as we continue on in our series in the book of Acts and study chapter 4 today.

Jon Pemberton kicks off Acts chapter 3 in our current series and teaches the well known story of the lame beggar who was healed by Peter and John. "... And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all." It's a valuable question to ask of ourselves, "Am I spiritually lame?" Is there something missing from the depth of how we pray, read scripture, and are refreshed in the presence of the Lord? Listen along and be encouraged by this message in our series studying the early Christian church.

Sometimes it can be easy to look back to the past, to better times, to something other than what's happening now or what's to come. But life isn't moving backward, we're constantly going on ahead into new days and times. Who are we becoming and how are we becoming that? Today we open the Bible to study Acts 2:41-47 and see amazing formation in the early church community and how they became who they were as a group of Christians. We can apply the same principles they displayed back then, and Brad lays out 4 distinct points that can help us practically live that out. Let's all ask the question, "Who am I becoming? And who are we as the body of Christ?" 

Week 3 of our series on Acts, we arrive at Peter's sermon at Pentecost in chapter 2. In his message, Peter did not sugar coat anything, he spoke with confidence and clarity the message of Jesus and the Gospel. It was a message that requires action, "because of what we've heard, now what do we do about it?" This is the question Brad approaches today as well. The message of Jesus and the forgiveness He offers everyone is a message that cuts to the heart, that goes deep down to the core of who we are and should motivate us all to change. Change isn't easy, but it's the Holy Spirit that does the work in and through us when we take the step to turn around and be made new.

The early church in the book of Acts had none of the things we think are so essential for success. We can easily think success comes in and through having a cool church building, money, political standing, social status... and yet the first Christians in Acts had none of that, none. And the church exploded! Why? The answer centers on the fulfillment of the promise Jesus made his disciples in Acts 1:8. Listen along as we hear about this promise and dive in to Acts chapter 2 and discover more about what made the early church ignite and grow.

There are things we save for special occasions, a suit, fine china, etc. We are breaking out the fine china and diving into a series that Brad has been saving for this specific season in our church. The Gospels, the biographies of Jesus, come to and end and leave us asking a question, "Now what?" And this question can be answered in the book of Acts. Listen along to this first message in our new series, Acts: The Origin of Who We Are.

Jesus replied, "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again." When we're thirsty we look for a drink to satisfy us, we turn to all kinds of drinks to quench our thirst but only one drink truly gives the refreshment our body needs. We also have a thirst to satisfy our intangible desires. We turn to all kinds of vices to satisfy our humanly desires and wants, but Jesus says to us all, "drink from the living water I give and you will never thirst for anything more." Listen along as Student Ministries Pastor, Grant Bruscoe, shares a passionate message out of the New Testament book of John.

Associate Pastor, Nick Kimmet, teaches today on the idea and importance of living generously. Of the 38 parables Jesus teaches in the New Testament, 16 of them are about money, resources, and generosity. This message isn't about asking for money or making people feel guilty, but rather is about looking at what it means to live generously in every aspect of our lives. The Bible is full of stories about generosity and Nick focuses in on today is the story of the little boy offering his bread and fish, just simply giving what he had with an open heart.

Today we study chapter 4 of the book of Luke. This is truly the inauguration of Jesus' public ministry. He's just been baptized, he spent 40 days in the wilderness, and now he steps into the synagogue in Nazareth. There is so much significance to the setting of this event, where it takes place, and what Jesus teaches. Listen along to this event in the life of Jesus as we see God's hand working in the midst of it and see what implications it has for us today.

The Bible talks in multiple places about what is to come for mankind at the end of all things. The book of life being opened and God on His throne judging each person by their actions on earth. Guest Speaker Jon Pemberton teaches today out of Revelation 20, Exodus 32, and Daniel 7 as we look at what the Bible has to say about where our sins and choices in life get us when this life is over. "...on that day, when according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." Romans 2:16

The word "art" can mean several different things. It can refer to a painting, or it can mean mastering a behavior or skill. Guest Speaker Andre Lewis uses art as a play on words in his message this Sunday at Summit, in using several art pieces to illustrate mastering the art of living in light of Jesus' resurrection. We open the Bible to John chapter 20 in this Sunday after Easter to practically look at how we as Christ followers can truly live in light of Jesus dying on the cross and raising from the dead.

What is the story our lives are telling? Today we are here, in this room because of one story. A story that reaches into the future and touches our story, a story that changes everything. There is a script we've been told to follow with our lives... just get enough money, enough power, have enough sex, and you'll be happy. The problem is, these things never live up to their promises. Ask anyone who has obtained these things, and chances are they'll tell you that they have found themselves asking, "Is this all there is?" There is a different story, one that is true and fulfills the deepest longings and voids we as humans all have. Instead of numbing ourselves, distracting ourselves, and ignoring those longings, the story of Easter invites us to tune in and consider that there is another story being told that we can be a part of. 

We're in week 3 of our series looking at a conversation Jesus had with the Jewish Pharisees. The Pharisees were focused on behavior, on outward appearances and gestures and thought if these things were done perfectly, God would be pleased. Jesus came and flipped the tables on these guys, saying, Woe to you, you're put together on the outside but are completely dead inside. Listen along to the continued conversation as Jesus changes the perspective... it's our heart not our outward appearance that God cares about.

In today's message we continue to look at Jesus' critique of religion in Matthew 23. Jesus is calling out the Pharisees in 2 particular ways, he is saying "woe to you scribes and Pharisees..." In the end Jesus' goal is to open relationship between people and God, show us what God is like, and to eradicate religious trappings. Listen along to hear Jesus' 2 woes to the Pharisees in week #2 of our series "The Nonreligious Gospel."

Today we’re beginning a new series, as we prepare for Easter in a just a few weeks. We are unpacking the Nonreligious Gospel of Jesus, as it’s presented through his conversation with the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23. If you’re considering Christianity, it clarifies some of what may be your greatest concerns regarding Christianity. And yet, this is important for those who are trying to follow Jesus sincerely. The same thing Jesus was hoping to accomplish in this followers, if accomplished in you, will open new springs of life and excitement about what it means to follow him. 

A significant part of our struggle is dealing with the pain of the past. Cynicism and regret are sure indicators that we are living apart from healing, forgiveness, and grace. In this final week we discuss how we connect with our story, and discover how in community, 'everything belongs.'

There is nothing more practical in the valley than hope. Without it, loss and pain are unbearable. Human beings are hope-shaped creatures. The way we live is shaped by what we believe about the future. In this fifth message, Brad talks about what we do believe and how we are going to allow it to shape us in the days ahead.

The chief end of man is to glorify God, which sounds noble when the sun is out and the birds are singing. But amidst the weight of suffering and loss, the weight of that statement can be suffocating. Yet, this is where the rubber of our theology meets the road, and where we discover the one thing we can do when everything else seems out of our control. We will consider what it looks like when we glorify God in the valleys.

This is the third week of our current series, "Valleys: Walking with God Through Pain & Suffering." There's no recipe for how to walk through difficult and painful situations in life. But, the Bible does lay out ways in which we can deal with these situations when they do come. As a Christian it can be easy to feel like it's not ok to be upset with the tough situations that come our way in life, like we have to just grin and bear it and "it'll all be ok in the end." Associate Pastor Nick Kimmet teaches on a Biblical perspective of a different point of view: that it is in fact "Ok to Not Be Ok" when the storms of life come. Listen along and be encouraged as we discuss some tough topics in this message at Summit.

When you come across pain and suffering it is better to ask "Who" rather than "Why".

Being human means we suffer. People have always suffered, and have always struggled with it's existence and understanding it. A great many attempts have been made to solve this great human problem. Today, many of our responses are born out of a variety of means by which we attempt to resolve the tension. In this first week we look at the reality, complexity, and perspectives of suffering.

We've all lost something before, right? And the feeling of relief and sheer joy when it's found again is indescribable. Lost sheep, coins, and sons are just a few of the topics of lost things Jon Pemberton teaches on today in this Message. Jesus is the ultimate "finder," the ultimate Father looking toward the horizon with a diligent gaze, waiting to run toward us when we make our way back to Him.

We have come to the end of the book of Leviticus and our series at Summit. 27 chapters dissected, studied, and taken to heart to help shape how we see God and walk in relationship with Him. Listen and watch along to this interactive look at the series and final chapter of Leviticus.

Last week we studied the first half of Leviticus 26, and this week we finish off the chapter. The first half looks at what happens when we walk with God and the second half looks at what happens when we walk contrary to Him. God doesn't tell us to do what He says because He's a control freak who doesn't want us to have any fun, He does so because He knows that when we choose anything other than Him it always will lead to death in the end. A death of our souls that separates us from Him. He wants us to choose Him and His ways, God gives us a choice to choose Him or to go our own way. What will you choose?

Walking is a pretty normal thing, right? We all walk every day, we see other people walking, and/or experience it to some extent. God had freed the people of Israel from the Egyptians so they could live and walk with Him in a new land and new way of life. In chapter 26 of Leviticus God delivers what will happen if His children DO listen to Him and follow His commands and decrees, and what will happen if they don't. Walking is so normal, that God wanted relationship between us and Him to be as constant and necessary as walking. 
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high." Leviticus 26:13

We gather for this special service to participate and celebrate the most celebrated holiday in the world. No other holiday in the world is celebrated or recognized as Christmas. Christmas stands second to none. But why? Why is the day, this day that signifies a birthday, so significant? Why this story and why this birthday? Jesus never told people to celebrate his birthday, and yet that's the original meaning behind the day of Christmas. Join us in our special Christmas Eve Message at Summit, "Why THIS day?"

Happy New Year from Summit!
Ironically, the very first chapter we studied on the first Sunday in 2017 has to do with getting a fresh start. Jon Pemberton teaches on Leviticus chapter 25 and the Israelite celebration known as The Year of Jubilee which is like a "super Sabbath," where debts are forgiven, land is reallocated, and there is freedom for the oppressed. Take out some paper and a pen as Jon outlines 4 main takeaways and lots of supportive scripture as we study this chapter as we near the end of this series at Summit.

Leviticus 24 has to do with the intentional care of a special item that was inside the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. It has to do with the Jewish lamp stand that held very unique significance and had a special job. This symbol, this lamp stand, holds all sorts of symbolism and Brad Williams unpacks this symbolism and the symbolism of the wick and the oil of the lamp stand in this Message titled - "Shine like Stars" as we near the end of the book of Leviticus.

We finish Leviticus chapter 23 in this Message, a chapter of the Bible that has great symbolism in its themes. The focus of this section of Scripture is on significant feasts the Jews celebrated every year. These feasts were and still do mean so much more than just sitting down to eat some good food; God is laying out a plan for His people. Take out a pen and paper as you listen along to this message and Brad lays out history, timelines, and Scripture in this week's Message.

What does rhythm do? It guides us, keeps us on track, it helps us know where we are headed. Chapter 23 of Leviticus speaks to the rhythms of life. We look at God instructing His people to rest, Sabbath, and what that means and why they needed to do it. We look at how serious God is about resting, taking a break from our work to be renewed in Him. Listen along to this message title appropriately, "Take a Seat."

In the Old Testament, priests were set apart from everyone else. They had to look and dress and behave in very specific ways, even down to the length of their hair. Why though? Why did God care so much about their physical appearance? We also see that God cannot have anything in His presence that is imperfect. We study Leviticus 21 & 22 in this message where Brad teaches on why the priests appearance had to be so perfect, and why because of Jesus' sacrifice, we no longer have to strive in the same way. Jesus took on the dirty job, He is perfect in our imperfection, so now we may all draw near to God. 

Listen along as Brad covers Leviticus 17-20 today. We've seen so far in the book of Leviticus, that God is laying out for the people of Israel, instructions for how to live. The chapters we study today cover issues of morality. We see how the Israelites were living before God intervened on these issues in their lives, and we see the greater picture of why God was giving them these instructions.

In the Old Testament, priests had to offer animal sacrifices for the people to erase their sins. There were very specific steps and regulations for how and when the priests would do this. In this we see that there has to be a death in order for sins to be erased, something has to die. But when Jesus came to earth, the sacrifice of animals as the payment was replaced by Jesus' death, once for all. Atonement, sacrifice, sin offering, the altar, forgiveness, these are all topics Student Ministries Pastor Grant Bruscoe covers in today's message on Atonement from Leviticus chapter 16.

This week we get to several chapters of Leviticus that are, to put it simply, very odd. But don't let that deter you from listening and letting the Lord speak to you through this section of the Bible. Our God does everything on purpose, for a purpose. Our God makes the invaluable, valuable. Our God is the ultimate giver of life. Listen along to this message about life and death, covering Leviticus chapters 12-15.

The book of Leviticus was given to the Israelites shortly after they had been released from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. They hadn't taken care of themselves or provided for themselves in so many years and God knew they needed special instructions for how to live, prepare food, and things specifically not to do in order for them to be preserved as a people. In the end, Leviticus 11 isn't about dietary restrictions, it's about freedom. Listen along to a message on Leviticus 11 in our current series. 

In weeks past we've talked about a fire, a fire that was instructed to never go out and to be kept burning at all times. This fire symbolized that God's presence was there, and it was the priest's job to tend this fire and keep it going. We come to Leviticus 10 in today's message and dive into a part of the story that is difficult to explain yet vital to this book. We look at God's greatness and His character and how He wants us to keep the fire stoked, to keep it alive and burning in our own lives.

Leviticus 9

Today we get into Leviticus chapter 8 and look at the duties of the priests in greater detail. This chapter gets a little weird, but stick with it, because Brad brings everything full circle and we see the greater meaning behind all the specific steps and odd processes of the priests. In the end, Brad brings it home with an intriguing question. Listen along to our 5th message in this series on Leviticus.  

Who knows the mad dash that occurs when you find out you have quests coming over and the house is nowhere near presentable? Half eaten cereal bowls are tossed in a closet, toys are shoved under the sofa, and a candle is lit to make the house smell clean and cozy. We hide what we don't want people to see; the dirt, the mess, the broken. We also do this with God, don't we? Associate Pastor, Nick Kimmet, teaches on this first Sunday in October, covering 3 chapters in Leviticus in our current series: "Leviticus: God in Search of Us."

Moses, the author of the book of Leviticus, filled its pages with words and descriptions of a God unlike any people had ever known before. And we see that God is forming a people unlike any that had ever existed before either. We review chapter 1 and 2, to get us to chapter 3 and a beautiful connection of these 3 books together.

Today we're going to talk about, grain. But don't judge the seemingly dull subject matter just yet... grain and how it was prepared and served as a offering back in the Old Testament is significant. We see over and over how God is a God of intentionality, everything He does and instructs us to do has a purpose. Brad continues on in Leviticus chapter 2 as we see how this book is relevant still today. 

Some of the most obscure, often misquoted verses in scripture are pulled from the pages of Leviticus. It is a strange, foreign, and blood-filled book of the Bible. But what if this seemingly irrelevant text is actually revolutionary and alive still today? This is a story about a God who is searching for us. Brad opens up this new series, to Leviticus chapter 1. Listen along to this fresh view of the book of Leviticus. 

Jon Pemberton preaches a message out of Luke, the well known story of Jesus teaching on a journey to the town of Emmaus. Here Jesus is teaching directly out of the Old Testament of things the prophets have said would occur concerning himself. Listen along as Jon also connects Isaiah 53 in this powerful message.

Lead Pastor Brad Williams shares a short message on the importance and significance of of being water baptized. As a Christian we look to Jesus as our example in all things and just as He was baptized in water He calls us to do the same. 

It's a very normal thing for people to focus a lot of our attention on our past and on our future... our past because we regret decisions made and circumstances we wish we could change, and our future because of it's possibilities and what could happen in days or years to come. But the danger in focusing only on those to instances of life is that we can really miss out on living in the moments of life that are happening right now.

We live in an ever-increasingly self-centered culture, social media, the internet, tv, ads, they're all showing and telling that this life is all about "me, me, me" all about the self. Focusing on yourself is supposed to make you happy and fulfilled, right? However, studies are proving otherwise. Focusing on yourself isn't a new thing though, flip back to Genesis in the Bible and we'll see self-centeredness has always been a downfall in human nature. Listen along as Lead Pastor Brad Williams teaches how we can live differently and by modeling our lives after Jesus, we can go from focusing on the "selfie" to living as a contrast community.

"All I do is work, work, work, work, work..." Sometimes it's easy to get stuck in the daily grind and feel like these words are the mantra of our life. However, work is of God, He Himself even worked. God also rested after His work was done and God desires both for His children, to work for him and to rest in Him. Listen to this challenging and encouraging message from Student Ministries Pastor Grant Bruscoe on the Glorious Endeavor that is our work here on this earth.

Grace changes everything, including community. 

We're looking at all the ways the grace of God, expressed in the Gospel, changes every dynamic of life. This week we look at how God's grace changes our hearts. There is something called, "motive," deep in our hearts, that drives each of us. What's yours? Brad teaches a message on 3 things that drive us, 3 ways to live, taught out of Luke 15.

Today we're starting a new series, "Grace Changes Everything," where we will see how God's grace working through us can change anything in our world, in ourselves, and in others. Nick Kimmet opens the series focusing on Spokane, our city, its people, and how grace can change how we view it. God has placed us in this world to make a difference wherever we are, that's his plan for Christ-followers. And when we consider and walk in a mindset of being a world changer in our city, anything can happen for God's kingdom.

Northwest Foursquare District Supervisor Dave Veach taught a challenging message on the power of vulnerability in overcoming shame in our lives. Shame can break us and keep us chained in past mistakes and choices, shame keeps us from being real with people. We were created as relational beings, and we can't be fully authentic and have genuine relationships without being vulnerable, as intimidating as it can be to let people in on the real you. In the end there is one remedy to shame and that is the person of Jesus Christ. 

We conclude our series on the book of Ephesians and have made it all the way through this letter from the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus. This letter ends on an epic topic of arming yourself for battle, not a battle against a people group with weapons of steel, but against the enemy of our souls - Satan - and unseen weapons he uses against us. Paul lists out all the armor of God that we need to clothe ourselves with every day in order to stand firm in this fight. Are you ready? Listen along to this encouraging message, "We are Strong," as we wrap up the series.

In most places of the world, the battle between spiritual good and spiritual evil is not an usual concept, but to many people, this can be a foreign concept. The Bible clearly talks about a very real enemy Christians fight against every day; and in our studied text of Ephesians 6:10-13, it talks more about who and what we fight against. But the strength that Christians have in Jesus is real and stronger than anything in the world when we put on the armor of God in our everyday battles.

Summit is excited to welcome Casey Travis to preach in our current teaching series on the book of Ephesians. Casey is no stranger to preaching as he spent several years as a Youth Pastor at a church in Idaho. Listen along as he shares a bit of his personal story, his family's journey in ministry, and what being in "full time ministry" really means and what it looks like. We continue on in our study of Ephesians in chapter 5 and 6 in this message titled, "We are Ministers." 

Life moments, experiences, and the very purpose of our lives changes when we come to say, "Yes Lord, I will follow you." And most of the time in the life of a Christian, Jesus calls us into places where we don't necessarily want to go, but will we still follow him there? The text we study today in Ephesians 5 talks about the idea of us being light in the world, following Jesus, and our true identity in Christ.

In the chapter of Ephesians being studies today in our Message, the Apostle Paul outlines a list of ethical practices and norms. Is he saying that that's what Christianity is? Just a way to live your life doing and not doing certain things? Paul does something critical here in Ephesians 4:25 that has to be pointed out in order to understand what he’s saying. He uses a distinct word, "therefore." Therefore alludes to something that preceded these words. Listen along as we look at these scriptures and how Brad teaches on this idea of taking off our old selves and becoming someone new.  

Why did Jesus come to earth? To teach? To live as an example? Or, to give us a second chance? One of the greatest things about Christianity is that it gives us the resources to change. To change who we are and make it stick, to become who we are meant to be instead of who we currently are on our own. But how do we change? Today we dive into a well known and well loved section of Ephesians and see how Paul show us how we satisfy and settle and the way we can overcome that and become our true selves in Christ Jesus.

The stage was set nicely last week in part 1 of a 2 partmessage, to the topic of spiritual gifts in our study of Ephesians.Jon Pemberton continues the conversation and teaches on what aChristian's life and what the church looks like when Christiansfunction in and out of their God given gifting looks like. TheBible says these gifts aren't FOR us, they're given to build up thebody of Christ. Listen along to this inspiring and passionatemessage on spiritual gifts.

Lead Pastor Brad Williams continues on in our series and study of the New Testament book of Ephesians and we look at the section of chapter 4 that talks about different gifts the Spirit of God graces people with. When Jesus came to earth he embodied God fully, bringing with Him the Spirit of God. When Jesus ascended into Heaven His Spirit stayed here on earth in believers, this was for a purpose, for Christians to do great works in Jesus' name in the power of God's Spirit. Listen along to Part 1 of this message, "We are Gifted."

As we move into chapter 4 of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul takes the idea that we should be rooted and grounded in love, one step further and explains the WHY. Listen along to this challenging, inspiring, and in-depth look at a very well known section of scripture as Brad Williams teaches on walking worthy of the calling of our lives and the beautiful meaning of this phrase.

Life can take us down. We can so easily get swallowed up by circumstances and situations... opinions, things at work, friendships, our own habits and behaviors, all of these things can swamp us. But, it doesn't have to be this way. We have this other "instead-ness" for us that is powerful and revealing for each of us individually and as a church. Listen along to this message out of Ephesians 3:14-21 in our series "Who We Are Instead."

Everyone loves new things ... puppies, clothes, a car, it's fun and exciting! In Ephesians, Paul says, we have something new! We dive deeper into Ephesians 2, we see who we once were and now the "new" that we can become in Christ. Brad unpacks 3 main points of what the Apostle Paul is teaching in this chapter, 3 things that teach us what happens when WE become a New Humanity.

Listen along to this special Easter message "From Death to Life." On the surface death seems dark and bleak, but Easter celebrates Jesus' resurrection from the dead and the new life He freely offers everyone in Him. 
Happy Easter from Summit! He is Risen!

Guest Speaker Jon Pemberton works as a Foster Family licenser in Spokane and he and his family have attended Summit for many years. Jon continues on in our Ephesians series and dives into a well known section of the Bible in chapter 2. We look at the reality of who we were before Jesus and who we are after we receive his grace through faith. The reality of humanity's brokenness apart from Jesus is real and is staggering, BUT this chapter of scripture is layered with hope in the gift of new life that Jesus freely offers all.

Imagine driving up a mountain, it's pouring down rain and the clouds are thick and covering every space of sky. Then, you break through the clouds to the top of the mountain and there's nothing but clear sky and sun as far as the eye can see. You may be disappointed at the poor weather, then you get a new view, you see past a point at what was and now what is. The Christian life is much like this illustration. Listen along as Brad continues on in our current series and helps us see "... A New View."

In this New Testament book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul was addressing an issue with the people of Ephesus very similar to a issue people still struggle with today… identity. Week 2 of this series, Brad dives further into this idea of who we are IN CHRIST as Christ followers. Ephesians is a letter written by a man who had a crazy messed up past, but his story was redeemed, he now identified as being IN CHRIST and shows us how we too can have our past, present, and future transformed through Jesus. Listen along to week 2 of this series: Who We Are Instead.

Labels have unbelievable power, don't they? Isn't it amazing how labels, either ones we put on ourselves, or from others, can shape who we think we are? How we see ourselves doesn't just get us through a conversation, for many of us, it shapes our attitudes and can define our future. Brad kicks off this new series talking about the topic of personal identity and takes un into a study of the book of Ephesians in this first message of "Who We are Instead."

Nehemiah, an ordinary man who heard of a far off city that was in great need, was burdened by this need and decided he was the one to stand up, step in, and make a difference. He heard God's call to be the one to bring change, and in the end he helped change a nation and has lessens for us to learn today through his story centuries later. Listen along to how Brad wraps up this story and who in the end is the "Ultimate Nehemiah."

Executive Pastor Nick Kimmet continues on in our series in Nehemiah, looking at chapter 5 on the topic of Generosity. You'd assume the message is about being generous with your money, but Nick takes us a different direction. Nehemiah 5:16, he says,”Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall” in a city he didn't even know or from an outside perspective shouldn't have mattered to him. Listen along to this message in our series From Rubble to Return.

This week in chapter 4, we see Nehemiah face something that we will all face when we behind to step out and do something for others, on behalf of God, opposition. It seems like there are times when we start do something for God, when we start to step out and live beyond ourselves, that we face opposition. Someone else talks about opposition in the Bible, Jesus, and He gives us an answer that Nehemiah didn’t have. Follow along in the story of Nehemiah this week at Summit.

A message from Summit Executive Pastor, Nick Kimmet. The resurrection of Jesus means a lot more to our lives than a ticket to heaven after we die on earth.

We live in the most ‘me-centered’ culture of all time. And let’s be honest, it’s not working. People aren’t happier, the kids aren’t better off, mom and dad aren’t getting along better. It turns out that self-centered self-improvement doesn’t actually make us better versions of our selves, and our faith grows when we start living beyond ourselves. The third question we look at in this week's message is, Where do I begin? Where and how do we begin to move beyond self-centered living? Nehemiah 3 answers this question so well for us as we continue on in this series.

A smashed lunchbox, a soccer ball to the face, and a cupbearer asking a king for time off so he can go rebuild a city he's never even seen before. These are a few of the funny and compelling stories Brad tells in this message in our current series. Nehemiah was burdened for people he didn't even know, a city he had never even visited, and he chose to move beyond his own comfort to make a difference in someone else's life. He chose to do something about what was breaking his heart, and the question we are left with is, "What are we going to do about what breaks our heart in the world today?"

We are going to take the next few weeks and look at a story in the Old Testament about a guy named Nehemiah. Nehemiah was a very ordinary Jewish man, who did an extraordinary thing. It was so extraordinary that the Jewish people decided to include his story in the Jewish Scriptures. This is a story just jammed full of leadership lessons, life lessons, and good advice. But, more than anything, this is a story that looks surprisingly a lot like OUR story. Because this is a story about the return. This is a story about rising from the rubble.

Brad brings this series to a close with a look at Matthew 8 and 9 and what it is to choose the kingdom of heaven. The way of Jesus is all about us choosing a way of thinking and a way of living that is unfamiliar and unknown. Following Jesus means we are willing to take an unfamiliar path and pursue unfamiliar outcomes. Following Jesus means we are going out on a limb. Following Jesus means that there will be choices, and we may make choices that go against the grain, and all of this, all of this requires something Brad focuses on in this message.

Lead Pastor Brad Williams teaches on this first Sunday of 2016, on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. This series has been about what it means to experience God's kingdom here on earth as it is in Heaven, and this idea centers on the concept of being of being a disciple of Jesus and by being his apprentice, having your entire life centered around Him. It's a transformation our a Christian's life from the inside out.

In our study of Matthew Jesus has been welcoming, encouraging, inspiring, and now draws a hard line. Jesus now tells us we have to choose, choose who we're going to be, what we're going to believe, and we have to choose to live that way, period. We all learn from someone or something, anyone or anything could potentially be teaching us something. Who are you letting teach and influence you? But Jesus doesn't draw this line and leave you there to flounder, He says, "Come to me..."

Pastor Brad Williams continues on in the On Earth as it is in Heaven series and teaches out of the book of Matthew on the topic of Judgement, how and when we all participate in it and what the Bible says about it. 

Our study through the book of Matthew brings us to the section where we talk about everyone's favorite topic of conversation... money. Associate Pastor Nick Kimmet disarms a lot of uncomfortable ideals connected to money. Things that matter to us truly do matter to God, he understands when finances are tight and we worry there's not enough money in the bank to make it through the week. In this passage of Matthew 6, Jesus is talking about our "treasure," storing it up in things that are everlasting, and not things that come and go in life. That is what the Lord wants for us, and heart that isn't tied to our money but instead in things that last.

So, we've been talking about Jesus for a while now in this series, go figure. In studying the Lord's prayer over the course of this series, we've talked a lot about the idea of heaven invading earth. The idea of "on earth as it is in heaven" in my house as it is in heaven, in Spokane as it is in heaven, in my workplace as it is in heaven. The next section of The Lord's Prayer that we come to in this series is a hard phrase to swallow, the one about forgiveness. In keeping with studying Jesus, his life and teachings to us, forgiveness is a natural topic to try and understand better from a heavenly perspective. Listen in as Brad unpacks the art of forgiving, and forgiveness is always rooted in what God has done for us. 

A city-wide power outage doesn't stop Summit Spokane from holding church services. Generator power, hot coffee, and people are all that's needed to put together a special and memorable Sunday service that will be remembered for years to come. Jesus truly meets us where we are, in the middle of our mess. And maybe after this past week, that promise has been made that much more real in our lives. Whether it's in the midst of the aftermath of a natural disaster, as we pick up the pieces of fallen trees and possibly destruction in our homes and neighborhoods, or the deeper personal battles we fight every day in work, relationships, and everything else in-between. Jesus meets us in the midst of our chaos. 

All of us, at some level, wrestle with the idea of whether or not we are living a life of significance. Every human has an innate sense of wanting their life to matter and make a difference. However, we live in a world that is obsessed with success, everything you do and are in life is measured by this one word. But, success is a poor substitute for this thing we call significance, because success is all about the self. Brad teaches through Matthew 5:21-48 and the distinction Jesus sets between cultural norms in life and a new set of standards for living, Jesus norms. We aren't significant because of anything we've done, we are significant because Jesus says we are.

There is an unimaginable crisis in our world today, the fact that there are children in our cities, counties, and our very own neighborhoods who are in danger in the homes where they live. What is our responsibility as Christ followers in this case? In any situation we should always turn to the Bible for guidance, and what does the scripture say about orphans? Repeated in multiple places in the Bible it says it is our responsibility to care for orphans, all of us. Guest Speaker and Social Worker Jon Pemberton brings a passionate, convicting, and inspiring message about how we as Christ followers can and need to step up to care for, provide for, and love orphans and children in need. Are you being challenged and convicted to foster or adopt a child? Contact the staff at Summit Church (509)443-8079 for how you can take the next step in helping end this crisis in our city, county, and neighborhoods of Spokane Washington. 

In this series so far, we've learned a lot about Jesus, and now we are taking the discussion to a new level of learning how to live "in" Him. God has come near to us in the person of Jesus Christ, God came to humanity, and how are we to respond to that? Lead Pastor Brad Williams opens up the discussion of unseeing the Bible as a book of rules and our human tendency to do and be "good," and helps us see the freedom that comes from looking beyond behavior, to instead a total heart change. It takes a conversion of the heart, not adherence to rules to experiencing the nearness God and His Kingdom.

Last week's message was a pre-cursor to this week's message. This week we looked at the Beatitudes which is also the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes can actually be quite confusing as each verse seems contradictory to what we'd put together of a list of what it looks like to be "blessed." The world tells us that you're blessed when you're self reliant, self confident wealthy, and healthy, but when we're able to realize that we are all poor and broken - that is when we can see Jesus and our great need for Him. The Beatitudes clarify Jesus' message: The free availability of God's rule is through reliance on Jesus himself, and Jesus only.

There are times in the Bible where you can read and re-read something and it just doesn't make sense. The dots just don't connect. In this series we've been talking about how these kinds of moments when we struggle to make sense of our faith, impact our ability to live out our faith. One of the greatest challenges to our faith growing, is our lack of ability to connect these dots. There's a very real difference between having faith, and blindly ignoring things we don't understand. The hope in this series is that we will make better sense of Jesus and his mission, because the more we understand, the more tangible and practical our faith becomes. We move on this week to Matthew 5 and the famous beatitudes.

Christians have come to gain a negative reputation in the world today. But, before we draw the conclusion that what Christians need to do is chill out and quit being so intense, let's propose that just the opposite is true. The issue here is that we're not intense enough, intense in the matter of discipleship, of following Jesus with our whole lives and living that out. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Jesus was a teacher, a rabbi, and he had a reputation. His words were compelling and his message was transforming. Jesus didn't come that we'd have a good opinion of him, he came so that we would follow him. 

As we walk through the book of Matthew in this series, we see John the Baptist and Jesus both announcing that something big is about to happen. The world is changing, there's a new way of understanding and living life. They both use this phrase, "The Kingdom of God is at hand." We dive into Matthew 4 and look at how Jesus was tempted by the devil, how he handled that interaction, and what we can learn from in it our own interactions with the devil.

We dive into Matthew 3 where the story of the life of Jesus takes an interesting turn. Another individual enters the scene and takes the lime light in this biography. We look at kind of an intimidating word: Repent. In this message; however, Brad helps us change our way of thinking about this word, about Jesus' life, and in the end about our lives too.

This Sunday began a new teaching series on the book of Matthew, looking at the life, words, and purpose of Jesus. Why? Because we need an awakening, we need a resurrection of our own faith. We need to test whether or not we've allowed our faith to become polluted with a religiosity that it was never intended to have. And most of all, we need to re-discover the source of our own life, to have purpose and meaning restored.

We all have tough things going on in our lives, whether it's a difficult situation happing to us personally, a friend, or family member. Sickness, financial struggles, marital issues, rebellious children, and the list of struggles goes on and on. Jesus, the Son of God saw all kinds of impossible situations in his time on earth; Executive Pastor Nick Kimmet opens the Bible and teaches out of the book of John to see what Jesus does in the midst of a trying life situation and we see how we can learn from him to respond the same in our own lives.

Student Ministries Pastor Grant Bruscoe teaches on Matthew 26 and the last days of Jesus' life here on earth. The prayer we focus on in this message is Jesus talking with God His Father as Jesus faces death. Jesus is the perfect example for us to follow in how to pray, He withdrew from His followers often to pray - that shows us to pick a place, get away, and pray often. Grant leads us though the passion Jesus has for prayer, and how vital it is in our every day lives.

Praying can be an intimidating thing, what is the right thing to say? How long do I pray for? What if I get distracted and my thoughts wander? Jesus gave us the perfect example to follow for how to prayin Matthew 6. Pastor Nick Kimmet focuses on "The Lord's Prayer" in the first week of the 3 week series Red Letter Prayers.

Jon Pemberton and his family have attended Summit for 3 years and we were honored to have him preach at Summit this weekend. Jon is a husband and father of 3 girls who recently received his Masters degree in Theology. Jon preached out of Exodus and gave us a passionate and historical look at the glory, majesty, and mystery of the name of God.

Sunday August 9th Summit celebrates with dozens of people who have decided to take the step of following Jesus by being water baptized. Nick Kimmet shares an encouraging message about what choosing to follow Jesus looks like, through telling the story of Matthew the tax collector who gives up his entire way of life to follow Jesus.

"It's not about how you start, but about how you finish." We all know that cliched phrase, and find that it proves true in life when we look at what really matters in the end. Associate Pastor Nick Kimmet wraps up the Without Love series and focuses on the end of 1 Corinthians 13 on the one thing that the Apostle Paul says matters most in the end above all else.

Northwest Foursquare District Supervisor Dave Veach joined Summit this Sunday preaching in our Without Love series. Listen as Dave shares the Biblical perspective of how love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. That's a tall order, but Jesus is the answer to how we can live this out daily when we are centered around Christ. It was an honor and privilege to have Dave Veach encouraging us in our current series.

Here's a reality, we as Christians are constantly under pressure to be "better" Christians, but sometimes this can become only behavioral modification rather than an inner working of the heart. We can try and try to be nicer and seem more loving, but that truly can only take us so far. Pastor Nick Kimmet teaches on a message about how we can truly become more loving people towards others, when we are ourselves truly loved and known by Jesus.

Author Bob Goff in his book Love Does wrote, "Love is never stationary. In the end, love doesn't just keep thinking about it or planning for it. Simply put: Love Does." The Apostle Paul wrote what looks like to us sometimes, as a to-do and to-don't list, when it comes to what love is and isn't. But Jesus wants to use his word to change our perspective and definition of what love is, and if we want to re-learn what it is, all we have to do is look at Jesus as our example. Grant Bruscoe preaches a message in week 3 of our series, Without Love.

The Apostle Paul started a church in the city of Corinth, the book of 1 Corinthians in the Bible was a letter written to the people of that church, people Paul cared for and knew well. Corinth was the equivalent of modern day New York City, a fast paced city full of very driven, ambitious, and talented people. Yet Paul had a very important message to share with the church, despite their talent, success, knowledge, and faith, they did not have love guiding their actions or hearts. Student Ministries Pastor Grant Bruscoe teaches on 2 themes from 1 Corinthians, "Love is Patient and Kind," and that without love we have, are, and gain nothing.

Associate Pastor Nick Kimmet kicks off our series Without Love looking over 1 Corinthians 13. We look at the Biblical perspective of what God describes love as and the greatest person who showed love - Jesus. The prophet Hosea had a crazy command from the Lord, Nick opens this story to a greater perspective that shows Christ's sacrificial love for the world and love really is.

We as church are the living, breathing, body of Christ in our community and world. Christianity was never intended to be an individual sport, it wasn't meant to be just "you and Jesus." We all have the opportunity to BE the church, to BE Jesus everywhere we go, to ask, "What am I doing with my life?" and join Jesus in his plan for our lives. Brad teaches a Stand Alone message challenging and inspiring us to get caught up in the mission of Jesus, to be captivated by what Jesus is doing in our world and how he wants us to be a part of it with him.

Brad wraps up the Right on the Money series with a message titled, "Game Plan." Without a game plan for our money, it's easy to spend it all on: me, me, me, me, then maybe God and others with whatever may be left. The prophet Malachi warned the people of Israel that they were robbing God, closing off their hearts and their finances to the Lord. Listen to how Brad wraps up this series; in the end, Jesus doesn't want our money, he's not a greedy God who needs some pocket change, he is a father who simply wants us.

What do you do with something when it breaks? Throw it away and buy a new one right? That has become the norm now, upgrading rather than replacing. The desire for more, nicer, cleaner, cooler stuff can be defined as an appetite... which means that no matter what we have now, soon we'll be hungry for more. We focus on 1 Timothy 6 and one word that the apostle Paul teaches to that will resolve our appetite, contentment. "Godliness with contentment is great gain."

Extra money? That phrase sure seems like a joke, but our bank statements sure will reveal how we're able to find extra money and what we spend it on. Shoes, coffee, scratch tickets... whatever it may be, we usually can find a little extra to spend on the things we enjoy most. In this message title, "Extra," Brad explores the conversation of what it means to truly be blessed by the Lord, not just monetarily, why we all have extra, and what we should really be doing with it.

There is a word associated with money that makes everyone uncomfortable and cringe... and that word is, debt. The statistics of American debt are staggering and are rising every year. This Sunday Student Ministries Pastor, Grant Bruscoe, leads us through the Biblical perspective of debt and how the Bible teaches us as Christians to view and steward our money, and how to stay out of unhealthy debt. We all owe a much greater and eternal debt that we can never repay, and when we accept the free gift of salvation, our ledger with Jesus reads, "Paid in Full."

In week 2 of our current series, Right on the Money, we look at 1 Chronicles and the story of a majestic temple being planned and built for the glory of the Lord during the reign of King David. David, however; would not get to be the one to oversee this project, he gave billions of dollars of his own money to the project, and we see how he responds to the Lord's decision to have another ruler building the temple. David could have become upset with God, but we instead see a surrendered heart that chooses a different perspective, for he knew that all his wealth came ultimately from God.

This is the first message of a 6-part series looking at Biblical perspectives on how we as Christians should use and view our money, or should we say, God's money. Most people cringe when a Pastor talks about money in church, thinking this is just another "ask" for people to open their checkbook and add some zeros. In Jesus' time on earth he never once asked anyone for money, he knew that isn't the most important thing in life. We all want to be "right" in life, it feels good to be right on track with any given thing in life. This week Brad opens this series on how we can all be, "Right on the Money" with our finances.

Brad finishes the Take the Land series and the book of Joshua. Joshua is at the end of his life and challenges the Israelites that they had a choice to make... would they go back to the false gods of past generations, or would they choose to surrender everything to the one true God. We see how this choice is relevant and important in our lives today.

We often have a tendency to confuse outcomes with objectives in life. What we're obsessed with in today's day and age, what we're focused on, and what gets us into all kinds of messes both physically and emotionally, is when we focus on the outcome. We want to skip ahead in the story, we don't want to do the hard work and go through the process. Joshua and the Israelites had taken all of the land before them, but God wanted them to take full possession of it, to fully take ownership of it. Jesus has won the battle, but, are we supposed to just sit back and relax because of it? We are called to possess our possessions, to press forward. Jesus has overcome and he wants us to continue to overcome things in our lives. Pastor Brad unpacks these ideals in his message, "Peace & Affluence."

Everyone in life has made decisions they regret, wouldn't it be nice if we could just figure out how to make only good decisions? We base our decisions on facts and information that is available to us, but that information doesn't always guarantee the right decision. In Joshua chapter 9, Joshua was put in a place where he didn't have all the information in a tough situation, and he had a decision to make. Would he respond with anger and revenge, or with mercy based on what is honoring to God? And we all face this same stalemate every day. Brad takes us back a chapter, to chapter 9 in Joshua to look at a time where the Israelites were in a perplexing situation.

Do you believe God answers our prayers? Maybe He only answers prayers like, "Please provide me with a new job Lord." Or "Help me be a nicer person to my coworkers and family." But do you believe God to answer the seemingly outlandish prayers we offer up to Him? Joshua prayed and fervently asked God to hold the sun still in the sky. Pastor Nick Kimmet teaches on Joshua 10, in the midst of Joshua's sun stand still prayer. He brings this story to life in our day and age today as we look at how we can believe God for the impossible situations in our lives.

HE IS RISEN! But, do you believe this? That’s the question Jesus asked then, and that’s the question he asks now. They will take my life, and I will die, Jesus says, but that will not be the end. And when you find yourself assuming that it’s over, when it’s lost, gone, broken and can never be put back together again, when it’s all been destroyed and you swear that it could never be rebuilt… hold on a minute, because in that moment, things will in fact have just begun. A decision must be made, and if you decide that the resurrection is real, then everything changes. This life, that you’re living has every opportunity to come to life. You can wake up and you can know, there’s reason. There’s a life to be lived, and there’s a freedom to be experienced. You then believe that Jesus truly was raised from the dead so that you now would be too.

Summit Student Ministries Pastor Grant Bruscoe teaches through the same text Brad taught last Sunday. Grant dissects the story of Achan's sin even farther as we see how one man's blatant sin effected an entire nation. Achan's sin patterns that led him to disobey the Lord show themselves in our lives today: we see, covet, take and then we hide. Sin will always hold us back from what God's plan is for our lives, but because of Jesus, we can accept his forgiveness and walk into the promises he has for our lives.

We come to the part of the story in Joshua where things get a little more serious. Some very real tensions and questions arise that many people today struggle with understanding. Israel had captured the city of Jericho. The people and everything in it was to be, destroyed. There are many arguments and viewpoints for why God decreed this had to happen, Brad takes us through a Biblical and God-centered perspective of this story.

If you're leave on a trip, what is the salutation someone will most likely give you? "Safe travels!" We're pretty concerned these days with our safety; however, do you think God's greatest dream for our lives is safety? When it comes to us Taking the Land in our lives, it will rarely feel safe. Do you think the people of Israel felt safe as they marched around the walls of Jericho - a fortified city? They probably felt pretty crazy. This Sunday we look at Joshua 6 and the how we can feel certain in the midst of uncertain situations.

In Joshua chapter 5, the Israelites now found themselves wandering in the dessert on the edge of their Promised Land. The generation that had disobeyed God in the dessert was now gone and a new generation needed to be circumcised. Boys and men of all ages needed to be circumcised and you can just imagine their reaction to this news from Joshua. Why is that important? Why teach a whole message around this subject and story? Brad explains why in this message titled: Signs, Symbols, & Sacraments. 

We were pleased to have Guest Speaker David Louw with us Sunday. He continued in our current series, Take the Land, covering Joshua chapters 3 and 4. God was leading the Israelites to cross through the Jordan river in their search of The Promised Land. Taking the land means nothing apart from the presence of God. God wasn't going with Israel through the wilderness, they were going with God as He led them. The same is true in our lives, we need to go with God as His presence is in us and leads us. 

This week we look deeper into the story of Joshua in chapter 2. God has led Israel to the city of Jericho, the land God wanted them to take. This story is full of unlikely characters - spies, a prostitute, and ordinary people that God hand picked to use in big ways. What will you say to God when he calls you to a big step of faith? What are some things God has called you to, in your life right now? Will you choose to step out in faith and to do the unordinary and unlikely? 

In Joshua 1, God is getting Joshua fired up to take over command of leading the Hebrews into the Promised Land. Moses wasn't there any longer, his time was over and now it was Joshua's time. God's promises are always accompanied by his presence. God was with Joshua, and He is with us. Romans 8:31 "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Think about what God has done for you, in Christ. If he'd do that, think about what he'll do to see it take place in your life.

This Sunday we started a new series on the Old Testament book, Joshua. Why is the Bible full of so many stories? And why tell this story in particular? It’s because God makes promises, He made them then and He still makes them now. Another reason is because God does great things out of the messes that are our lives. We see both of these things play out in the book of Joshua - a mess of a story, but one where God has made promises, and in the end transforms an entire nation. We look back at stories of the past to be reminded that God can take any situation, no matter how broken or messed up, and can do amazing things through and in the midst of our brokenness. 

We took a half-time on this Super Bowl Sunday, to set up a new series starting next week. God wants to do new things in our lives. Routines are good, we all have them, but with that sometimes we can get stuck in a rut. In his time here on earth Jesus was constantly doing new things, things that surprised everyone, these were all things directly from his Father. Be thankful for what God has done in the past, but, move with what God is doing in the present. What's the new thing God is doing in you?

Two sisters, Mary and Martha, were having a dinner party and invited Jesus. Martha was distracted with many things that day - the house had to look right, food had to be perfect, and people needed to be impressed. Mary on the other hand, could only be found in one place - at the feet of Jesus. Jesus told Martha, “Only one thing is necessary.” It was exactly what Mary was doing, spending time with Jesus. The realities of every day life are important and must be done, but, one thing truly does rise above all others, relationship with Jesus. From this one relationship flows everything else in life, and is truly “What a Soul Needs.”

You know how the song goes... "What a soul wants and what a soul needs..." in this message Brad unpacks the first part of that phrase as we look at the Biblical depiction of what the soul desires in life. A soul without Jesus wants more. More money, stuff, beauty, popularity. But the soul redeemed by Jesus, longs and desires for a whole new set of heavenly desires that last for eternity.

We are comprised of 4 main things: our will, mind, physical body, and the soul. The soul is what unites all of these things together, it is the deepest part of who you are. How is your soul? Dry, shallow, cluttered? Or like rich soil, is it deep, soft, and plentiful? Romans 8:6 says, “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” Brad takes us into the 2nd message of our series on the importance of taking care of your soul.

This first Sunday in 2015 we begin a new series about the soul. If you had to describe the state of your soul now, what would you say? Is it a rushing swirling waterfall or a calm still stream? Psalm 23:3 says about the Lord, that, "He leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul." God is the one who can bring us to a place of calm and stillness in our lives, not a new diet, workout regimen, or resolution. In this series we will talk about slowing down, breathing, and inviting the Lord to still and refresh the waters of our soul.

Lead Pastor Brad Williams shared a special Christmas message in the current series, Illuminate. The Christmas story is loaded with all kinds of surprises, only God could have written the story as it played out. Jesus came into the world humbly, as a baby, not a conquering king as people expected. God tore apart the darkness and illuminated the world with the greatest gift of all, salvation through the birth of the King of kings and Savior of the world.

On this last Sunday in 2014, Student Ministries Pastor, Grant Bruscoe, brings a great message on anchoring our lives in Jesus. Without an anchor to stabilize you, we drift and wander, drifting through life never leads anywhere good. 2015 holds unforeseen experiences for each of us. It is by anchoring our lives in Christ alone and trusting him with our whole heart, that will lead us on a straight path.

Haven't we all had enough experiences in the dark to know that we don't want another one? Not physical darkness, but the kind that infiltrates your relationships, your spirit, and every part of your life. Psalm 119:105 says "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path," this light illuminates our direction and our choices. Jesus refers to himself as the light in John 8:12 when he says, "I am the light of the world," and this light illuminates our soul and changes every part of how we live our lives.

John 8:12 Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” He is the light shinning in the darkness, making order out of chaos, bringing sight to the blind, the very presence of God - the light of salvation. Jesus has also called US to be His light in the world. We influence others by being with them, living life in community with people - to give people a taste of what life with Jesus is like and to light the pathway to God.

Brad wraps up our series “Free To Be,” with this last message on how we have been set free to be a Contrast Community in our world today. Jesus has called us as Christians, to be salt and light in the world, to stand out from the crowd in our actions and words and how we live our lives. It should cause people to ask what makes us different. This counterintuitive lifestyle takes great intentionality and wisdom and helps us realize even more, just how much we all need Jesus as we strive to live as a Contrast Community.

We know we all feel the emotions of gratitude, but do we actually express them? Do we show our gratitude tangibly? Nick Kimmet takes us through Colossians 3:15-17 and compares thankfulness to God with the story of the healing of the 10 lepers in the gospel of Luke. “One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet giving him thanks.” “Free To Be Grateful”

This week of our series Free To Be, we dive into Colossians 3:16-17 and look at the main thoughts of verse 16, "Let the word dwell richly in you." Brad unpacks what the Apostle Paul is really trying to get across to the early church in this phrase as well as our call as the church to sing songs, hymns, and spiritual songs unto the Lord. "Free To Be Spiritual."

In Colossians 3:11-15, we see the Apostle Paul was encouraging the church in Colossae, to forget race, status, and exterior things that were dividing them and instead, love and forgive as Christ does. Jesus established his church to make a difference in the world, for us to be different in the world. Jesus set us free to be be "We", one body, set apart.

We look at Colossians 3:5-10 where Paul challenges the early church to, "Put to death what is earthly in you." Is that just behavior modification or is it choosing to put on a new self, being renewed after the image of our Creator? But this is a process, we are daily in process of taking off the old and putting on the new... we are "Free To Be In Process."

Colossians 3:1-4 encourages us to set our minds on things above, not on things of this earth. This idea creates a tension of being fully present here on earth with people and real issues of life, and focusing beyond the here and now, on Christ. We look at this tension through the lens of setting our minds on things above and allowing that to shape the direction of our lives. Jesus came not to make bad people good, but to make dead people alive. - "Free To Be Present."

In Colossians 2 we see that the church was getting distracted with the rules and regulations of "religion." Religion is about restrictions and striving to be "good enough", Jesus is about relationship and freedom. Jesus died so all the rules and guilt would be taken away; we're not hungry for religion, we're hungry for relationship.

In week two of this three part series, Grant talks about the promises of the Holy Spirit.

To live missionally, we need the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes as a guarantee when we choose to follow Jesus. Don't settle or the best you can do, engage the Holy Spirit to do what only God can do.

Jesus came to do a lot more than just clean up our mess. Because of Jesus, we can be made alive in God, restored in our faith with relationships characterized by wholeness, health, and peace. We can experience and extend the Kingdom of God today.  

If you want to live the mission of God, you don't just invite Jesus on your path, you live in Jesus, who is the epicenter of the mission of God. 

Brad talks about the idea of identity, and where we fit in the big picture. 

People are intended to meet Jesus in us. Are you participating with Jesus' mission and purposes? Or is the cross just a symbol? 

We are all lost and jesus wants to save us and He wants us to help others in their lostness- this is participating in the mission of God. 

Week Three in the Panorama Series is about the process of following Jesus. Rather than letting the tyranny of the urgent lead us, Grant encourages us to follow God in every part of our lives by identifying the process and where each of us, individually, are in this process.

God's Hope for Humanity is shalom- human flourishing on every level. Shalom comes through the Gospel. Brad expounds on what The Gospel is by explaining what the Gospel is not. 

Brad kicks off the new "Panorama" Series with a message about how God is a god of mission.