This Thursday is Thanksgiving!  It is a time we spend with family and friends to share in a feast prepared by our loved ones.  What a perfect time to reflect on the many blessings the Lord has given us.

As we reflect on our church Family at Summit we see that we are truly blessed.  I am thankful for the Godly men who had a vision to build a church on a hillside in Campbell County over 40 years ago.  Men like Ken Carter, Gene Harlow, and Chuck Gambill.  I am thankful for all the ladies who teach and nurture the youth, and have never let us down when we have a fellowship meal.  I am thankful for the four men who have preached the word to us every Sunday.  I am thankful for our deacons who devote their lives in service to the Lord.

Giving thanks always for all things. Eph.5:20

In everything give thanks. 1Thess 5:18

Brothers and Sisters, we have so much to be thankful for! We know God loves us and we know we serve a risen savior, who gave his life as a ransom for our sins.

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good!  His love endures forever! 1 Chronicles 16:34                                                                                                                      

Thank you Lord!

 

Galatians 1:10 “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

How much time do you spend trying to please everybody? Whether it is your boss at work or a friend at school, do you try to please them to get a reward or to obtain their approval? Or do you do so out of love for Christ and others?

In trying to please people we may be tempted to alter our beliefs or values to flatter someone or become more acceptable or likeable.

Christians should not be phony, or flatterers, but instead honest and straightforward. Are you honest and straightforward in your words or actions? Or do you tell people what they want to hear in order to get ahead or to get their approval?

Whose approval are you seeking – others or God’s?

Pray for the courage to seek God’s approval above anyone else’s.

 

What prize is there in pain? What value is there in the valley? What dessert can I find in a desert? Friend, nobody ever found anything of lasting value on the mountain top. Yet, that is where most want to live. We make wealth, happiness, and the accumulation of “toys” our goal.

Rather than scouring Facebook to validate our value, consider our friend, Job. There he sits, at the city gates. He is so wise that in his presence the elderly stand and young men respectfully leave. He is so secure in all his wealth that nothing can unhinge him (Job 1:3). And, maybe, he is just a little smug and proud. Yes, our friend Job has become “righteous in his own eyes” and has “justified himself rather than God” (Job 32:1-2).

He “was the greatest of all the people of the east”! He has seven handsome sons, three beautiful daughters, a loving wife, great health, an unlimited supply of friends, and servants to cater for his every whim.

You could find Job receiving his daily prized dessert on life’s most beautiful “mountain top”. But then, in one single swoop – it was gone.

• His pride is exchanged for poverty.
• His popularity is exchanged for loneliness.
• His wisdom is exchanged for contempt.
• The respect of his wife is exchanged for counsel to kill himself.
• And, his “friends” all but seek to destroy his struggling faith.

But it was only in this pain filled desert valley that Job was able to learn valuable prized lessons from God. So, what are these lessons?

2. My security is in God, not in my earthly possessions. Job 1:21–22 (ESV)… “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” ...
3. God is always in control – not allowing more than we can endure. Job 2:6 (ESV) … Lord said to
   Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”
4. God is always worthy of our trust. Job 13:15 (ESV) — Though he slay me, I will hope in him; …
5. Ultimately, God will vindicate the righteous and punish the guilty. Job 42:12 (ESV) — And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000
   camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
6. Once we have learned the valley’s valuable lesson, we will emerge. We must first see our flaws and then repent. Job 42:6, 10 (ESV) therefore I
   despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”— 10 And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Friend, do you find yourself today on a painful lonely desert valley floor? Then hear the sweet voice of Jesus say: “… Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev.2:10).

 

Over the next 8 days I remember my Dad (11/7) & Mom’s (11/12) birthdays and celebrate my wife’s (11/15). Memories can be a curse or a blessing. They are a curse if they anchor us to our past. But they are a blessing if they continue to positively affect our present.

If we connect them with faith, hope, love, compassion, care, appreciation, or gratitude – then they are a blessing. But, if we tie them to fear, guilt, anger, regret, or selfishness – they become a curse. They then anchor us to the past making us ineffective in the present.

Similarly, every Lord’s Day I use my memory when I partake of the Lord’s Supper. I reflect to the night my Savior was betrayed by Judas.

With deep APPRECIATION I recall how He took the bread and gave thanks for it, and then broke it while saying: “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24).

And then, in the same way, with GRATITUDE in my heart I reflect on what He did after the supper. He took the cup and said: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:25).

Friend, it is right, while we still walk in this world, “to stir up by way of reminder” (2 Pt.1:13) all that our Lord and Savior did for us. Let us remember to meet around the Lord’s table every Sunday – for in doing so we CONTINUE TO PROCLAIM His “death until He comes” (1 Cor.11:26).

 

All to Jesus I surrender, All to him I freely give, I will ever love and trust him, In his presence daily live.

This is the beginning of the well known song found on page 662 in our Hymnal.  In Psalm 37:7 we are told to Surrender yourselves to the Lord and wait patiently for Him.

As the Elders work on the budget for 2020 we challenge you to set your vision to be the church that God wants us to be.  What is your Vision for Summit?  What is the need of our community?  Where do you see Summit in 5, 10, 15, 20 years?  Consider the churches in the New Testament.  One did not have unity, one had left their first love, and another one was neither hot nor cold for the Lord; they were just lukewarm.  Guard that Summit does not fall into these habits; make us a church that serves the Lord and strives to be a church of action.

Our theme for 2019 has been Discipleship

Discipleship is Obedience. Jesus said “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” John 14:15.  We were commanded to go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.  You may not be able to go into other countries to teach and work, but what about your own neighborhood, your community, your church?  What can you do to obey God’s commands right here?

Discipleship is Prayer.  We are praying for God to open doors for us in 2019. You don’t feel comfortable talking to others? You can always talk to God.  Pray that He will open the heart of the gentleman who owns the land adjoining our church.  Pray for the impact that we could have in the community with an all-purpose building.  Pray that God will send a youth minister or a couple to fit the needs of our church.  Praying is a part of discipleship and you don’t even need to leave your home to do it.  Pray for the people in our community and our country. Pray for our leaders and our nation. 

Discipleship is Love.  1 Corinthians 13 tells us the characteristics of Love.  Patience and kindness are among those.  You can be a disciple by showing Love and kindness everywhere you go and in all things you do.  Do people you meet daily know you are a Christian by the way you talk and act?  Our world needs the acts of kindness and love now more than ever.

Jesus said, “If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask what you will and I will give it to you.”  (John 15)  You cannot remain in God’s word if you are not daily reading the Bible.  Make a goal to increase your Bible study.  Sunday night and Wednesday Bible studies are good ways to get into the Word and to fellowship with other disciples.

Brothers and sisters, you are a disciple.  Summit is your support and your help as you work to spread the Lord’s message.  Take that first step… Surrender All.  And may 2020 be a great year for Summit.

 

Recently I hear a lot about “heart focused meditation” and its link to Christianity. The usual secular and eastern philosophy type of meditation causes the mind and the heart to wander. However, Christian meditation is from the heart and is focused.

When last did you spend even 10 minutes focused (from your heart) on all that God is doing for you. It’s a simple exercise of breathing in through the nose for 4 counts and breathing out of the mouth for 6 counts while meditating, from the heart, on feelings of GRATITUDE, APPRECIATION, COMPASSION, and CARE. For instance: Thank you Lord for watching over one of our teens yesterday during the accident. I am so GRATEFUL and feel so blessed that you spared his life.

Friend, if you have been raised with Christ, you should be seeking things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. You should be meditating on things above, not on things on this earth (Colossians 3:1–2 adapted).

When you join Jesus, on higher ground, things of this earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. Doubts, temptation, fears, guilt, and anger slip away as you scale new heights and see His gentle face.

Friend, using your heart, scale the utmost heights so that you may: look upon His gentle face; feel His meekness; experience His compassion; and become infused with the knowledge of His care.
_________________
–Words from songs: Higher Ground & Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
-App for breathing: “The Breathing App”
-Photo from Donna Painter

 

Proverbs 3:16-17 “¹⁶Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. ¹⁷Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.”

Proverbs contains many statements about the benefits of wisdom, including wealth, honor and long life. Instead of guarantees, these statements are general principles and statements about the way life “should be”. In a perfect world, wisdom would always lead to these benefits, but in our troubled world, sin intervenes and some of these blessings are delayed until Christ returns and establishes his eternal kingdom.

Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

We do not need to struggle alone, give up whatever endangers your relationship with God. The race should be to seek wisdom and understanding of God’s word, and keep running towards heaven, the destination of our faith.