Summit Drive Church

Paul’s words in Philippians 1:27-30 call our assumptions of the "good life” into serious question. We, who have been drinking steadily and deeply from a cultural norm that assumes that the good life is cozy, easy, comfortable, might be quite shocked that Paul sees participation in Jesus’ work, which includes tension, pressure, even suffering, as part of the gift of following him. Our text is an invitation to embrace our identity as God’s set-apart people in surprising and beautiful ways.

When someone writes to you from prison, you expect them to tell you how they are. Paul uses his prison letter to show us how to bear up under difficult circumstances—trusting in providence, reconnecting with our purpose, and being for and with other people.

The book of Philippians is known for its tone of joy and call to keep ‘rejoicing’ in God’s good work. As we begin our series, we’ll see how Paul’s joy is not based on his circumstances but on the good work God is doing in the Philippian church and in the rich relationships that are formed by the gospel. We’ll see how we are drawn into this same joy as we embrace the kind of affection Paul speaks of for this community and, as we pray with Paul, for a deepening of thoughtful love and discernment.

This week, we look at Psalm 65, a text which paints a picture of God as the God of Abundance. We're invited to respond to him by becoming people who give thanks to him as we engage in the practice of gratitude.

The resurrection of Jesus changes everything. As we’ll see, God the Father “vindicates” Jesus, the innocent One, who humbles himself all the way to death, even death on a cross. And that, as we trust and follow Jesus, even our biggest struggles will not end in defeat but God’s victory through it.

Jesus passes the three tests he faces in the wilderness, but that isn’t the end of the Enemy's work. The ‘final exam’ comes as Jesus is faced with the full force of what the cross means in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the end, we find that Good Friday is so good because Jesus passes the test in all the ways that we don’t.

The third test that Jesus faces in the wilderness is a test about power. Jesus rejects the devil's offer of gaining power the easy way, and he shows us that the way through this temptation is allegiance to God and submission to him.

Jesus' second test is to turn faith in God into a magic trick. By refusing to force God's hand, Jesus shows us how being God's child is trusting our Father to do what is best.

Jesus' temptation is not just an important detail in His life, it is a paradigm for our own temptations. In the first temptation, Jesus is tempted to take what He wants rather than to give what is needed—to put His comfort over God's calling. The way through this wilderness, and this test, is dependence on God for our daily bread.

This week, we conclude our series by looking at some guiding principles for how we engage in the political arena. We look at what it looks like to pray for our governments, and see political involvement as one way to love our neighbours.

Jesus himself lived with deep integrity – the “integration” and consistency of every part of life. We are called, and empowered by Jesus, to do the same. In this message, we’ll look at how integrity means love for God, with listening to God, and with love for neighbour. We’ll see how the way of love described in 1 Corinthians 13 is not just for “private” faith, but to be totally integrated into all of life, including our public witness.

Christian public witness honours Caesar, but worships Jesus. We respect the political as a function of God's common grace, but our ultimate allegiance is to Jesus. Right priorities lead us from a fear-driven self-preservative engagement in public life to a love-driven serving posture.

We, as humans, were made to join in God’s rulership of the world with wisdom and justice. Jesus has come to redeem and restore us to this vocation; to be his multi-ethnic, diverse people, not building merely for the ‘kingdoms’ but for God’s Kingdom.

Our new series, “Jesus, Caesar, and the Kingdom of God: Christian Engagement in Public Life” will focus on this question asked of Jesus: “Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” (Mark 12: 14). We’ll see how Jesus’ answer avoids a number of pitfalls: Jesus 1) avoids the political trap; 2) avoids political simplicity/polarity; and 3) establishes the appropriate “ordering” of the political realm in relation to God’s reign.

Spiritual formation is not just habits and practices, it is a posture. Psalm 63 invites us into the posture of being a people who seek the Living God as the source of our lives.

God the Holy Spirit is the One who transforms us to become more like Jesus. But what part do we play in this process of transformation? Today, we look at what it looks like to "keep in step with the Spirit," and particularly, the role that the spiritual disciplines – the rhythms of Jesus – play in our journey of growing to become more like him.

God does not save us apart from others, but into his people, the community of God, the Church. And the Christian community is the context for change. The Christian community, a local church, this is the place where that change, and growth occur; particularly in the call to learn to love those who are very different than us.

In His Wisdom, God has given us His story through the Bible as a primary means of shaping our mind, hearts, strength, and souls.

God’s plan, his great goal for us, is to form us so that we look – in our character, our habits, our priorities, our focus in life – just like his Son, Jesus. But this is only possible through his empowering presence, through the work of God the Holy Spirit. How do we posture ourselves to experience this transformation? We’ll begin our new series, “God At Our Side: How the Living God Transforms Us,” with this message that focuses on how God the Spirit is working in us.

As we approach the New Year, Jesus' teaching on the health of our eyes (Luke 11:34-36) will invite us to examine how we are spending our most valuable commodity: our attention.

As we gather to celebrate this Christmas Eve, we hear the words of the heavenly messengers expressing their praise to the baby Jesus born that night: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” As the shepherds pass on this message, we find that Mary “ponders” these words in her heart. And now, it’s our turn to ponder all that we are learning about Jesus in this text, including what we hear the prophet Simeon sing in the next section – that Jesus himself is our salvation. That God’s rescue is not just something we experience, but a Person.

Zechariah's song rises out of silence. Sometimes, God calls us to wait, watch, and listen for His action.

Step into the story with Mary, the mother of Jesus, as she shares how our lives and hers are woven together in a divine story. Like Mary, we live in dark and violent times that cause us to long again for the coming of the Messiah. Like her, we discover that Jesus disrupts our lives and invites a response. And as Mary, filled with the Holy Spirit, burst forth in song, so the Spirit now longs to birth new things in and through us today.

Disappointment: with life, ourselves, with God. And joy: In our relationships, in our own hearts, in God. These are two of the most poignant realities in life. And both are at the forefront as we look at Elizabeth’s role in the unfolding Christmas story. How do we deal with disappointment? And how do we know the joy that Jesus brings? We’ll look into both this week.

In our Advent series, “The One Who Set the World Singing,” we’ll see how God’s big “drama of salvation” comes to its climax when Jesus – God the Son – steps onto the stage. But like any good production, there is a lot of work to do in preparation. Isaiah 9 speaks of the reality of the darkness that our world faces but is also filled with hope: for a light that is dawning. The main “Actor” in God’s salvation story is coming, and this text prepares us to meet the One who brings life, truth, and beauty. We find that this One is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And he is that for all of us.

Today, we wrap up our series looking at the story of the rich young ruler and his interaction with Jesus. As we do, we discover that a great reversal takes place with God's coming kingdom. We look at the benefits that come from following Jesus and explore what it means to become "last."

Wealth is spiritually dangerous. Jesus warns against wealth for its opposition to the ways of the kingdom: humility and sacrificial love. But there is one who can thread a camel through the eye of a needle...

We are all following someone or something. We are all giving our hearts to someone or something. The question about who or what that is will determine the whole shape of life now, and our eternity. In Mark 10, we are introduced to two very different ways to respond to Jesus: one is a rich man, the other a man who is blind. One walks away, the other walks behind Jesus. What will you do with Jesus? That’s the question we all have to answer. This text helps us see more clearly the way to do that.

There is a tension we feel between the goodness of creation, but also the fact that it is so broken too. And we know that brokenness and long for restoration. The Christian view holds all of this together, and in Jesus own body, he answers are most significant question about what real hope would look like. We’ll see in this message that “new creation” involves transformed bodies, the renewal of creation, and Spirit-empowered mission.

This week, we contrast the creative projects of the tabernacle and the golden calf in Exodus, and look at what they can teach us about engaging with the arts as followers of Jesus.

God’s nature, his 'attributes,' include many important features: omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, among other things. But we don’t always ascribe the attribute of joyful or (gasp!) playful to God. But a quick look at God’s creation, and the Scriptures, and we find a God who is full of joy and wants us to be as well. Joy is a ‘fruit’ of the Spirit after all. This week, we’ll explore the question: What would it look like for the Good News of Jesus to be a way into a life of levity, joy, and even a certain kind of playfulness?

Through Psalm 139, we learn to see our bodies as good this goodness has profound implications for our lives and purpose. We are here to love and be loved.

In this message, we are going to listen to what ‘wine’ has to say about God, about our humanity, and about redemption and hope. We’ll also see that there is a kind of wisdom that enables us to appreciate the goodness of God’s creation whether we do, or do not, drink wine.

Food, in the Biblical story, is about far more than simply nourishing our bodies. One of the things we notice as we get inside the long and winding story of the Bible is that the most significant moments in God’s economy, God’s plan of redemption, happen at a table – at a meal. For the table, and your place at it, that’s how you know you belong; that you’re part of the family; that you’re welcome and loved. In this message, we’ll explore the goodness of God’s provision of food and our human calling to cultivate tables that are places of welcome and beauty and gratitude.

Jesus' cross represents not just the reconciliation of God and people, but the beginnings of the reconciliation of God and all creation. Colossians presents an image of redemption and salvation where we aren't saved from creation, but for it.

What does it mean to be human? It’s a huge question, and the answer you get probably depends on who you ask. The Biblical picture of being a human is far more elevated, and far more earthy, than we often imagine. We’ll see the goodness of what it means to be human, and particularly see how Jesus – God in the flesh – elevates and dignifies the material world, and us within it.

God’s creation is still good. This might seem like a very basic point, but from the beginnings of the early church until today, there are ways of thinking that devalue the material world in favour of the spiritual realm. Through this series, we will be noting some of these tendencies and listening to how the scriptures re-inform our thinking and living to recognize and celebrate the inseparable connections between the physical and spiritual world.

Proverbs observes a grace possessed by the wise: restraint. The wise show emotional, verbal, and opinion restraint to live in harmony with God's good order.

As we dive into what the book of Proverbs says about laziness and why it happens, we look at what it means to live the opposite life: a life of diligence.

When we welcome God’s discipline for ourselves, when we learn appropriate “self-discipline," and when we appropriately discipline our children, ultimately, we are joining in God’s good goal for maturity.

One of the main themes in the book of Proverbs is that wisdom comes by being teachable – being open to advice and correction. Of course, this raises some important questions for all of us: What keeps us from being teachable? What would help us to be more teachable? And who should we listen to?

There is a human tendency to think that we always need just a little bit "more." This week, we look at the first eleven of the "Thirty Sayings of the Wise" (Proverbs 22:22-23:11), a collection of sayings about wisdom and wealth. We look at four wrong approaches us humans take in our pursuit of "more," and we look at a better way forward.

About 25% of the introduction to Proverbs focuses on adultery. It calls us to wisdom in the way we conduct ourselves sexually, but also functions as an allegory for foolishness. Wisdom is seeking a life of value more than a life of pleasure, which means keeping our relational commitments with integrity.

The instructions of the Proverbs begin with a very basic word: listen. Those who live by wisdom are those who have learned to listen well and to listen to the right people. The text of Proverbs 1: 8-19 is framed as a conversation between a father and son, but the meaning is for all of us: learn to resist those who pursue ill-gotten gain by learning to listen to those who speak God’s wisdom. When you do, God makes you attractive to a world in need of true wisdom.

This week, we’ll see from Proverbs 22:29, the goodness of work and how we are called to do that work to the best of our ability. This will lead to serving God in places not normally open to us and give opportunities to influence culture and share the news of Jesus.

God wants us to be wise, and He has given us the Proverbs to help. Wisdom is skill in the art of living and the gateway to wisdom is the fear of the Lord—to revere God's ways above all else.

What does it mean to truly live with integrity? In this message, we explore James’ powerful final words—calling us to be people who wait with patience, pray with persistence, work on changing our speech patterns, and lean into community. Using the story of the Challenger disaster and the Reuleaux triangle as metaphors, we’re reminded that what looks solid isn’t always sound—and lives depend on the real thing.

The words of James about arrogant merchants and oppressive landowners works on two levels. It reminds us to remember our lives are contingent on God. So, put aside the arrogance and accept our human limitations. At the same time, James offers a word of comfort to those who are suffering for their faith, to assure them that God has not forgotten them; they can trust him and be patient in their pain.

Even Christian people, James tells us, can find themselves at odds with God when pride pulls us into self-centred living. As James shows us, the heart of renewal is the humility to turn back—to “humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

James contrasts two kinds of wisdom: wisdom that comes from heaven versus the so-called "wisdom" that is "earthly, unspiritual, demonic."He shows us that not all "wisdom" is equal—as a matter of fact, much of what passes as "wisdom" is anti-God. True wisdom involves living a life that follows the norms of God's kingdom, including peace and humility, in contrast to the way of envy and selfish ambition.