Summit Student Ministries

 Testimony. Usually when I hear this word I think of a court room. I picture the person accused of some crime, and then I see the witness stand right next to the judge and I see the lawyer asking this witness questions and the answers this person gives is called their testimony. The testimony of the witness of a particular event can make or break this person on trial. The testimony of the witness gives proof or non proof of the events that happened. If this person on the stand gives testimony that is contrary to the claims of the person on trial, the person on trial can be sentenced to jail! The power of testimony is not something to dismiss. Three testimonies come to mind when I was prepping for this week's talk. The three testimonies that matter to you as you walk out your faith are: God's testimony about you, Your testimony about you, and the Accusers' testimony about you.  These three testimonies can change your entire life for the good or for the bad.  We know that G...

 In Matthew 28, we hear about the section in Scripture where Jesus gives what now has been named The Great Commission to his disciples. Most Christians can probably quote this verse from memory without any prompting: Go into all the world, and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, .and so on. What was the precursor to this bold statement and final command? It may not be what you might think. The precursor to Jesus giving this bold command to his disciples is interesting. The disciples were on the mountain where Jesus told them to meet him, and it says in the verses leading up to the Great Commission that the disciples were worshiping, AND SOME DOUBTED. Some of the disciples doubted. The disciples were EYE TO EYE with Jesus. They could touch Jesus. They are the literal first hand witnesses to Jesus's life and ministry. They saw EVERYTHING that Jesus did while on earth, and it says that some of them DOUBTED. It is so enco...

 Evangelism circle: God's Heart, Faith, Healing, Cost, Storms and Rejection. Matthew 8 gives an explicitly detailed trajectory and cycle of evangelism that I believe is important to read and understand as you become more confident in evangelizing. Here are some prompting questions to help dig deeper into Matthew 8. Read Matthew 8:1-4. Talk about what these verses show us about the heart of God. Read Matthew 8:5-13 What does Jesus say about the faith of the centurion? Read Matthew 8:14-17 Who does Jesus heal in this section? Read Matthew 8:18-22 What is the cost of following Jesus? Do you think Jesus is being too harsh in verse 22? Read Matthew 8:23-27 Jesus has power over the storm. Has Jesus calmed any storms in your personal life? Are there any storms you need him to calm right now? Read Matthew 8:28-34 Jesus performed a miracle for these people and they rejected him. What does that tell us about what could happen in our own life when we share the good news with people? How is he...

 Jesus was the first and greatest evangelist of our time. He was the first embodiment of the God of scripture. He pointed people to God the Father and was always bringing the good news everywhere he walked and everywhere he taught. There wasn't a place that he wasn't sharing the good news of the Gospel. He was the walking Gospel. His goal was to point people back to their creator, and back to the God of heaven. Preaching the good news and bringing the hope of Jesus to the lost is the greatest gift we can give the world. Another way to bring the good news to the world  is through signs and wonders.  Jesus was in the habit of feeding, healing, raising, and loving the lost so well that people were turned to God the father and the truth of the Gospel. Signs and wonders are some of the greatest tools that God wants us as believers to use in order to spread the Gospel and evangelize. 

 Something beneficial that he Lord tells us to do with his Word, is a phrase that he calls "hiding the word in our heart, so that we might not sin against him." Jesus called out religious leaders of his time in Matthew 23 and had a whole slew of things that the religious leaders were doing incorrectly. Jesus let them have it. He listed out woes against them. He called them names including hypocrite and brood of vipers. The religious leaders of the day were the most well versed human beings in the things of Scripture. Some of them had been studying the Torah since they were 3 years old, and it is said that some of them had memorized the entire Torah.  However, what is the point of Scripture if you have it inside your mind but Jesus is still calling you a hypocrite? Jesus is not concerned about how many words you can fit into your mind with attached book chapter and verse. He cares that the life changing power of those words are making themselves known through our lives! God...

 Matthew 6:6 talks about going into your room and shutting the door to pray to your Father who is in secret. Christianity has created the term the "secret place" to refer to this room that Jesus talks about in Matthew 6.  Countless times in scripture it talks about Jesus retreating to a secret area to pray. It mentions in scripture that Jesus would pray early in the morning and would go away to the mountainside so that he could be alone. This would be a great example of Jesus going into the secret place.  Matthew 14:23 Mark 6:46 Luke 6:12 Mark 1:35 Luke 5:16 We are called to constantly strive to be like Jesus, and thankfully we don't have to attempt to be like Jesus without any help. Jesus is actually going to help us become more like Him in every way, if we ask him too. The secret place does not have to be a location necessarily, but if you are new to praying and entering into communion and fellowship with Jesus on your own, I highly suggest creating a place that is dedi...

Spiritual Disciplines require dedication and commitment and that you show up.  Reading the Bible is as easy as it sounds, but the only way that you will have a closer relationship with God is by actually reading the Bible. There is no way to get better at reading the Bible than to decide to actually do it.  Reading the Bible is not the same thing as reading a text book, or a book for leisure. The Bible is the only book in history that is alive. Here are some verses in Scripture that describe the Bible itself. 1 Peter 1:25 Enduring forever Ephesians 6:17 Sword of the Spirit - aka the Word of God Hebrews 4:12 Sharper than any double-edged sword John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God. John 5:39  John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth. Luke 24:45 Then he opened their minds so that they could understand the Scripture (this show me that people can read the Bible and get it wrong because they have closed minds) Matthew 4:4 Man shall not li...

Prayer of Worship Hebrews 13:15, Revelation 4:11 Prayer of Thanksgiving Psalm 100:4. Prayer of Faith James 5:13-16 Prayer of Intercession Daniel 9:1-27 (just read verses 17-19), Romans 8:34 Corporate Prayer Acts 12:5-18 Prayer of Consecration Matthew 26:26-27 Prayer of the Holy Spirit Romans 8:26-27 The long and short of prayer is to remember that not only is Jesus interceding for you, but also the Spirit of God is also praying for you. Prayer is open communication with the Father and there are so many different types of prayer for different occasions.

  What is it? Prayer is : talking to God about anything, communicating a specific idea, requesting something (advice, help, guidance, a miracle, a need, an answer to a question), telling God who He is to you, speaking out loud qualities of God, expressing gratitude towards God, any form of communication to God is prayer. How do we do it? Mark 1:35 Matthew 6:5-13 You can pray alone, with other people, quietly, loudly, etc. You can be angry when you pray, you can be sad when you pray. You can be hurt when you pray. Just open your mouth and let your emotions and words flow.  Why do we do it? We pray because things actually happen when we pray. Things happen to us and things happen around us. We pray because God hears us and acts for us. We do it because Jesus did it, and we are trying to be like Jesus. If the only perfect human to walk to the earth JESUS needed to pray, we need to do it. James 5:16 Tells us that our prayers are powerful. It also tells us that we get healed when w...

 Hearing God Created uniquely as human beings, we are crafted to hear the heart of God and the voice of God differently than the people around us. There are similarities and overarching principles to guide us in knowing how to hear God, but there are also unique ways God chooses to speak to us. Heartwork. I like to think of creator God as an artist. He introduces himself in scripture as the creator of all things around us and he has crafted the world to run with amazing laws and rules and principles. He is an artist and the world around us is art work. The beauty of the sky, the intricacies of the human existence, the intangible qualities of love and hope and peace are all credited to God himself.  As an artist he has crafted unique ways to speak to his children. First off he wrote the Bible for us to get a word from Him. He also created His Son Jesus so that we could learn about Jesus and see the qualities and character traits of Jesus so that we could see God's qualities and...

 We as human beings were created to be strong. We have the choice to decide how strong we want to become. Reps and discipline create strength physically. We were also created to be spiritually strong, and the only way to do this is through Spiritual Reps. Jesus tells us in scripture to lay down our fears and our burdens at his feet. First of all, this sentence tells me that we will actually have fears and burdens. If we didn't even have fears or burdens we would not be able to lay them down. Secondly, to lay down fears and burdens it requires spiritual muscles to lay them down and to do spiritual reps. We have to choose to let those things go.  We can't deny we have the fears and burdens, because that is absolutely insanity. Assuming you won't ever have problems is foolish. We also can't living in our fears and our burdens. We need to feel our fears and burdens, and then lay them down at the feet of Jesus. When we do this we get stronger.  You will get plagued with prob...

 Joy is an emotion most commonly understood synonymously with happiness, sunshine, positivity, good vibes, and smiley face emojis.  Is joy just sunshine? How does Joy affect all 3 parts of the human being? Joy releases serotonin into the body, and serotonin helps to boost mood. How joy affects the heart : Proverbs 15:13 A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.  How joy affects the soul : Philippians 4:8 Think on these things Studies and research show that thinking about a good memory, or a time in your life when you felt joy can boost your mood and actually release serotonin into your physical body. It sounds like God already knew this, so he commanded us to think about good things as listed in this Bible verse Philippians 4:8. Ways to help release serotonin into your body include exercise, sunshine and foods rich in tryptophan (because tryptophan gets converted into serotonin). How joy affects the mind : Frontal Lobe monitors your emotiona...

3 Ways to Better Understand Your emotions 1. Expand your emotional vocabulary.  2. Rate the intensity of your emotion. 1-10 3. Write it out. / 20 minutes, without a filter or need for perfectly crafted sentences, then throw it in the garbage. 4. Bring God into that memory and ask Him where He was. Using your emotions Colossians 3:1-17 Managing your emotions Thankfulness. 

  Read Matthew 22:36-40 What is the greatest commandment, according to Jesus? How would you define the word “commandment?” Jesus breaks this down to three parts: heart, soul and mind.  How do we love God with our heart? How do we love God with our soul? How do we love God with our mind? What is the second greatest commandment? Jesus says we need to love others how we love ourselves. What happens if we don’t love ourselves well, how does that affect how we love others? Jesus wants us to love ourselves well, so that we can love others better. What is a way to love yourself better? How can you love others better? Bible reading this week / Worship song(s) / Prayer requests

God made the human brain. He made everything actually. He knows what we need. He knows what helps us. He understands Science. The act of being thankful has been shown to improve mood, and actually bring health to our physical bodies.  Being thankful is more than just an idea, it is a conscious decision. It is a decisive act. It is something you do on purpose with your own will power and volition. It is something you do that can actually shift your mood and your mindset. I would compare it to working out. Being thankful releases endorphins in your brain and helps you feel better.  https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_gratitude_changes_you_and_your_brain  What does the Bible say about being thankful? 2 Chronicles 5:13 The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: "He is good, His love endures forever." T...

 Hee-Haw Jesus rode into town on a donkey, the week before he was to be crucified and set all of humanity free from death and destruction and the grave. He rode in a donkey. We have heard this story one million times, but this time reading it through hit me differently. Jesus was perfect. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for our sin because he had no sin. He carried perfection, holiness and purity in every step. His heart was never polluted with any hateful thought or bitter feeling or jealous strain. His mind never thought one sinful thought. His mouth said nothing unholy. I am in awe of this fact. I am overwhelmed in thinking that Jesus walked this earth for me, so that I could have eternity with Him. Everything Jesus did here on earth points to God and has fulfilled some epic prophecy. Jesus was mentioned and foretold to be born in Bethlehem. He fulfilled a prophecy that he would die and live again. Amazingly, this has never happened to me. I did not have my birth foretold. I ha...

Mary came from family with three children. She was the youngest. She had an older sister Martha, and a brother Lazarus. Lazarus became ill and died. Jesus steppe into the scene and raised Lazarus from the dead! Lazarus is obviously grateful and is a legend in an of himself. Mary thought her life with her brother was done. She had to say goodbye to him and grieve his life. When Lazarus was returned to her and brought back to life, her only response was gratefulness and pure unadulterated worship. She forgot about the cost of things. She poured her most expensive and valuable item on the feet of Jesus.  When you walk through death and the trauma and grief that accompany death, only to have the Lord restore all that was lost, your perspective and values shift. They shift unexplainably. People who have not walked through the valley of the shadow of death or have not experienced what you have experienced will see your act of worship as foolish. Judas accused this pure hearted worship an...

 Jesus raised Lazarus back to life by saying 3 words: Lazarus, come forth. We do not need to complicate our prayers or elongate our prayers to help entice God to answer us. God hears every word we say and desires to answer us in the way we need Him to answer. God's answer is always better than our answer. He has better ideas than we every could. Martha ran out to meet Jesus after her brother had died. Jesus said to roll the stone away. Martha did not have instant faith. Instead she had a human, passive aggressive response. She told Jesus (who knows everything) that if they rolled the stone away, there would be an odor because Lazarus had been in the grave for 4 days. Jesus knew Lazarus was in there for 4 days. Jesus knows everything. Martha wanted to remind Jesus that he was late to the miracle. Martha wanted to remind Jesus that he was late to answer her prayer. Martha wanted to let Jesus know that she was mad and upset that Jesus hadn't come sooner to answer her prayer in the...

 Chapter 1 :  Jesus is the light of the World  1. Read John 1: 19-28. 2. What do you notice about John the Baptist? 3. Read John 1:35-42 4. John the Baptists lost disciples to Jesus. Why did that not bother John? 5. What new name did Jesus give to Simon? 6. Read John 1:48-51 7. Jesus had a prophetic vision and saw Nathanael without physically being there. How did Jesus do this? 8. Bible Reading 9. Prayer Needs Chapter 2 : Wine Miracle / Cleansing the house 1. What stood out to you in this episode 2. Read John 2:1-12 3. How did Jesus treat his mother? 4. This was His first miracle. Why did he do it? (verse 11) 5. Read John 2:13-25 6. It says zeal for His Father's house will consume him. What other time was Jesus at his Father's house? 7. Verse 19 Jesus is speaking prophetically about what? 8. Verse 24 and 25 speak about Jesus and people's opinion of him. Did Jesus need people's approval? Chapter 3 :  Nicodemus Questioning Jesus / John the Baptist pointing to Jesus for...