Elder BlessingBy: Jonathan BurginSummit Church may you love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. May Christ himself always hold the rightful position as King of your life. May you set your hope anew on God, not forgetting His many miracles, and never neglecting His commands. And because of your sincere devotion to HIM, may you model to the next generation what it looks like to know, and love, and follow hard after Jesus. The next generation is looking for something that’s real and satisfying. When the world offers them fake and fleeting, may you be there to offer them Jesus. Every generation is meant to impact the generation coming after them, every generation is meant to leave a legacy. Our generation will last mere moments, so let’s take the task seriously, let’s leave someone coming after us that takes up the mantle of making much of Christ. Until the whole world hears, and until the next generation is reached. You are sent. 

Elder BlessingBy: Steve GrahamJesus, when you ascended all that remained were 11 men standing in the middle of the road silently staring at the sky perplexed about what was next. They expected that you would establish your “promised” Kingdom ruling over all Israel. Instead, you handed over a different kind of kingdom that would start in Jerusalem, then extend to all Judea, to Samaria, and finally the entire Gentile world.  You said to those 11 men, “As the Father has sent me, so I also send you” (John 20:21).You deliberately and precisely made your mission the model for ours. With power given to us by the Holy Spirit you have equipped us and sent us out into this NEW KINGDOM.  Summit Church, armed with power,  Be sent to serve Him in daily life, in your workplace, your school, neighborhood, city, state, nation, and world.Be sent to bear witness of the good news, the gospel, through your words and deeds. Keeping in mind that words without deeds have no credibility and our deeds by themselves, without words, have no eternal impact.Be sent as bearers of His love and grace.Be sent to live differently in this world as citizens of God's kingdom.Church, let us never forget that we are a called people—called for the unmitigated purpose of being sent.GO NOW………..YOU ARE SENT!

Our faith grows, and joy increases during suffering as we turn to God in prayer and praise. James instructs the church to pray with the elders. The literal and symbolic oil represents setting someone apart through prayer for special attention and care before God Who alone can heal. Not only should the elders pray for people, but so should the whole church because God answers prayer! He answered prayers for Elijah, and He’ll do it for us! Believers should pray for and help return those who wander and waiver in their faith back to God Who forgives and restores. 

Our faith is tested and strengthened in suffering. God desires believers to grow in patience. Like a farmer we are to wait on the harvest of fruit that comes from the seeds of patience. We must allow the Lord to change our hearts and we must refrain from grumbling to be found faithful by the Lord, the coming Judge. We should be unwavering like the prophets and steadfast like Job . Again (and above all), our speech reflects trustworthiness in persevering faith. 

God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Pride manifests in various forms. It could be slander, boasting, or hoarding. Slander dishonors God and disheartens others. In contrast, Godly speech praises God and encourages others. Boasting about our future (short and long-term) by neglecting to ask God’s will is arrogant, foolish, and evil. Hoarding the resources God has placed in our lives is also prideful. We will be judged by God for how we have used what He has entrusted us. The things of this world are wasting away, but they can be invested for eternal purposes in His Kingdom.ELDER BLESSINGBy: Pete LeeSummit Church, I bless you, in Jesus' name, that you would be strong through the great grace that God gives you. That you would walk through every season of your life with a heart to please the Father in all things.  I pray that you would be blessed with a unified mind (Phil 2:2) that remembers Jesus Christ and seeks to walk in His ways, not becoming distracted by lesser things. And as you remember Jesus, you would seek to live like him, having the same attitude that He had. For even though He was God, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to the point of death (Phil 2:5-11).  I bless your words, that they would be full of life (James 4:11&12) and would point others to the One who gives life. (Psalm 34:1-3).  I bless your thoughts, that they would be pure, and would continually be turned to the Father in worship and praise. I bless your finances, that they would be seen as a means to worship the Father. May you live out the reality that true treasure is stored in heaven, not on earth (Matt 6:19-21). I bless your moments, each one, that they would be carefully submitted to the Lord. And may you find yourself ready to receive whatever He might bring your way. I pray, Summit Church, that you would be blessed with the heart of generosity and humility that is formed only by dwelling daily in the presence of Christ.  Amen

There are two types of friendships – one with the world and one with God. Friendship with the world comes from sinful flesh, to be spent on earthly passions, and ends in being enemies of God. The Spirit longs for us to live for and in Him. Friendship with God comes from His grace as we submit ourselves to Him and resist the devil. Drawing near to God through humble repentance and grieving over our sin, results in being lifted by God. Elder BlessingBy: Jason CooneySUBMITKnowing arrest and death were imminent, our Lord’s words in Gethsemane, “your will be done,” show his willingness to submit to the Father in the most difficult of moments.May your daily confession to God be “not as I will, but as you will.”RESIST THE DEVILOur Lord, while in human form, looked satan in the face and refused to heed his instructions.So you, while in human form, and filled with the Spirit of our Lord can resist the devil, and watch as he flees in defeat.DRAW NEARHannah, weeping and distressed, approached the God of Israel and poured out her soul. He heard her cry, drew near to her, and gave her the desire of her heart.May you trust the words of our Lord when he says “Ask and it will be given to you…”

There are two sources (and types) of wisdom: worldly wisdom and Godly wisdom. Worldly wisdom comes from hell – it is of the devil. It is false and self-centered and evidenced by works of jealousy which leads to disorder and evil. Godly wisdom comes from heaven, operates in godliness, and produces righteousness and peace. 

The tongue reveals the condition of our hearts. James’ infallible words help us with our fallible words. Teachers of God’s Word along with everyone else must be careful with their words as everyone stumbles and sins through our words. The tongue is powerful, and we must recognize our inability to tame it on our own. We must allow the Lord to transform our hearts and minds through His Word and Spirit, which will transform our words to speak the truth in love and the good news to our neighbors and nations.   ELDER BLESSINGBy: Steve GrahamFather, words are powerful. They bring both blessing and cursing. There may be those that are here today that have been wounded by words. Words spoken purposely or spoken rashly (Proverbs 12:18). Summit Church, know that these hurtful and unwholesome words come from men or women that have no control of their tongue. Proverbs tells us that “the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things” (Proverbs 15:28), an uncontrolled tongue leads to ruin (Proverbs 13:3) and this type of speech is a “spirit crusher” (Proverbs 15:4). But on the contrary, there is good news: “when the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:17-18) even troubles brought on by hurtful words.Lord, we admit that our flesh has little control over our tongue. Let us not be content with an untamed tongue. Holy Spirit, guide us rightly in our speech. Be the pilot of the ship that controls the rudder, our tongue, turning us the direction we should go. Like the bridle in a horse’s mouth, be the rider with reins in hand that tames our tongue. You speak in your word of the benefits of a tamed tongue: A soothing tongue is a tree of life (Prov. 15:4)Pleasant words are a honeycomb. Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. (Prov. 16:24)The tongue of the wise brings healing. (Prov. 12:18)Lord, would you remind us moment by moment of  these very familiar admonishments from scripture:Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each. (Colossians 4:6) ANDLet no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need. (Ephesians 4:29)So Lord many we GO, AND BE SENT WITH SPEECH “SEASONED WITH GRACE”! Amen.