The Summit Church

In this message from 1 Samuel, Pastor J.D. walks through the tragic last chapter of Israel’s first king. King Saul held such promise in the beginning. But the longer he reigned, the more it became clear that he wanted God’s blessing much more than he wanted God. And Saul isn’t alone: In the church today, many people seem destined to miss heaven by 18 inches—the distance between your head and your...

In this message from 1 John, Pastor Bryan contrasts authentic Christianity with an incredibly common (and incredibly dangerous) alternative—Bible belt Christianity. Bible belt Christianity has just enough Jesus to make you feel acceptable, but not enough to make you uncomfortable. Like auditing a class, Bible belt Christianity says, “Give me the information without the responsibilities.” The troub...

Pastor Curtis Andrusko shares a message from 1 John 1. Recorded at our Brier Creek Campus.

Capital Hills Campus Pastor John Muller shares a message from 1 John.

One day, the story of your life will be told to the next generation. How do you want today’s chapter to be told? As a season of faithfulness, trust, and integrity? Or as the moment when you decided to walk away from everything—and everyone—you once served? In this message from 1 Samuel 25, Pastor J.D. shows us King David at a critical juncture, fresh off his faithful response to the murderous King...

Pastor Bryan Loritts shares a message from 1 Samuel 25.

What do you do when the path you’re on takes an expected turn for the worst? In this message from 1 Samuel 24, Pastor J.D. follows King David into an unexpected place—the wilderness. At this point in his life, David had been chosen to be king. And yet circumstances sent him running for his life. David’s temptation in this season echoes our own: When our plans seem to be going south, we can take ma...

Pastor Bryan continues our Life of David series by preaching on how to trust God and embrace the process. This was recorded at our Blue Ridge Campus.

In this message on Psalm 1, Pastor Curtis asks a question as old as time itself: “How can I be happy?” Most of us, if we were honest, would admit that we’re not living our “happiest” lives—but maybe, someday, hopefully … we might? In this ancient psalm, we’ll learn practical wisdom about the source of lasting happiness. It’s not a matter of circumstance, or relational status, or wealth. It’s simul...

Pastor Dustin Wells shares a message on John 15 from our Blue Ridge Campus.

North Durham Campus Pastor Gus Pacheco shares a message from John 15:4-5.

In this message from 1 Samuel, Pastor J.D. looks at one of the greatest friendship stories of all time—between the presumptive heir, Prince Jonathan, and the anointed king, David. This unlikely friendship challenges us to choose our own response to the one true King, Jesus. Will we, like Saul, resist him? Or will we, like Jonathan, yield the throne of our life to him?

In this message from 1 Samuel, Pastor J.D. walks through the most famous story in the Old Testament—David and Goliath. Everyone knows this story, but few truly understand what it’s about. Goliath’s downfall isn’t an encouragement to underdogs or a guarantee that you’ll overcome every “giant” in your life. Goliath’s story shows us what true courage is, where courage comes from, and what God is up t...

There’s a fine line between “thy kingdom come” and “my kingdom come.” Saul was a king who at first displayed humility, yet, as time passed his main concern became making a name for himself. In this message, Pastor J.D. continues our Life of David series, showing us how we, just like Saul and the people of Israel, often search for the wrong things.

In this message Psalm 145, Pastor Curtis dives into the part of our worship service we most often take for granted—the singing. Have you ever wondered why we spend a third of our church time singing songs? Is it just a fun tradition … or is something more profound happening? Through this psalm of David—possibly the last words he ever wrote—we will learn not simply why we sing, but what God does in...

In this message Psalm 13, Pastor Bryan walks us through one of the most candid laments in the entire Bible. In Psalm 13, King David is squarely in the midst of crisis. He has far more questions than he does answers. He needs God to show up in a big way. Like many of us. The question is not, “Will we encounter a crisis?” The question is, “How do we get through it?” David charts us the way forward,...

In this message from The Life of David, Pastor J.D. shows us how all of us—religious or irreligious, Christian or not—seem hard-wired to chase after someone (or something) to make us feel okay. Like the people of Israel, we desire a king. We desire identity, security, happiness, freedom. And what 1 Samuel 8 teaches us is as simple as it is profound: Every king promises freedom; but every king but...

Abusive Leaders and Faithful Shepherds

In this message from the Sermon on the Mount, Pastor John encourages us to look at the structure of our lives. Whether you’re religious, irreligious, or something in between, you are building your life upon something solid. At least, you hope it’s solid. And as we see in one of Jesus’ shortest parables, all of us will one day have those seemingly solid foundations tested. The question is not wheth...

In this message from the book of 1 Samuel, Pastor J.D. kicks off our series following the biography of David, Israel’s greatest king. A king who began his life as an obscure shepherd boy, but became a warrior who brought rival nations to their knees. A king described as “a man after God’s own heart.” But also a king whose personal sins devastated not only his own family, but the nation. In triumph...

In this final message from the book of Philemon, Pastor Bryan shows us the third essential ingredient in reconciliation—truth. We might be more familiar with the first two ingredients (repentance and grace), but if we don’t stare the tough truth in the face, we’ll never overcome the hurts that divide us. Thankfully, in Christ, we can walk freely in that truth, not winning arguments or proving poin...

In this message on the book of Philemon, Pastor Curtis asks, “If I’ve been wronged by someone, what is my role in making it right?” Forgiveness sounds great in principle, but in practice it can be a tough pill to swallow. Fortunately for us, God hasn’t simply told us THAT we should forgive; he’s also shown us HOW to forgive. In the tiny book of Philemon, we see the ultimate test of Christian forgi...

In this final message from our “Goodness in the Middle” series, Pastor J.D. looks at the sufferings of the Apostle Paul, what he called his “thorn in the flesh.” Paul never asked for his thorn—in fact, he repeatedly asked God to take it away. And yet, through this painful situation, Paul learned to lean upon God’s goodness. Because if dependence is our objective, weakness turns out to be an advant...