This fall’s topic is the Bible. Can I trust the Bible? Can I stake my life on it? Can I stake my eternal life on it?

These are primary questions for all ages. Sadly, the Bible has been increasingly relegated as a mere reference book among many books, instead of being acknowledged as the Word of God. 

Many postmodern Americans no longer accept the statement, “The Bible says,” as authoritative. Instead, they have questions like: 

“Why should I believe the Bible? It’s just an antiquated collection of myths.”

“How do you know the Bible is inspired, since it was written by men?”

“It’s been copied so many times that it must be full of errors.”

“What right does the Bible have to tell me what I can or can’t do?” 

“Hasn’t modern science disproved the Bible?” 

This year, Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research took a survey titled, “The State of Theology” in order to assess the theological temperature in the U.S. It revealed that over a fourth of U.S. Christians do not believe that the Bible is objectively true, and that trend is increasing. 

Since the creation of man in the Garden of Eden, the integrity of God’s words has been under attack. Why? Because it is the foundation of faith (Romans 10:17), and our enemy is strategic in his efforts to destroy faith, and its accompanying salvation. And he knows that the smallest seed of doubt will often become a slippery slope to unbelief and apostasy.

As Author James White has written:

“Church history has repeatedly and clearly proven one thing: once the highest view of Scripture is abandoned by any theologian, group, denomination, or church, the downhill slide in both its theology and practice is inevitable.” 

So this fall’s Core Class will devote six weeks to addressing the Bible’s Authority, Inspiration, Sufficiency, Infallibility, Uniqueness, Canonicity, Interpretation, and Application.

Join us, November 6 – December 18, 8:10-9:10 a.m. in the Fellowship Room. Anyone is welcome to jump into the curriculum at any time, and we will also provide childcare. You can sign up by clicking the link below.  

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“The LORD is with you, valiant warrior!” (Judges 6:12)

I just read these shocking words in my time with the Lord. This is what God said to the man, Gideon, at a time when all Israel was cowering in fear and defeat. Even Gideon himself was secretly beating out his meager portion of wheat in a winepress, desperate to conceal it from the powerful Midianites and Amalekites who would confiscate anything of value.

Gideon timidly asked, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his miracles which our fathers told us about?” 

Dear brother in Christ, have you ever been there? Are you perhaps there now? Consumed by fears, weary of battle, feeling defeated, on the defensive, alone in your fight, just trying to survive? Like Gideon, are you struggling to reconcile your circumstances with what you once believed to be true, to no avail?

Listen dear saint! God says to you now, “The LORD is with you, valiant warrior!” 

Gideon saw himself as a man who was the least (youngest) of his family, whose family was the least among his tribe (Manasseh), and whose tribe was the least among all the tribes of Israel. This assessment was accurate. But… it completely failed to take into account the trump card which nullified it all: the earth-shaking promise of verse 16 where God declares, “Surely I will be with you.” 

Gideon’s fledgling spark of faith was fragile. He needed many signs of confirmation. But in verse 34, when the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, he blew a trumpet and rallied with other men. Together, they readily defeated a formidable foe who (if you do the math) outnumbered them 450 to 1!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Men! Brothers. Husbands. Fathers. Fellow soldiers! In just six weeks, we men of the tribe of Summitview, are going to blow a trumpet, rally together, and meet with the God who says to us, “Surely I am WITH YOU!” 

We have not had a men’s retreat for over five years! (And we probably won’t again, for at least three more years.) So this is a RARE event and opportunity, indeed. Is it worth 24 hours of your time, to go from despondently beating handfuls of grain in a winepress… to being envisioned and empowered by God, to live out your God-given masculinity as a leader and conqueror, and to lock arms with other men who want to do the same?

If so, then it will cost you more than a trifling of your time and money. It will require faith. Faith to forget what lies behind. Faith to reject the status quo. And faith to respond to God’s invitation, and reach out for what he wants to give you, make you, and do through you.

Take one simple step in that direction. And as a band of brothers, let’s become the mighty men that God has called each of us to be.

Register here today!

On behalf of the Summitview pastors, 
Perry

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“Abide in me, and I in you.”

Abide. It’s a strange word to us, not one we use much in conversation. But it’s everything we were designed for and what our ultimate goal is. Abide means to live, to find a place, to remain, to endure, to last. In the context of John 15, it means to immerse ourselves in an ongoing, intimate relationship with God, characterized by prayer, obedience and joy.

The beginning of the school year is a time of fresh starts and renewed vision. As we consider plans and goals for this year at Summitview, we’re trusting that God prepared us by having us spend our summer in John 14-17. These chapters contain some of the final words we have from Jesus. They’re what he wanted to impress upon his disciples before he returned to his Father. And in these chapters, much of what he emphasized is abiding. Sometimes he used the word itself, as in John 15, and sometimes he used other words to share the same idea, as in John 17.

This year at Summitview, our hope is that all of us can freshly discover an abiding relationship with God. We want to know him more deeply. We want to experience the joy that Jesus promises us. We want to pray expectantly and see him answer. We want to shift priorities and schedules in order to be with him more. As we think through our Sunday mornings, our small groups, and dozens of other ministries, our aim is to weave abiding throughout, and in so doing, to experience an extraordinary renewal of relationship with God.

Not only does abiding with God have an internal effect on each individual, but also an external one. That’s clear, especially in John 17. Growing in oneness with God necessarily results in a greater oneness with each other. And a greater oneness with each other necessarily draws people on the outside in, as indicated in John 17:20-23. So our priority is to be with God, but we expect that our nearness to God will bear fruit in far-reaching ways.

So as we begin another school year, join us in reflecting on how God may lead you to freshly abide in him. And as you do abide in him, expect that others will want what you have.

– Aaron Ritter, on behalf of the pastors

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If you weren’t there on Sunday, we did something pretty awesome during our worship and prayer time. Before I explain what we did, I think I should throw in some context. For the past 20-something years Summitview has had a very invested role on CSU campus through our college group and has produced great fruit. This fall, we have been given the opportunity to turn over a new leaf in Summitview’s college ministry.

This past February, the high school seniors decided we wanted extended time to connect and encourage one another. So we formed a small group with the purpose of intentional community and growing a deeper relationship with Jesus. The first thing our group studied was the early chapters of Acts, which detail the formation of the early church. After Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, we see the disciples outline how the body of Christ should live. Specifically, Acts 2:42 says, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” 

This summer, our group decided we wanted to continue together and focus our outreach efforts towards our fellow college students at CSU and Front Range. We considered a few names but quickly landed on 242 because we want to live out the vision of the early church. The story leading up to Acts 2:42 tells of many non-believers being saved. Then verse 42 (and the rest of the chapter) gives us a picture of how the early church lived life. 

We want to live the same Christ-like lives as the generations of believers before us. To do this we have some practical steps:

• We will continue to devote ourselves to studying the word and building our relationship with Jesus.
• We will have regular prayer times both as individuals and as a group.
• We will regularly take time to share the gospel on CSU’s campus. 
• We will take time for intentional fellowship to build each other up in Christ-like love. 

On Sunday, we spent some extended time praying for 242 and the CSU campus.

If you would like to join us in continued prayer, here is what we could use prayers for:

• Pray that we would find people who are ready and willing to receive Jesus.
• Pray that each member of our group would grow in their love for Jesus.
• Pray for unity and guidance for the group.

Thank you for investing in 242 through your prayers. We are eager to see God move in our lives and in the lives of our fellow college students!

-Zeke Henry, on behalf of 242 (Zeke, Dawson, Elia, Jess, Joen, Garrett, Anna)

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This really is a magnificent truth. A loving, joyful relationship existed within God himself before the foundation of the world was laid. Love didn’t come into being along with the creation. Rather, love is independent of the creation and fundamental to the nature of God. God truly is love.

That basic truth is one of the most life-transforming realities and one in which I tried to immerse myself during the last two months of sabbatical. One of my main goals was simply to know our Triune God better – to know that God exists in a mysterious relationship of Father, Son and Spirit.

By the grace of God, I believe I was able to better grasp God’s relational nature. However, I also know that I only scratched the surface. We all may take significant steps in our knowledge of God, but we still only “see in a mirror dimly” (1 Corinthians 13:12), and we will spend our entire lives getting to know him more and more.

That being the case, perhaps the real blessing from my time away was not only the knowledge of God that I gained (enormous blessing that it was), but the pattern of seeking to know God that I was able to reestablish. That is, it wasn’t the end result so much as it was the trajectory that I believe will make all the difference.

This past Sunday, I shared about the priority of “abiding.” During my sabbatical, I was able to abide in Christ in a unique way, but my prayer is that the renewed practice of abiding will carry on into my normal rhythms of life. And what’s more, my hope is that Summitview Church as a whole can reset some of those normal practices.

Extended, focused, uninterrupted time with God is an invaluable gift. It may not be something that we can realistically do constantly. Clearly, God wants us to live a balanced life where we work and eat and serve and spend time with family and friends. The monastic lifestyle probably isn’t what God would have for most of us. Nevertheless, some regular extended time with God is vital, and I know that most of us could use a lot more of it. But it’s not easy. A thousand different concerns compete for our time, and extended time with God can feel so difficult to pursue. And yet, none of our other endeavors will have the necessary power behind them unless we’re drawing deeply from God’s well.

Will you join with me in considering how to regularly set aside longer stretches of time to simply be with our amazing God? Again, it won’t be easy. It will take difficult decisions. It will take rearranging priorities. It may take vacation time and extra investment. But it will be worth it. God will meet us, and pour his love and joy into and through our lives, the love and joy that he has experienced within himself before the foundation of the world.

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On Sunday, we discussed how obedience is God’s preferred “love language.” I said that “The Old Testament law of Moses is obsolete for the Christian. We are no longer under its requirements, nor will we ever be judged by it.” 

Nevertheless, the Old Testament law is still useful in many ways. It is an eternal picture of God’s unchanging heart, character, and values. It defines sin and is instrumental in convicting the conscience, thus showing us our need for a Savior. Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:9, “law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless.” 

But as a covenant (or legal code), it is obsolete. Hebrews 8:13 clearly says, “When He said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.” 

As a result, the Old Testament law has no legal claim on us. We have been “released from the law, having died to that by which we were bound” (Romans 7:6). This does not mean that we are lawless, though. Now, we are under “the law of Christ” (1 Corinthians 9:21), and “the law of liberty” (James 1:25, 2:12), which is a law of love (Romans 13:10, Matthew 22:36-40). Even so, we can still gravitate toward a law-based or performance-based righteousness. The book of Galatians was largely written to correct Christians who had succumbed to this.

Jesus never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). The same is true of God the Father. But his covenants most certainly do change, and have changed. Jesus reiterated each of the Ten Commandments in the New Testament (excluding keeping the Sabbath). They are still morally relevant; however, we will never be judged according to them. Why? Because Jesus lived a perfect life, and as our representative, he perfectly fulfilled the Old Testament law in our place, thus satisfying the law’s demands. And for every point that we fall short, he died on the cross to pay our penalty. 

There are two common errors that Christians can make in how they view God’s laws: legalism and licentiousness. The legalist strives to live in strict adherence to the law in order to establish and maintain a right standing before God and men. Many honest legalists eventually despair when they face the fact that they cannot meet or maintain the law’s standard. So in order to find relief, they often convince themselves that because of Christ’s perfect life and death for them, they can reject the law entirely as having no value or relevance. And any positive spin on the law is quickly labeled “legalism.” This perception of the law as being irrelevant (or even bad) is to be antinomian, which literally means “against the law.” 

This complete lack of esteem for the law can easily result in licentiousness, which is the unbiblical notion that since we are no longer legally bound to the law, we now have a license to freely sin without worry or consequence. But in Romans 6, Paul flat out condemns this rationale in the strongest of terms. In summary, he says:

1. How can we who died to sin still live in it (v. 2)?

2. We are now slave to obedience to God (v. 16).

3. Sin has no benefit but death, but the benefit of obedience is eternal life (vv. 21-22).

The problem with antinomians and legalists is in their insistence that the law must die, when in reality, it is we who must die (to the law, through our identification with Christ’s death). No one I know explains this better than Sinclair Ferguson, so I’d like to share an excerpt from this article to let him speak with his unparallelled clarity, because this issue is simply too important to muddle. He writes,

There is only one genuine cure for legalism. It is the same medicine the gospel prescribes for antinomianism: understanding and tasting union with Jesus Christ Himself. This leads to a new love for and obedience to the law of God, which he now mediates to us in the gospel. This alone breaks the bonds of both 1) legalism, [in that] the law is no longer divorced from the person of Christ, and 2) antinomianism, [in that] we are not divorced from the law, which now comes to us from the hand of Christ and in the empowerment of the Spirit, who writes it in our hearts.

If antinomianism appears to us to be a way of deliverance from our natural legalistic spirit, we need to refresh our understanding of Romans 7. In contrast to Paul, both legalists and antinomians see the law as the problem. But Paul is at pains to point out that sin, not the law is the root issue. On the contrary, the law is “good” and “righteous” and “spiritual” and “holy.” The real enemy is indwelling sin. And the remedy for sin is neither the law nor its overthrow. It is grace.

If obedience truly is God’s love language, then why we obey is of great importance. Christians will never be judged by the law. Period. But the only way to escape involuntary slavery to the law, is to become voluntary slaves to another: to God and to his righteousness. Now our obedience is relational rather than dutiful. And its motives are love and gratitude, rather than pride and fear. Hallelujah! 

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Most of our time and energy as Christians goes into what our minds are to biblically think about these very real circumstances. But what about our hearts? The amplitude of emotions connected to all these issues is volatile and rising daily. Those emotions span the whole gamut. Youth are experiencing unprecedented hopelessness and despair. The elderly on fixed incomes are anxious. Young family breadwinners are exhausted – taking on 2nd and 3rd part-time jobs. Multitudes of parents are angrily pulling their kids out of the public schools in order to homeschool. Many people feel isolated and lonely after 2+ years of Covid. And many are just apathetic or numb.

The Bible is no stranger to emotion. It is brutally honest regarding the human condition, and its profound impact on our individual and collective feelings. In this fallen world, believers are neither exempt from, nor immune to trauma. In the last week alone, I’ve listened to dear, mature saints describe more heart-wrenching, personal burdens than I would care to relate or describe. 

Spock-like stoicism is not a sign of maturity; but on the other hand, neither is unbridled emotion that ignores biblical truth. God is a deeply emotional Being, and we are created in his image. And in my personal quiet times, I’ve been noticing the frequent intensity of emotion expressed by numerous Bible characters/authors. Here are just a few examples:

Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked, who abandon Your law.

Psalm 119:53

My eyes shed streams of water, because they do not keep your law.

Psalm 119:136

Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred; they have become my enemies.

Psalm 139:21-22

Oh that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

Jeremiah 9:1

And the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and make a mark on the foreheads of the people who groan and sigh over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.”

Ezekiel 9:4

I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.

Romans 9:1-2

Did you notice the polar opposites of emotions related to these sin-generated circumstances? These biblical authors express both indignation and sadness; anger and grief; hatred and groaning. I’ve experienced these unlikely mixtures of emotion, too, (as well as both hope and despair, faith and fear, vengefulness and compassion, etc.).

Our heavenly Father does not want these emotions to remain stuffed and pent-up inside us. Rather, he earnestly beckons us to pour out our hearts to him on a regular basis – the good, the bad, and the ugly. We see this in Psalm 62:7-8, where David writes, 

“In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” 

God is the only Person we can fully pour our hearts out to. He alone knows our innermost being, and so there is no reason to hide anything from him. God is the only Person who will not judge us if we open our hearts to him. Friends might judge us and slander us, but God will not. He will help us to balance these complex mixtures of emotion, so that we can “be angry, yet not sin” (Ephesians 4:26), and “grieve, yet not as those who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

Secondary to God’s invitation, we are also instructed to both share and bear one another’s burdens:

Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 

Galatians 6:2-3

If we refrain from doing this, not only are we failing to fulfill the law of Christ, but this verse says that we’re deceiving ourselves. Our silence is evidence that we don’t truly believe that we need others’ support in this life. John Donne famously wrote, “No man is an island, entire of itself…” The Bible agrees. So let us purpose to do these two things more and more, in these tumultuous times. First, to faithfully pour out our hearts to God, and then second, to other believers who will listen to us, empathize with us, support us, correct us, encourage us, and pray for us. And then to do the same for them.

Perhaps we should begin by asking each other more often, “How are you feeling these days?” (And then, don’t accept “fine” for an answer!)

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First, King Saul in the Old Testament: 
“So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance.”  1 Chronicles 10:13

Many years later, Saul of Tarsus (who we know as the Apostle Paul): 
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  2 Timothy 4:7-8

I long to be able to say at the end of my life that I lived well and kept the faith. King Saul started well but finished his life poorly. He broke faith with God. In contrast, Saul of Tarsus started poorly as a persecutor of the church but finished well. He kept the faith. How did Saul of Tarsus stay faithful?

Moses wrote in Psalm 90:12, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” While numbering my days and thinking 20+ years into the future can be helpful, it’s also really abstract and might not affect my practical everyday life. So I’d like for us to consider a shorter increment of time for practicality’s sake – this upcoming Summer. 

You’ve probably made most of your plans already, but my fear is that we’ll all get to Labor Day weekend and look back on a summer with a lot of missed opportunities for God. But what if on Labor Day you could look back over the summer and confidently say “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the summer, I have kept the faith?” 

I could list a lot of ministry opportunities here, and there are some new ones at the bottom of this email for you to consider. But your circumstances may look different than mine. So I invite you to pray with me this week. Seek the Lord for what he would want for you and your family this summer. What could this season look like if we spent as much time seeking God for gospel and discipleship opportunities as we do planning our summer recreation? 

As we go from here, remember that the presence of God is among us wherever we go, and with him at our right hand, we will not be shaken. (Psalm 16:8) 

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The first time I started helping out in college, I felt out of place and wondered if I was needed. I soon found out – definitely needed. I was able to help hand out snacks, help kiddos effectively listen in story time, count out glue dots, set an example for how to be excellent at freeze tag, and even play Esther in a skit. BKC is an awesome way to serve and find lasting friendships of all ages.

Point 1: The backyard is a fun place to meet Jesus. Watch this video to hear more of my thoughts on this one.

Another highlight of BKC is getting to bop around town, with that funky music blaring, looking at the family across from you, knowing they are doing the same thing. That golden CD handed out the first day becomes a precious commodity! The gospel is in catchy songs: “This is the Blueprint, Gods Plan! …” Suddenly, I have a tool with me as I share with the  non-believing neighbor that I’ve invited, a tool when I feel like I’m fumbling the gospel to an intellectual who is asking hard questions, and a tool when I’m tucking my kiddo in and they are feeling the weight of their sin. I could go on. But I’ll just let you join me in June. Point 2: BKC shares the gospel in a simple way that is memorable and shareable.

Lastly, there is a team of amazing people that are ready to be your cheerleader, especially if you’re considering hosting. Like Chad mentioned on Sunday, 85% of people come to know Jesus in the age 4-14 window. Jesus said, “Let the children come to me” when they were thought to be a hindrance. I can feel that tension in our culture today that children are somehow a nuisance or busy-work – not of value. But Jesus asked the children to come to him. Held them and talked to them. Tap into Jesus’ heart with us this summer as we sit on the ground with the kiddos in our lap, speaking (and singing) the gospel to them!  Point 3: Hosting/serving is not hard, in fact, it’s the heart of Jesus – it’s wildly rewarding.

– Stacey Parr

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At the moment though, the two families (9 people!) are living in a three bedroom apartment. Housing options in Fort Collins are limited right now, so we need your help. These families don’t have a salary or credit history, so they’ll be automatically rejected through the normal channels of rental agreements. 

We would love to find private owners who would be willing to rent to these families. The family of five will need a home ASAP for 6-12 months, and the family of four will need a home starting July 29, also for 6-12 months. If each lease is signed before June 30 of this year, we can activate government funding to pay for 6 months rent up front.

Here are the current housing needs: 

1. Needs to be within a 3 mile radius of CSU for the children’s schooling and ease of access to ESL and our team’s support. 
2. 2-3 bedrooms for a family of 5 (children ages 12, 10, and 4), preferably less than $1,600 per month. 
3. 2 bedroom for a family of 4 (children ages  5 and 1), starting July 29, less than $1,600 per month.
4. If someone is willing to be a co-signer (income=5x rent) it would open us up to more options.

Please pray for these needs to be met. Two Ukrainian refugees are also now in Fort Collins, and the second team from Summitview who is sponsoring them would love your prayers! 

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 10:18-19

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