Reflections: Angela Metzger
There are a lot of exciting developments happening at The Summit! In anticipation of our upcoming Celebration Sunday (Feb. 8, 5:15pm), as well as us planting our AM Congregation beginning February 15, we asked some of our members to share their experiences of what it's looked like to be part of the Summit family.
I am in a particularly messy and chaotic stage of life right now. I have a toddler and a newborn, so, naturally, there is chaos, disarray, and mess in every area of my life. Dishes are left unwashed, conversations are left unfinished, and that gym I joined 3 months ago has yet to be visited. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure where it’s located. I feel like this is a common thread among my friends these days. One friend recently reminded me that community doesn’t make the mess go away, but it makes it so much easier to journey through. Well, the Summit has been that journeying community for me.
As I reflect over the past 4 years at the Summit, the church has grown to be such a safe place for my mess. Yet, it has also served as an example to me of how God responds to our mess. When I think about the beginning of life at the Summit, there were so many unknowns. Everything was new, everything was changing quickly, and we were just kind of figuring it out as we went along. It was a messy season, but we believed that God was present and that He would do the work that only He can do. And He did. He brought in many that would eventually come to know Christ through the Summit. And in a stage of chaos and disorder and lots of unknowns, God was faithful.
As I think about our upcoming season of adding a new congregation, I can’t help but to believe 2 things: One, this season will most certainly bring a number of unknowns, but that’s really okay—God welcomes our not knowing. God willing, the discomfort of the unknown will push us to sacrifice in ways we couldn’t see before. Secondly, our inability to perfectly see into the future is actually a gift. It’s during these seasons that I feel like we get to see God “show off” more than usual. In fact, church planting has made me more convinced than ever that when we step out in faith, God shows up. He shows up in our mess, despite our mess, really even because of our mess.
I believe this is true both for our church as a family and for our lives individually. God welcomes my mess, and the church—my community—welcomes it, too. It’s so easy for my days to get lost in the redundancy of making the mess manageable. Yet, they welcome my screaming toddler, and my tired eyes, and they gather in my house covered in crumbs. Our City Group is such a blessing and safe place for me and my family. Because the church isn’t just there for when life is easy but for when life is hard and messy and uncomfortable. So bring your mess. And enter into our mess. And instead of fearing the unknown, let’s celebrate the fact that we’re about to enter into something brand new that God is creating before our very eyes.
