Reflections: Josh Kerr
There are a lot of exciting developments happening at The Summit! In anticipation of planting our AM Congregation on 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.
When I think of the Summit, I think of two things: Life Change (personally and collectively) and Family.
Life change is the first thing that comes to my mind because God used the Summit to significantly change my life and I have the privilege of seeing the Summit change lives around the world. The Summit changed my life because you continually preached the Gospel to me until it fundamentally changed my heart and then you modeled to me a life lived with a heart changed by the love of Christ. You poured into me, taught me what it meant to study my Bible, to pray, and to share my faith. At the Summit I was taught that just as surely and strongly as I was reconciled to God, I am as surely and strongly called to reconcile people to God, to make disciples (2 Corinthians 5:11-21).
This all began to spill over into every area of my life and eventually lead me into full time ministry with Cru. Because of God’s work through the Summit, I now have the privilege of sharing the love of Christ with Graduate Students and Professors at Penn State and around the world. There are now new believers in Central Asia and around the world because the Summit was/is obedient and available to be used by God to change peoples’ lives. The impact the Summit is having reminds me of Jeremiah 29, where God calls Israel to plant, invest, and grow in the land they are exiled, because when the people of the land prosper, so will they. By the Summit planting and investing in the city of Denver, God is changing lives at a personal, community, and global level. It starts in your heart, spills over to your neighbor, your street, your city, and then to the ends of the world (Acts 1:8).
I may not attend the Summit each week anymore, but I was trained, equipped, and sent by you. I am forever thankful for the men who invested in me, the couples that modeled for me Godly marriages, and the selfless service of the members of the church. The best part is that all of this takes place in the context of family or community at the Summit. In essence you tangibly live out the Bible’s call to do life together as a body of believers. This type of community, one in which the Church comes together to encourage, serve, teach, and care for one another, is prioritized at the Summit and it is where I first saw this lived out. It reminds me a lot of how Acts 2:42-47 describes how believers are to live life together. Though I am miles away I feel as though a large part of my family and my heart is in Denver. So what does the Summit mean to me? It means a Family living together, on mission, to fulfill the Great Commission.