SummitPA Sermon Audio

In the eighth message of our series called Feasts, Pastor Stef taught that the Sabbath is not merely a rule to obey but a profound gift from God designed to expose and heal our areas of distrust. Drawing from the Israelites’ grumbling in Exodus 16, she showed how their complaints about hunger revealed a deeper lack of trust in God’s provision, and how God responded by giving the Sabbath—with double manna on the sixth day—as a weekly opportunity to practice dependence on Him. The Sabbath, Stef emphasized, declares our trust in God’s care when we deliberately cease work, rest, and play, reminding us that we are loved not for what we produce but for who we are. Ultimately, as Jesus declared in Mark 2, the Sabbath was made for our good, inviting us to stop striving, renew our minds, and experience transformation by living in the reality that the Son of Man is Lord even over the Sabbath.

In his sermon on the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), Pastor Mel teaches that this joyful seven-day biblical festival, celebrated each fall after the harvest, was designed by God to remind Israel of His faithful provision during the wilderness years when they lived in temporary shelters, while also pointing forward to greater spiritual realities fulfilled in Christ. Drawing from Leviticus 23, he highlights the command to dwell in booths, rejoice with branches, and rest on the first and eighth days, noting how Jesus Himself attended this feast and, on its climactic last day, stood in the Temple and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink,” promising rivers of living water—the Holy Spirit—who would later be poured out at Pentecost and, as Joel prophesied and Peter confirmed, continues to be poured out upon all flesh in the last days. Mel connects the temporary tents of Sukkot to Paul’s imagery of our earthly bodies as tents awaiting an eternal house from God, encouraging the congregation to live in joyful expectation of the ultimate ingathering when Christ returns and we tabernacle forever with Him.

In the sixth message of our series called Feasts, Mel teaches about the Feast of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This message centers on the profound significance of atonement as described in Leviticus 16 and its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Drawing from Leviticus 23:26-32, Mel explains the ancient rituals of Yom Kippur, where the high priest, Aaron, entered the Most Holy Place to offer sacrifices for the sins of Israel, including the scapegoat that symbolically carried the people's sins into the wilderness. He highlights the gravity of approaching God’s presence, referencing the deaths of Aaron’s sons and the massive veil separating the Holy of Holies. Mel connects these Old Testament practices to the New Testament, emphasizing Hebrews 9:11-15 and 10:19-22, which portray Jesus as the ultimate High Priest and Lamb of God, whose sacrifice tore the veil and opened direct access to God’s presence. He underscores that Christ’s blood, unlike the temporary animal sacrifices, provides eternal redemption, inscribing believers’ names in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 3:5), inviting all into a reconciled relationship with God through faith.

In the fifth message of our series called Feast, Pastor Mel explains the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah), a biblical holy day outlined in Leviticus 23:23-25 and Numbers 29:1-6, emphasizing its significance as a time of solemn rest, remembrance, and spiritual renewal, marked by the sounding of the shofar (ram’s horn). He highlights its role as Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, initiating the 10 Days of Awe for introspection and repentance, and explores its multifaceted biblical symbolism—calling Israel to renewal, obedience, gathering, war, submission, worship, and repentance, as seen in scriptures like Exodus 19:16-20, Numbers 10:1-4, Joel 2:1, and others. Mel connects the feast to New Testament eschatology, particularly in 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, where the trumpet blast signifies the transformation and gathering of believers at Christ’s return, portraying Yom Teruah as both a historical observance and a prophetic foreshadowing of God’s ultimate redemption and judgment.

In the fourth message of our series called Feasts, Pastor Mel explains the Jewish "Shavuot" which means "Weeks". God instituted the feasts so the people of Israel would celebrate His provision, memorialize significant events, and foreshadow things to come. The Feast of Weeks celebrates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, as well as the wheat harvest in the land of Israel. Pentecost is the Greek name for the Feast of Weeks which occurs 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits. God orchestrated the feast schedule so that a crowd of Jews from various nations were gathered into one place when the Holy Spirit was poured out on them. Robert Baer said, "Bethlehem was God with us, Calvary was God for us, and Pentecost is God in us."

In the third message of our series called Feasts, Pastor Mel explains the timeless biblical principles represented by the Hebrew feast of firstfruits. In scripture the Jewish feasts are instituted to celebrate God's provision, remember significant events, and foreshadow things to come. The feast of firstfruits represents the biblical principle of "firsts" which points to the reality of God's own preeminence. God is first whether we believe He is or not. Putting God first in our lives will facilitate a proper affection for everything else which is important to us. Like Abel in Genesis chapter 4, we must give our first and our best to God because we are our best selves when we put God first.

In part two of our series called Feasts, Pastor Mel explains the feast of unleavened bread. Jewish feasts were instituted to celebrate God's provision, remember significant events, and foreshadow things to come. Preaching through Exodus chapter 12, Mel shows how the feast of unleavened bread represented the Hebrews' separation from the sin of Egypt. Today we understand the doctrine of unleavened bread as a call to holiness. Paul elaborates on this call in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 when he says, "Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old 'yeast' by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth."

In week one of our series called Feasts, Pastor Collin preaches about the most notable of all Judaic feasts, the feast of Passover. Collin explains how the Sabbath helped posture the peoples' spirits for participating in the Passover celebration. Christians should observe a Sabbath today because intentional rest helps prevent us from becoming distracted from the most important spiritual matters. The Passover commemorated the night when God's Spirit took all of the firstborn of Egypt, passing over the houses whose doorframes were marked by the blood of the lamb. As Christians, we celebrate Jesus Christ as our Passover Lamb, and because of His blood we are saved from our sins.

Guest speaker Pastor Eran Holt shares an important message about identity. He carefully deconstructs the culture's ingredients for a false identity: feelings, attraction, achievement, and approval. Eran explains why this kind of identity is incoherent, resulting in instability and idolatry. Instead we should build our lives on biblical truth, love, serving others, belonging, and God-ordained purpose. Building a proper identity is necessary if we expect to withstand the trials of life.

In the fourth and final message of our Welcome Home series, Pastor Mel walks us through three of Summit's core values: radical generosity, healthy relationships, and freedom. God is radically generous and we want the world to see that in how we live and give. When we put God first in our lives, everything else falls into order. We’re committed to loving others sacrificially and resolving conflict biblically. We believe in experiencing the abundant and victorious life that only Christ can give. Mel explains how each of these core values depends on Christ's greatest commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Anything we exalt above biblical truth becomes idolatry which corrupts us and prevents us from embodying these values each day.