Newspaper Article about Christmas

Pastor Nate was asked to write a short article for the Buckeye Valley News as they publish the newspaper this Christmas week. Check out his article about the meaning of Christmas for us as a church here in the local community:

Christmas is for many a season of gift-giving. It is a time for special events and gatherings. Simultaneously, it can be the busiest time of the year and a time when we finally slow down. For many, Christmas means getting together with loved ones and friends.

Christmas means snow in most parts of our country—except for those of us in Arizona. We instead get the joy of reminding out-of-state friends just how nice our weather is!

But for our church and for countless Christians around the globe, Christmas is not about us at all. It’s not about trees and events and school breaks. For us it is time to stop and reflect on the greatest gift of all, the birth of Christ some 2000 years ago. The heart of Christmas is about the faith and joy we have all year long—because of Jesus’ miraculous birth. As Matthew 1:23 says, “The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).”

Christmas bears the name of our Savior, the promised one. He brings peace and hope that lasts far more than one day! My family will share gifts and take time for lots of other traditions as well, but Jesus is at the center. I pray that God touches your heart this Christmas—and blesses you with the peace of knowing he came for you as well!

By Pastor Nate Schaus
Summit Community Church
www.summitcc.org

Glow on Monroe Light Parade

This past weekend a team from Summit put together a float with a nativity scene and Christmas lights for the annual "Glow on Monroe" light parade. It was the first year our church participated, and we actually received a trophy for the best religious entry. For all of you who have asked if Summit was the only religious entry... there were other churches there! :)

The streets were lined with people for seven city blocks, sometimes as much as four people deep. It was an incredible night to share how Christ is at the center of the season for our church - and we handed out a bunch of candy canes with Christmas Eve invites. Watching kids from several Summit families throw out candy to the crowds along the street was too cute. Pray that God works through it all to help some people reconnect with church and with Him this Christmas!

Rick Taylor and Walt Morris did an awesome job getting everything prepared. Thanks to the two of them and everyone who helped it a successful and fun night!

Update from the Bender Family in Haiti

Hello Summit family!

We have been praying for the church all this week and we are turning our commiment card in via email from Haiti! If someone could please write our names on a brick for the wall - with WATERisLIFE words - that would be awesome.

We are accomplising so much while we are here - and have plenty of good nourishment to keep us going thanks to your generous giving. We purchased our food with all of your donations! Thank you Summit!

Between missionary kidnappings, presidential election tensions, the cholera outbreak (with many infected and dying), Hurricane Tomas, our student diagnosed with TB and HIV, WATERisLIFE village visits with riotous people and many challenges that arise in Haiti on a daily basis - we have have had quite a bit to contend with.

But the joy of our work and time as a family to serve is a Gift we could never have expected.

We know that God has us here at this time for His purpose. We have been able to use the ever so needed water filters and hygiene and cholera education clinics as tools to reach so many with His word.

It would have been much easier to find many reasons not to listen to God's calling and come to Haiti... we are sure glad we we didn't say "But Lord, we we can't go because..." We are glad we said yes.

We are blessed to be here and truly blessed to have our Summit family praying. Picabo and Olivia have done amazing and are fantastic ambassadors for WATERisLIFE and our Lord.

As Pastor Nate knows first hand - a little body rash, diarrhea, spiders, rats, voodoo, flooding, torential rains with deep mud, head colds, bleaching everything, and exhaustion - it's hard work, but we love it! As Mark says, now that we have experienced this, there is nothing we can't do!

Miss you all - see you in December.

The Bender Family
MB, KB, PB, OB and Cabo!

A call to prayer

Take a look at Pastor Nate's call to prayer during this important season.

A Red Chair Church

Check out our Summit's vision as we seek to be a red chair church and follow God's will for our lives.

Vision Sunday from Summit Community Church on Vimeo.

Celebration 2010

Celebrate what God has done at Summit this past year:

Children's Ministry Vision 2010

Check out Children's Ministry Director Jamie Wolf's vision for Children's Ministry for this year:

Reaching out and sharing faith

Tom has an inspirational story of sharing faith. Check it out:

Serving Others in Children's Ministry

Hear Stephanie's story of serving others through helping our 2's program.




Interested in serving at Summit? Click here and let us know what you'd like to help out with.

Partnering Through Giving

Check out this story of someone at our church who has grown in faith through giving.



Ready to take this step of faith? Check out this link.

Baptism Bash 2010

We had an awesome time at the Verrado Village pool for our Baptism Bash on Oct 3.

Check it out:

Don't Be a Hoarder.

Got some stuff you're hoarding? Items cluttering up your house? What better way to get rid of them than donating them to the Mexico Mission trip Yard Sale. All proceeds benefit the Mexico Mission Trip, so you know its for a good cause. The Yard Sale is on October 9th, so come and check it out and invite your friends.

Contact Char to drop off/have her pick up your items you'd like to donate: charlotte_bentz@yahoo.com

Check out Char's promo from this past Sunday:

Resources for Your Sex Life

This Sunday at Summit, we're tackling the topic of sex. God created us with a sexual design and provided it for us as a tremendous gift in the context of marriage. But too often the world pushes a cheap imitation, built around temporary gratification and limited commitment.

Today I encourage you to grow in your understanding of and commitment to sex God's way. For teens and adults in the dating scene, make decisions with a future spouse in mind. For those living with someone, make the choice to get married and honor God with a life-long commitment. For those impacted by porn, seek accountability. For frustrated and unfulfilled spouses, reach out and look for the resources you need to make a change.

God has designed sex as an incredible gift when enjoyed as he planned! Here are some practical and helpful resources to check out:

Q&A about Sex with Drs. Les & Leslie Parrott
When Bad Things Happen to Good Marriages
Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts
Learning About Sex (resource for parents & kids)
Internet Filtering
Crazy Good Sex
Local Christian Counselors - Dr. Meloney Nunez & Alan Heller

You may have heard in worship how helpful Dr. Les & Leslie Parrott have been for many couples. Read one of their books above or take advantage of the many resources available to help you grow in this important area of life.

Pastor Nate

Bender Family Serves in Haiti

The Bender family will be traveling to Haiti this fall to spend a few months there and serve through providing clean water filters through waterislife, working on local construction projects and teaching in an orphanage there, among many other things.

Check out their video to learn more about their trip.

If you'd like to help them, check out their flyer for more details: www.summitcc.org/benderhaiti.jpeg

Time to Make a Change

I could see it in people’s eyes this past week at worship. I could hear it in the voices of people I talked to after church. I read it in the e-mails we got this week. People are ready to make a change in their financial life.

What’s cool is that so many are wrestling with the spiritual questions that lie behind making a lasting change. They have gotten to the point where they know making a financial change takes a completely different view of money than most people have… Living within what God provides. Avoiding debt. Being prepared. Living generously. Knowing that it’s God’s stuff, not mine. Building wealth for all the right reasons.

I’m praying like crazy that many people trust God’s way of handling money and start to make changes. Not sometime down the road. Now! I believe that we will see a bunch of people at Summit who look back thankfully a year from now and only wish they had made a change sooner.

If you are ready to make a change, sign up today for Financial Peace University at Summit. Read books like The Total Money Makeover. Talk to our church office about meeting with a financial counselor. Teach your kids how to handle money using Financial Peace Jr. Discover the joy of giving by reading the Treasure Principle. Make today the day you swear off debt and begin saving for the future.

Whatever your next step is, trust God and take it today.

Pastor Nate