What is a church supposed to do? Throughout our church's history, we have been reminded of answers to this question. In the early days of Summit, we decided that we weren't going to wait for the "right time" to be a church, that we could be the Church in our present time. We also decided that we weren't going to settle for being just about us, that we wanted to always be inviting others to experience God's grace. We decided to be a church that serves our world, in the broad sense and in the spaces God placed us. We recognized that any amount of pain or failure would not limit God's faithfulness to us. And we were constantly amazed by the incredible reality of individual transformations through the grace of God. This year, as we remember where we have come from and look ahead to where we are going, we remember who God is. And we remember who we are in him.

Oh God, you are a God of peace. You calm storms in our world and in us. You heal and you provide. You extend grace, act in mercy, and make all things new. You are the author of peace. Let us be peacemakers for the sake of your beloved creation. Grant us your peace that surpasses all understanding. May we not smooth over differences but embrace the true understanding that comes when we explore the bends and folds in the paper on which you write. Let us learn from and celebrate what you have made. Our world is not perfect and neither is our work, but your love is enough to help us play our true roles in your kingdom—as far as it depends on us. Oh God, you are a God of peace. Let us show peace in action.

Secrets and lies are some of the heaviest burdens we will ever carry. To begin to unburden ourselves, to find the blessedness of being undeservingly forgiven, we must confess. Confession is imperative to a relationship with God because all sin is enough to keep us away from God. However, through his abounding grace and mercy and love for all of us—his creation—he can set us free from the burden of our sin. We confess and we repent because he paid the price of our sin for us.

My soul longs to know you,
Longs to understand your ways
And to trust that they are good.

My soul longs to love you,
As you say you love me,
And to trust that your love is strong.

My soul longs to be still,
To rest in your justice and peace,
And to trust your promise to sustain.

My soul longs to be yours
And know how great you are.

When we look back at time, we can see all the ways it’s been both kind and cruel to us. We can see time that has helped and time that has hurt. Time that heals and time that feels like an end. Often it seems like we are at the mercy of time, but only because we look at time as something to be defeated. / Yet Jesus did not defeat time—he defeated death. He is the One that winds the hypothetical clocks of our lives and holds our time in his hands. Even when we are slow to hope and quick to wish for suffering to end, he does not waste our time. / In the expanse between life and death, Jesus takes us through death to life. By his great mercy can we live through the pain to look back and call it well spent.