SummitPA Sermon Audio

This week Pastor Mel preached Romans 10, picking up where guest Pastor Eran Holt left off in Romans 9. The question driving these chapters is a hard one: if God's promises are so good, why did so many in Israel miss their own Messiah? Mel answers it with a single picture — two roads to righteousness. Israel pursued being right with God by works, by keeping the law, and stumbled over the very cornerstone, Jesus. The Gentiles, who weren't chasing it at all, received it by faith. Same God, same offer, two different roads. From there Mel opens the heart of Romans 10: the gospel is near — as close as confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised him from the dead. The offer is universal — everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, with no distinction between Jew and Gentile. And because the offer is for everyone, the church has a job: faith comes by hearing, so we give, we go, we pray, and we send. Mel closes with God's relentless heart — "all day long I opened my arms to them" — and the reminder that there is a gospel in every believer, as simple as your own story of who you were before and who you are now. 1. Mel describes two roads to righteousness: Israel chased being right with God by works and stumbled, while the Gentiles received it by faith. He warns, "they got so focused on just working their way to heaven that they miss the Messiah." Where in your own life are you still trying to earn something from God that he's actually offering as a gift? What would it look like to receive it by faith instead of working for it? 2. Mel says, as gently as he can, "Our sincerity is not enough because we can be sincerely wrong. Your sincerity in a lie is still a lie. Your sincerity to an idol is still an idol." Where might you be sincere — but sincerely off — in how you're relating to God? How do you tell the difference between genuine faith and a sincere assumption you've never examined? 3. Mel insists salvation is "nearer than your next breath," but also that "your life is a confession of who you think Jesus is." If someone read your life this past week like a confession, what would it say you actually believe about Jesus? Where do the words of your mouth and the witness of your life line up — and where don't they? 4. Mel admits, "there are people in my life that I'm not sure will be saved," and yet, "when it says everyone, it means everyone." Who is the person you've quietly written off? What changes in how you treat them this week if you genuinely believe the offer of grace includes them? 5. Mel says every lost person "is a person with a name and a face and a story," and that there's a gospel in you — your own two-minute story of who you were before and who you are after. Who is one specific person God is putting on your heart? What is one concrete step this week to give, go, pray, or send toward them?

In his sermon on Romans 3:21-31, Pastor Mel explains how God has revealed a new way of righteousness apart from the law, a righteousness manifested through faith in Jesus Christ and available to all—Jews and Gentiles alike—who believe. He emphasizes the universal reality that all have sinned and fall short of God's glory, yet through God's grace, believers are justified as a free gift, made right in His sight because Jesus was presented as a propitiation (hilasterion) by His blood, satisfying divine justice and demonstrating God's fairness in both forgiving past sins and justifying present believers. This sacrifice underscores that no one can boast in works or law-keeping for acceptance before God; salvation comes solely by faith, not by obeying the law. Pastor Mel highlights the inclusive nature of the gospel—one God justifying both Jews and Gentiles through faith alone—while affirming that faith does not nullify the law but truly fulfills it, echoing Jesus' own words about fulfilling rather than abolishing the Law and the Prophets.

Pastor Mel's sermon on Romans 2:17-29 challenges those who rely on external religious identity and privileges—particularly the Jews in the Roman church who boasted in their knowledge of God's law, their special relationship with God, and circumcision—while failing to live in obedience to it. He highlights Paul's pointed confrontation: they teach others yet fail to teach themselves, condemning sins like stealing, adultery, and idolatry while secretly committing them, thereby dishonoring God and causing Gentiles to blaspheme His name. Drawing modern parallels, Mel equates outward circumcision or church attendance with having value only when accompanied by genuine obedience; otherwise, it offers no advantage. True Jewish identity (and by extension, true belonging to God's people) is not outward or merely physical but inward—a heart transformed by the Spirit, producing real righteousness through faith rather than legalistic performance. This inward change seeks God's praise alone, underscoring Paul's call for authentic, heart-level faith that unites a divided church rather than relying on cultural or ritualistic superiority.

In his sermon on Romans 1:18-32, Pastor Collin explains why humanity desperately needs the righteousness and salvation offered through Jesus Christ. Although God has clearly revealed Himself through creation, people suppress the truth, refuse to worship or thank Him, and instead turn to idols and foolish thinking. As a result, God’s wrath is revealed—not primarily as direct punishment, but by “giving people over” to their sinful desires, allowing them to reap the consequences of their rebellion. This leads to widespread moral breakdown, including sexual immorality, idolatry, greed, hatred, gossip, and all kinds of wickedness. Pastor Collin emphasizes that these sins are not just targeting one group, but reveal the universal brokenness of humanity when we exchange the truth of God for lies. The solution is to repent, reject our idols, humbly acknowledge our sin, and return to wholehearted worship of the Creator, finding hope and healing through the righteousness of Christ.

Pastor Christina's sermon, concluding the "Prepare the Way" series, draws from Isaiah 40:3-5 and the story of Moses in Exodus to explore how believers prepare for God's calling. She emphasizes that a calling is not based on personal performance, qualifications, or position, but on intimately knowing Jesus, trusting Him, and obeying Him. Using Moses' life—from his failed attempt to deliver his people through violence, his 40 years in exile, to God's burning bush encounter—she addresses three common obstacles: unmet expectations (when things don't unfold as imagined), feelings of inadequacy (questioning one's qualifications), and doubts about authority (needing assurance of God's power). Through Scripture, including God's self-revelation as "I AM" and Jesus' promise of His presence and all authority in Matthew 28, she stresses that God's calling depends on His unchanging goodness, faithfulness, and presence rather than human ability. Ultimately, she encourages us to daily cultivate a relationship with Jesus, recognize that their calling serves others' redemption, and overcome obstacles through obedience, trusting that breakthrough awaits on the other side of saying "yes" to God.

In the second message of our series called Prepare the Way, Pastor Mel draws from Matthew 3:1-3 to emphasize preparing the way for God's blessings through complete obedience, illustrating the concept with the story of King Saul from 1 Samuel 15, where Saul's partial compliance in destroying the Amalekites—sparing King Agag and the best livestock while claiming to sacrifice them to God—resulted in divine rejection, as "obedience is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22). Defining blessing as divine favor and happiness (from Hebrew "barak" meaning to bless or kneel, "esher" for happiness, and Greek "makarios" for blessed or happy), he contrasts it with Luke 11:27-28, stressing that true blessing comes from hearing and practicing God's word rather than mere rituals or good intentions, warning that disguising disobedience with spiritual excuses or fear of people leads to regret and loss, as seen in Saul's downfall (1 Chronicles 10:13-14). He concludes with John 14:15-21, urging that loving Jesus manifests in obeying His commandments, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and that partial obedience equals complete disobedience, blocking the revelation of God's glory and favor.

In the final message of our "Even Though" series, Pastor Mel draws from 2 Corinthians 6 to explore the paradoxical "yet" statements in Paul's ministry—such as being sorrowful yet always rejoicing, poor yet making many rich, and having nothing yet possessing everything—emphasizing that true Christian hope is the joyful anticipation of good in Christ, even amid hardship, suffering, and misunderstanding. He contrasts the dysfunctional yet beloved Corinthian church's worldly values of wealth, eloquence, and success with Paul's countercultural defense of authentic ministry marked by patient endurance (hypomone), purity, kindness, sincere love, and faithfulness regardless of honor or slander. Mel encourages listeners to find lasting hope not in comfortable circumstances or material blessings, but in God's goodness and sufficiency alone, culminating in a gospel invitation for salvation and an affirmation that genuine joy and purpose are found in surrender to Christ, no matter the trials faced.