This coming weekend will mark the 13th anniversary of the first official service of Summit Church on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University. I came across this old logo today which was one of the first logos we had, and quickly my mind was flooded with so many thoughts and images, so many faces and moments that I could not help but to sit back and smile.
So much has happened since 15 people came together in a living room to begin the discussion of what God wanted regarding a new church in Southwest Florida. So many milestones have been reached, so many blessings have been experienced and so much has been accomplished, and we know for a fact, all of what has transpired from a positive Kingdom aspect is all due to one reason and one reason only, the faithfulness of God.
When we set out to plant Summit Church 13 years ago, there was a vision, there was excitement and there was a lot of expectancy and belief that God would do something special, but we had no idea that He would pour out His grace and grant us His favor in such tremendous ways.
Today Summit is one church in three locations. We’ve been able to plant a total of twelve churches, some locally, others nationally and some internationally. We have been able to partner with tons of ministries around the world through our Xpansion ministry. Today we have thirty eight Xpansion partners in sixteen different countries. And through the generosity of God’s people, which has always been such a powerful characteristic of this expression, we have been able to give close to 6 million dollars to ministries outside of our four walls during these 13 years of existence.
Over the last five years since we first launched our Every Child Initiative we have seen tremendous growth in the number of families who have adopted and who are currently serving as foster care parents and who are also involved in other ways of caring for vulnerable children. We have seen tons of people come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and follow Him in obedience in believer’s baptism. Already this year we have been able to baptize over 50 people most of who came to know Christ through the ministry of Summit Church.
We have a lot to be thankful for and we certainly have a lot to celebrate, but we do not celebrate ourselves, we celebrate the Lord. Some of the first words spoken at Summit Church on the day of our first service were from Psalm 115:1 “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness.”
There have been many renditions of our logo over the last thirteen years but I am so grateful that this verse has remained central to our ministry and to our prayers and that is, may all we do truly bring glory to God. He is the famous One, He is the hope for the world and His Gospel is the Good News that people need.
As we approach this weekend it is right for us to look back and remember all that God has done, but as we do, may it serve to fuel our gratitude to a God who is so worthy of our worship and our very lives. It has been an amazing 13 years and we thank those who have been and continue to be a part of this mission.
There is still much we are trusting God for and so we ask that you continue to pray that God would build His Church, not just Summit Church, but the Church that is grounded in the Gospel. Let’s pray that the Church would see such a move of God that we do see an ever-growing number of people hearing and responding to the Good News of Jesus Christ. May we as the people of God continue to seek the Lord and continue to represent the Gospel in the places we work, live and play.
We thank God for these 13 years and we are expecting great things in the future from Him, for the good of our city and for the glory of His name. May the mission and the call on our lives to take the Gospel to every man, woman and child be an anthem that continues to resound in our hearts…thank you again for your prayers, partnership and faithfulness, we are grateful for you.
-Orlando Cabrera