Summit Podcasts

In this edition of Leadership Night, Mel recounts various situations from his 25 years of leadership experience and teaches us the lessons he’s learned. One of the main themes of this lecture is that a career in leadership seldom turns out how you expect it to. A good leader with a lot of experience will have endured incredible amounts of stress, the pressure of stewarding his or her employees’ well-being, and the betrayal of those he loves. Despite the seriousness of these challenges, there are strategies a leader can develop to maintain a positive outlook, a positive impact, and a healthy life. Mel presents these strategies along with Q&A at the end.

Mel, Todd, and Michael discuss strategies for finding and keeping good employees. Summit Church is known for its low turnover and excellent staff retention. In our world today it is becoming increasingly difficult to retain good people in the workplace. Why is this? What can we do to make it better? The conversation moves to the topic of death-anxiety and whether it’s okay for Christians to fear death. What is the correct way for a Christian to think about death? The discussion finishes with a survey of the cost of following Jesus. Discipleship is hard, so when should a pastor reveal this difficulty to a new convert?

In the second week of our series covering Paul’s letter to Titus, Pastor Mel teaches through chapter two which discusses wise living. Wise living entails a positive ambition for godliness, rather than a mere avoidance of sin. This chapter specifically addresses older men, older women, and then later younger men and younger women. Mel talks about the importance of older men exercising self-control and possessing sound faith. A man who has these qualities will engender respect from others as a consequence of prudence. Older women should resist gossip, avoid heavy drinking, and be diligent as they teach others what is good. For all Christians, humble submission to spiritual authorities as well as a commitment to wise living are necessary requirements for walking in righteousness.

This sermon was preached live by Pastor Collin McKnight to the congregation at Summit Blairsville. While Collin was preaching on the same text as Pastor Mel for week 1 of our series on Titus, Collin’s sermon is entirely distinct from Mel’s. In this message you should expect to learn some of the history behind Paul’s letter to Titus, as well as what it means to be a bondservant of Christ. Collin focuses on the character of Paul as he explains what it means to find purpose and perspective as you follow Jesus.

In the first message of our series on Paul’s letter to Titus, Pastor Mel preaches an expository sermon on chapter 1. This chapter is all about which virtues to embrace and which vices to avoid as a proper Christian. Paul encouraged Titus to appoint elders who lived a blameless life. The elder’s own house must be in order if he can expect to be a shepherd in the house of God. An elder must be faithful to his wife, and his children must be followers of Christ who don’t have a reputation for being wild and rebellious. The elder enjoys having guests in his home, loves what is good, and he lives wisely and justly. Perhaps most importantly, the elder has a strong conviction in the scriptures and maintains a commitment to sound doctrine while rebuking false teachings.

In the final message of our series called Win By Losing, Pastor Mel teaches about the value of being bold about your faith. Jesus said, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.” The key to being bold about your faith is to understand that God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline. The apostle Paul suffered in prison for his work in the gospel, but he was not ashamed of it because he knew the One in whom he trusted. When you know Jesus and when you trust Jesus, there is no need to be ashamed.