Topical Tuesday: Future Musings

After a brief hiatus, we continue our several-week series called Topical Tuesdays, where you pick the topic and I make up answers.  You can add your topic / question to the list by commenting on this post.  Today’s question was submitted by Summit über-Twitterer Zack Riesland.

When you think about the Summit church 5 or 10 years down the road, what picture comes into YOUR mind?  We know the official Summit vision and we (I’m speaking officially on behalf of everyone who ever reads this blog, ever) get it. But what’s the Danny Franks version? What gets you, personally, really excited to be a part of Summit church today, and for tomorrow?

I love this question, because it hits at the heart of where our church has been over the last few weeks in our Believe Project (which by the way, if you didn’t see the video from this weekend.  Stop reading right now and go watch it.

Go on.  Scoot.  I’ll wait.

Seriously, why haven’t you clicked the link?

As you know if you’ve stopped by here in the past, my family and I had the incredible privilege of getting in on the ground floor of this thing called the Summit Church.  Our first or second Sunday was the day that Pastor J.D. said we’d have 1,000 people on Easter.  We clapped on the outside, but inside knew that the man was crazy.  1,100 people later, we got really excited.

I’ve seen the Summit go from 400 to 750 to 1,100 to 1,425 to our current attendance of 4,000 plus.  We’ve moved from building to building, expanded from one campus to five, hired more staff than there are members of my home church, touched tens of thousands of lives through events like ServeRDU, baptized thousands of people, seen marriages healed, lives restored, and families put back together…

…and it’s only just beginning.

What gets me is that it’s not about us.  It’s not the pastors or the people or the programs.  It’s what God has done for himself, and often in spite of us.  His name is becoming increasingly famous in the RDU area, and that’s been his desire all along.

I stumbled across a verse in Deuteronomy recently that rattled my cage.  I can’t get away from it.  It continues to populate my prayers and come to mind throughout the day:

O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? (Deut. 3:24)

He’s only begun.  What I thought was awesome eight years ago is just the beginning.  The amazing wonders we’ve seen are just scratching the surface.  There’s more of this story to come, and I can’t wait to see it unfold…for his glory.  Not for ours.

So Zack, I can’t answer your question.  It’s not because I don’t have an excitement about the future of the Summit…it’s that I don’t have a description for it.  I couldn’t imagine God would do what he’s done, and I can’t imagine what it is he’ll do.

It’s just beginning.