The

SummitFinal

The Final Summit

The T r a v e l e r ' s S u m m i t

The Final Summit

God’s Summit with You:Words to Save Humanity

A Six-Part Sermon Series by Dr. Alan W. McBride

Part One of Six: Restore Hope

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itWords for Pastors & Teachers in the Church

Dear Friend,

A New York Times reporter recently wrote, “Andy Andrews has quietly become one of the most influential people in America.” Having sold millions of copies of his books worldwide, he has been received at the White House and has spoken at the request of four different U.S. presidents. You can discover more about Andy at www.AndyAndrews.com. One thing I want you to know beyond these accolades is that Andy is a vitally active follower of Jesus Christ.

As an avid reader, there is a curious distinction I often make—there are Christian authors and there are authors who are Christians. I believe Andy Andrews to be the most effective author actively writing as a Christian today! He is able to convey holy, biblical, life-changing information from the heart of God to persons who bought Andy’s books for entertainment, encouragement, and perspective. Along the way, as they read his insightful and often humorous stories, readers soak up God’s spirit-communicated Truth.

Andy, his wife Polly, and their two boys, Austin and Adam, are active members of our church in Orange Beach, AL. As their pastor and friend, I find it a thrilling and unique opportunity to offer to you this supplement to your ministry—whether you are a pastor or teacher in the Church.

The Traveler's Summit provides a wonderful jumping-off point for effective preaching and teaching for believers of all ages. God’s Summit With You: Words to Save Humanity is a sermon series containing six messages involving the intersection between this awesome story and God’s timeless truth in scripture.

For the preacher, I encourage you to introduce The Traveler's Summit to your congregation prior to the launch of this sermon series. In this way, your people can begin to consider the ways that God desires to save our world. These messages will guide your congregation to deeper commitment in their walk with Jesus as agents of change in the world around them. You will find that The Traveler's Summit strongly supports a biblical approach to social holiness, effective Christian discipleship, and six powerful ways to look at Jesus’ life and the salvation that Jesus brings to save humanity.

As you will see, I have included an outline should you wish to create your own sermon from these ideas. Or, if you wish, feel free to use the whole sermon (or any of its parts) as you would like. Simply replace my personal illustrations with your own.

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Dr. Alan W. McBride

Words for Pastors & Teachers in the Church

To the teacher/group facilitator, The Traveler's Summit by Andy Andrews is a wonderful source for insightful discussion. Groups will learn how to live an engaged life as followers of Jesus in a world that needs salvation and the hope, courage, and positive impact that all Christians are called to bring to their circles of influence. For you, this series can serve as background and provide talking points for your discussions in small groups and classes.

May God bless you and your church as you read The Traveler's Summit and encounter Jesus Christ through this series involving Jesus’ summit with you to truly save humanity for Christ.

Respectfully,

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Andy Andrews

A MESSAGE FROM ANDY ANDREWS

Dear Pastors and Teachers,

For a number of years, I labored under the disconcerting feeling that I was unable to adequately describe what kind of books I wrote. The book upon which The Traveler's Summit is based, The Traveler’s Gift (also published by Thomas Nelson), was actually on the New York Times bestseller list in the “Fiction” category at the same time it was on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list under “Non-Fiction.” Publisher’s Weekly listed the book under “Religion,” Barnes & Noble tagged it “Self Improvement,” and Amazon called what I had written “Literature.”

It took me a while to understand what God had specifically called me to do. Simply put, I am to write books that Christians can give to their non-Christian friends…that they will actually read. These stories illustrate God’s principles in a way that creates positive conversations between Christians and non-Christians. Additionally, the books allow beginning points for the Christian to serve, help, and share his or her faith through a door that had not existed before this common interest was created.

When I became aware of the many churches using my books as the basis for a sermon series or study class, I wanted to help. My own pastor, Dr. Alan W. McBride, has joined me in this effort to provide you with a resource for your congregation or group.

Incidentally, I have been thrilled to hear the accounts from many of you about how your people are using the books to attract folks to your services and to what, in many cases, is their first ever church home! Thanks for allowing me to be a small part of your ministry!

Your friend,

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Table of Contents

I. Introduction - Mountain Top Experiences ................................................................. 6

A. Your Own story - A “Mountain Top Experience” with Jesus

B. Summit Meetings - Top Shelf Gatherings to Impact Millions

C. Andy Andrews’ The Traveler's Summit - A “Real” Top-Shelf Gathering: David Ponder, the Traveler.The one question to save humanity.

D. Our Ability to Make Choices that Impact Humanity for God

E. Today, God is Convening a Summit with You

II. The Question Behind Your Personal Summit with God .........................................11

A. You and Jesus at the Summit of a Mountain

B. Is your glass half-full?Jesus’ Question for You - “Are you a person who will restore hope?”

C. Your Hope Quotient

D. You are Called to Lead in Hope

III. A Summit With God’s Word - Luke 4: 14-21 ..........................................................15

A. The Setting

B. The Text

C. Trust

D. Hope

IV. Conclusion - Restore Hope: The Question Answered ..........................................19

A. The Traveler's Summit - David Ponder’s Question

B. Joan of Arc - Leader in Hope.

C. Paul Restored Hope.

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Mountain top experiences are those moments in time and space when time seems to stand out from the normal course of seconds, minutes, and hours. Clarity of mind meets with the awesome and holy presence of Christ. New understandings about self, God speaking to you, conviction of sin and grace for forgiveness is experienced. A bracing touch of God’s love for you, or a sense of Christ’s calling for your life strikes you squarely in between your eyes. The Holy Spirit chooses the time and circumstance to break in, and your mind is open to allow Him to do so.

I remember my first “mountain top experience.” I was a gangly 18-year-old sitting near the top of a long hill, overlooking a valley in Mandeville Province, Jamaica, in August of 1982. I had joined with a group of teens and adults from my church for a short-term mission excursion in Jamaica. Our purpose was to work with Jamaican Christians in painting and renovating a church-owned primary school.

There, in the gentle southern breeze overlooking an interior valley in the southwest part of the island nation, during a break from work, there was renovating work God desired to do with me. I had a mountain top experience. The Lord Jesus met me there at that point in time and space, perfect for Him and for me.

Reflecting on the kindness and love of the wonderful Jamaican people with whom we were working and spending time, I was dumbstruck that these people had a peace and a love which I did not possess. Not realizing whether I was praying or not, as I looked down the valley in the breeze, Jesus had a Summit meeting with me and spoke into my mind the words, “I love you and I want you to be my child.”

By Jesus’ words spoken into my mind and heart, I gained a deep sense of hope and purpose for my life. It was out of that personal summit with God that a sense of Call into Christian ministry occurred. I developed a deep conviction that there was something being defined by the Lord that I was to do with my life in response to the love and forgiveness He had shed into it. In complete surprise and with great humility and passion, I gave every part of my person to Him high on a hilltop in Jamaica. That mountain top experience, that Summit with God, has made all the difference in my life since.

I. Introduction: Mountain Top Experiences -God’s Summit with You

A. Your Own Story - A “Mountain Top Experience” with Jesus

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Summit meetings are top-shelf gatherings of world leaders making political decisions that govern nations and change direction for millions, or business titans combining forces to emerge into new markets.

Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met for a summit in Yalta, Crimea, in February, 1945, near the end of the Second World War. Their summit decisions charted the end moves in the war and greatly impacted the next 40 years of foreign policy and political alignments for hundreds of millions of people in Europe. In 1986, the Reykjavik Summit in Iceland between our President Reagan and the secretary general of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, forever changed the direction of east-west relations, led to arms limitation agreements, agreement on human rights, and, ultimately, led to the removal of the Berlin Wall and the decline of world communism.

The world’s financial markets hold their breath every time the G-7 meets. The finance ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and our country meet several times a year to make decisions about the direction of global development. These summits deeply impact the well being of millions of people and the state of entire economic systems.

I. Introduction: Mountain Top Experiences - God’sSummit with You

B: Summit Meetings - Top Shelf Gatherings to Impact Millions

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I. Introduction: Mountain Top Experiences - God’sSummit with You

C: Andy Andrews’ The Traveler's Summit - A “Real” Top-Shelf Gathering

In The Traveler's Summit, a real top-shelf meeting with global implications occurs adjacent to the throne room of heaven. Convened by the archangel Gabriel, David Ponder, an “everyman” character called a Traveler, from our world today, is brought into an encounter with the best minds and most impressive personages in all human history. The purpose of this “traveler's summit” is to answer a single question that will either save humanity from itself, or doom it to a downward spiral toward God’s judgment.

At a conference table in the hall of the Summit, Gabriel asks David Ponder this question: “What does humanity need to do, individually and collectively, to restore itself to the pathway toward successful civilization?”

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Because each of us is given the ability to make choices by God, the solution to the question centers on our ability as individuals to make effective choices in our lives. Our individual choices combine to bring about God’s will for humanity, or our choices bring pain, suffering, and eventual doom through judgment.

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I. Introduction: Mountain Top Experiences - God’sSummit with You

D. Our Ability to Make Choices that Impact Humanity for God

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I want you to understand that, today, God is convening a Summit with you. He desires to ask of you a question. The answer will either enable you to be a difference-maker, part of God’s plan to save humanity, or place you in the difficult position of not having made choices which will fulfill God’s call in your life to be part of His eternal plan.

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I. Introduction: Mountain Top Experiences - God’sSummit with You

E. Today, God Is Convening a Summit With You

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Imagine with your sanctified inner view that you and Jesus are sitting near the summit of a tall mountain. Perhaps it is Mount Eremos, near Capernaum, where He gave the Sermon on the Mount. Instead of speaking to crowds, He is simply reclining in the cool grass and craggy rocks with you to ask which way your life is headed. Jesus wants to know if you are one in whom He is allowed to display Himself because of the way you think and the influence your point of view conveys to those around you. He is curious to discover if you have trained your mind to consider that the glass is always half-full.

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II. The Question behind Your Personal Summit withGod

A. You and Jesus at the Summit of a Mountain

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A wise friend recently told me that anytime the image of a half-full or half-empty glass is used, the questioner usually misses a key point. Truly, every glass is as full or empty as we choose to see it. My friend pointed out that the glass is always full, whether it is half liquid or not, because there is no lack of air to completely fill any void in the glass. With that point of view, his glass is always full. Therefore, he is always able to look forward with expectation and anticipation about what God is doing in his life, regardless of the circumstance.

Jesus asks you, sitting in the gentle breeze surrounding the summit of Eremos, “Are you a person who will restore hope?”

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II. The Question behind Your Personal Summit withGod

B. Is Your Glass Half Full?

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As an individual, your hope quotient is crucial. Hope, often synonymous with faith, is an ingredient in our human spirit that is potentially infinite. Hope is a gift given to us by the Holy Spirit, therefore it is infinite as God’s quantification—you can’t measure the immensity of God or His resources.

Hope is only potentially infinite because our willingness to receive God’s gift of hope and faith is based upon our choice. Part of Jesus’ question, therefore, regards how much you trust the one who is giving the gift of hope. Another part of the question “Are you a person who will restore hope?”, relates to hope’s contagiousness in you.

Civilization is dependent upon believers of Jesus Christ who will share their hope with others. Christians are called to be difference-makers by how effectively we give away the gifts God has given us to others. This is particularly true of the gift of hope.

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II. The Question behind Your Personal Summit withGod

C. Your Hope Quotient

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Christians are called to be leaders in their spheres of influence. How we live, how we love, how we express hope in the face of any circumstance is “catching.” The contagion of hope, successfully practiced by you, will cause others to be persons of hope and faith also.

One person holding onto hope can only choose to change his own life and circumstance. But that one person can also lead others by example to have hope for their own future. In The Traveler's Summit, the archangel frames the question with an individual dimension, but also a collective dimension. All humanity is dependent upon your choice to be contagious with the gift of hope God has given you. And as you know, the very best gifts are of greater value when they are given away again.

By the way, Jesus is asking you this question on the mountain summit, but do not think you are alone. God seeks to influence others with His infinite gift of hope as well…and He desires to do that through you! He desires that all believers give away to others the gift of hope. You don’t stand alone in giving hope to others, but you do have to answer the question alone—just you and Jesus.

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II. The Question behind Your Personal Summit withGod

D. You are Called to Lead in Hope

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Can we trust the one who asks the question? If our choice relies on the Spirit’sconstancy to give the gift of hope and faith to us, how do you know he is trustworthy? For support to discover Jesus’ dependability, look with me at Luke’s Gospel account of the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry:

14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. 16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 “ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,

Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (NKJV)

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III. A Summit with God’s Word - Luke 4:14-21T

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Jesus chose to announce in his hometown, Nazareth, that He was the long-awaited Messiah or anointed one who would save. He stood and read scripture in the very place which offered the greatest likelihood that hearers of His announcement would understand what they were hearing from God. His audience was not a crowd in the marketplace; it was a smaller group of strongly committed Hebrews.

By the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the synagogue movement had already been a central stronghold in Jewish faith practice for 600 years. Drawn from the need to connect the faithful Jewish community dispersed after the fall of Jerusalem in 597 BC and the destruction of Solomon’s Temple, the central function of synagogue was for believers to read and study the Law of Moses, the histories of the Jewish people’s experience with God, the worshipful Psalms, and the words of the Prophets.

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III. A Summit with God’s Word - Luke 4:14-21

The Setting

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The most prominent Prophet in Hebrew scripture, both by volume of prophecy and by importance of theological information, was Isaiah. Of the 66 different sections of his prophetic utterance from God, Jesus chose to read from Isaiah chapter 66: 1-2. One of a handful of Isaiah’s writings referring to the function of the coming Messiah, Jesus chose this particular text to read in the synagogue that day in Nazareth and then sat down and said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

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III. A Summit with God’s Word - Luke 4:14-21

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His hearers in the synagogue recognized the promises in Isaiah as the function of the coming Messiah. They knew that, full of the indwelling of Yahweh, the servant of God and humanity would bring good news to the poor. Not merely people short on money, but people whose attitude and spirit was humble and open.

They also knew that the Messiah would be a healer of those who mourn for the weight of their sin and need for salvation. The Messiah was also one who would bring a sense of freedom to people long oppressed by foreign powers and would inspire people to look beyond what they could see and have hope for what was coming from God.

Finally, there were, in the synagogue that day, religious men who awaited One from God who would restore the practices of social holiness embodied in the Jubilee year, “the acceptable year of the Lord.”

In fact, the central theme of Isaiah’s entire prophecy was not one of judgment, but the utter trustworthiness of God to restore His people. Therefore, Jesus arrived in the wake of doing well-known and exhaustively reported acts of physical healing all around the Galilee hills. The synagogue group in Nazareth would have known about Jesus’ authoritative teaching sessions to large and small groups in the region. They would have already been sympathetic to the good news of the Kingdom of God in their midst. They would have long been hearing about and giving hope to everyone who would draw near in faith.

He displayed trustworthiness to all who were healed and all who believed He was God’s son. He walked into the center of the place where people knew Him to be stalwart, upright, and a faithful member of the Nazareth community. He read a passage from Isaiah extolling the faithfulness of God and God’s actions in salvation. Finally, He read these words regarding His function as Messiah in the hearing of people who would know what to expect from the Savior.

Hope: Jesus embodied the long-awaited hope for the People of God that God had promised. Every element of the prophecy Jesus read that day in the synagogue centered upon not only the faithfulness and trustworthiness of God, but upon the fullness of hope that only God and those who follow God can give to others.

III. A Summit with God’s Word - Luke 4:14-21

Trust

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At the heavenly summit in Andrews’ The Traveler's Summit, David Ponder is leader of a group of God’s chosen “Travelers”—incredibly gifted leaders from across history. They have been summoned by God, in heaven, and charged by the archangel Gabriel to answer one question: “What does humanity need to do, individually and collectively, to restore itself to the pathway toward successful civilization?” Gabriel then tells them that their answer must be expressed with only two words.

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IV. Restore Hope: The Question Answered

A. The Traveler's Summit: David Ponder’s Question

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The Traveler who comes forward to offer her answer is Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans, who led France to defeat the English in 1429 at the siege of Orleans, ending the Hundred Years’ War between the French and English. Led by voices from God (the archangels Gabriel and Michael), Joan led the French to rout the English invaders in nine days. Tragically, though she led France to victory and made the Dauphin a King, she was burned at the stake for heresy.

In the summit hall of heaven, David Ponder asked her why the Dauphin, Charles, gave a 16-year-old girl leadership of his beleaguered army. Joan of Arc responds, “Quite simply,I was his last hope.” The peasant girl, warrior, and Saint was a leader in restoring hopeto others. She tells David Ponder and the other Travelers, “Everything we do while weare alive—everything we say—is important. And though sometimes difficult, death is partof living. Sometimes, the last thing we do…the last thing we say matters most.” Do youknow what the last words Joan of Arc cried as she was being burned at the stake on May30, 1431, were? Again and again she cried out, “Jesus, my Jesus!” She called to the onewho gives hope in all circumstances.

This utterly trustworthy Savior instills in us by the ministry of His Spirit a sense of hope if we choose to be open to Him. That is what Jesus did for Joan of Arc when at last He took her into His arms.

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IV. Restore Hope: The Question Answered

B. Joan of Arc - Leader in Hope

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In the final part of his third missionary journey, the Apostle Paul wrote to fellow believers he had nurtured in the house churches of Philippi. Already in the Roman penal system, literally headed toward his death for faith in Jesus, Paul wrote to Christians saying, “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely…on these things meditate…and the God of Peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9, NJKV)

For Paul, the glass was always full. He had utter trust in the One in whom he believed. From the center of his trials as a leader in faith, he restored hope to other Christians suffering the circumstances of life. The believers at Philippi were enduring trials and persecutions for their faith as he wrote. This was one reason he wrote to his friends in faith at Philippi.

His hope in Jesus was infectious. He believed, first, that Jesus was God’s son. Paul also knew that Jesus had forgiven him of the sins he had committed, and that Jesus was resurrected and with him at all times. Walter Wangeren writes in his historical novel Paul that the Apostle of Grace simply loved Jesus. This love for Jesus and trust Paul had was clearly communicated on to others.

As Jesus is asking you this question today, allow me to preempt the Lord of life for a moment to first ask you—Do you know Jesus? Are you assured of His love for you? Do you believe He is raised from the dead and with you now? Has Jesus given you restored hope?

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IV. Restore Hope: The Question Answered

C. Paul Restored Hope

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Jesus wants to know if you are one who will restore hope. As you and He sit together in your personal summit with God, He wants to know if you will impact humanity by being one who restores hope. By your words and deeds, do you deliver the message of Christ’s love for us? He wants to know if you are the leader that He has called you to be in your home, place of work, at your church, or to the people whom you meet.

Pray with me now. Please join me in this special moment—this summit with Jesus:

Lord God, You have so blessed me with the opportunity for this personal summit. I desire to sit at Your feet on this mountain top right now. I understand that You are calling me to be a leader and to be actively engaged with You in saving humanity.

I know that You are the only one who is utterly trustworthy. I believe that You alone, in me, can give me the presence of mind and the positive way of looking forward to impact Your world and make a difference by restoring hope. Hope is bound up in who You are Lord. And in Your salvation and in Your presence in my life in all circumstances.

I choose today to be one who restores hope, leading others to do the same. In Your most holy name.

Amen.

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IV. Restore Hope: The Question Answered

D. Will You Restore Hope?

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