SummerLINK Myrtle Beach: Looking Back, Looking Up, Looking Forward

This past Sunday, the team was blessed with a worship service which some of us were able to attend with our families. Once again, Russ Bennett brought us a solid expositional sermon where we took a look at Matthew 7:12-20. In this passage Jesus continues His Sermon on the Mount by speaking of The Golden Rule, entering by the narrow gate, and being careful of false prophets.

On Sunday evening, we had our prayer and praise time on the beach where we asked the Lord to continue to provide opportunities for us to share the gospel with others.  We were just about to wrap everything up when two guys names Brock and Gus from West Virginia walked up to us and started talking to us. We invited them to come to Krispy Kreme with us and they accepted. It was at Krispy Kreme where one of the members of our team seized the opportunity to share the gospel with them. It was an incredible moment. One minute we were on the beach praying for more opportunities to share the gospel, and then thirty minutes later we found ourselves at Krispy Kreme with two new acquaintances with the opportunity to tell them about Christ. 

On Monday night, we were greatly blessed by having Paul and Jenny Moore open up their home to us. Here we were able to eat a great home cooked meal and fellowship with a great family of believers. It was so encouraging to witness what the Lord has done in and through the lives of the Moore family. The families from Cornerstone church are nothing short of an incredible blessing from the Lord. They have selflessly opened up their homes to us, and taught us what a godly home should look like.

Also on Monday our group continued in our discussion of biblical community after reading the first chapter of ?Life Together? by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The Lord continued to strengthen our community and showed us that while it is our responsibility to pursue the depths of Christian community, it is not our responsibility to create it out of our own will. Christian community is not something that we can create; it is a reality that God has already created for us through our unity in Christ.

?Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate? ? Dietrich Bonhoeffer Life Together

On Wednesday, we continued to unpack Matthew 7:12-20. Many sound theological truths were discussed during the evening?truths that we will continue to meditate on and apply to our lives. I will say that the number one thing I took away from the discussion is God?s simple yet serious reminder to continue to reach the lost. In the middle of working full time jobs, and finding ourselves in a structured schedule, it is easy to concentrate on the tasks that must be completed during the day, and lose sight of God?s command to us as Christians to evangelize. We must not lose sight of the truth that as followers of Christ our command is to tell the lost the truth of Matthew 7:13-14 and to point them toward the narrow gate.

 ?Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.?  Matthew 7:13-14 ESV

Thursday night was Gender night. While the ladies went geocaching, and continued in their discussion of biblical womanhood, the guys found themselves in 2 Peter 1 and discussed what it looks like to be a godly man of character. I would say that while I truly love every day that God has blessed me with here at Summer LINK, Thursday nights have become my favorite time. I cherish the opportunity to pursue growth in biblical manhood with these men. They are constantly teaching, challenging, and encouraging me in ways I have never experienced before. I am so thankful that the Lord has chosen me to be a part of this community. We have only been here for a month, and I already know that I have made lifelong friends.

On Friday, our Summer LINK team found themselves in a local coffee shop. Dustin Raley, the worship leader at Cornerstone and a few of the Summer LINK?ers played live music at the coffee shop. It was incredible to see my brothers and sisters in Christ use the talents that God blessed them with to share the gospel, and to worship Him through music. In addition to that, it was a blessing to meet other believers, and to hear about how Christ has changed their life as well.

Well, here we are finding ourselves at the threshold of Seminary Week. In just a few days Summer LINK Myrtle Beach will go from being an army of ten to an army of roughly one hundred believers on mission for the kingdom. While the SLMB team is excited and ready to welcome the rest of Summer LINK with open arms, this is also a bitter-sweet time for us. We know that this has really been the last normal week for us to be with our leaders Ryan Heard and Corey Dickinson. After Seminary Week is over they will be with us for only a few days before leaving and entrusting us to continue our mission for the summer. We know that they will always be a phone call away, and that they will be checking in on us regularly; however, we also know that we will be missing a part of our team. This brother and sister have had a tremendous impact in each of our lives, and they will be greatly missed.

Looking forward, we are excited to see the Summer LINK?ers from every location across the globe coming to Myrtle Beach. We have been looking forward to this coming week for some time and we know that God has incredible things planned for all of us. As a team we are looking forward to fully taking the responsibility of Summer LINK into our own hands. This is a responsibility that none of us are taking lightly, and we look forward to seeing God at work in and through our lives for the rest of this summer. Praise be to the God who has not only saved us by the blood of the cross, but has also given us the privilege to share the message of the gospel with the nations!

by Tim Dietrich