Life Lifters | Lakeshore Community Church

Dec 27 8:57 AM

Best of 2021: Blameless (Released 05-03-2021)

Dec 27 8:57 AM

Monday, December 27, 2021

These people were not the epitome of Christian living. They were failures and liars and losers in every way you could imagine. And I can only imagine that they would feel a bit scared at the thought of facing Jesus when he is revealed.

Monday, December 27, 2021

Originally Published May 3, 2021

1 Corinthians 1:8-10

Through the end of the year, we’ll be rerunning some of the best Life Lifters from 2021. We hope you’ll join us each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning!

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Today, I want to look at 1 Corinthians, where Paul is encouraging people at the city of Corinth to look forward with great eagerness to when Jesus Christ would be revealed. These people were not the epitome of Christian living. They were failures and liars and losers in every way you could imagine. And I can only imagine that they would feel a bit scared at the thought of facing Jesus when he is revealed.

So, Paul writes them these words in 1 Corinthians 1:8-9, "God will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." Those words would have bought brought great comfort to those people in Corinth. And I hope they'll give your life a lift here, as well, because what they're saying is that it is God who establishes you all the way to the end of your life, or to the end of time when Jesus Christ will be revealed. And he establishes you so that on that day when Jesus is revealed, you will be blameless before him. That's an awesome thought, because as you and I think of our lives, blameless is not how we would describe them. We all look back and think, "I wish I would have... I wish I could have... I think I should have..." When we think like that, and we think of that day when we will see Jesus, typically it's not comfort or eagerness that we feel.

But what God says is that because of what he has done, you will be blameless on that day. And why? Because you are blameless? No, you know you're not. You're blameless because God is faithful. In the original language, faithful was actually the first word in that sentence. "Faithful is God, who has called you into fellowship with Jesus Christ our Lord." So, the reason you can have confidence and can look forward eagerly to the day when Jesus Christ is revealed is because God has established you because he has made you blameless, because he himself has called you into fellowship with Jesus Christ, his son. So, I hope that today that will give you a lift, and that you can go about your day with joy. Be encouraged with a wonderful attitude, because on that day, you will be considered faithful, because you will be blameless because God Himself is faithful.

By Pastor Brian Rathbun

Dec 17 8:42 AM

Best of 2021: Dealing with Regrets (Released 10-04-2021)

Dec 17 8:42 AM

Friday, December 17, 2021

Originally Published October 4, 2021

1 Corinthians 15:6-10

Through the end of the year, we’ll be rerunning some of the best Life Lifters from 2021. We hope you’ll join us each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning!

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One of the hardest things, being Christian, is sometimes looking back at your life and just being distressed at some of the things you did before you were a Christian. Believe it or not, the Apostle Paul had that same distressed feeling. Read this section from 1 Corinthians chapter 15:3-10, "Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, he was buried, he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures... Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."

When the Apostle Paul looked back over his life, he saw that at a time in his life he persecuted the church of God. Because of that, he didn't think he even deserve to be called an apostle. He also says, "I worked harder than all of them," and I wonder if there was some part of the Apostle Paul that was trying to work out that sin of persecuting the church. But it comes to the conclusion, "I worked harder than all of them - yet not I." As if he is saying, "Not the hard work that I did." Hard work was important, and he worked hard for the kingdom. He tells us at the end of 1 Corinthians 15 that we should give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord. But this kind of hard work can't make up for the persecution, or for any sin in our past. He finally gets to the point where he says, "but by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect." Even though Paul worked harder than all of them, it wasn't him, but the grace of God that was within him. The persecution in his past bothered him terribly, and yet he found his freedom in the fact that the grace of God had worked so powerfully in his life. The same is true for you and for me. We can't go back and make up for things that we did in our life. We can't make up for those things, but what we can do is see that the grace of God has set us free to be who he wants us to be. We can live productive lives presently, because of God's grace, no matter what we've done in our past. I hope for you that that will give you the lift for life that you need today.

By Pastor Brian Rathbun

Nov 19 8:52 AM

TOP 10: White As Snow (Originally Published 9-21-2020)

Nov 19 8:52 AM

Friday, November 19, 2021

God gives us many tremendous promises of forgiveness, and today we are going to focus on one of them.

Friday, November 19, 2021

Isaiah 1:18

TOP 10 LIFE LIFTERS: For the next few weeks, we'll be re-releasing some of the top Life Lifters we've ever published since we started this devotional series. Join us as we look back at popular topics like prayer, joy, trust, and hope!

Today, I'm going to talk to you about how to deal with your past so you can move forward in your life. The number one way you deal with your past is you ask God to forgive you for whatever it is that happened in your past. God gives us many tremendous promises of forgiveness, and today we are going to focus on one of them. God only forgives what we bring to him. I mean, he forgives us for sins that we don't even know about, admittedly, but the best way to deal with your sin is to acknowledge it before God when you get called to attention on it. Then, you can experience His forgiveness. One of God's promises is what I call the white as snow promise. When Isaiah the prophet, speaking for God to Israel some 2700+ years ago about their sin, he made this amazing statement. After talking to the rebellious nation about their sin, he says this in Isaiah 1:18, "'Come now, let us reason together,' says the Lord. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.'"

Our sins are bold, they're red, they're undeniable. They cannot be hidden. They're visible to everybody. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Imagine that, a big blood stain on your white t shirt, and then God says, "I'll make it white as snow. It's as if it's a brand new T shirt right out of the package and no remnant of that blood stain. Though our sins are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Again, he just goes from red to white. The amazing thing is that if you come to God in your rebellion, like Israel was challenged to do here in Isaiah 1!18, God will cleanse you. The basis of God's cleansing is Jesus Christ's blood. It's interesting to me that in Isaiah the idea of sin is painted as crimson red. The color of our blood is crimson red. It's almost like the blood of Christ, over and dealing with and engaging with the blood of our own guiltiness leads to white. It's like red plus red equals white. It's like the blood of Christ can cleanse any stain, because Jesus loves you that much. He wants to flip the script on your life. He wants to help you go from being a crimson mess to being a forgiven person.

The only difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is whether or not our sins are forgiven. Now, hopefully a Christian lives a more noble life. Hopefully a Christian doesn't flirt around with sin. I would hope so. I know many Christians have had their lives changed and transformed, and they are living a more godly life, but that doesn't mean once you become a Christian, you stop being burdened with sin. The difference between a Christian and non Christian ultimately is what happens with our sin, it can be forgiven. So I want to say this, if you're already a Christian, God has already forgiven you in one sense, but in another sense, you need to turn to him to ask for forgiveness when you sin. And you can thank Jesus for that forgiveness because he provided it through his crimson blood. If you're not there yet, I just want you to know this: Jesus Christ loves you. He loves you so much that he shed his blood so that your crimson-stain-sin can be forgiven. I hope you'll know how much Jesus Christ loves you and I hope you know that one of the benefits of getting right with God through His Son Jesus Christ is that forgiveness is available. It doesn't matter what you've done in the past, it's available and he will turn your red, bloody, messy sin as white as snow is white as well. You want that? White as snow is available to you.

Let's pray. Lord, I come to you as one who sins and needs tons of forgiveness. I'm sure everybody listening would agree that their own life would be the same. Thank you that you provided this cleansing opportunity that our sins can be white as snow. When we turn to you, like Israel on their rebellion, if we turn to you, we can find this forgiveness. We do that now. Forgive us our sins, Lord. Forgive the specific sins that we think of, that come to mind right now we give to you. Forgive us. Help us appreciate that we are as white as snow when we ask you to forgive us, in Jesus' name, Amen.

By Pastor Vince DiPaola

Oct 04 8:22 AM

Dealing with Regrets

Oct 04 8:22 AM

Monday, October 4, 2021

1 Corinthians 15:3-10

One of the hardest things, being Christian, is sometimes looking back at your life and just being distressed that some of the things you did before you were a Christian. Believe it or not, the Apostle Paul had that same distressed feeling. Read this section from 1 Corinthians chapter 15:3-10, "Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, he was buried, he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures... Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."

By Pastor Brian Rathbun

Jul 16 8:06 AM

Cancelled Charges

Jul 16 8:06 AM

Friday, July 16, 2021

When you were without Christ Jesus, you were separated from God, dead to him because of your sins. But what God did for those of you who have come to see that Christ is the way back to God, is God made you alive with Christ.

Friday, July 16, 2021

Colossians 2:13-15

Welcome back for another Life Lifter! Our scripture that will give us a lift today is from Colossians 2:13-15. Here's how it reads, "God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."

The picture here is that you were dead in your sins. When you were without Christ Jesus, you were separated from God, dead to him because of your sins. But what God did for those of you who have come to see that Christ is the way back to God, is God made you alive with Christ. You've gone from death to life in Christ. God forgave you all your sins. He forgave the ones that you just cringe at when you think about them, those things that you wish you could do over, the things where you go, "Oh, if only I could have done it over, I would have, or I could have, or I should have..." He has forgiven you all your sins. He canceled the charge of legal indebtedness. In other words, when you sin the wages of that sin was death, but God canceled that bill for you. That bill that stood against you, that bill that condemned you, that legal document that said because of your sin you deserve death, he canceled that. He took it away. When Christ died on the cross that document of legal indebtedness was cancelled, it was nailed to the cross with Christ.

Not only that, but he has disarmed Satan and all his evil hordes. They can no longer accuse you. In fact, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. This is what God has done for you in Christ Jesus. You've been made alive with him, your sins have been forgiven, your sins have been canceled, which means obliterated or destroyed. The charges against you have been taken away, he has disarmed all of those who would accuse, making a public spectacle of them. This means that in Christ Jesus you are free from all of those sins and from everything that could take you out of the loving embrace of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who loves you. Friends, that should give you a lift for the day, and I hope and pray that it does.

By Pastor Brian Rathbun

Jul 14 8:10 AM

Without Blemish, Free from Accusation

Jul 14 8:10 AM

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

In this life, because of our sin and our evil behavior, we have actually become enemies of God. And what is so encouraging and lifting about this passage is all of the verbs that describe what it is that God has done for us in Christ Jesus.

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Colossians 1:21-23

Welcome back for another Life Lifter. I hope that this section of scripture from Colossians 1:21-23 will be a lift for your day. It reads like this, "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation - if you continue in your faith, established, and firm..."

What's clear about this is that we start estranged from God. In this life, because of our sin and our evil behavior, we have actually become enemies of his. And what is so encouraging and lifting about this passage is all of the verbs that describe what it is that God has done for us in Christ Jesus. Now in Christ, and because of his physical body and his death for us on the cross, we have been reconciled to God, the enmity is no longer there. We have been reconciled to him. In Christ and because of his physical body, through death, we have been presented holy in the sight of God. We were presented holy because he has made us holy in His sight. We are pure, we are clean, we are the holiness of God in Christ Jesus. In Christ, and because of his death, we are without blemish. There's no stain of sin on us. We are free from accusation. The evil one and all his hordes cannot accuse us, and if we love Christ we don't get to accuse ourselves either.

All of these things are true, not because we act properly all the time, not because we don't commit sins. These things are true because this is what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. We are reconciled to God, we are holy in His sight, we are without blemish. We are free from accusation because we are in Christ Jesus. I don't know about you, but I know this: when I think of that and I believe the truth that all of these things are true of me because I'm in Christ, that gives me the lift that I need to go into this day. I am thankful to be God's child, thankful for Jesus Christ, and thankful for what he's done for me.

By Pastor Brian Rathbun

May 26 7:28 AM

How to Worship

May 26 7:28 AM

Monday, May 24, 2021

Worshiping God is a lifestyle. Worshiping God is is how we conduct ourselves and what we're allowing God to do in our own lives.

Monday, May 24, 2021

Psalm 51:10, 12, 15-17

Today, I want to talk to you about worshiping God. How do you actually worship God? When we talk about worship, it's usually associated with the music portion of the service. When you come in, everyone's singing a song of praise, hands are being raised, things are going on, etc. It is a great experience, but worshiping God is not always just about that experience for 20-30 minutes on a Sunday morning. Worshiping God is a lifestyle. Worshiping God is is how we conduct ourselves and what we're allowing God to do in our own lives.

Today, I want to look at a psalm that I think really is a great starting point for how we are to worship God. It's written by David, it's Psalm 51. And I'm going to read some select verses from Psalm 51. Starting in verse 10, he says, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." And then verse 12, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit." And then jumping ahead to verses 15-17, "Oh, Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare your praise. For you do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise, I would give it; You are not pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, Oh God, you will not despise."

David wrote this at a very difficult time in his life, when he was filled with grief. He was completely humbled and ashamed because he had just committed adultery, and he comes back to God, and he's begging through this prayer for forgiveness. He's doing a couple different things here. First, he says, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, renew a steadfast spirit within me." He's like, God, I know, I screwed up. I know, I screwed up, God cleanse my heart, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Then, he says, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation, sustain me with a willing spirit." He is longing for what God's going to do in his life, how God is going to continue to pull him through. Then, he says, "Lord opened my lips, that my mouth may declare your praise. For you do not delight and sacrifice, otherwise, I would give it. You're not pleased in a burnt offering."

He's saying, God, I know that I'm going to give you offerings, but that's not what you want. That's not what you care about in this moment. He says, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, Oh, God, that you will not despise." God is looking for our humility. But he's also looking for us to be able to admit that we're broken, for us to be willing to take a step to surrender to Him. Then, ultimately, we're going to follow him through obedience. God is not looking for you to do something. Maybe you're struggling with a sin in your life. Maybe something's going on in your life that you just feel absolutely guilty about because you know it is against God. Please understand, God has already forgiven you through the blood of Jesus Christ, but God is not looking for you to do something to to pay him back, so to speak. He's looking for you to admit that you're broken, and that you can't do this without Him. God does not ask us to ever be perfect, especially when we worship Him. He asks us to come to him, realizing it is not about us. It is about him. It is not about how strong we are. It's about how strong he is.

I want to close with these words from 2 Corinthians 12:8. Paul is speaking and says, "Concerning this, I implored the Lord three times, that it might leave me." He had something that he was really struggling with, and he asked God to take it away from him three times. And this is what God's response was, " 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I [Paul] will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell within me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, I am strong." Why? Because God shows up in our weaknesses. And that's only when he can do it, not on our own strength. So wherever you are, and if you're trying to consider this whole thing, asking how do I worship God? It's coming to him broken, realizing that he's the only one that can do it. And then realizing that it is your weakness that makes you strong, because God shines through that, and Christ's righteousness comes through that. So, I don't know where you are today. I don't know what you're wrestling with. I don't know what you're struggling with. But as your first step, your action of worship for today, just recognize that you are broken, and come to God like that. He will honor it, and he will be made known because of it.

Let me pray for you. Father, thank you so much for the gift of your word, and just how clear it is that we don't need to be perfect. Lord, we just ask that you give us that clean spirit, the willing spirit, that we would recognize we are broken. We surrender to you, and pray that we would be obedient. Whoever's reading right now, whatever they're struggling with right now Lord, I pray that they would just have the courage to say, "God we know that we are broken and we give it to you." In Jesus' name, amen.

By Pastor Brian Pawlowski

Feb 01 2:05 AM

Your Identity In Christ | Part 6 | Forgiven

Feb 01 2:05 AM

Monday, February 1, 2021

Our theme "Your identity in Jesus Christ". It's amazing to me that when people become a Christian they really fail to grasp who they are in Jesus. They've been transformed, translated, and they're new creations. And they don't understand how.

Monday, February 1, 2021

This week, we're doing something unique. We're actually carrying over the theme of last week into this week as well. Our theme "Your identity in Jesus Christ". It's amazing to me that when people become a Christian they really fail to grasp who they are in Jesus. They've been transformed, translated, and they're new creations. And they don't understand how. If you don't understand your identity in Jesus Christ, you'll never be able to fully live it out.

So we're looking at Ephisians 1, which is a fascinating, rich chapter that speaks more of our about our identity in Christ and different traits of that than any other chapter that I'm aware of in the Bible. And so far, we've looked at five of them, and I'll give you them by way of review from last week. And if they intrigue you can read, watch or listen to them. So far, we've learned that our new identity in Christ means that because of Jesus Christ, we are blessed, chosen, adopted, accepted, and redeemed.

So today, I'm going to talk about the sixth, it's perhaps the most plain, but the most beautiful nonetheless, in Jesus Christ, our new identity is that we are forgiven. We are forgiven. It doesn't matter what somebody wants to hold over your head. You're forgiven. I had a friend, when I worked at RIT, we had desks next to each other in the office, where we were technical lab assistance. And he had a sticker on the wall behind our desk that said "Christians aren't perfect, we're just forgiven".
We're not perfect. We're just forgiven. But thank God that we're forgiven. I get that from Ephesians 1:7-9, it says "in Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,...". God forgave our sins, according to the riches of God's grace. And he lavished us in forgiveness.

What a thought -- lavished in grace and forgiveness. Forgiveness, the Christian bar of soap, it cleanses you, from everything in the past, everything in the present, everything in the future. Did you know that? That God has forgiven you of everything in your past? That's the most obvious. Do you know that because of his forgiveness, he's forgiving you of the sins you're struggling with in the present? Did you know that he's forgiving you of sins you haven't even dreamed of committing yet? That's how rich His grace is, forgiveness. I know this, when God has forgiven me of something, I can forget about it. It doesn't mean I don't learn from it. It doesn't mean I'm not warned to not do it again. Jesus said "go and sin no more" to the woman caught in adultery who he forgave, and didn't condemn. But forgiveness is a great feeling. When I know I'm forgiven, man, I feel good. Life has meaning. When you are a Christian, you are a forgiven person. Live the freedom that forgiveness provides. That's your identity in Jesus Christ.

Are you living free? You should because you're forgiven.

Let's pray. Father, thank you for forgiving us. We didn't deserve it. But your grace, determined that we would be forgiven and not only do forgive us, by grace you lavishly, graciously forgave us. Thank you for something we couldn't do, couldn't earn and it was all through your Son, Jesus Christ who shed his blood to forgive us. Help us live free, free not just to do what we want, but free to please you with our life, because that's our new identity. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.

By Vince DiPaola

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