MARCH 7, 2024

Lakeshore Friends—

The most well-known person in the history of the world has to be Jesus Christ.  I doubt there is anyone else that has been known by as many people as He has. Wouldn’t you agree?  Yet, for as well known as He is, so few people really understand Him very accurately.  Sadly, many professing Christians really don’t understand Him very accurately either.  Worse yet, there are many pastors leading churches who don’t understand Jesus accurately.

It’s a really sad fact that has bothered me during my over 30 years in ministry.  I tire of people thinking of Jesus as just a good teacher, a moral philosopher, a cosmic genie in a bottle, a “live and let live” crusader, as simply a good human being, or even as being exclusively God.  So many people have some warped view of Jesus and I have heard it so much that I have decided to do something to change it for anyone who will listen.

On Sunday, I’m returning to teach a new series called, “Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up.”  For those of you who are older, you may get the reference as belonging to the old popular show, “To Tell The Truth.”  For those of you who are younger, you may be triggered to think about the song by Eminem, “The Real Slim Shady.”  For all of us, I hope it is a title that inspires you to want to understand Jesus better so that we follow in the spirit of the Apostle Paul’s words in Philippians 3:10 where he said, “I want to know Christ.”  We can never know Him enough, can we?

"So many people have some warped view of Jesus."

We will look at His character (this Sunday), His conduct and why people are drawn to Him, His chemistry with people, His crucifixion (Good Friday), and His comeback (Saturday night and Sunday of Easter Weekend).  After these five weeks, you will see the REAL Jesus and fall more deeply in love with Him if you do.

My heart in doing this series is three-fold:

First, I want to have us all understand and know Jesus better so that we live a more God-pleasing life.  You can only do that if you understand the REAL Jesus.

Second, I want us all to build toward Easter and the crowning moment of Jesus Christ’s life, His resurrection.  We will help you appreciate Him more fully each week.

Third, I want to teach this series to help you invite friends, family, coworkers, neighbors and the like to this series.  If people are truly seeking God, they will be intrigued by this series when you invite them.

I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday.  And don’t forget to set your clocks ahead on Saturday night!

Warmly,
Vince