The Thursday Update

NOVEMBER 20, 2025

Lakeshore Friends,

Last Sunday’s message concluded our series on “Heaven, Hell and Everything In Between” with an outline of God’s plan for the future. There was a lot of material shared, especially for those who are either new to Christianity or have not spent much time understanding biblical prophecy. In fact, even for people who have been Christians for many years this subject is one that few churches teach about. That’s unfortunate.

Below, I have provided a copy of the chart we displayed last Sunday during my message to help you have a tool to grasp God’s timeline for the future. If you missed this important message (or need to hear it again at your own pace), you can watch it here.

The purpose of God giving us such detailed information on His plan for the end times is to encourage Christians as the end of life on earth as we know it arrives. Consider this:

1. After describing the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, the Apostle Paul ends the passage with these words in verse 18: "Therefore encourage one another with these words.” God provides prophecy to encourage those of us who are Christians with the truth that there is something amazing that awaits us when this life is over. Jesus will come to the clouds to take us to be with Him forever (verse 17b). What an incredible thought. So, if you’re like me and find that sometimes life can get you down, look up and see the clouds and remember that Jesus will one day call you up to them, and be encouraged!

2. In the next chapter, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, the Apostle Paul describes “The Day Of The Lord”, a period of time which starts with the seven-year tribulation where all hell will break out on earth. The wrath and judgments of God during these terrifying seven years are described in Revelation 6-19 and Matthew 24. They will bring sudden destruction on the world, right when they think that world peace and safety have been achieved (1 Thessalonians 5:3). But Paul goes on to say that we should not be surprised by this “Day” (verse 4) and that we should be spiritually awake (verse 7) because of our faith in Jesus. He even goes on to say that God has not appointed us to suffer His wrath in the seven-year tribulation (verse 9) and He does this by taking us up in the rapture before the seven-year tribulation begins (Revelation 3:10). Paul ended that passage with these words in verse 11: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” God reminds us that every Christian will avoid this terrible time because we have been forgiven of every sin the moment we have trusted Christ as our Lord and Savior. God wants us to encourage each other in tough times with this truth. That’s why we come to church, so that we will encourage each other with these words.

3. In Titus 2:11-13, the Apostle Paul wrote these words, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Our great hope is the Rapture of the church, our deliverance from the wrath to come when we will be with Jesus forever! Nothing in this life can ever bring us this kind of true, lasting hope. So when life discourages you, be encouraged by our one true hope, the Rapture of the church.

I hope that you will let the truth of the Rapture and Christ’s return to earth encourage you.

God wants to use this truth to prepare you and not to scare you (assuming you are a Christian by trusting in Jesus alone for your salvation).

He wants us to not fear life but to fear Him since He is over all life.

He wants us to look up, when life tries to keep us down.

He wants us to be ready and live steady so that when He returns He will find us faithful.

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” (Matthew 24:42)

“Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20b).

Vince
Senior Pastor

NOVEMBER 13, 2025

Lakeshore Friends,

When it comes to the future, people have all kinds of views.

Some people are idealists. They seem to think and believe that eventually the world will get better and better over time. They anticipate improvement and cite things like technology, medicine, and convenience as proof that the world is gradually getting better. The problem with this view is that morally things are doing the exact opposite. They are getting worse… and much worse by the day! In Matthew 24:4-8, Jesus talks about how bad things will be just before He returns and says that like a woman giving birth, it will get more frequent and more intense. This view is not in line with reality or with Jesus.

Other people are pessimists. They see the high frequency of negative things happening all around and have simply resigned themselves to the fact that nothing good will happen. They just give up on trying to make a difference in people's lives individually because everything is falling apart globally. They are hopeless and have a fatalistic view of things. The problem with this view is that God calls people to change individual lives, not the entire world. And because Jesus says that these negative things must happen (Matthew 24:6), there is a purpose in all that is happening. God is in full control of it all and it is all part of His plan for the world. This view is not in line with God’s plan or with being the “salt and light” every Christian is called to be (Matthew 5:13-16).

But smart people are right in between these two views— they are realists. They believe God’s Word, the Bible, and know that the world will not be getting better, but worse, in contrast to idealists. They also know that the madness we see today is not outside of God’s control or His plan, in contrast to the pessimists. They understand God’s prophetic timeline, believe that God will one day make all things that are wrong right again, and cling to the blessed hope, the appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ at the soon-coming Rapture of the church (Titus 2:11-13).

The only way we can know the future is to trust what God says about it and study the Bible. When we know the future, we are best prepared for it. And when it comes to prophecy, God is still fulfilling it accurately at 100 percent!

We’re here to help you in this view of the future. On Sunday, I’ll explain all the key events that the Bible teaches (over and over again) that will happen in the future, all in one message. If you really want to get a grasp of God’s plan from today until eternity, you absolutely have to be here on Sunday.

Why not invite as many friends and family to join you as possible? I think this will be one message that will be both fascinating and potentially life-changing.

Warmly,

Vince
Senior Pastor

NOVEMBER 6, 2025

Lakeshore Friends,

For many years, I have shared my thoughts on a saying that has been around for a long time. The saying goes like this: “You’re so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good.” The thinking is that if you think too much about heaven that you will not be thinking about how you live and impact others during your life on earth.

I have found the exact opposite to be true. I say that for a couple of reasons.

First, there is a biblical reason. Colossians 3:1-3 says: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” The Apostle Paul, inspired by God, could not be more clear in calling us to set our hearts (that is, the seat of our emotions) and set our minds (that is, how we think and what we think about) on the things above, namely heaven and God. The word for “set” in Greek has the idea of aspiration, desire and passion. It also has the idea of being engrossed by them. We are clearly supposed to be very heavenly minded, thinking about the reality of heaven and the God who reigns there.

Second, there is a practical reason. It’s when we are the most heavenly minded that we are the most earthly good because that requires us to focus on eternity. And the more we focus on eternity, the more we are gripped with the reality of it for both our lives and the lives of others. And the more we are coming to terms with the reality and glory of heaven, we will also come to terms with the reality and agony of hell. And the more that happens, the more we will have the conviction and desire to tell others about the love of God found through faith in Jesus Christ. The more real they are to our way of thinking, the more we sense and urgency to share Christ with others in our family and our friends. That sounds like we will actually be the most earthly good, doesn’t it? Conversely, when you are not very heavenly minded, you don’t think this way. Heaven becomes a vague notion and so does hell. And there goes the urgency with it.

Sadly, too many people are not as heavenly minded as they should be. That’s why we are teaching this current series on heaven, hell and everything in between. We want to hear what God has to say about them so that we can be prepared for that day when we die and are judged, and so that we are the most earthly good for others who need Jesus.

While we talked about heaven last Sunday, we’ll talk about hell this Sunday. It’s not a popular topic in churches these days except for an occasional reference to it… maybe an occasional reference. But while many churches avoid this subject for fear that people will get upset and offended by it, we’ll see why God sees it very differently. Afterall, it is a real place and Jesus tells us more about hell than He does about heaven. There’s a reason for that.

I hope you’ll be more heavenly minded than ever.

If you are, I’ll see you on Sunday! 😊

Warmly,

Vince
Senior Pastor