The Thursday Update

MAY 22, 2025

Lakeshore Friends,

Perhaps the most misunderstood person who has ever lived is Jesus Christ.

Some think of Him as someone who never really existed, as just a myth or made-up legend. There are others who believe that He did exist but wasn’t who He, the Bible, and Christians say He is. They say He was just another man, a good moral teacher, a magician, an enlightened leader of a religious sect, a wise sage, and so much more that just isn’t accurate or (at best) isn’t complete.

It’s not His fault. People have lots of reasons for why they believe who Jesus is. Many times, they are derived from convenience and lazy thinking more than from a genuine search for the real Jesus. After all, it’s always more convenient to dismiss or minimize the true Jesus when He calls people to such challenging things as to “take up their cross and follow Him”, to “love your enemies and pray for them”, to “store up your treasures in heaven and not on earth” and the like. Just make Jesus out to be anyone that fits your lifestyle conveniences and any problems are resolved. Right?

Wrong.

Jesus is who He is and our responsibility is to seek Him and find out who He is and live our lives accordingly, not vice versa. The good news is that the Bible helps us see Him accurately again and again. And one of the most incredible, compact, and thorough passages that does this is found in Philippians 2:5-13. In it, I see five of the most incredible and important aspects of who Jesus really is. I’ll explain it more at services on Sunday. I can’t think of a more important message than this one. That’s because your view of Jesus impacts the way you live your life.

Like last week, we’ll be joined by another Lakeshore-supported missionary, Nabeeh Abassi, from Jordan. We went to Seminary together and he will talk about his incredible ministry in this Middle Eastern nation. It’s going to be a great Sunday.

Who do you say that Jesus is? No matter your answer, we’ll help you deepen it on Sunday.

Warmly,
Vince