The Thursday Update

JUNE 5, 2025

Lakeshore Friends,

Culture constantly sends us the message that joy comes from receiving. Corporate commercials tell us that if we just buy their product, we’ll be happier. The lottery tells us that if we win and get more money, we’ll be happier. Society says that if more people do what we ask of them to help our career, we’ll be happier. For the majority, it’s all about what we get. The more we get, the happier we’ll be. On the surface, it seems to make a lot of sense.

But with God, there’s another way to find something bigger and better than the happiness of receiving— it’s the joy of giving your life away through serving.

I’ve found that people who serve— whether it’s serving God’s cause or serving God through serving others— are regularly the most happy and always the most joyful. I don’t always see that in people who do lots of receiving in life. In fact, it seems to build a saddening sense of entitlement. And that never brings joy.

Serving is so important to God that Jesus said in Mark 10:45 that even He came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.

Do you have a spirit of serving? Do you serve God and people as a regular way of life? Do you find joy through it? We will explore the two primary ways people serve God and find joy in it on Sunday, as we continue our well-received series, “How To Find Joy In Life”.

Thanks for being a church filled with such a great spirit of serving!

Warmly,
Vince