The Thursday Update

March 19, 2026

Lakeshore Friends—

So few people live in God’s love.  The things we see in our world every single day prove this.  The cruel things people say, the evil things people do, the active aggression people exhibit toward others, the passive aggression people mask toward others, and so much more. These are just a few examples.

When people who have never known God’s love do this, we should not be surprised.  When you don’t know God’s love, it is impossible to really love others fully.  Our goal for people in this station of life is to help them see God’s grace and love so that they can know what true love is inside their spirit.  That’s what we talked about last week in our “No Greater Love” series kick-off message last Sunday.  As Ephesians 2:1-10 tells us, we can move from death to life, from separation from God’s love to submersion in God’s love when we turn to faith in Jesus Christ.  Then we can learn to spend the rest of our lives living in God’s love personally and then expressing it to Him and others perpetually.

But how do you live in God’s love every day? 

How do you avoid drifting from God’s love when the waves of life come crashing in on you? 

And how do you avoid a total shipwreck that destroys God’s love in your heart and life?

It’s not as easy as it sounds.  Over the years, I have seen so many people experience God’s love by putting their faith in Jesus Christ only to have a short-lived encounter that doesn’t last.  It usually starts with little drifts away from God until they all start to add up to a journey that is way off course.  They just lose the love that God offered and gave them.

But there are hundreds of others at Lakeshore that seem to stay in God’s love, growing and living in His love more and more each day.

What makes the difference between those who live and stay in God’s love and those who do not? 

We’ll find some important answers on Sunday in Jesus’ words in John 15:1-20.  I hope you’ll be here to learn what they are.  Our world needs to see more people living in God’s love than ever before.  And we all need to live in God’s love if we are going to make it in this often-hateful world.

Warmly,

Vince