The Thursday Update

JANUARY 22, 2026

Lakeshore Friends,

I feel bad for Buffalo Bills fans! I really do. Honest!

I thought it was bad enough that the Buffalo Bills lost their divisional round playoff football game on such controversial terms. I think if they ruled that overtime catch by Brandin Cooks a catch (which I think it was) and not an interception, a short field goal would have won the game for Buffalo. They would advance to the AFC championship game and be one more win away from the Super Bowl. But as it turns out, they lost to Denver and their season is over.

And then, surprisingly on Monday morning, the Bills fired their head coach Sean McDermott. Sean is a strong Christian and was a great coach for the team. But since he couldn’t get the team into the Super Bowl with a great quarterback like Josh Allen, I guess the powers that be felt a change was needed.

Few things surprise me anymore. And they shouldn’t surprise you either.

In many ways, I thought about last Sunday’s message, Feeding Our Piggy Banks Generously, and the point I made: when it comes to earning money to put into our “piggy banks”, we must remember that earning power is never guaranteed. As James put it:

Listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. James 4:13-14, NIV

We should never take life for granted. And we should never take tomorrow for granted, especially when it comes to finances. That’s why we’re in our series, “Lessons From The Piggy Bank”. If you missed last week’s message, you can catch it right here. And for those who asked for my chart on the “learning, earning, and yearning years of life”, I have it right here.

This Sunday, we’ll talk about how to protect our Piggy Banks from “malnutrition”. Yeah, that’s a real topic. I hope you’ll be here to learn more about biblical money management.

And if any Bills fans need some support, we’re here for you too.

Warmly,

Vince
Senior Pastor

JANUARY 15, 2026

Lakeshore Friends,

Most of us grew up with a Piggy Bank. Do you remember yours?

Whether it was shaped like a pig or some other figure, it was our family’s way of teaching us the value of money. We learned so many valuable lessons on how to feed the Piggy Bank with money, how to protect it from theft or harm, and when and how to break open the Piggy Bank at the right time and for the right expenditures when the time was right.

Believe it or not, some of those important lessons from childhood carry over into how we should manage our finances today as adults. Today, we have (or should try to have) many different adult names for our adult Piggy Banks: Checking and Savings accounts, Health Savings accounts, CD accounts, IRA accounts, 401K accounts and our giving to God “eternal rewards” account. We can apply so many of these lessons from our youth to our adult Piggy Banks when we deepen our understanding of these “Piggy Bank” principles.

In a new series we’re beginning on Sunday called, Lessons From The Piggy Bank”, we’ll look at what the Bible says about feeding, protecting, and breaking your adult “Piggy Banks” in ways that honor God, benefit you and your family, and keep you from going… broke! This is a great series to learn and grow in the foundational principles of biblical financial management.

If you want to have a great financial year ahead, I encourage you to be here for this important series.

Warmly,

Vince
Senior Pastor

JANUARY 8, 2026

Lakeshore Friends,

The quality of our life can be measured by many things, but I’m not sure it can be measured by anything more important than relationships. Tell me about the quality and depth of your relationships and I will be able to predict how much you are enjoying life… or not enjoying it.

Think about your life. If you charted the happiest times in your life, I’m really confident that you would have relationships with people close to you that are strong and vibrant as well as encouraging and comforting. And if you did the same thing with the saddest times in your life, I feel just as confident that you would be distant from the relationships that matter most in your life. These relationships would likely be in a very discouraging and discomforting state.

Would you agree?

Interestingly, the most important relationship that shapes your joy and determines how satisfying your life is the one you have with God. In fact it all starts with Him and your fellowship with Him. Your relationship with God will carry over into your relationship with others which will carry over into your enjoyment of life.

So choose to relate well to God. Find times to be with Him in Bible Study and prayer. Think about Him non-stop. Thank Him for His love, mercy and grace toward you.

And choose to relate well to others. Find friends who will encourage you so that you can, in turn, find others who you can encourage.

On Sunday, I’ll talk about how to find faithful friends and how no friendship is better than the one we can have with God.

I hope you’ll be here to learn the third big step in “Making The Change And Keeping The Changes” you make in life.

Warmly,

Vince
Senior Pastor

P.S. If you want a list of great and key Bible verses to memorize, here is the “ABC List” I mentioned last Sunday, find it here.