The Thursday Update

DECEMBER 22, 2022

Lakeshore Friends—

Are you anticipating Christmas?  It’s perhaps the one day on the calendar each year that we anticipate more than any other.  It holds our imagination, it conjures up fond memories, and it causes us to think hopefully.  Many people still see Christmas in those terms.

We want you to have the greatest Christmas ever, and we think that being at Lakeshore on Christmas Eve will help that happen.

We have an approximately one-hour service planned to help prepare you for the real reason for the season— Jesus’ arrival to earth as God and man.  We have three service times to try to help it work with your schedule.  We hope you’ll make it to one of them (service times and info here).

This will be our last service of 2022, so let me say thank you to all of you who call Lakeshore home.  This year has been a good year in so many ways and, after God Himself, we all thank God for you.  Seeing you each week is inspiring because you want to grow your faith and be with others who are going in the same direction.  For some, it’s a season to seek God. For others, it’s a season to build on your new faith, and for others, it’s a season to grow deeper in the Lord.  Regardless of which one fits you, it’s exciting to see you all heading in the same direction.  It’s not about perfection, but direction!

So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from me, my wife Sue, and our Staff, Elders, and Trustees!

We’ll see you this Saturday and/or next Sunday on New Year's day.

Warmly,
Vince

DECEMBER 15, 2022

Lakeshore Friends—

One of the most significant lessons I have learned over the past few years that has helped me navigate the ups and downs of life is this: when I see life from God’s perspective, it always provides me the most comfort and makes the most sense.

When I look at life from my own limited perspective, I don’t see it right.  I don’t appreciate it fully.  And I don’t enjoy it very much either.  But when I try to see things from God’s perspective, then life’s circumstances (both good and bad) start to make much more sense.

That’s because only God is sovereign, all-knowing, loving, and has a purpose for the life of every person who follows Jesus that is perfect. 

Often at Christmas, we think a lot about ourselves and other people.  Maybe we ought to think more about what it was like for God to orchestrate the events of Christmas.  If we did, we’d get His perspective on this amazing event and maybe it would make the most sense.

I hope you’ll spend some time thinking about all that God did on Christmas and how His perfect plan was.  If you see Christmas from this perspective, life will make so much more sense for you.  I think you’ll appreciate and enjoy it so much more.

As always, we’re here to help you on that journey this holy season.

Warmly,
Vince

DECEMBER 8, 2022

Lakeshore Friends—

Can you imagine a Christmas more hectic and stressful than yours?  One that was shocking, life-changing, and so out of your control?  That’s what many people experienced on the very first Christmas!

Imagine if it involved an angel telling you that you’d soon give birth to a son who was conceived miraculously and already assigned a name.  Imagine discovering your fiancée was pregnant without your involvement.  Imagine discovering that the baby would be delivered alongside farm animals, and not in a safe and sanitary hospital.  Or, Imagine that child being the Savior of the world?  Imagine if an angel announced or a star directed you to see a baby who would change the world as you knew it.

While we won’t experience that personally for ourselves, we can get a glimpse at what it was like by going “on location” in our 2022 Christmas series, Christmas On Location.  We’ll do the next best thing to being there— namely, getting the story from those who were on location of the birth of Jesus Christ!

Unlike all of the shallow substitutes people pursue in place of the true meaning of Christmas that promise so much and deliver so little, embracing the truth behind the real Christmas story can transform your life and help you realize that life doesn’t have to be so stressful after all.

Be here as we kick off the series on Sunday, and invite someone who needs to find the hope and help for all things hectic and the strength for all things stressful to join you at church.  I know that you won’t regret it.

Warmly,
Vince