The Thursday Update

JULY 14, 2022

Lakeshore Family—

I’m sitting here with mixed emotions.  It’s raining, no, it’s pouring.  I’m so glad for that because we need the rain.  But I’m sitting here somewhat angry.  It was supposed to be a cloudy day with little chance of scattered showers so I left the windows in my car open, just a little, so it wouldn’t get so hot in the car.  It won’t be hot in the car.  But it will be a swimming pool.  That was not a passing shower we just experienced.

The message for this Sunday deals with an aspect of God called omnipotence.  It means that God is all-powerful.  My question at the moment is, “if God is all-powerful, and He loves me so much, then why is there a swimming pool in the back seat of my car?”

If you’ve ever wondered why God doesn’t use His power to help you with life’s situations a little more frequently than He typically does, this Sunday might give you a little insight.

I hope you have a great weekend enjoying all the summertime things you love to do.  Me, well, I’ll be draining the swimming pool in the car and figuring out how to dry the seats and carpeting so they don’t mildew.  I suppose that’s better than having to incessantly clean up after the Lakeshore geese or produce a message outline that refuses to become clear despite all my efforts.

Be that as it may, I’m truly looking forward to the time we get to have together this Sunday morning.  Hope to see you then.

Many Blessings,
Pastor Brian

JULY 7, 2022

Hey Lakeshore—

I want to ask a haunting question.  Do we really know who God is?  It’s a simple question, yet can be complex in its answer.

We talk about God, but do we really understand who he is?  And if we really know what He’s like, then how does that apply to our everyday lives?  Too often, we have the wrong idea of who God is which leads to the wrong idea of who we are.

With these questions in mind, we are excited to start our summer series called “God Is…”  In this series, we’ll be talking about many of the attributes of God to get a better understanding of who He is and why that matters in our lives.

Every day feels like something is changing.  Gas prices alone have probably changed since I wrote this.  And often times it leads us to be frustrated with ourselves or the situation ahead of us.  Where can we turn when we are frustrated by all the change happening?  We can turn to the One who never changes.

Quite honestly, with the amount of turmoil in our world right now, we need to lean into the only one we can truly rely on.

So, I want to invite you to church this Sunday at 9AM or 11AM to really answer that question…do you really know who God is?

In Him,
Brian

JUNE 30, 2022

Lakeshore Friends—

Conflict is everywhere and we can’t escape it.  I don’t expect that to change for the better anytime soon.  In fact, I think the trend is clearly pointing toward “worse”.  At times, our conflict is with people that we hardly know and if we can’t work it out, we move on.

But what about when the conflict is with someone we know… well… really well? And love… a lot… a real lot?  And the relationship is stuck… a lot… a real lot?

Those are the ones that hurt the most, don’t they?  And because they hurt the most, we want to resolve them the most.  That’s because they mean the most.

If you want to resolve a relationship that is stuck neck-deep in conflict, you are going to have to examine three things

1. Yourself and your part in it.
2. Your approach and what works best for them.
3. Your attitude as you work through the conflict.

We’ll unpack these principles in a fascinating little passage that ends Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians (5:12-28).  I think you’ll see how Paul’s inspired approach can give you the best odds of getting a stuck relationship unstuck.

After all, the people we really know and really love are really worth it, aren’t they?

Warmly,
Vince