The Thursday Update

JULY 21, 2022

Hello Lakeshore Family,

We are living in a day and age when security seems to be on everyone’s mind.  One report says that 38% of Americans own a home security product or security system to monitor or protect their home.  Just like American homeowners, Lakeshore has implemented various security products and systems over the years to protect our church home in addition to having a Security Team to provide a safe environment for our church family.  With the SCOTUS recently overturning Roe v. Wade and now the talk of them revisiting the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, organizations that are pro-life and pro-traditional family and values are at risk of falling victim to vandalism, protests, and even violence.  Lakeshore has taken several measures to increase our security to protect our people and our property against such threats.

One measure I would like to highlight is the locking of the gate found at the entrance off Latta Road.  There was a lot of discussion about 10 years ago about whether or not to install a gate at that entrance.  With the way our world has changed since then, I do not think anyone is regretting that decision.  A few weeks ago we made the decision to not just close the gate at night, but now to begin locking the gate to prevent unwanted visitors from opening the gate at will.  We decided to follow a rule that many of you probably follow at home – the last one out locks the door, or in Lakeshore’s case, the gate.  So that means during the week the staff is locking the gate when the last person leaves the office.  If there is a meeting or rehearsal taking place, the last one in the building locks the gate.  And on a Sunday, that means the last person to leave the building locks the gate.

I bring this up because occasionally people will leave their vehicle in our parking lot after church if they are meeting some family and friends for lunch after church and they would typically come back later in the afternoon to pick up their vehicle. However, in order to prevent vehicles from getting stuck in the parking lot due to the gate being locked, we are asking that our church family no longer do this. This is an unfortunate thing we have to do, but for the time being, we feel this is the best measure to protect unwanted guests from doing any damage or causing problems on our property. 

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to speak to any of our pastors about this decision.

Make a great day!
Pastor Frank

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