Pastor’s Note 05/19/22

Let me ask a question. Do you think that the best days are behind or ahead for our church?

 

I know that as I have had conversations with many from LCPC I hear about the “good old days” in the past. The days when families were active, when there was lots of church activities and when LCPC was at the center of the Lakeside community.

 

Today, our world is different. Church is one of the many options that people choose and there are other good churches in our community but I can say with confidence, that through the prompting and guidance of the Holy Spirit, our best days are ahead of us.

 

I don’t know what our “best days” will look like right now. I don’t know if that means that we will have lots of church activities, with lots of families and children but I do know that God has equipped us (and others that He is calling to join us in the future) to find new and exciting solutions to bring Jesus to our community.

 

  • When we live into our creative calling.
  • When we follow Jesus with all of our heart,        soul, mind and strength.
  • When we love our neighbors as ourselves.
  • When we flourish as Jesus’ disciples.
  • When we humble ourselves to follow Him            and not follow our own agenda.
  • New ideas will arise and our best days will        follow.

 

Our best days are ahead of us! I am excited about what is in store and what God will be doing through each of us as we seek to expand His kingdom influence here in Lakeside, East County and the world.

 

I hope that you will also be excited about being a part of our best days!

 

Know that I am praying for you, for our church and for our following Christ together.
 


Pastor’s Note 05/12/22

“14 As He walked along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. 

‘Follow Me,’ Jesus told him,

and Levi got up and followed Him.”

Mark 2:14

 

 

 

Following Jesus seems so easy.

 

We read the calling of the disciples and they readily leave their businesses, their families, their careers without doubting or wavering that following Jesus is the correct thing to do. We also read that some people heard Jesus’ message and couldn’t follow Him (I think of the rich young ruler found in Matthew 19, Mark 10 and Luke 18) because it meant giving up too much. But it is always good to follow Jesus.

 

Levi heard the call of Jesus and left everything to follow. He couldn’t have known what was in store. He couldn’t have calculated all of the costs involved (don’t forget, Levi was a tax collector so he knew about calculations and counting the costs) but he trusted Jesus, so he followed.

 

When we trust Jesus, we follow. We won’t always know what is in store, we may not be able to figure out “Plan A” verse “Plan B”, but following Jesus is always a good next step. In fact, it is the BEST next step. When we follow Jesus, we trust. We trust that He knows best and that He will be with us through all the challenges and risks and failures. The best thing about trusting Jesus is that He will always be with us. The Spirit Is with us, living within us, empowering us and strengthening us for the journey.

 

So I hope that you follow Jesus with your next step. It is always the best next step to take.

 

Have a great rest of the week and I hope to see you on Sunday.