Lakeside Christian Church Blog

  February 14, 2025 – Saint, Sufferer & Sinner   2 Corinthians 12:9  He said to me,  “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.     Scripture Reading: Psalm 57 Life can be hard and messy. Living in a broken world, with broken and sinful people, certainly has its share of hardships. This was so for David when he wrote Psalm 57, and as we know throughout his life. Yet, the overall tone of the psalm isn’t one of despair, but ultimately one of worship to the God that David knows is his refuge. God is sufficient and worthy of praise. How is this possible in times of trouble? We can praise God through our circumstances when we remember that our strength is not our own and this world and present afflictions are not the end (1 Peter 5:10; Hebrews 13:14, Revelation 21-22).   In this time of “now and not ...

Trusting in God’s Over Fear Colossians 1:12–14 Give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.   Scripture Reading: Psalm 56    Psalm 56 is a powerful reminder that when fear and uncertainty surround us, we can put our full confidence in God. David, pursued by enemies, cries out to the Lord:  "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?"  (Ps. 56:3–4).    David acknowledges his fear, yet he does not remain in it. Instead, he declares trust in God, knowing that the Lord sees his suffering, hears his prayers, and holds his life in His hands. In verse 8, David speaks of God’s intimate care:  "You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. A...

    January 31, 2025 Resting in God’s Care 1 Peter 5:6–7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Scripture Reading: Psalm 55 In life, we often carry burdens too heavy for us—worries about the future, struggles with our past, and the weight of daily challenges. Yet, God’s Word invites us to a different way of living. In  1 Peter 5:6–7 , we are called to humble ourselves before God, trusting that He will lift us up in due time. He doesn’t ask us to bear our burdens alone; instead, He calls us to cast them upon Him because He deeply cares for us. David, in  Psalm 55 , echoes this same cry. Overwhelmed by fear and betrayal, he pours out his heart to God, declaring,  “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you”  (Psalm 55:22). David reminds us that God is our refuge, our safe place, the One who will never let the righteous be sh...

  Acts 4:11–12 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.   Have you ever felt the like the world was falling in upon you? A time when everything seems to be going wrong. Even now we are in the coldest, greyest months of the year and it’s easy to feel down. King David was all too familiar to those feelings as he ran from king Saul and people were reporting his whereabouts to the king (Psalm 54). How frustrating to be living on the run and not experiencing the blessings of being the anointed one by God. David’s response was to call upon the Name of the Lord for salvation! He believed that God is his helper (Heb. 13:5-6) and deliverer.    The Apostle Peter brings clarity to the Name of God that brings salvation: Jesus. God has given us his name, his Son, and a way of salvation. In preparing our ...

A Devotional on  Ephesians 2:8–10 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.   In reading through Psalm 53, we are reminded of our depravity (our inability to redeem ourselves) and lostness apart from Christ. It is a psalm worthy of coming back to on occasion for the reminder that we desperately need a Savior. It is the reminder that Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 6 when he lists a bunch of sins that prevent sinners from going to heaven and then states, “ And such were some of you. But you were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God ” (1 Cor. 6:11). Remembering our natural state as sinners puts us in the proper posture before a Holy God and grows our appreciation for what Jesus Christ has...

  Devotional on  Hebrews 3:1-3, Psalm 52   Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,   2  who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house.   3  For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.    This Sunday we will continue in our sermon series  Psalms: Heart, Soul, and Mind  with Psalm 52. As I was reading this psalm, with the lyrics of our morning worship songs playing in my head, I was struck by the awareness of choice. David is writing during a very difficult and dangerous time, and yet chooses worship instead of despair.    God gave us the gift of free will, the ability to make choices and to have discernment. Many of us have started 2025 with goals, or resolutions. How are...