Lakeside Christian Church Blog

October 23 – Worship Begins With Remembering   Psalm 103:1–5 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.   Scripture Reading – Judges 7 Psalm 103:1–5 calls us to worship the Lord with our whole being, remembering His benefits: forgiveness, healing, redemption, steadfast love, and the renewal of our strength. Worship begins when we remember who God is and what He has done for us. As we gather Sunday, we come not because we have earned His favor, but because He is gracious and worthy of our praise. In Judges 7, we will see God deliver Israel from the Midianites through Gideon and a remarkably small army. God deliberately reduced Gideon’s forces so Israel could not boast that...

  October 16 – Good Can Come   Hebrews 13:20-21 –  Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.   Scripture Reading – Judges 6   This week’s Scripture is the call of Gideon, which he doesn’t exactly answer with enthusiasm. It has often been said that “God doesn’t call the equipped, he equips the called.” This is absolutely true, and our Hebrews passage says as much – God will “equip you with everything good that you may do his will.” However, it seems like Gideon’s abilities might not be the primary issue.    The angel of the LORD said, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” (v 12) This is followed by a long list of doubts and excuses why Gideon thinks this is not so, including, “How c...

Day 10 – Sea of Galilee & Northern Israel   Day 10 is jam packed with sites and scripture full of both sin and our Savior. We’ll go on a journey of sorts from considering the weak, sinful nature of humanity to the saving light that breaks through the darkness (again and again).   A few things stood out in the passages. One, they are full of action. Jesus hit the ground running in his ministry, and there are many descriptors of time to emphasize this. Second, despite the urgency of his work, Jesus prioritized and took time for prayer and solitude. Finally, we see a pattern of sin or weakness being exhibited, even repeated, but never as the end of the story. Instead, we are assured that we have a loving, merciful Savior in Jesus our Lord.   Matthew 4:12-16 Our morning reading is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Capernaum. The first word in verse 12 is “now,” which means at the present time or moment. We know very little about Jesus’s life up to this point. But this i...