Our heartbeat is to be knowing God and making Him known. We’re a bunch of imperfect, don’t have it all-together people who genuinely believe that a relationship with God is more joyful than anything this world has to offer. The psalmist says about God, “In your presence there is fullness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps 16:11). From knowing God and experiencing joy we g
o to “making Him known.” Sometimes that happens in conversation with other Christians as we speak into each others lives. Recently, I’ve had Christian friends in my small group make God more known in my life as they have encouraged me in my walk with Him. Other times, we make Him known by building relationships with others who have no clue who Jesus is. People need to know that God demonstrated His love to us by sending His Son to stand in our place of punishment. Forgiveness of sins and a new life is possible through Christ alone (John 14:6, Eph 2:8-9). We also make Him known through our missions ministry. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told His followers to go make disciples, both locally and globally. Take a look at the missions page to see what it looks like for Lakeshore to be involved in global missions. So, how do we accomplish this task of knowing God and making Him known? We have 4 core values that function as pillars for us. By no means have we mastered them, but they function as guideposts along the way. Here they are:
Text: We believe that the Bible has the answers to all the issues of life. It is God’s gift to us as He builds us up with the truth of Scripture (2 Tim 3:16-17). Community: We’re talking about relationships that push one another toward Christ (Heb 10:24). Allowing Christians to speak into your everyday life is crucial for the Christian walk. Missions: Both local and global mission is crucial for us. If Jesus commands it, we will want to obey (Matt 28:19-20). Prayer: Prayer expresses a posture of dependence on God (Phil 4:6). May God teach us to pray more and more, both corporately and individually. Our hope is not that you’ll be impressed with us, but rather that you will be impressed with a great, big view of the one, true, holy God. And, may we as a church be gazing toward Him and helping others come to know Him. For Him,
Nate Birkholz
