August 30, 2018

Uniting In Love: Building On Our Foundation, based on Psalm 89:14-15 and 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, is Lakeshore’s theme for the year ahead. It is a fitting theme to guide us as we enter another election season, as we continue to live in an environment of division, and as we seek to embody the counter-cultural ways of justice, kindness and humility on our world.
We are living in challenging times – times where people have much to fear and times where our nation’s moral core is being tested. There are many external pressures promoting division and dehumanization, but our faith demands the opposite – we are called to love. Scripture calls us to love the stranger, love our neighbor and even love our enemy. In the face of forces that seek to separate, we are called to unite – to unite with those in need, to unite with those we share the journey with, and to unite in our pursuit of peace at every turn.
We are called to hold firm to all that we believe and to stand strong against the forces that seek to shake us. Instead of being swayed by fear, God invites us to invest ever more deeply in the power of love, building on the faith that has brought us thus far and beckons us forward. We have a firm foundation, a love that will not let us go, and it is this love that compels us to reject any fear that would cripple us, any hate that would divide, any division that allows dehumanization.
I look forward to our continued work, worship and witness together, as we claim these promises of Scripture, building on our foundation and uniting with one another in love. May this new theme allow us to deepen our faith and our commitment to love and service.
Peace,
Allison