December 23, 2018
Connie and I want to express a very Merry Christmas to everyone at Lakeside. We are more than blessed that you are part of our lives and that we have an opportunity to serve our Lord together.
With the close of 2018 within reach it’s hard not to spend time considering what might come in 2019. Can you believe it 2019!? Nineteen years into the new 21st century. For those of us who have lived through a number of generations we know from experience the importance of living each day with a meaningful purpose. The builder generation has almost passed… boomers are very slowly declining… gen Xer’s are influencing young students in our colleges… gen Y is now becoming responsible, and millennials are entering the work force.
Every generation matures and leaves a distinct mark on society based on the ‘purpose’ they follow. Spiritually, its very easy to “look-back” and idolize a previous generation over the newer. To see one generation as ‘more spiritual then the next. But I wonder… I find myself compelled to ask… if the previous generation was really more spiritual then the one that followed… why is spiritual living declining with each new generation? And where does the responsibility lie?
You see, spirituality isn’t a condition… it’s a life-style… its who we are. It also isn’t a life-style influenced by a selection of options from menu. It’s a lifestyle taught by Christ… guided by the Holy Spirit… and given life by the Father, Himself. A spiritual life-style means to live every day with the purpose of exalting our Lord and following His commands… all of them.
The greatest mark any generation can leave the next is the mark that the next generation looks for as it takes its place of responsibility and teaches the next to exalt the Lord. That mark needs to be clearly… gratefully… and proudly proclaimed for the next generation to hear and take ownership of.
Romans 10:17 (NASB)
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Thank you for your faithfulness. Pastor Larry
