Forgiveness is Not a Suggestion Dear Church Family, Thank you for praying for our students for DNOW. I’m so grateful to be part of a church that cares about the next generation. And what a testimony that two students trusted in Christ for [...]

The Eternal Significance of Our Prayers Dear Church Family, When we have events like DNOW, we don’t always know the significance of our prayers and participation and how it will impact eternity. I want to tell you the story of the most spiritually [...]

Lifelong Repentance Dear Church Family, I’m so thankful we were able to provide online worship in the midst of the storm. Paul expressed that he wished to be with his recipients in person rather than writing them in Galatians 4.20. When we are [...]

He Has Lit Lamps in Darker Times Than This Dear Church Family, With so many incidents of violence in churches over the years, we have tried to be proactive with our security team and continue to provide training for preparedness. I’m so grateful [...]

Share Your Faith with All Your Talents Dear Lakeside, So many of our people find creative ways to share the Word of God with the world. It is such a blessing to see our fellow believers express their faith not only in speech [...]

The Smartest Christian in the Room Dear Church Family, Hope you had a great New Year. Praying for a fruitful 2026. I read this incredibly honest testimony from an anonymous post. May we all have this introspection: Three years ago, I was the [...]

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day Dear Church Family, What an incredible night of worship we had on Sunday night! Thank you to Carey, Morgan, the praise team, band, and children’s choir. You all are so talented and dedicated to glorifying our [...]

A Book Worth Dying For Dear Church Family, Hope the Christmas season is a blessing to you. I love this time of year and look for opportunities to share the Gospel with friends, family, and neighbors. I am also looking forward to worship [...]

O Come, O Come Emmanuel Dear Church Family, Hope you had a chance to listen to Pastor Nicholas’ message Sunday. We all need to ask the LORD to give us relationships for discipleship. Well, the Christmas season is upon us and it is [...]

Letting Go of the Worship of Wounds Dear Church Family, I’m so grateful for our effort with Operation Christmas Child! What a great opportunity to share the Gospel all around the world. Praying for each child as they receive the shoeboxes and more [...]

How a Church Becomes a Restaurant Dear Church Family, I’m so grateful for our worship team including our kids’ choir, adult choir, orchestra, band, tech team, Carey Dyer and Morgan Farris. It was such a great evening or worship and gratitude. In this [...]

No Trivial People Dear Church Family, The LORD is so good to us—we are down to only owing $68,000 as we complete the preschool wing expansion. Thank you for your generosity and if you have not had a chance to give, will you [...]

A Throne Hidden in Straw Dear Church Family, With the Christmas season in full swing, I thought I’d share a devotional from Rich Bitterman. Looking forward to seeing you Sunday! A Throne Hidden in Straw A rustic wooden stable beneath a starry night [...]

A Savior Who Walked the Muddy Road Dear Church Family, Each year I love seeing our different ministries reach out to our community. I had the privilege of sharing my testimony to the people who came to Loaves and Fishes to get food. [...]

A Messy Kind of Obedience Dear Church Family, I’m so thankful for the services we had last Sunday and the precious baptism we had in the late service. Also, we’ve had record numbers attend our Wednesday evening activities. I also excited about our [...]

The Wisdom of Hope Dear Church Family, We are in the homestretch of the completion of our new preschool wing. Would you consider a financial gift to complete the project? We are only $297,000 from having it completely paid for! Please pray and [...]

The King Has One More Move Dear Church Family, One of the benefits of being your pastor is that I get to observe many of the God moments in the lives of His people. I see how the LORD works in our time [...]

Meet the Dawsons Hello! My name is Nicholas Dawson. Recently, my family and I moved from Wake Forest, North Carolina so that I could serve at Lakeside as the new Discipleship Pastor. Both my wife and I are graduates from Southeastern Baptist Theological [...]

The Bible in Historical Context Dear Church Family, Like many of you, I am still praying for our country and world after the tragedies of last week. I was so encouraged that the Gospel was preached to the masses at Charlie Kirk’s memorial, [...]

What You Meant for Evil, God Meant for Good Dear Church Family, Hope you have used the tragic events of last week to find your “holy discontent” as Nehemiah had. How can this spur us on to good works? I think we find [...]

I Am Coming Back For You Dear Church Family, We are well into our Fall Semester and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the number of folks attending and serving on Wednesday evenings. Hope you are praying, growing, and inviting. I’m so [...]

Only God Gives the Growth Dear Church Family, I’m so excited about the number of people coming on Wednesday evenings and love how our meals have created an added enthusiasm. Hope you have found a place to grow and or serve. Also, please [...]

God’s Unfathomably Majestic Orchestrations Dear Church Family, I’m so glad to be back with my church family after spending some downtime away. I’m refreshed and ready to start a new semester and year of ministry. I’m also excited about our Preschool Ministry building [...]

New Discipleship Pastor Candidate Dear Members of Lakeside, Thank you for praying for Tan Flippin as he begins developing his new role as our full-time Pastoral Care Pastor. (And thank you for praying for Tan personally.) Also, thank you for praying for our [...]

The Lord is On His Throne! Dear Lakeside, Many of you have been kind enough to ask how my next book, volume 2 of Theology for Every Person, is going. I have finished the writing, and the publisher is putting it together for [...]

Perspective on Life's Momentary Light Afflictions Dear Lakeside, A wise man recently wrote, “Suffering takes a toll on the outward man, but the inward man is being renewed and blessed every day.” Dr. Tan Flippin wrote these wise words for others, but God [...]

An Invisible Shield for the Mind Dear Church Family, As we start to wrap up the Summer, it’s a good time to be thinking about your next step in the Fall. We will have lots of ministries to choose from, so plan early. [...]

Tolkien, God, and the Author's Fingerprints Dear Church Family, I am so grateful for a generous church family. Thank you all for praying for and giving to the relief efforts in Kerrville, as well as to our preschool wing expansion. I know the [...]

Bible Translations Dear Church Family, If you didn’t get a chance to join us during our Facebook Live prayer time Sunday afternoon, please mark your calendar for the next one, which will be the first Sunday of the month at 5 pm. It is [...]

A Path to Emulate   Dear Church Family, It has been my privilege to serve alongside three special people over the last several years who happen to be retiring. Linda Lemmons has been my assistant since my first day as the senior pastor [...]

A Huge Thank You to All Involved With VBS Dear Church Family, Just wanted to thank all of you who prayed, fasted, gave, led, and volunteered for Vacation Bible School this week. We had 96 first-time decisions! We praise God and give Him [...]

Following the Evidence in the Universe Dear Church Family, As you will see this coming Sunday, it’s all about VBS this next week. I ask that you volunteer, invite kids to come, and pray. In fact, I would ask a specific favor of [...]

The Old Testament and the Cross Dear Church Family, This is a reminder to please sign up to work VBS if you are able. We have increased the level of our background checks this year, so it takes a little more time. This [...]

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit Dear Church Family, This month I ask you to pray, serve, invite, and or bring stuff for our Vacation Bible School. This is a precious time with our children and the Gospel is shared. I’m [...]

The Depth of God's Sacrificial Love Dear Church Family, As we get into Summer, I hope you will be praying about being part of the many activities such as VBS, mission trips, and camps. We are always in need of leaders in all [...]

Jeroboam's Idolatry and God's Mercy Dear Church Family, May is a month filled with life events. We dedicate parents and their babies, we recognize graduating seniors, and we remember those who gave their lives for their country so we might be free. Thank [...]

Learn to Love the Good and No Evil Can Withstand You Dear Church Family, What a precious time to pray over our young families with children on Mother’s Day. Hope you had some good reflection and gratitude for the mothers in our lives. [...]

Jesus in the Old Testament Dear Church Family, Thank you for the tremendous gift of sending me to North Africa. You can be proud of the team from Lakeside as we ministered to our sent ones there. They are doing such a great [...]

In the Wilderness Dear Church Family, Thank you for giving me the opportunity to minister in North Africa with our sent ones. It’s been a joy to see what the LORD is doing in and through them. I appreciate Dr Street sharing last [...]

The Ascension of Jesus Christ: What Did Jesus Do After the Resurrection? After his resurrection and appearances to his disciples, Christ ascended to heaven. The ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven demonstrates he is the eternal King. Christ’s right to rule was always [...]

Join us for Resurrection Weekend! Dear Church Family, Hope you are looking forward to Resurrection Sunday! We would love for you to bring a friend or two or three! Praying for the Gospel to be planted in good soil. I loved this article [...]

Resurrection is Coming! Dear Church Family, I love this time of year. Hope you invite someone to one of our Resurrection Sunday services (again, I know every Sunday is Resurrection Sunday, but I like it better than saying “Easter”). Here are some of [...]

Evidence of an Empty Tomb Dear Church Family, Thank you for your patience and flexibility for our “Old Fashioned Church on the Grounds” service and fellowship last week. It was a big help for our construction phase of our stage remodel. I’m so grateful [...]

Our Lord, Come! Dear Church Family, Thank you for your prayers, generosity, and flexibility as we go into this next phase of construction. I am excited to see, not only the transformation of our building, but of our ministries as well. Praying for [...]

We Need YOU! Dear Church Family, Do y’all remember back in the day when we would have a work day at the church to clean and beautify the building and grounds? Well, in a similar effort, I’d like to invite those able-bodied folks [...]

The Sanctuary Dear Church Family, These are exciting days at Lakeside! I am looking forward to having a new preschool wing and a new look in our sanctuary. And thank you for those who have given and prayed for these things. I believe [...]

The Tabernacle Dear Church Family, We are about to see some movement on our preschool renovation, so please be patient with us as we shuffle classrooms here and there for the next few months. This project will have lots of interactive elements and [...]

In the Ascension and Resurrection Dear Church Family, I just want to thank you all for your prayers while I was out. I sure do love my church family! Also, I want to thank all of you who volunteered, prayed, led, and taught [...]

We Need Each Other Perhaps because of our American tendency to be individualistic, and especially our Texan tendency to go ruggedly on our own, we forget that we need each other. Our need for one another is and undeniable truth in our spiritual [...]

Stringing Pearls Dear Church Family, Please pray for our students as they gather for DNOW in a couple of weeks. Pray for Pastor Paul Pakebusch and his leaders as they guide them. Thank you for your investment in this next generation! The following is another [...]

The Lord is My Shepherd Dear Church Family, I shared this at a funeral this weekend and thought it might bless you: The Lord is my Shepherd. That's a relationship. I shall not want -- that’s supply He maketh me to lie down [...]

The Reason We Are Forgiven Dear Church Family, Hope this devotional thought blesses you— Did you know Jesus does not forgive us because we confess our sins? That's a confusion of 1 John 1.9. John writes that if we confess our sins, God is [...]

Hospitality is the New Apologetics Dear Church Family, My friend Gary Stidham was in the Baptist Student Ministry at UTA for many years and is now a professor at Southwestern Seminary. He led his students to lead hundreds if not thousands to Christ. [...]

The Forgiven Family of God Dear Church Family, As we get ready for a new semester of discipleship here at Lakeside, I pray for you all as you seek God’s leadership in your next steps. Hope you’ve had a chance to check out [...]

Sharing the Gospel with a Neighbor Dear Church Family, I had a brother from Lakeside ask me about some things to share with a neighbor to help them understand the Gospel and I wanted to share with you one way to share the [...]

A Message from Pastor Mark Dear Church Family, The celebration of Christmas is also the celebration of Genesis chapter 1. One of the best Christmas books ever written is entitled On the Incarnation, by Athanasius. At the beginning of the book, Athanasius reminds [...]

A Message from Pastor Mark Is Christmas Pagan? Here are the ten most common erroneous beliefs about Christmas being tied to paganism. First, Christmas is the Roman feast of Saturnalia.” Saturnalia, honoring the Roman god Saturn, ran from December 17 to 23. Christmas [...]

A Message from Pastor Mark Dear Church Family, What an incredible concert last Sunday evening! I’m so grateful for Carey and Michael and their teams. The choir and orchestra, and the children’s choir truly led us to worship. I wanted to share part [...]

A Message from Pastor Mark Dear Church Family, Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving. I love this time of year and look for opportunities to build bridges for the Gospel. I also want to thank you for your patience regarding our water issue [...]

A Message from Pastor Mark Dear Church Family, Read this by Chad Bird and thought it might speak to you like it did me: Making a Mockery of Ordination The Hebrew phrase commonly translated as "ordained" in the Old Testament is literally "to [...]

A Message from Pastor Mark Dear Church Family, I read this and it was so insightful I wanted to share it with you all: The Devil Left Him Until an Opportune Time John closes his Gospel by saying that Jesus did many other [...]

A Message from Pastor Mark Dear Church Family, I’m so proud to serve with you all and from time to time I get to hear a powerful testimony from one of my brothers or sisters here. Friday morning at our Men’s Ministry prayer [...]