Meet Our Newest Worship Interns

We're exited to welcome two new interns to our Lakeside Worship Ministry Team:

Justin Brandon is a senior worship major at LCU, from Pleasant Plains, IL. We will get to see—and hear—Justin as one of our vocalists, worship leaders, and playing in the band. He will also be involved in arranging music and planning services. In addition, Justin will be working in the behind-the-scenes production areas of lighting, sound, and video. Justin is a Springfield area native from Pleasant Plans.

Hank Wuethrich is biblical studies major at LCU, and also a senior. Hank will be playing keys, directing and arranging music, and involved in planning services. He will also be getting experience in all the production aspects of the service. Hank is from Indiana, and just a hint: You pronounce his last name "Whee-Trick."

Adult Classes Resume

We are bringing back some of our adult classes on Sunday mornings! Mike Hannah is teaching the True Believers class at 10:30 am. Join them in Room 109 (west hallway) for a study through the book of Matthew. Steve Helm will be restarting the Faithweavers class on January 24 at 9:00 am also in Room 109. Faithweavers class will be learning how to study and trust what the Bible says.

Both of these classes can help you develop or increase your Biblical literacy. Biblical literacy is the ability and motivation of people to read the Bible with understanding so that they can explain its basic meaning, and have enough knowledge and skill to use resources that help them grasp the basic meaning of the text and apply it to daily life. Biblical illiteracy is a rising problem within the church and Biblical skepticism is rapidly rising among the unchurched. Check out these articles on the subject:  

https://www.barna.com/research/state-of-the-bible-2019/  

https://outreachmagazine.com/features/22934-biblical-literacy.html 

Sermon Based Groups

What is a sermon-based group? Sermon based groups follow will be following our weekly sermon series on the book of Galatians called “Soul Freedom”. Time spent in God’s Word and in the company of brothers and sisters in Christ is a great way to bolster your faith. You will find freedom and life through this series. 

Who are Sermon Based Groups for? Whether you are new to Lakeside or a long-time member we would love to have you be part of one of our groups.  

What is required? Listen to our weekly sermon, answer a few questions in our study guide booklet, and come to group ready to share, encourage, and care for others. Physical booklets will be available at Lakeside from 9:00 am-4:00 pm or on Sundays during services. The week each sermon is preached, you may go to lakesidechristian.com/ondemand to review the sermon and access the weekly study questions.

When are Sermon Based Groups? To find out details about the groups offered go to lakesidechristian.com/groups. While you are there, be sure to register for a group!

Iron Sharpens Iron Men's Conference

On March 20 the Springfield ISI conference is scheduled to be held at Tabernacle Baptist Church, 650 N. Wyckles Road, Decatur, IL. The conference starts at 8:30 am and ends at 5:00 pm and features keynote speakers Bryndan Loritts and Dan Seaborn, group worship, and 16 seminars to choose from. The cost ranges between $47 and $62 per man. March 7th is the last Sunday to sign up. For more information on the conference go to www.rpmfm.org. Let us know your of your interest in participating at lakesidechristian.com/ISI

Women's Elijah Study

We invite Lakeside women and their friends to join us for a 7-session DVD based Bible Study on the life of Elijah. Elijah expanded his faith and experienced God's fire in a time of national crisis, emerging as an unapologetic voice of truth. Priscilla Shirer will help you learn to be bold, seek God's guidance and provision, welcome times of training, seize opportunities to encourage others spiritually, and live a life consecrated to God. Kim Cessna will be facilitating this study meeting Tuesdays at 6:00 pm starting March 16. Register by March 7th at lakesidechristian.com/ElijahStudy

Men In Action, March 2021

Lakeside's Men In Action group invites all Lakeside men to join them for breakfast on Saturday, March 20th at 7:00 am. We are meeting a bit earlier than usual so men planning on attending the Iron Sharpens Iron Men's Conference in Decatur can attend before heading out. It will be great to get together and begin planning some projects again. All men of all skill levels are welcome and encouraged to join MIA as they seek to serve.

Lakeside Supported Church Plant

Restore Christian Church is a church plant located about an hour and a half south in Highland, Illinois. With your help, Lakeside continues to support this church plant as they meet every Sunday in person and online at 10:30 a.m. Please pray for this young family of believers and their lead minister Aaron Kelso. Check out their website to see what is going on: restorechristianchurch.org.  

Myanmar Hope Update

Please visit Myanmar Hope Christian Mission on their Facebook page and their website at myanmarhope.org to view pictures and hear all the ways our brothers and sisters in Christ were blessed with your generosity in their time of need. So many precious bags of rice and village Christmas meals! Pray for Palal and Kikim and all the national ministers who are serving in difficult times and for God's blessings on the many ministry iniatives they are establishing. May their faith increase and may God's Kingdom expand!

Political Situation Update: View the My Hope website for the newsletter with a brief history of government/military interactions and how the recent changes are affecting the Myanmar people.

Lake Springfield Christian Assembly Update

Good News! Registration for summer camp is now open at lscacamp.org! This summer's theme is "UNSHAKEN" and comes from Psalm 16:8. Currently, camp sessions will not feature overnights, but there is a possibility that things could change by summer. At any rate, children will have a wonderful time attending age appropriate sessions of camp. Lakeside's LSCA Pantry Project for this summer is collecting GFS foam meal containers (or gift cards) to enable the camp to serve lunches and dinners appropriately. Volunteers will be needed for 2-hour commitments to help package meals and snacks for campers. Also, on the morning as each session of camp opens, volunteers are needed for the Red Carpet Welcoming Crews. For more information about these volunteer opportunities contact Kennedy Brown at LSCA 217-529-2625 or "Sunny" Boatman at cesunshine2@gmail.com.

Taking Christ to the Millions International

Would you like to know how to pray for TCM's efforts to equip men and women from 45+ nations for ministry? Visit www.tcmi.org/pray. Also pray for the international student, Erion of Albania, who's schooling is supported by Lakeside. Erion has recently completed another course. Pray that his example and testimony will touch many in his ministry location. Visit vimeo.com/showcase/tcm to view some short videos detailing the ministry of TCM.

Diapers for the James Project

The James Project is a not-for-profit Christian ministry in Springfield, Illinois which provides homes and support for fostering families in Sangamon County. You can find out more about The James Project and how you can help and pray at thejamesproject127.com. Considering donating a pack of diapers size 3-6 for foster families. Diapers can be dropped off at 907 Clocktower Drive, Suite C in Springfield.

Honduran Food Relief Arrives

In November Lakeside sent $1,500 to Mercy International in Honduras to provide food for people suffering from Covid-19 and restrictions along with recovery from two recent Hurricanes. We have reports that food ration boxes were taken up the mountains through challenging and rainy weather...some of the distance involved carrying the heavy loads by foot. The Honduran people expressed their appreciation for these much needed relief supplies. Thank you for your generosity. Pray for the churches.

Love Packages Ministry in February

February 28 is the last Sunday of our Love Packages collection! Love Packages is a local ministry fueling international missions work and sending the gospel to the ends of the earth by putting donated bibles and other Christian literature into the hands of people around the world. Visit lovepackages.org or call 217-532-6701 to find out more about the ministry and how you can donate or help process donations. Be sure to view the "Nickle Tour" video on the website. The ministry is located at 220 Union St, Butler, IL 62015. For a list of accepted materials go to lovepackages.org/needed-materials.

During the month of February you may drop off any materials for Love Packages at a table in the Lakeside Lobby.

• Bibles (New or used, any translation, New Testaments or other portions, individual gospel booklets)
• Reference Material (Dictionaries, Bible dictionaries, concordances, commentaries, etc.)
• Books (All Christian books – adult or children, non-fiction)
• Magazines and Daily Devotionals (Any devotionals or magazine from a Christian publisher}
• Sunday School Materials (Adult quarterlies and teacher manuals from all publishers; children’s quarterlies with the teacher’s manual and full student manuals.)
• CDs, DVDs, BluRay (Music, movies, teaching from well known speakers [Billy Graham, Swindoll, etc.])
• Tracts  (All tracts) 
• Puppets, Nativity Sets, etc.
• Bible games, biblical puzzles (anything that helps teach the gospel, especially to children)

Partner with Christian Student Fellowship

Interested in helping Christian Student Fellowship in their ministry to college students? During this season of COVID restrictions there are fewer on-campus volunteer opportunities, but there are several ways you or your group or your class could help with tangible resources to enable ministry.

• Outreach: Provide $5 gift cards (30) to Starbucks & Chick-Fil-A for giveaways, outreach opportunities and encouragement for students. 
• Small Groups: Prepackaged snacks (40) to bless the Monday night student small groups meeting at Lakeside. 
• Supplies: Large pump hand sanitizers (4-5) 
• Resources: Books—The Fuel and the Flame (20 copies) as a follow up resource to gospel training for some core students ready to reach their peers on campus. 

If you or your group would like to help, email: info@uiscsf.org and the CSF know how you would like to partner. Visit www.uiscsf.org to see what CSF is up to and to help you as you pray for the ministry. 

Save the Date: The 27th Annual Fundraising Banquet will be April 11th at 6:30 pm at Erin's Pavillion in Springfield. It is a fun night of hearing and celebrating the stories of how God is working through CSF staff and students.

Pioneer Bible Translators

Dear friends, your faithful support throughout the past months has caused us to thank the Lord in humble gratitude. We feel more than ever our dependence on Him, which in fact has always been the case. 

Jeff has spent vast amounts of time over the past months leading Pioneer Bible Translators’ Covid response, working with our teams on safety and maintaining ministry. Many plans have been disrupted and adjustments required. Yet we are praising the Lord that Pioneer Bible’s worldwide translation progress was greater in the first half of 2020 than ever before, as we processed over 180,000 verses of the Bible in our 99 translation projects. Also for the first time, our members around the world were able to participate in our weekly chapels, board meeting, and annual meeting, as Jeff and others organized them remotely. 

Your prayers for the progress of the Toma Bible have resulted in several translation consultants now working to help us complete the consultant check of the New Testament by the end of 2021 and of the Old Testament by the end of 2022. We are also working on publishing 20+ books of the Toma Bible electronically by the end of this year, bringing the total number of published books to over 40. 

Our Toma revision committee was unable to meet this past spring but they plan to meet in November to go over Jeremiah and Lamentations, since there have been no known coronavirus cases in their area in the past couple of months. They will meet one more time next spring to go over Ezekiel and Daniel, and then their part in the Toma translation process will be complete! They are thankful that their churches were able to reopen recently. 

Kayla returned to Texas A&M in August and is adjusting well to the many changes in college life. Eric continues to homeschool and is a junior this year. We are thankful that he is able to participate in the missionary kid youth group remotely. 

Thank you for your sacrificial partnership with Pioneer Bible Translators. We know this is a challenging time for everyone; please let us know what we can be praying for you about. 

In Christ, 

Jeff and Laura Wilhoit