June 16, 2024

1 Corinthians 1:1–3

Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

Lakeshore Baptist Church Family,

This opening to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is a fitting representation of Lakeshore Baptist Church, with its saints demonstrating inter-church unity that can only be found in our Lord Jesus Christ.

A little over a year ago, we at First Baptist Church of Spring Lake found ourselves in the difficult position of being without a Senior Pastor. What began as a time of great hardship and grieving became one of the most uplifting times of immense blessing. One of the most significant ways that God showed his grace to us in the pastoral search process was the love, compassion, prayer, and practical help provided through LBC.

From the very beginning of this challenging time for us, Pastor Nate eagerly offered to help. His desire to see our church thrive was evident, and for this we are grateful. Since June of last year, LBC has blessed us by providing faithful servants of God to preach, teach, and lead.

Thank you to Wayne Muri and Rich Kolmus for filling the pulpit on several occasions, with well-prepared and God-honoring sermons. Your willingness to guest preach is much appreciated.

And a huge, heartfelt thank you to Tom Siefert. In God’s providence, and through LBC’s sacrifice, Pastor Tom officially served as our interim from September until just recently. Besides delivering excellent sermons from week to week, Pastor Tom sacrificed his time to regularly attend our leadership board meetings as well as numerous search committee meetings and interviews. He loved our congregation as his own, and probably every single person at some point asked him to stay. Pastor Tom’s wisdom and humble leadership were invaluable to us in our pastoral search, and we were blessed to have our new Senior Pastor, Alex Teesdale, join us on June 9th.

We thank God specifically for these four men from LBC who directly affected our ability to continue God’s work at Spring Lake First Baptist. We also thank God for all of you, the Lakeshore Baptist Church family, for allowing these men to sacrifice time that could have been spent serving your church. We are blessed to be called saints with you, and hope to keep working together to build the kingdom in our community.

In the words of Apostle Paul, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Elders of First Baptist Church Spring Lake, On behalf of the FBC family