This past weekend at Lakes we talked Redemption.

Ever have those time when things were going really well and yet for (seemingly) no reason at all something stops that? Perhaps you’re on track to be star quarterback, and you hurt your arm. Maybe you think your job is going well and you’re laid off. Just those times – that seem great, but God intervenes and turns things around. Why is that?

Pastor Josh used the analogy that when your child gets the basketball and is so excited that he runs in the wrong direction. He thinks he’s doing great, he even makes a basket. But all the while you’re yelling – turn around! Because you know that even though it was a magnificent shot, he ultimately was going the wrong way. God’s intervention in our lives is similar. He sees us running towards the wrong basket and even though it’s going really well, he needs to turn us around before we score the wrong point.

“Gods intervention will ultimately lead to my redemption” – Pastor Josh

Pastor Josh brought a great message that reminded us that God is in control and when we let Him lead us, we can trust that it will never be in the wrong direction.

Join us next Sunday (5/26) as we talk Baby Steps, Baby Dedications and Water Baptisms!

- Jess

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This past Sunday we continued in our series From the Grave with a message entitled Dream Again. It’s all about how God can give a dream and while at times it seems like that dream has died, God really does have a plan and He will reignite that dream in His timing! Listen to Brian and Jenn’s story as they recount what it’s like to see God reignite a dream!

Don’t miss this next Sunday 4/14 – the next message in this series is called Laugh Again. You don’t want to miss it!

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Easter Weekend at Lakes Church was such an inspiring few days! First we sent 10 of our kids off to NYSAG Youth Convention! Over 3500 youths from all over the state came together to worship, hear the Word of God, and to impact CNY communities. Attendees to the convention had a chance to help stuff bags, load trucks, and ultimately travel to local outreach events on Good Friday.

Here in Auburn, we  took 1160 of those grocery bags and distributed them into our community. We had 30 students from Rochester and Queens, NY come and help us impact our community. We hosted an event at Melone Village where we grilled hot dogs, got the music going and played with the kids in the complex. We even had members of the Auburn Fire Department come out and help us to distribute groceries.

Then on Easter Sunday we saw our highest attendance at Lakes Church. We saw 11 people give their loves to Christ. We saw the Holy Spirit move in tremendous ways.

We are SO excited for what’s going on at Lakes Church right now, and it’s just the beginning!

Death and His Sting from Lakes Church on Vimeo.

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Brandon came not only to share the Gospel today and a special message out of Galatians, but also to share the heart of the Every Child Initiative. Brandon and his wife Alaina have a God-given heart for orphaned children. They have fostered and adopted children of their own and are following God’s path for thier lives.

The Every Child Initiative is an effort to join God in reaching out to, caring for, and representing gospel transformation to vulnerable children in our community and around our world. The Owen’s goal is to get one new foster family and one new adoptive family in the churches that they present to and then encourage the church to support the families taking this leap through babysitting, meals for the family and any other way the church can bless those stepping out to bring in these precious children.

We here at Lakes Church have a big heart for fostering and adopting children and we fully support this initiative. We encourage you that if you’ve ever felt God pulling on your heartstrings for children in these situations, we have many people who have been there and who are there who would love to talk to you about it and help you get more information about the possibility of bringing a foster child into your home.

Along with the Every Child Initiative, we kicked off a 40-day Prayer Challenge. Pastor Sean is leading this and encouraging you to take a few minutes every day at 7:14am to pray. We are offering a text message reminder to help you with this. The goal is to take this Lenten Season and push through and focus on prayer and God. The church will be open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:14am for prayer through the Lenten season as well as out Saturday morning prayer at 9am on Saturdays.

We hope you’ll join us in this prayer child as we circle  2 Chronicles 7:14 in prayer.

If you’d like to sign up for text message alerts, text Lakes714 to 41411 and follow the prompts to set up.

Have a blessed week!

- Jessica W.

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We have a new devotional for our second week of Awakening! Pastor Eric from Living Hope AG in Waterloo, NY.

Awakening Week 2 from Eric Hamlin on Vimeo.

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We wanted to show those who came that fasting doesn’t have to mean boring. So we brought a super easy Lentil soup. it was a HIT! Everyone LOVED it! But, we forgot to bring the recipe. So here it is. Originally from a cook book, amended by yours truly. Enjoy!

Easy Slow-Cooker Lentil Soup

1 cup chopped onion
1/2 -1 cup sliced celery
1/2-1 cup sliced baby carrots
1-2Tbsp Olive Oil
1 – 16oz bag of brown lentils
7cups vegetable broth (I used a Vegan Vegetable Boullion to make the broth – it was in the Organic aisle of Wegmans)
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes, drained (or 2 of the 14.5oz cans)
1 Tbsp Tamari (We used Braggs Aminos or you could use a Soy Sauce too)
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a saute pan, add the olive oil and the onion, celery & carrots.  Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Cover and cook about 7-8 minutes or until these are soft. (I mixed them around a couple times to make sure they didn’t get too brown.)

Pour the lentils into a bowl and look through them for any lentils that don’t look good or anything else. If they look good give them a good rinse and add them to the crock pot.

Next add the drained tomatoes, vegetable broth, tamari, and the veggies from the stove.  Give it a good stir to combine.

Cover the crock pot, set to low for 6-8 hours. Enjoy!

** On the day of our meeting – the crock pot cooked for 8 hours on low and then was on “keep warm” for about two hours before our meeting – I think the extra heat made it thicker than yours may come out.

- Jessica

Let us know in the comments what your fasting recipes are and we’ll make sure to post them! Also check out Lakes Church on Pinterest for more Awakening Recipes!

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Check back each Monday during Awakening for a new video.

Isaiah 51 Online Devo from Joshua Czyz on Vimeo.

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While we are left with more promises than answers as far as why God allows this stuff to happen, we wanted to give our families some prayers they can pray over and with their children tonight.

We believe that faith needs to be fostered by the family and we hope these scriptures help you to pray with your children in the wake of these events.

Let’s go forth and pray a prayer of protection over each of our children. You can use this Psalm as a guide or we would love to hear from you how you pray for or with your kids.

As always if you need prayer or just need to talk to someone please contact one of our pastors here or request prayer here.

We love you Lakes Church. Let’s gather in prayer for these families and create a stronghold of prayer in our own community.

God Bless you.

Psalm 91

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The past 72 hours have been a whirlwind of giving, faith, love, hope, joy, and a move of God so much bigger than we ever imagined.

When Pastor Josh came to us a few weeks ago saying he wanted us to do a Thanksgiving Outreach, we said YES! But we didn’t know where to start or how to go about it. BUT we believed that if we gathered the food that God would bless that and bring us the families. We also believed that if God brought us families then He would also provide the food to feed them with.

We have been shown a need so great in our community that only God could have provided for this. Families that had no hope are now celebrating the holiday with more than they ever dreamed of. People who were told no so many times before came to us and we were able to immediately blow them away with a YES!

One family just couldn’t believe that we would give them food when all the others have said no, we can’t help you. Another family had just had a death in the family, we were able to get Thanksgiving meals for both their family and their mom’s family and make sure that Dad had a new haircut for the funeral.

Every time we ran out of food and we weren’t sure what was going to happen, God provided more. Every time we had a pile of food and wasn’t sure where the families would come from we’d get another call and the families would come to us. We spent time actively trying to find families in need because Jesus didn’t just sit and wait for people to come to Him, He went out into the community and kept His eyes, ears and heart open to find those who needed help.

We aren’t done. We won’t be until God tells we are. So far we’ve been able to help at least 50 families! 50 families who would not have otherwise been able to put food on the table.  One of our contacts heard about a mom who was struggling and couldn’t get a turkey, she was too proud to go get a “handout” so she decided that chicken would have to do. We were able to bring her a complete Thanksgiving feast. I can’t imagine the relief felt by that mom when she received that box  out of the blue, because now she could cook a “proper” meal for her family.

We’ve heard unbelievable stories this year! We are just beyond humbled to be used by God like this. We are amazed but unsurprised to see Him show up like this. God is using Lakes Church to bring HOPE to His people throughout this community and we are beyond honored to be used like this for HIS glory.

God Bless you! We hope you and your family have an amazing Thanksgiving. And if you hear of someone who is going to go without or with not enough – don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ll be making deliveries on Thanksgiving Day if we have to!

In His Service,

Jessica & Sean Wrench

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This includes children at the nearby elementary school, displaced teens whose parents lost their jobs and are now homeless, and pre-adolescents growing up without Mom or Dad due to substance abuse or incarceration.  They live in our communities and God has called us to them.

Let us give “voice” to these children.

What can we do to help?

This Sunday, November 4, is Orphan Sunday for much of the Christian world.  Come to service this Sunday at Lakes Church to learn more about how you can help the thousands of children in foster care.

We will also be gathering a team of people who have a heart for this issue and for children to start some ministry in our own community. If you’re interested in participating please contact Pastor Josh at joshua@lakeschurch.com

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