Lakeside Church

Communion is more than a ritual - it’s an invitation into participation with Jesus and with one another. In this message from Johanna Kelly, we explore Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10 and discover how the table reshapes our loves, reorients our priorities, and reminds us that we are one body sustained by one source. Discussion Questions: 1. Think of a meal or table moment you remember deeply. Wha...

Revelation doesn’t give us the God we expect - it confronts and reshapes our understanding of power, victory, and what it truly means for Jesus to reign. In this message from Robyn Elliott, we explore the shocking moment when John hears about a conquering lion but turns and sees a slaughtered lamb, revealing that God’s power looks nothing like the empires and systems we trust in. The cross isn’t j...

Revelation isn't a crystal ball - it's political resistance literature written to expose the lies behind power and call the church to faithful allegiance. In this message, Robyn Elliott unpacks the world John was writing into, why empire is always in conflict with the kingdom of God, and what it means for us to hold on when the current is strong. Discussion Questions: 1. When you hear the word "Re...

Unveiling The Apocalypse: Slaughtered Yet Standing by Lakeside Church

Baptism is more than a ritual - it’s a powerful symbol of death, rescue, and new life. From the chaos of ancient waters to the story of Jesus, this moment tells a bigger story of identity, freedom, and belonging. Following this message from Robyn Elliott, we witness two people step into that story and into a new life. Discussion Questions: 1. What has been your experience with baptism, either pers...

Victoria Aquilina shares her journey from hidden trauma, abuse, and mental illness to discovering real hope, healing, and identity in Jesus. After years of masking pain and battling diagnoses, she found freedom not in perfection, but in grace, truth, and choosing hope every day. This is a powerful story of survival, faith, and transformation. Discussion Questions: 1. Have you ever felt like you ha...

This Easter message from Robyn Elliott explores the resurrection not just as an event to believe in, but as a reality to live in. Through Mary Magdalene’s encounter in the garden, we see that what looked like the end was actually the beginning of a new creation. The resurrection is God’s declaration that hope, healing, and renewal have already begun, and we’re invited to live that future now. Disc...

What if the people who crucified Jesus aren’t that different from us? In this message from Robyn Elliott, we explore how Caiaphas and Pontius Pilate chose comfort, control, and self-preservation over truth - and how we often do the same. Lent is an invitation to stop making that trade and follow Jesus, even when it costs us. The question is simple but urgent: when faced with fear, pressure, or con...

In a world shaped by stories of violent revolt and divine rescue, Jesus offers a radically different way. In the garden, on the night of his crucifixion, when violence seems justified, he heals his enemy and refuses the sword, forcing us to confront which version of Jesus we truly follow. This Lenten message from Robyn Elliott challenges us to examine the competing narratives shaping our faith: th...

Judas is often reduced to a one-word label: betrayer. But what if his story reveals something uncomfortable about us? As the tension of Jesus’ final week builds, this message, from Robyn Elliott explores the dangerous blind spots of faith - how even those closest to Jesus can miss his heart, justify harmful means for a holy cause, and betray the way of Jesus without realizing it. Discussion Questi...

Judas is often reduced to a one-word label: betrayer. But what if his story reveals something uncomfortable about us? As the tension of Jesus’ final week builds, this message, from Robyn Elliott explores the dangerous blind spots of faith - how even those closest to Jesus can miss his heart, justify harmful means for a holy cause, and betray the way of Jesus without realizing it. Discussion Questi...

Two days before Jesus’ crucifixion, an unnamed woman crashes a dinner party, breaks open a jar worth a year’s wages, and anoints Jesus while the disciples call it waste. In this message from Robyn Elliott, we step into the story as witnesses and ask: Are we offering costly love, or hiding hard hearts behind responsible religion? Because love that costs you something is never wasted, and sometimes...

Lent invites us into a wilderness that strips away illusion and exposes our raw desires. In this message from Robyn Elliott, we look at the temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4), and see that the enemy doesn’t offer evil outright - he offers shortcuts, comfort, and power without the cross. This season asks us a hard question: are we witnesses to the way of Jesus, or have we quietly become accomplices to...

For 2,000 years followers of Jesus have gathered around a table, not to repeat a ritual, but to participate in a mystery. In this message from Robyn Elliott, we explore Jesus’ shocking words and discover that Communion is more than symbolism; it’s an invitation. At this table, heaven and earth meet, the ordinary becomes sacred, and we are transformed as we participate in Jesus’ life, death, and re...

Life can feel unbearably heavy, and Jesus never denied that reality. In this message from Mike Carmody, looking at a section from the Sermon on the Mount, he shows us that Jesus invites us onto the narrow road - not as a crushing moral test, but as a path of love, presence, and companionship. The narrow road isn’t walked alone; it’s lighter because Jesus walks it with us, offering rest, closeness,...

Sermon on the Mount: Polished But Poisoned In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns that the greatest danger to faith isn’t hostility from the outside, but deception from within. False prophets don’t always look harmful - they quote Scripture, appear faithful, and feel safe - yet they pull us away from the way of Jesus. In this message from Robyn Elliott, we are called beyond surface-level belief a...

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount reveals a radically different vision of the good life - one where serving comes before leading, generosity overcomes fear, and true treasure is measured by the heart, not possessions. In this message from Jack Ninaber, we’re invited to examine where we place our security and what truly owns us. In a world driven by scarcity and accumulation, Jesus calls us into an upside...

Jesus calls us to the most challenging command of all: love your enemies. In this message from Johanna Kelly, we look at Matthew 5 and the parable of the Good Samaritan, which invites us into a radically different way of living - one rooted in mercy, accountability, and self-reflection - where love breaks cycles of harm and builds a kingdom of reconciliation. Discussion Questions: 1. When you hear...

The Christmas story doesn’t end with angels and manger scenes - it continues into fear, flight, and forced exile. When Joseph hears the words “escape to Egypt,” God overturns assumptions about safety, enemies, and where refuge can be found. This message from Robyn Elliott explores how Christmas is a story of reversal, vulnerability, and a God who meets us in the wilderness to make something new. D...

Christmas doesn’t end on December 25 - it carries on as a reminder that Jesus is for the whole world, not just a select few. In this message from Joash Thomas, in the story of the Magi, we’re invited to move beyond certainty and fear toward humility, curiosity, and attentive listening. It’s an invitation to notice where God is already at work, often in places we wouldn’t expect. Discussion Questio...

Be Still and Know: A New Year's Reflection by Lakeside Church

Bethlehem was not a peaceful postcard but a place of poverty, occupation, and conflict, and God chose that setting to enter the world. In this message from Robyn Elliott, Advent reminds us that God’s path to peace comes through humility, justice, and righteousness, not force or empire. To take Christmas seriously is not to save the world, but to live like Jesus - carrying God’s peace into forgotte...

Advent reveals a God who completely redefines power. Instead of arriving with force, status, or spectacle, Jesus comes in humility - born in obscurity, announced to the overlooked, and crowned through self-giving love. In this message from Mike Carmody, we’re invited to surrender the world’s version of strength and discover where God might be reversing power in us today. Discussion Questions: 1. W...

In this message from Jack Ninaber, we explore the often-overlooked faith and obedience of Joseph - the quiet, steady figure in the Christmas story whose actions shaped the arrival of Jesus. Joseph models compassion, surrender, and courage in the face of misunderstanding, showing us what it means to step faithfully into God’s mission even when it places us in the background. His life invites us to...

Advent is a season that asks us to face the tension between hope and fear - much like Bethlehem itself, the “House of Bread” and the “House of War,” where the Bread of Life was born into a world that was not yet as it should be. In this message from Robyn Elliott, we explore how God shows up in the shadows and in our waiting, turning the ashes of our lives into something sustaining and life-giving...