Building Homes and the Gospel Proclamation

I'm currently sitting at my desk catching up on weekend emails, the sounds of weed eaters buzzing outside the window, and sitting here amazed that over 5 years after the storm the Lord is still sending people to the gulf coast and specifically Lakeshore Baptist Church.

It sometimes just hits me that what the Lord is doing here is bigger than I could have ever imagined being possible by a church of around 30 members. Thousands upon thousands of volunteers have filtered through, 38 homes from the ground up have been built, over 100 homes rehabbed, hundreds of sheds built in the early days after the storm, countless cans of food and articles of clothing have been given out in the distribution center, and tons and tons of storm debris gutted from homes and pulled from yards. This is all amazing and we can't help but point to God and give Him the glory.

Yet, while that is all great, we do not want to pull away from the gospel itself. If we just build someone a home and neglect the gospel we just give them a comfortable place to go to hell from. I can say without hesitation that Lakeshore Baptist Church, while we desire to physically help people, sees the immense need for the gospel in our community and our hearts are burdened to see that the gospel message goes out.

I am blessed to be apart of this church, where you can count on hearing the gospel proclaimed from the pulpit and from behind a shovel or while hanging a piece of sheetrock, or while framing a home. The gospel can be heard while sitting in the distribution center and people talk and encourage one another or while a couple of men sit on the tailgate of a pick up truck. The Lord has used His children at LBC and volunteers who have partnered with us to spread that good news and the He has used that to draw people to himself. I rejoice at the lives that have turned to Christ and repented of their sin as the Lord has worked in their hearts. I look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store as believers committed to sharing the gospel are faithful to do so.