A Son is Given!

Dec. 23, 2013 Monday Message:

“For unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given.” (Isaiah 9:6a)

Prophecies foretell by divine inspiration. God used Isaiah as his voice to disclose future events.

Prophecies are not just for filling up chapters in the Bible; they are real guidance intended for specific people. How fortunate we are that this information is for “us!” Unto US a Child is born; unto US a Son is given.”

Isaiah uses the Hebrew literary tool of repetition to stress the importance of this message. God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – had existed from the beginning of time. But the humanity of God had a starting point – the baby in a manger! Christmas is when we celebrate Jesus coming to be with us, to rescue us.

Jesus was a perfect human, like Adam before he sinned, and therefore the perfect sacrifice for all our sins. Jesus is Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, and Prince of Peace.

Jesus brings hope to a lost planet. Welcome to our world!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets every Sunday at 10:30am in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. This Sunday, Dec. 29, baby Jesus grows up – Pastor Daisy explains! Luke 2:21-38

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God's Promises

Dec. 16, 2013 Monday Message:

“You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” (Luke 1:45)

This blessing was given to Mary, a virgin carrying God’s son in her womb. God had sent an angel to lay out God’s timetable for the upcoming events, and Mary, a godly woman, truly believed that God would deliver on the prophesies; that everything she was told would come to fruition.

God always does what he says. Another example would be when God told the Hebrew people, “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” Lev. 26:12 Evil, jealous people have tried many times to wipe the Hebrew people off the face of the earth. And yet there’s still a flourishing country of Israel, and Jews are everywhere! God wins!

God saw everything that he created – plants, animals, humans, the whole earth – and God declared that it was good. Gen. 1:31a God hasn’t changed his mind about that. Something that God created and pronounced ‘good’ is worth rescuing when it gets off-course.

So God sent his Son to be the offering for our transgressions, to make a way for us to return home and spend eternity as a member of his Holy family. God is reaching down to us, and we need to take his hand and accept the help, God’s free gift for us. God’s Son intends to rescue us; he’s not changing his mind, and he always does what he says!

Christmas is coming – the Kingdom of God is at hand!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets every Sunday at 10:30am in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. This Sunday, Dec. 22, we’ll sing Christmas Carol favorites, and Pastor Michael continues the Christmas story from Luke.

Jesus - Sin Solution!

Dec. 09, 2013 Monday Message:

“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” (Luke 1:31-33)

As Gabriel was speaking to Mary, she must have been filled with excitement and breathless anticipation of her part in bringing the Son of God to earth. For her, it’s the beginning of a new adventure; for mankind, it’s the solution to an ongoing problem, a 4,000-year-old problem.

Mankind had been fighting sin like a “Whac-A-Mole” arcade game. A sin pops up, you whack it with the mallet, but another one immediately pops up somewhere else. It seems like there’s no end to it!

Well, actually, there IS an end to it. In heaven, there is no sin. Also no disease, no suffering, no hunger, no poverty, etc. In other words, all the problems of this life will be solved in the next reality.

So we just need to figure out how to get to heaven. What gives us assurance of salvation? The correct answer is Jesus! He said, “No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6b)

Jesus is God’s gift to us, a free gift, and faith in who Jesus is and what He can do is confirmation of our reservation in paradise.

Another 2,000 years have passed, and we’re no closer to eradicating sin than we were when Jesus walked the earth. Sin was and is a big problem – but now we have a bigger solution – Jesus – and at Christmas time we celebrate the Son of God coming to earth to rescue us!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets every Sunday at 10:30am in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. This Sunday, Dec. 15, special guests “People of Hope” lead worship, and Pastor Michael continues our Christmas journey.

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Advent = Adventure!

Dec. 02, 2013 Monday Message:

“Your wife Elizabeth will give you a son, and you are to name him John.” (Luke 1:13b) 

If your family had a big vacation coming up, a major out-of-town trip, you wouldn’t just jump in the car and take off. First there would be planning. What cities should we visit? How do we get from one to another? Let’s plan a route.

Once we’ve arrived, whom do we plan to visit? We should let them know that we’re on the way! What attractions do we want to see? Do we need to buy tickets? Do we need hotel reservations?

Before we can even think of leaving, we need to pack a suitcase. How long will we be gone? Will it be warm or cold? What clothes should I bring?

Who’s going to watch our house? Somebody should pick up the mail. Should we stop the newspaper delivery?

2000 years ago, the Son of God was planning a major journey into our world, and God wanted to prepare the way for the King of kings. John the Baptist was the point-person for this preparation project.

John had two key items on his agenda:

1. “The kingdom of God is at hand.” Right here, right now! Let everyone know! No longer would we have to look to heaven to find God; He would be walking among us!

2. “Repent and return to the Lord.” This has been a recurring theme throughout the Bible. From the Garden of Eden until today, people have needed to get right with God and change their lives; becoming radically transformed by the Holy Spirit.

This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent, which has the same root as our word, “adventure.” That’s a good description of what we’ll be celebrating this month – the Son of Man coming to redeem us! What an adventure!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets every Sunday at 10:30am in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. This Sunday, Dec. 08, Pastor Daisy continues with the story of Jesus coming to our world, Luke 1:26-45. See you at church!