Dark and the Ultimatum!

For Friday, January 31, 2025:

Exodus 10:21 NLT: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Lift your hand toward heaven, and the land of Egypt will be covered with a darkness so thick you can feel it.”

Living in the city, we never experience total darkness. There are street lights, porch lights and lights on vehicles. But in Egypt 3k years ago, it was totally dark for three days. No one could see each other. No one dared move.

Pharaoh called for Moses: “Go and worship the Lord,” he said. “But leave your flocks and herds here.”

That wasn’t going to work. Part of worship back then involved animal sacrifices, so Moses needed to bring the livestock too.

On the one hand, Pharaoh had been challenged by the plagues Moses and his God had brought on the Egyptians. But on the other, he was just plain sick and tired of the whole thing. After all, there weren’t any problems like these until Moses showed up! So Pharaoh issued an ultimatum: “Get out of here! I’m warning you. Never come back to see me again! The day you see my face, you will die!”

Even after darkness, the ninth plague, Pharaoh still didn’t understand God’s power, so he’s leaving himself vulnerable to God’s final effort on behalf of the Israelites. As believers, we understand and believe what Pharaoh did not, that God is all-powerful and totally in control of everything. We love our God; Pharaoh resented God, thinking that he, Pharaoh, should have had the last word. But we know that the one true God is the final word on everything!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Son of God!

For Sunday, February 26, 2023:

Matthew 8:29 NLT: “The demon-possessed men began screaming at Jesus, ‘Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time?’”

It seems that Satan, his demons and these demon-possessed men all knew who Jesus is: The Son of God! Those demons are fearing punishment, and fearing for their very existence. The men they possessed would violently appear in the cemetery, and no one could pass through the area. But Jesus did!

Jesus allowed the demons to leave the men and occupy a herd of pigs, who plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.

The herdsmen fled to the nearby town, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men and the pigs. The entire town came out to meet Jesus, but surprisingly begged him to go away and leave them alone. They feared his power. They feared his sense of justice. They feared judgement. Who was this ‘Jesus’ that even the demons would obey him?

Imagine the Son of God coming to visit, and being asked to leave. The townspeople didn’t know what the demons did, that Jesus was God’s own Son. Who do you say he is?

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship