Red Sea Challenge!

 For Saturday, November 15, 2025:

Hebrews 11:29 NLT: “It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.”

I love Hebrews chapter 11 – example after example of faith in action. To these Christian heroes, it made more sense to have faith in a God they could not see rather than to count on anything beneficial from their current situation.

With God, anything is possible. There is nothing you can’t accomplish with the Father and his Son on your side. We willingly join and trust the “God Team,” so that when we need to call out for help, we’re all on the same page with the group that holds all the power. Jesus says that without him, you will accomplish nothing!

Hollywood made today’s scripture into a movie. Charlton Heston, a big, strong, action-movie type, portrayed Moses. Should have been a small, wiry Jewish guy! Oh well... He led the Hebrews out of Egypt, but they reached a dead end at the Red Sea. In the movie, God allows Moses to part the sea, a wall of water on each side, and dry sand underneath. Beautiful! The Hebrews all crossed successfully, and then the waters flowed back together, drowning those in pursuit. Good movie with a happy ending for the Hebrews! Not so much so for the Egyptians.

But remember, the real lesson isn’t in the event itself. It’s about having unwavering faith in the God who would orchestrate such an event in their favor. We all need that confidence in the Lord, unshakable faith that never ends. Believers are saved by grace, God’s gift to us, through faith, God’s assurance of salvation!

Blessings,

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

New Covenant!

For Thursday, August 7, 2025:

Hebrews 8:6 NLT: “Now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.”

The Epistle to the Hebrews details instructions specific to their religion. Hebrew Priests, God’s representatives on earth, were descendants of Levi. They lived according to the Old Covenant, God’s plan as they departed Egypt and settled in the Promised Land.

God saw that mankind was never going to get ahead of its sin problem, so Jesus was sent to earth to eventually be the sacrifice for the sins of the world. He brought with him a New Covenant. Those who trust in Jesus would have their sins forgiven, blotted out as if they’d never occurred, and Jesus would go ahead to prepare a place for believers in the eternal Kingdom. God and his people would share the Eternal Kingdom!

Everything God and Jesus ever spoke has come to fruition. God cannot lie, and neither can his Son, so we fully expect their description of the hereafter to be true.

We don’t have to do anything else to receive forgiveness and redemption. We’re saved by God’s grace through faith in his Son. Accept God’s gift. Accept the New Covenant. Hope is looking forward to being with Jesus’ believers in God’s Kingdom!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Father, Son, Spirit!

For Sunday, August 3, 2025:

Hebrews 6:10 NLT: “God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do.”

Think of the book of Hebrews as a Bible teacher instructing new converts. They believe, but aren’t up to speed on everything yet. Basic principles about Christian theology are missing in their database, but, being Hebrews, they are familiar with God. Teaching Hebrew people is easier than teaching a pagan group, where you have to start from square one, creation!

Just my opinion: I believe God’s plan of sending Jesus to Earth to redeem mankind was intended to be the next chapter of Judaism, not a completely separate religion. After all, we didn’t switch Gods, although Christian eyes were opened to recognize Jesus as God’s Son and the Holy Spirit as our advocate. The Bible says that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, so our God has always been a Triune God. John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus was present at creation, and Genesis 1:2 says that the Spirit of the Lord moved over the waters of Creation. That Triune God is who we worship!

We expect our God to be fair and honest, and he won’t let us down. If we obediently love the Lord and love our neighbors, God has an eternal reward for us. The Son has prepared a place for the faithful in the hereafter. But let me be clear. Our redemption comes from our loyalty to the Son, not from our good works. But good works are typical for a committed follower of Jesus!

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Flies!

For Sunday, January 26, 2025:

Exodus 8:20b-21 NLT: “Say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. If you refuse, then I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, your people, and all the houses. The Egyptian homes will be filled with flies, and the ground will be covered with them.”

Looks like the gnats grew up! Big, nasty, obnoxious flies, everywhere – except the region of Goshen, where the Hebrews lived! Yes, the Jews were exempted from plague #4, the flies.

The Lord did just as he had said. A thick swarm of flies filled Pharaoh’s palace and the houses of his officials. The whole land of Egypt was thrown into chaos by the flies!

Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron. That seems logical. Since Moses was the one who prophesied flies everywhere, it makes sense that he could also remove them. To accomplish this, Pharaoh agreed to let God’s people go into the wilderness to worship their God. Moses warned, “Pharaoh, don’t lie to us again and refuse to let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” So Moses prayed for plague #4 to end the next day, and sure enough, the flies disappeared.

But once again Pharaoh changed his mind, reneged on his promise to let God’s people go. His hardened heart took precedence over doing the right thing, over honoring his word.

I’ve heard a pastor challenge his congregation: “Think this through to its logical conclusion.” Pharaoh perhaps doesn’t know who he’s up against – the Creator of the Universe! He will learn soon enough! And logically, Pharaoh, as mighty as he is, will never succeed in a battle against the Lord God Almighty. Pharaoh will soon understand that it’s God’s way or the highway!

When faced with decisions in our lives, we too should understand that it’s God’s way or the highway – and that’s the highway to hell! God’s way is always the right way, and if we’re stubborn and choose to disagree, we won’t win! Think it through to its logical conclusion. God Almighty always wins, and God Almighty is always right! Believers choose to play on God’s team!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Frogs!

For Friday, January 24, 2025:

Exodus 8:1-2 NLT: Then the Lord said to Moses: “Go back to Pharaoh and announce to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs across your entire land.’”

A plague of frogs? This lets me know that God has a sense of humor! Picture Pharaoh’s wife in her kitchen standing high up on a chair for safety, and all around her the floor is covered with frogs! She screeches, “Pharaoh! Get these frogs out of here! I’m afraid to get down! There’s no place I can put my foot!” High-jumping frogs keep bouncing off her legs. She screams even louder! Frogs are everywhere. They’re on the chair in which you’d like to sit. They’re on the dining room table where you’d like to eat. They’re in your bed! Frogs, frogs, frogs!

Pharaoh’s magicians concocted a trick whereby they too could make frogs appear, but no one knew how to get rid of the frogs! Pharaoh relents: “Plead with the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

Here’s where it gets interesting. Moses accepts Pharaoh’s contrition, and tells him, “You set the time!”

To which Pharaoh responds, “Do it tomorrow.” Tomorrow. Pharaoh doesn’t want to lose his servants, the Hebrew brick-makers. So no matter how depressing it is living with frogs everywhere, he willingly puts up with one more night of misery. One more night with the frogs.

In a similar vein, there’s a book published by the Johnson Institute dealing with alcoholism and addiction called, “I’ll Quit Tomorrow.” No matter how much misery alcohol and/or drugs have inflicted into someone’s life, they derive a certain amount of pleasure from getting high. So the normal intervention answer is, “I’ll quit tomorrow.” One more night with the frogs!

Ultimately Pharaoh reneges on his promise to let God’s people go. He’ll soon regret his decision. God has things far worse than frogs on Pharaoh’s agenda.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Omni-present!

For Wednesday, January 22, 2025:

Exodus 7:3 NLT, God speaking: “I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.”

It’s important for us to understand what was going on in Egypt at that time. God had been telling Pharaoh – through Moses and Aaron – to “Let my people go!” But now God says he will harden the heart of Pharaoh. Therefore Pharaoh won’t comply. On the surface, this action seems contrary to the stated goal. Seems like this could forestall the project’s completion.

But let us not forget that God can multitask, do more than one thing at the same time. The primary goal was to liberate the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. But while God’s doing that, wouldn’t it be great to let all of Egypt know that there is indeed a God, and to let them know who it is – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – Yahweh – the creator of all things! The same miracles (plagues) God would use to change Pharaoh’s heart would also convince all of Egypt that there is indeed a God Almighty, since the only explanation for the events about to occur would be divine intervention.

So friends, sit back and relax as God does his thing. We can relax more than Moses since we already know the conclusion. Sit with the faithful, the believers. Be patient. We know that eventually we’ll see the Hebrews leave Egypt!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Covenant!

January 20, 2025, Monday Message:

Exodus 6:7 NLT, God’s words: “I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt.”

By all rights, Pharaoh should have had the upper hand. The Hebrews were slaves, doing as the Egyptians ordered. And yet Pharaoh feared the foreigners living in his land. His anxiety turned into targeted vengeance, making the Israelite’s existence as miserable as possible.

An intervention was required, so God himself took control. We call this deliverance. Yahweh would deliver the Jews from their misery of living under Pharaoh’s rule.

Deliverance is still available nowadays. God can liberate you from oppression, prejudice, slavery to sin and earthly temptations. He can solve work disputes, financial difficulties and marital quarrels. He is, after all, God over everything! Post-deliverance life is far better than pre-deliverance life. Think about it like this: You have made a covenant with God, and He has made a covenant with you. It’s a good partnership. And by the way, never enter into a covenant with the devil!

The Lord said that you will be my people, and I will be your God. Sign on to the winning team, God’s team!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Bricks, Schmicks!

For Sunday, January 19, 2025:

Exodus 5:9 NLT, Pharaoh speaking: “Load the Hebrews down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them to listen to lies!”

How do you define evil? It was bad enough that Hebrew lives had been reduced to brick-making. Now they were no longer given straw for the bricks. They had to supply it themselves. But the daily brick quota remained unchanged. In other words, assign significantly more work without extending the deadline. That’s evil, cracking the whip while overseeing an impossible task.

Furthermore, the Jews had not been listening to lies. They were hearing the words and commands of God Almighty, our Creator. Our God is incapable of lying. His words are to be highly regarded and respected. Moses and Aaron were doing the right thing, following God’s instructions!

Pharaoh’s anger resulted from the first confrontation with Moses and Aaron, but he retaliated with rage against ALL the Hebrew people, who now blamed Moses for their predicament. “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

 "Then Moses went back to the Lord and protested, ‘Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And you have done nothing to rescue them!’”

Moses speaks as if this was the end of the story, but we’re not done yet, and God’s not done yet! In fact, this is just the beginning of a scenario leading to the liberation of God’s people. By the end, the Egyptians will beg them to leave, and we’ll all be cheering! We’re on God’s side!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Let My People Go!

For Saturday, January 18, 2025:

Exodus 5:1 NLT: “After their presentation to Israel’s leaders, Moses and Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh. They told him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.’”

“Let my people go!” Those immortal words are still sung to this day. There are many things holding God’s people hostage. False religions keep people in bondage, especially females. Corrupt governments limit freedom in many countries. Even in the US, ‘the land of the free,’ laws and traditions limit what a person is allowed to do, and libertarianism starts to look good. And otherwise free people succumb to drugs and alcohol, voluntarily becoming slaves to those evils.

Moses and Aaron were disadvantaged from the start. They could quote God’s words to Pharaoh, but Pharaoh didn’t know God, didn’t believe in God. So God’s commands held no relevance for Pharaoh. In the king of Egypt’s mind, Moses was responsible for the work stoppage. “Look, there are many of your people in the land, and you are stopping them from their tasks. Now get back to work!”

This was the first of many battles between our Creator God and Pharaoh-the-unbeliever. Who would you guess would ultimately win, the king of little ol’ Egypt, or the Creator of the entire Universe? Without question our Creator wins. As Christians, it’s good to know that we’re a part of the winning team. God never loses a battle. In the end, He’s always victorious!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

God Showed Up!

For Saturday, September 17, 2022:

Psalm 114:7 NLT: “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.”

Psalm 114 speaks to the way God intervened when it was time for his people to leave Egypt. The word “tremble” could indicate great fear or great excitement. People living for themselves, living for the world, should tremble in fear. But people of God jump for joy when the Lord shows up!

After the plagues, God’s people safely passed through the Red Sea, which later swallowed up their oppressors. The Hebrews safely crossed the Jordan river into the Promised Land. God provided for them as they crossed the desert, even sending a spring of water out of a rock!

God appeared to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Just when the believers needed help and direction, God showed up! And when we cry out for help nowadays, God will still show up if we remember to invite him!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406