Faith Test!

For Friday, November 7, 2025:

Hebrews 11:17-18 NLT: “It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.”

Abram, later Abraham, was the patriarch of monotheistic religion. Born about 4K years ago when children were considered a huge blessing from above, Isaac was highly valued by Abraham and Sarah, who were otherwise childless. So directing Abraham to sacrifice Isaac was a huge ask on God’s part.

This is a test of Abraham’s faith. He needed to believe that God’s way is always the right way, that God always wants what’s best for us, and that God has a propensity for making things work out. But Abraham would be forgiven if he hesitated ever so slightly. God’s promise that Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky was to be fulfilled through Isaac. How would that work out if Isaac were sacrificed on an altar?

As the story concludes, another sacrificial animal is discovered nearby, Isaac gets a reprieve, and Abraham passed the faith test. He trusted God. See? Everything worked out for the best! God knows what he’s doing!

Just like Abraham, we all need to learn to trust in the Lord and lean not on our own understanding, which may be flawed. Having tried it both ways, I can tell you that life goes better with God!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!

For Saturday, November 1, 2025:

Hebrews 11:11 NLT: “It was by faith that Abraham was able to father a child, even though Sarah was barren and he was too old. They believed that God would keep his promise.”

The thinking was that the opportunity to start a family had passed them by. Abraham was far too old, and Sarah had been barren all her life. That’s when God told Abraham that the number of his descendants would be like the stars in the sky! Didn’t seem possible! But God’s word is always true. Their faith is being tested.

Impatience and second-guessing the Lord can result in missteps on a faith walk. Abraham and Sarah questioned God’s timetable. In their haste, it was decided that Abraham should father a child with Hagar, Sarah’s handmaiden. Problems arose when Hagar started acting like the primary wife, and so Sarah sent her away. But an angel told Hagar to return, and Ishmael, a wild man, was born. Abraham was 89 years old.

God restated his commitment to Abraham and Sarah’s family: “I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” About a year later, Sarah gave birth to a son, Isaac. By now, Abraham was 100 years old. Imagine being a new dad at 100!

Sidebar: God also told Abraham, “I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.” That’s why, to this day, Abraham’s descendants choose to live in Israel, explaining, “It’s our land – God gave it to us!”

Abraham, Isaac and eventually Jacob are the three patriarchs of world religion. Abraham and Sarah’s faith got them back on track, and God’s promises are always good! Remember, it’s our trust in God, our faith, that opens Heaven’s door to all believers!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

God of the Living!

For Saturday, October 11, 2025:

Luke 20:37 NLT: “As to whether the dead will be raised—even Moses proved this when he wrote about the burning bush. Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, he referred to the Lord as ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’”

There is only one version of the truth. There is only one Bible, one version of the Holy Scrolls. So everyone had the same information available, yet somehow the Sadducees didn’t understand life after this life. Jesus digs deeper, pointing out the scripture they missed. Think of it logically. There would be no point in being God if your followers were all dead. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had long ago ended their earthly days, yet they are still referred to in ‘first person,’ as if they are still alive. And they ARE alive, living in the next reality with the God who resurrected them. Jesus said, “He is the God of the living, not the dead, for they are all alive to him.”

So to sum up Jesus’ response to the Sadducees: Yes, there is life after this life. Yes, those who are loyal and obedient will be with the Lord. When believers appear to have died, they will actually be living in God’s presence. People who died long before us will be with God as well. If we’re lucky, we’ll get to meet some of them.

Jesus said He would return to the Father first, so that He could prepare a place for us! People get ready, there’s a train a-comin’… It’s headed for Heaven!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Resurrection!

For Saturday, July 5, 2025:

Mark 12:27a NLT, Jesus speaking: “So our God is the God of the living, not the dead.”

Jesus is answering the Sadducees’ questions about resurrection. They were not believers in resurrection.

Jesus reassured them, saying that there is a resurrection, a life after this life. God said so. “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” But those saints had all died some time ago. The point being that our God is the God of the living. Being God over the dead would serve no purpose. So Abraham, Isaac and Jacob must have been resurrected and live in the next reality alongside the Almighty.

In the resurrected life, we will recognize our families and our fellows. But no one marries in heaven. Children are not born in the hereafter. Just like the angels, believers will live in the life after this life, but no one will procreate. We’ll be too busy worshiping the God who is better to us than we deserve!

Jesus will prepare your place in the hereafter. If that were not so, surely he would have told us! I can’t wait to see the New Heaven and the New Earth, where everything will be perfect, just the way God first intended!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Obedience!

For Saturday, March 22, 2025:

Leviticus 26:1a, 2 NLT: The Lord said to Moses, “Do not make idols or set up carved images, or sacred pillars, or sculptured stones in your land so you may worship them. You must keep my Sabbath days of rest and show reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.”

If you had wood from a tree trunk or stone from the ground, it’s pretty obvious that those things aren’t any kind of God. Yet ancient people would carve the wood or sculpt the stone and proceed to worship the resulting man-made image. God admits that he hosts a bit of jealousy, saying, “You shall have no other gods before me,” – especially man-made pretend gods!

It’s not that hard to get along with God Almighty. First, make the real God #1 in your life. And #2, just be nice. Get along with people. Cut out the gossip. Love your neighbor as yourself. That’s what Jesus said to do.

Because we’re humans with free choice, some will choose to follow the Lord and some will not. For the disobedient ones, there are consequences. God’s punishment will fall on the unbelievers. Diseases, failed crops and losses in battle may befall those no longer protected by God’s hand. In other words, Satan will have a field day when God steps back from protecting his people.

The punishments described in Leviticus ch. 26 get progressively worse. The more you disobey God, the worse the punishment becomes. That’s fair; the punishment should fit the crime. Continued disobedience results in increased punishment. The solution of course is to repent and return.

In spite of the Israelites’ disobedience, God says He will still remember the Covenant made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These are his people and He is their God, and that will never change!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

God's Way!

For Tuesday, November 28, 2023:

Romans 15:31a NLT, Paul speaking: “Pray that I will be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to obey God.”

From God’s point of view, there are only two groups: Those who are with him, and those who are against him. Mankind can have little disagreements about minor matters. But when it comes to God, you’re either in or out.

Paul experienced a personal call from Jesus on the road to Damascus, so he was “in.” Those who couldn’t go along with what Paul had learned were “out,” and Paul was praying for personal safety as he traveled throughout the region. This disagreement continues to this day, playing out in the Middle East, but it goes back to Genesis.

Abraham fathered two sons. The first, Ishmael, was from his wife’s servant Hagar. This is what happened when Abraham and Sarah lost faith in God’s timetable. Impatient, they took matters into their own hands, and the results weren’t pretty. Ishmael is thought of as the father of all Arab nations, including followers of Islam. Abraham’s second son, Isaac, was born from his wife Sarah. That was God’s original plan. Isaac followed his Jewish ancestors, which eventually led to Jesus and Christianity. If it’s not God’s way, it’s the wrong way!

These two groups have never gotten along, each believing that they’re right, each believing that they’re doing the Lord’s work, and it’s playing out right now in the conflict between Gaza and Israel. Like Paul, we should pray for personal safety. The war could rapidly escalate. We should pray for peace. Too many little children, babies and everyday people who want no part of the conflict have died. We know this matter will be settled when Jesus returns, so we can pray, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”

Have a safe and blessed day!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Ordinary People

July 29, 2013 Monday Message:

God, to Abram: “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household, to the land I will show you.” (Gen 12:1)

Every family has its problems. Families in the Bible are walking examples of dysfunctional behavior.

Can you imagine the conversation between Abram and Sarai?

“Help me pack everything. We’re going to move!”

“Where are we going?”

“Dunno. God said He’s show us later…”

It doesn’t get better:

“God says we’re going to have a son.”

“But you’re 100 and I’m 90!”

“Yeah. Let’s have a good laugh!”

Later, God calls on the elderly Abraham to sacrifice his son. God was testing Abraham’s faith and loyalty. Now God eventually provided the sacrifice, and Isaac lived. But Jewish tradition teaches that Sarah died when she heard the news of her son’s imminent death.

The point is that being a member of this holy family wasn’t always smooth sailing. They had ups and downs, and sometimes seemed to go from one crisis to another. They were, in fact, a normal family.

Today, the names, “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” roll off the tongues of anyone who studies Christianity, Judaism or Islam. They’re our Patriarchs of the Bible. But these were not kings; they were fairly obscure, not-well-known people. These trials happened in the lives of ordinary people with little influence - people just like most of us.

Who knows what thing God does with us today might be remembered 3,000 years later.

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) gathers every Sunday at 10:30am in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. Sunday, Aug. 04, Jesus talks about money and possessions in Luke 12:22-34. Why would you worry when God is still on the throne? See you there!

NL