Faith = Obedience!

For Wednesday, October 29, 2025:

Hebrews 11:7 NLT: “It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.”

Noah was the laughingstock of his neighborhood. At that time, if people lived near a lake, they might have a raft or something the size of a rowboat. If you fished for a living, your boat might be three times that size, but still quite small by today’s standards. God had commanded Noah to construct a monstrosity! It would be as long as five football fields, 85 feet wide and 51 feet tall! A comedian joked that Noah’s wife kept shouting, “You get that thing out of the driveway!”

We call “that thing” Noah’s Ark. Suffice it to say that this was the largest boat ever, built to survive the most rain ever! They would need space for 2 of every animal, and provisions for them. Noah’s family would care for the animals, so we need housing and food for them, too. There were multiple decks on the ark, separating animals that didn’t play well with others.

When God asks you to build a boat, you should start gathering lumber. It didn’t rain much, if at all, where Noah lived, so no one believed a global deluge was on the way. But Noah believed! Noah had faith, which is our lesson here. We shouldn’t ever question God’s need for a boat, and we shouldn’t second-guess the dimensions. God knows what he wants; God knows what he needs. Our job is to be obedient. Our job is to have faith!

When everything was ready, just as God had ordered, Noah gathered his family and then closed and sealed the opening that would soon be underwater! Are you on board?

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Sheep and Goats!

For Wednesday, November 23, 2022:

Matthew 24:37 NLT: “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day.”

No one knew when the flood would arrive, but Noah was ready. No one knows when Jesus will return. Are you ready?

In Noah’s day, about 2,300 BC, people were partying and enjoying huge wedding celebrations. They were going about their everyday business, and were quite surprised when it started to rain! At the time, sin was out of control, and God had decided to rid the world of sinful, disobedient people.

Q: Is sin once again running rampant on earth? Will sin and debauchery reach a point where God will once again intervene? Day by day we’re getting closer! Jesus will return as the consummate judge, separating the sheep from the goats.

Make sure you’re one of his flock!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Noah's Flood!

For Sunday, October 9, 2022:

Genesis 7:4 NLT, God speaking: “Seven days from now I will make the rains pour down on the earth. And it will rain for forty days and forty nights, until I have wiped from the earth all the living things I have created.”

The flood of Noah was a unique time on earth. The problem was that evil and corruption had taken over the earth, and God decided it was time for a cleansing. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. I believe God was saddened by taking the life of every living thing he had created, except for those on the ark, and he promised to never do such a thing again. He hung a rainbow in the sky as a reminder of his promise.

While visiting friends in Arizona last year, I commented on the landscape of the desert, and was informed that in the past it was all under water. Noah’s flood! If you’ve ever wondered that the ocean floor looks like, visit a desert! I grew up in western South Dakota and we would visit an area known as the ‘Badlands.’ I was told that it was previously a sea. Noah’s flood! Fossils of sea creatures have been found in most deserts, proving the great flood. The springs on the earth opened and rain poured from heaven. There was no escaping Noah’s flood. The Bible says the earth flooded about 4,500 years ago.

The study of geology makes more sense when you know about Noah’s flood!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Worship Him!

For Sunday, March 6, 2022

Genesis 8:22 NLT: “The Lord said in his heart, ‘As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.’”

Noah had been obedient. He built an extremely large boat where heretofore there was no falling rain, gathered the animals and his family, and waited out the great flood. When the waters receded, Noah built an altar to the Lord, praising him for rescuing them while all others perished.

The condition of the planet on which we live is no accident! After the flood, God intentionally let the sun shine through, put a rainbow in the sky, and added to his covenant with mankind, saying that this would be the end of world-wide flooding!

Today we live as beneficiaries of God’s goodness and God’s covenant. We know day and night, and four seasons allow planting in the spring, growth in the summer, and harvest in the fall. Saying ‘the Lord provides’ would be an understatement!

Today would be a good day to praise the Lord for looking after us. Nowadays we don’t have to build an altar. There’s one already in place at the church in your neighborhood!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Stick-to-it!

For Friday, February 25, 2022

Genesis 6:14a NLT, God speaking to Noah: “Build a large ark from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out.”

We’ve been looking at obedience and answering God’s call. In his day, Noah was all alone in this. There was not one righteous person left on earth, save the house of Noah. God told him to build a big boat where it had not previously rained, and to gather enough food for his family and for the animals God would send. This assignment required great faith!

In spite of the enormity of the task, Noah got right to work. “Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.” Obedience to God’s call is the key, even when you don’t yet understand the project’s final goal.

True to his word, the animals started showing up, it did rain a lot, and Noah and his family were rescued. God is in the rescue business. God gave mankind-on-earth a second chance. Our God is a God of second chances.

In the midst of chaos, God offered hope to Noah. Pray that we would again see hope in the midst of our world’s chaos.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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