"Very Good!"

January 17, 2022 Monday Message

Genesis 1:31a NLT: “God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!”

Sometimes it’s good to step back from a big project, to take in an overview of how it’s all coming together. At the end of the sixth creation day, God did just that.

It was a huge undertaking, creating the universe with stars and planets; creating water and land; light to end the darkness; plants, small animals and livestock; and the crowning achievement, mankind made in God’s own image, male and female he made them. God gave each of his creations the ability to produce offspring of the same kind. Call it “sustainable creation!”

Turns out it was a good plan, well thought-out. God declared the project a success, and said that everything was very good! If God was pleased with the outcome, we too should be shouting, “Very good!”

We’re filled with confident hope knowing that our creation analysis aligns with the Lord’s!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Creator God!

For Sunday, January 16, 2022

Psalm 139:13 NLT: “O Lord, you made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

God saw everything that he created and declared it to be “very good,” and that includes mankind, created in his image, male and female he made them. To every living thing that God created he gave the ability to reproduce after its own kind.

Think about this: If God didn’t like mankind, he wouldn’t want any more of us. We would just die out. But God didn’t do that. The number of humans is ever-increasing! There is hope not only for ourselves, but also for our children’s children, because God considers the earth and everything in it to be very good!

God, who knows what he’s doing, is in the creation business!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

In His Image

Jan. 13, 2014 Monday Message:

“God created humans to be like himself; He made men and women. God gave them his blessing and said, ‘Have a lot of children! Fill the earth with people…’” (Gen. 1:27-28a CEV)

My father taught me to emphasize what is right with one thing, rather than dwell on what is wrong with another. He said, “If you need to sell a Chevy, talk about why Chevys are good, rather than why Fords are bad. Folks won’t like that…”

So this coming Sunday, “Sanctity of Life Sunday” in churches across the US, let’s honor God’s vision for mankind. Let’s talk about what’s right with God’s plan.

God created humans as “spirit-beings,” in His image, similar to God himself. He made them male and female, and commanded them to “go forth and multiply.” I believe that God intended for the earth to be well-populated, full of God’s children, abounding with conceived creations all made in His image.

Because this is a God-ordained plan, each life is precious. One thing that separates Christian countries from non-Christian countries is the value we place on human life. Examples: Suicide bombers are a rarity in our country – and - The US did not retaliate in kind to the kamikaze attacks in WW2. For Christians, these senseless sacrifices of human life are out of the question.

We know the great value of human life because of what Jesus taught, and from our Bibles. May we all live our lives in a way that fits with God’s plan.

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 week we celebrate Sanctity of Life Sunday, and continue our study in Luke 18:31-34. Bring your Bibles!

Made in HIS Image

February 07, 2011 Monday Message:

“God created mankind in his own image...” Genesis 1:27a

Have you ever thought of God as a grandfatherly patriarch seated on a huge royal throne in the sky? That’s what I was taught at church and in Sunday school. Pictures in books and paintings served to reinforce the concept. But is that the right way to picture God? Is that the way the great I am — is?

We don’t really know what God looks like. That’s how he wants it. We’ll find out soon enough. So are we made in God’s image, or are we making God in OUR image? Do we have the whole thing reversed? Backwards? Worse still, are we making an idol in our mind’s eye?

Before alphabets were invented, the Hebrew people utilized picture-writing. Writing God’s name became a sort of sin, because you had to draw a picture of God, which the Jews considered making an idol. Because we don’t really know what God looks like, any image we might make of him would be incorrect.

When God came to earth as Jesus, he utilized the body of a man to walk among us, heal and teach us, and to rescue us from our sinful ways. After Jesus ascended into heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit, the paraclete, a comforter or advocate for us. We do not know what the Holy Spirit looks like, but the Bible describes him as breath, wind or air. What does breath look like?

Bodies are for earthly beings. When God calls our soul, our nephesh, to the next reality, we will no longer need bodies. I don’t know exactly how we’ll look, but for sure we’ll fit in — our spirit will be made in HIS image.

Norton Lawellin