Creation's Gift!

For Saturday, October 25, 2025:

Hebrews 11:3 NLT: “By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.”

Having a “high view” of the Bible, we believe the words therein are God-inspired and truthful. The Bible states that Jesus was present during the creation of everything – all planets, all galaxies, all universes, and everything in them – and that nothing was created except through Him. God and his Son didn’t gather little pieces of dust and clump them together, hoping to make a planet. No, they spoke, and that of which they spoke became so! Our universe contains all new materials. It’s not the recycled remains of previous efforts. God started from scratch. He did a good job! We’re allowed to live on one of the planets!

Jesus was present at creation and again in the well-documented New Testament. So when he returns for the end times, what we call the Second Coming will actually be the Third Coming. We call it the Second Coming because it will be the second time Jesus is seen by any large number of humans. At creation, Jesus was known only to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and perhaps Adam and Eve. The earth had not yet been populated.

I pray that we can all enjoy our planet and remember to thank God for his magnificent creation. He keeps us perpetually spinning like a giant top and spinning in a year-long elliptical orbit around the sun. It’s all part of God’s vast eternal plan, and we’re all blessed to be included!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Almighty God!

For Wednesday, December 21, 2022:

Psalm 8:3-4 NLT: “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?”

David is amazed at the wisdom of God, the planning and execution of building a universe. The Bible says that if we open our eyes to witness the majesty surrounding us, there will be no doubt that there is a God!

The power of God is incredible! God is the greatest power we know, #1, and he made mankind just beneath himself, #2! The Lord gave us charge of everything he made, putting all things under mankind’s authority—the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.

The Lord thinks so highly of us that he wanted to rescue mankind from our sin problem. We are blessed to be included in God’s vast eternal plan!

After all, we were created in God’s image! Christmas is coming, and we’re about to be rescued!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Creator!

For Friday, September 9, 2022:

Psalm 124:8 NLT: “Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

The new James Webb telescope is sending us images of faraway places heretofore unseen. While scientists are amazed at this look into our galaxy, know that there are at least 100 billion other galaxies, and that number is expected to increase as our telescopes improve! God has certainly been busy!

Planet Earth is unique. Astronomers have discovered no other planet the right distance from its sun with water and an oxygen atmosphere that could support human life. Our presence here is a gift that should never be taken lightly. God has a plan and you’re a part of it, or you wouldn’t be here! God doesn’t make mistakes!

If I’m explaining God and Jesus to an unbeliever, I call him the Creator! It makes sense to revere someone who could design all this. The plants, animals, water and air are no accident. And if we need help – if we need divine intervention – it makes sense to trust the one who made it all in the first place!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Awesome God

April 27, 2020 Monday Message:

“In the beginning, God created…” Gen. 1:1a NLT

We’ve heard these words hundreds of times; they’re so familiar that they just roll off the tongue. But today I want us all to truly appreciate what God did, and to understand the colossal magnitude and magnificence of creation.

God created mankind in His image; both domestic and wild animals; birds, plants and trees; water and dry land; day and night; in short, God created our planet Earth and everything on it. Big job, but God got it done!

Our planet is one of a group that orbits around the sun. There are between 100-400 billion stars (suns) just in our Milky Way galaxy, and Lord knows how many galaxies! To work properly, everything has to be balanced, exactly the right distance from all the other bodies, and orbiting at precisely the right speed.

The universe is an incredible design. Astrophysicists try to figure out creation, and they assemble all their knowledge until they hit a brick wall. The “Big Bang Theory” is their best answer, but somebody had to set it in motion, had to know just how ‘big’ the ‘bang’ needed to be, and first create the ‘space’ into which to build all this. The best answer seems to be Intelligent Design.

Incredibly, here we all are. Humans. David asks, “Who am I that You (God) are mindful of me?” The great big God of the universe knows how many hairs are on your head, which makes it too easy for us to overlook his majesty. Listen to this: Your personal God, the One who walks through life alongside you, is incredibly intelligent, incredibly powerful, and is remarkable at keeping track of little details. Our God is an Awesome God!

This sums it up: “Before God there was nothing. After God there is everything!” And it’s the God of ‘everything’ that we worship!

God’s blessings for you and your loved ones – stay safe!

Norton Lawellin, Worship Pastor

Jesus in the City Fellowship.

3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406