Monday, December 26, 2011

Merry Christmas!

December 26, 2011 Monday Message:

The baby in the manger marks the end of the Old Testament, and the beginning of the New Testament; the end of the old deal, and the beginning of the new covenant with God.

There’s not a lot of theology in the virgin birth. Rather, it is fulfillment of prophecy, God making good on promises made through the prophets. Jesus will teach theology, details of the Good News covenant, through his ministry.

God could see that none of us could or would remain sinless. Yet in His grace he wanted no one to perish. God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. That’s the new deal – that’s OUR deal – and that’s why there’s Christmas. It was God’s idea.

May the Lord bless you during this special time of year - Merry Christmas!

Norton Lawellin

Monday, December 19, 2011

Fully God, Fully Human

December 19, 2011 Monday Message:

Jesus, the baby in the manger, was fully God and fully human.

The “God” part is easy to understand when we remember Christ’s knowledge and wisdom, the miracles he performed, and how he conquered death.

The “human” part is more difficult for us to understand. We tend to compare the life of Jesus with our own life-experiences, but they are not the same.

We are part of a fallen world, a sin-filled host to anger, violence and corruption. While Jesus could live among us, he was not “of” this world.

The fully human Jesus is like mankind before the fall: a sinless person. None of us are sinless – not one! But the Bible says that Jesus was without sin. The closest he got to sin was when he took the sins of the world to the grave. If we do tshuva, repent and return, then Jesus takes our sin to the grave too, and covers us with garments of white. Then we, too, are not “of” this world.

May the peace of the Lord be with you and your loved ones during this blessed Christmas season.

Norton Lawellin

Monday, December 12, 2011

December 12, 2011 Monday Message:

First, God made a b’rit, a covenant with Abram, patriarch of the Jews. God changed his name to Abraham (father of many) and blessed him and Sarah (princess) with a son, Isaac or Yitzchak (laughter.)

Isaac was the father of Jacob (Israel), and Jacob’s 11th son was Joseph, who wore the coat of many colors. Wearing such a fancy coat, such an ornately bejeweled coat, a coat with sleeves, meant that Joseph would be doing very little physical work. His jealous brothers soon took matters into their own hands and plotted to kill Joseph. Ironically, many years later, Joseph would be the only one who could rescue God’s chosen people. The brothers eventually sold Joseph into slavery for 20 pieces of silver.

Jesus came to our world to rescue mankind from sin. The Pharisees, leaders of God’s people, would conspire to have Jesus executed. He was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. The parallels are remarkable.

But when God is in charge of the rescue, it cannot be stopped. Joseph became CEO of Egypt, and Jesus walked out of the tomb, both unlikely scenarios. God put Joseph in place to rescue his covenant people, and God sent his Son, Jesus, to rescue us, to make a new covenant with us.

Isn’t that Good News?

May God’s blessings be with you during this Christmas season.

Norton Lawellin

We’ll look at Jacob & Jesus as we unpack Genesis 37-38 at New Hope Center this Friday, 7pm.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Gotta Serve Somebody

December 05, 2011 Monday Message:

“Our love for each other proves that we have gone from death to life.” (1 John 3:14 CEV)

I was at an outdoor event, leading worship for Metro Hope Ministries, a Christian organization that helps people recover from addictions. The program director walked toward me, laughing, pointing, somewhat giddy. So as we say in Minnesota, “What’s the deal?”

He pointed out a young man, one of the residents in their program, who was walking through the picnic area picking up scraps of paper that were blowing around. No one had told him to do it – it wasn’t his assigned task – he just saw that it needed doing and that it would make the place nicer for everyone else. He was serving, doing the right thing for the right reasons, without being told.

The director was ecstatic! He told me, “That’s how we can tell when the guys ‘get it’ - when they start serving others, instead of being only concerned with their own needs. We find that they’ve turned the corner in recovery, and they’ve turned the corner in being a Christian when you catch them serving!”

Pastor Rick Warren teaches, “If I have no love for others, no desire to serve others, and I’m only concerned about my needs, I should question whether Christ is really in my life. A saved heart is one that wants to serve.”

Jesus, our greatest teacher, modeled servanthood for us. So now all we have to do is put the towel over our arm and walk in his footsteps.

May God’s blessings go with you this day.

Norton Lawellin
December 05, 2011 Monday Message:

“Our love for each other proves that we have gone from death to life.” (1 John 3:14 CEV)

I was at an outdoor event, leading worship for Metro Hope Ministries, a Christian organization that helps people recover from addictions. The program director walked toward me, laughing, pointing, somewhat giddy. So as we say in Minnesota, “What’s the deal?”

He pointed out a young man, one of the residents in their program, who was walking through the picnic area picking up scraps of paper that were blowing around. No one had told him to do it – it wasn’t his assigned task – he just saw that it needed doing and that it would make the place nicer for everyone else. He was serving, doing the right thing for the right reasons, without being told.

The director was ecstatic! He told me, “That’s how we can tell when the guys ‘get it’ - when they start serving others, instead of being only concerned with their own needs. We find that they’ve turned the corner in recovery, and they’ve turned the corner in being a Christian when you catch them serving!”

Pastor Rick Warren teaches, “If I have no love for others, no desire to serve others, and I’m only concerned about my needs, I should question whether Christ is really in my life. A saved heart is one that wants to serve.”

Jesus, our greatest teacher, modeled servanthood for us. So now all we have to do is put the towel over our arm and walk in his footsteps.

May God’s blessings go with you this day.

Norton Lawellin