Colossal Crowds!

For Tuesday, March 10, 2026:

Matthew 4:25 NLT: “Large crowds followed Jesus wherever he went—people from Galilee, Decapolis (10 towns), Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.”

"Hear ye, hear ye! The Great Healer is coming to your town! Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! You don’t want to miss this. Jesus Christ, in the flesh! Be there, or be left behind! Tickets available at OneNation.com.”

OK, I wrote a radio commercial for the next Jesus event. Of course they didn’t have radio back then, so this is all the result of my fertile imagination! Word-of-mouth got the job done as well as any radio station might have.

"Large crowds followed Jesus.” Imagine large crowds, much larger than you think. The Apostles were present, but also disciples, hundreds of loyal believers who showed up every time. They just weren’t part of the original 12. They were 100% convinced that Jesus was the heaven-sent Messiah. They didn’t want to miss a single word. Soon, they’d start inviting family and friends to come with them. And before you knew it, the crowd of hundreds had become thousands.

All four Gospels report the miracle of Jesus feeding 5K men, not counting women or children. But most of the men were married, so the number becomes 10K. Let’s assume families had at least two children, so now our number is 20K, quite a significant number of people traveling with Jesus. I’m glad I wasn’t in charge of logistics!

When Jesus heard that John the Baptist was dead, he wanted to be alone, so he got on a boat and headed across the lake. There was no GPS, so nautical navigation was to remain close enough to visualize the shoreline while staying far enough away to be in deep water. The disadvantage was that not only could those on board follow the coastline, but those still on the shore could easily follow the boat. So as Jesus sailed up the coast, the crowd could simply follow on land. There was no escape from the throng, at least not for very long!

Eventually, Jesus fed the 20K with five fish and two barley loaves, but that’s a different message. Today’s lesson speaks of the colossal crowd following Jesus. The key was that core believers shared the Good News with their families and friends. They invited others to join.

A friend of mine was recently voted in as pastor of a hundred-year-old church. They attract only about 60 people each week. I hope he can positively alter their trajectory. Only 60 people in 100 years? Jesus had 20K in attendance, and he preached for only three years!

See you at church! Bring your friends!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Serving Mankind!

March 9, 2026, Monday Message:

Matthew 4:24 NLT: “News about Jesus spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all.”

As he documents what occurred, Matthew seems amazed that news of Jesus’ healings spread into Syria. But if we look at a map nowadays, the news traveled only about 300 miles. The remarkable thing is that this happened without radio, TV, newspapers or internet! No journalists were reporting on Jesus’ activities. Back then, word-of-mouth was how information went out!

Being heaven-sent with the power of God Almighty, Jesus could fully heal the sick, the injured and the mentally impaired. We often underestimate the negative effects of demon-possession, but Jesus took care of that, too. People healed by Jesus were fully healed!

As this news spread, people began bundling up their sick and bringing them to Jesus. They would travel many miles, sometimes for weeks, to find Galilee, where the healings took place. Jesus wasn’t a slacker. He kept the line moving until everyone who needed healing was healed. Only then was it a time for rest.

As impressive as this all seems, healing wasn’t Jesus’ primary purpose in coming to Earth. It was a side-benefit of Jesus being God in the flesh. Mankind are the beneficiaries of Jesus’ goodness. Around Jesus, miracles were commonplace. We shouldn’t be surprised. Jesus preached for us to love our neighbors. Those who came needed help, he could provide the solution, and not helping wasn’t an option in Jesus’ playbook.

Later in his ministry, Jesus would take the sins of the world to the place of the dead, thereby healing not only the physically sick, but also all of mankind who were cursed with their sin problem. Jesus brought heaven’s healing to everyone willing to accept his help, everyone who desired to repent and return to the Father’s way.

Jesus’ offer of love and forgiveness is still open! Have you made your decision?

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

For Sunday, March 8, 2026:

John 14:8 NLT, Philip speaking: “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

Jesus has been telling the disciples about the life after this life. Philip, one of the 12, has questions about the Trinity, the 3-in-1 God. I understand. As I meet with people to answer their Bible questions, this is the #1 topic!

Understanding the awesome power of God Almighty helps us make sense of the Trinity. First, God is omnipotent, meaning all powerful. Mankind can imagine supernatural things, but God can actually do them. God had the power to create planets, our solar system, the whole universe and the space into which it could all be put; plants, animals and human beings, from scratch! He can create anything and do anything, so don’t be surprised when God does something out of the ordinary, something kind of unusual.

Our all-powerful God is also omnipresent. He can be in more than one place at the same time, simultaneously. Being omnipresent, God can decide to walk on planet Earth to rescue mankind, while remaining in Heaven. Sort of like cloning, but still of one mind. God can also do different things at the same time, multi-tasking, if you will. And if you pray to God, He’s never too busy to take the call. God doesn’t have voicemail or call waiting. Omnipresence makes him perpetually available.

Omniscience is another God trait. He possesses all knowledge. God is smart, much smarter than any of us! He knows what’s good for us, and even if it hurts, He’ll give us what’s best for us. Mankind is better off living under God’s plan.

So can Jesus show the Father to Philip? Jesus answered, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” I hope Philip gets it; I hope we ALL get it!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church