God's Perfect Timing

March 31, 2014 Monday Message:

God can give three answers to our requests: “yes,” “no,” and “not yet.” I have the most trouble with “not yet.” When God has pointed me in a good direction, I’m overly anxious to get it all done right away. But sometimes God says, “not just yet.”

In the Bible, Noah began building the first-ever boat, and 120 years later it finally rained!

Moses was told to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery, but God had him first wait in the desert for 40 years.

Joseph would be the leader to rescue the Hebrew people, but first he was kidnapped, taken to a foreign country, and put in prison.

David was anointed as King, but it was many years later before he actually became King.

So keep on doing the Lord’s work. Keep moving in a good direction. But if you don’t see results right away, don’t assume that God’s answer is, “no.” He might just be saying, “not yet.” God's timing is always spot-on!

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. Our venue isn’t available for mid-week worship, so unfortunately we’ve been passing over the Holy Week/Good Friday teachings. Pastor Michael Pilla will correct the situation this week, as he leads us through Jesus’ final days and the crucifixion.

Rest of the Story

March 24, 2014 Monday Message:

The Rest of the Story

In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables, The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Lost Son, often called The Prodigal Son. Any one of these stories could serve as inspiration for a great Sunday morning message, and we’ve all heard them. But I’ve never heard anyone spend much time on verses 1-3, the things that caused Jesus to teach these parables. So here we go…

Jesus was hanging out with and teaching tax collectors and sinners. Your translation may say “people of dubious reputation” or “notorious characters.” Jesus always said that only the sick need to visit a doctor. Similarly, only sinners need to be rescued. But the religious echelon of the day thought they knew it all – their hard hearts weren’t really interested in any “new” teaching.

And the Pharisees and religious scholars didn’t keep their displeasure with Jesus to themselves. In fact, they became quite vocal with their grumbling and criticism. “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.”

Their outspoken critique of Jesus’ ministry continued until, as Popeye used to say, “That’s all I can stands - I can’t stands no more.” Jesus had reached the end of his patience with these people who couldn’t see past sin to show any love for their neighbors.

Jesus stopped, pivoted, and faced his accusers head on, teaching these three parables that explain how great the rejoicing is in heaven when even just one of the lost returns to the Father. Jesus gave three different examples hoping against hope that they might finally “get it.”

And as Paul Harvey always said, now you know the r-e-s-t of the story!

Norton Lawellin

Come worship with us! 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, I’ll do my best to connect Jesus’ teaching about the second coming, Luke 21:25-38, with the books of Daniel and Revelation. Yikes!!!

The Great Exchange -2-

March 17, 2014 Monday Message:

(Happy St. Patrick’s Day!)

The Great Exchange

“At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned (forsaken) me?” Matt. 27:46 NLT

On the cross, this is Jesus’ final appeal to God in heaven. Notice that he’s not bemoaning the fact that Peter denied him three times or that Judas had betrayed him. His cry, in the strongest words (anaboao,) is to God alone. Why would Jesus choose that moment to quote Psalm 22?

The words are appropriate, but the Psalm is a different situation. Time after time the Israelites turned their back on God, grew far from God. When things went wrong, their perception was that God had abandoned them. But the truth was the opposite; the Israelites had forgotten about God. That was certainly not the case on the cross.

On the cross, a Holy transaction took place. God the Father regarded God the Son as if he were a sinner. As Paul later wrote in 2 Cor. 5:21 LB, “God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us!” A literal translation might be, “Jesus who knew no sin, God made sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” We sing about this in the popular contemporary Christian song, “Jesus Messiah.”

It’s not our “works” that get us into heaven; it’s the work Jesus did FOR us in the Great Exchange.

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 Pastor Michael Pilla continues: Jesus – who’s Son? See you at Church!

Jesus Pays the Price

March 10, 2014 Monday Message:

“God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.” 2 Cor. 5:21b MSG

Remember when you were in school? If the teacher was sick, they called in a substitute.

When God saw that mankind was sick with sin, he called in a substitute, his son Jesus.

The price for redemption from our sin is eternal separation from God. But instead, God – who loves us – decided to pay the debt himself, so that we could have eternal life - with Him - in heaven.

Christian theologians call this, “The Great Exchange,” and it happened on the cross. Jesus took the sin of the world upon himself, and suddenly the followers of Jesus were clothed in garments of white, pure and innocent. The Bible says that not only is our sin forgiven, but that there will be no record of it.

“The Great Exchange” and “Substitutionary Atonement” are close cousins, and we’ll spend more time with these concepts as we approach Easter/Resurrection Sunday.

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 Pastor Michael Pilla teaches Jesus’ position on resurrection and heaven. Don’t miss it!

Inherit the Kingdom

March 03, 2014 Monday Message:

Last week we looked at the “sharecropper” analogy used in the Bible, whereby God is the landowner and we are the workers. Our task is to make disciples of all nations, and if we do our work diligently, we should get shares in the kingdom, right?

Well, not exactly. You can never “earn” your way into heaven. But something even better happens.

Those who call Jesus “Lord,” and receive him; those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – not born in a human way, but born anew of God. (John 1:12)

God loves his ministry team so much that he adopts them all, making them members of His Holy Family, entitled to all the rights and privileges of a family heir.

So the workers DO get shares in the kingdom, not because they earn them or deserve them, but because God insists that they be included in His family. We don’t EARN the kingdom – we INHERIT the kingdom. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1 NIV)

Isn’t it great being a sharecropper-worker when your Kingdom-land owner is God Almighty?

Norton Lawellin

Let’s worship together! 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 Dan Pilla teaches about giving to Caesar. See you at church!