Psalms 59 - God's Way, the Right Way

August 29, 2016 Monday Message:

“Do not kill them, Sovereign Lord, or the people will forget.” Psalms 59:11

There’s a right way and a wrong way to do things. Saul had sent an entire army to kill David, so David’s response might rightly have been to want them all dead, so that he’d be spared.

But David wants God remembered as kind, merciful and loving. So he prays for God to help him, but to NOT kill his oppressors. Options might be for them to turn, to reverse their behavior; or at least back off a little. It’s as if David was thinking, “Protect me, stop them, but you don’t have to kill them.”

Interestingly, Saul was a Jew, David was a Jew, and the men pursuing David were Jews. You’d think they would have all been on the same page. But their religion had become a series of rules, traditions and ceremonies. They had lost the essence of God’s call, which is to love the Lord and to love your neighbor. That’s why we sometimes say, “Lose the religion,” meaning, get back to the basics.

Jesus would arrive a thousand years later to re-teach these principles. And two thousand years after that, we’re still talking about what Jesus taught, and still struggling to put His plan into action.

“Lord, in the morning I will sing of your love.” from Psalms 59:16

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets at the Akina Church, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30am. This Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, Pastor Michael Pilla returns to the pulpit.

Psalm 58 - Everything's Gonna Be All Right

August 22, 2016 Monday Message:

“People will say, ‘There IS a reward for the righteous.’” Psalms 58:11a

Jesus loves me, this I know. God loves me, and will not forsake me. Expect a lot of love from a big God.

In Psalm 58, the Bible is telling us that – in the end, eventually - the steadfast will see things play out just as they expect, just as they have been told. God is honest, just and true to his word. Therefore sinners will receive the punishment they deserve, and the righteous will receive the reward they deserve. God really only has one way of doing it.

Evil is like poison. God needs to weed it out before it spreads and poisons all the good stuff around it, ruining everything. Remember, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through his Son Jesus Christ.

Everything will be all right in the end; if it’s not all right, it’s not the end. That’s what the Bible says.

People will say, “There IS a God who judges what happens on earth.” Psalms 58:11b

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets at the Akina Church, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30am. This Sunday, August 28, 2016, Pastor Retha Dowells open up Philippians Ch. 4.

Psalm 57 - God Loves You!

August 15, 2016 Monday Message:

“God will send me his kind love and his truth.” Psalms 57:3b

Our God really loves mankind. Think about it – first, he created a universe with planets, stars and moons, light and darkness, plants and animals – but his crowning achievement – God’s home run – was when he created mankind!

God gave mankind “free choice,” even though he knew that we’d oftentimes choose incorrectly. God knew that mankind would sin, but he arranged a path of forgiveness and reconciliation. After all, we’re made in His image, and God’s desire is that not one would perish. Including David.

When Saul was king, about 1,000 years before Jesus, David’s job was to make music when Saul was sad, which happened frequently. The people liked David’s music and they liked David, which made Saul jealous, and David was forced to run away and hide in a cave, which happened more than once. In exile, David wrote Psalm 57 to be sung to the tune, “Do Not Destroy.”  So every time the song was sung, the underlying thread spoke to how Saul was treating David. “Do not destroy – ME!”

The Bible describes David as “a man after God’s own heart,” so surely God would protect David from this unjust king. And he did. Therefore David sings praises: “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory shine above all the earth.” Psalms 57:11

Norton Lawellin

This Sunday, August 21, 2016, we welcome the “People of Hope” group to lead worship. It’s New Hope Tour day, and with “grilling” following the service. Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets at the Akina Church, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30am.

Psalm 56 - God's Timing

August 08, 2016 Monday Message:

“In God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?” Psalms 56:1 NIV

If God is on your side, what’s the worst that could happen? If someone tried to take your life, you’d get to see Jesus sooner, so that’s not all bad, is it?

Is your glass half full or half empty? If life hands you a lemon, can you make lemonade? Here, David is making lemonade.

Paul said it like this: “Living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. I’m torn between the two desires.” from Philippians 1

In the end, both David and Paul continue with their callings, serving the Lord as He dictates, and that’s what we should do too. When it’s time to return home to the father, to go to heaven, that will be good too. God holds the chronometer of our lives, and in the end, God’s timing will be the best way for our lives to progress.

We should serve the Lord with gladness, and then God will decide when it is time for us to come home.

Norton Lawellin

This Sunday, August 14, 2016, Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets at the Akina Church, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30am. Pastor Dale Rader continues our study in Philippians.

Psalm 55 - Life is Good!

August 01, 2016 Monday Message:

“Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; hear me and answer me.” Psalms 55:1-2a NIV

In Psalm 55 David is calling heaven, and just like in the Verizon commercials, he asks, “Can you hear me now?” He wants to make sure God is on the line.

We’re all a little bit like David, concerned about our place in life, wondering if we “fit in.” Some days it seem that everyone is out to get us. Some days are worse than others.

But most of the time life rolls along peacefully and we only experience passing thoughts of, “Am I really living my life as God intended?” For the most part, our lives are pretty good.

When we watch the evening news, they don’t report on too many of the good things. The highest network ratings are achieved when they tell us what has gone wrong in the world. We tend to live the same way. The few things in our lives not running well get most of our attention. And frankly, they probably NEED a lot of our attention.

But we also need to step back out of our busy lives and appreciate all the good things that God has poured out upon us. With God’s help, life really isn’t so bad, is it?

“But as for me, I trust in You, God.” Psalms 55:23b

Norton Lawellin

Come worship with us! This Sunday, August 7, 2016, Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets at the Akina Church, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30am. We’ll conclude the summer with a brief look at Paul’s letter to the Philippians. This week I’ll open up Chapter 1. See you at church!