Jesus vs Death!

For Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Mark 14:28 NLT, Jesus speaking: “After I am raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”

We’re in “Holy Week” - Tomorrow is Maundy Thursday, then Good Friday, and finally Resurrection Sunday, Easter!

In this scripture, Jesus, who knows the future, is speaking about what he will do after the arrest, after the trial, after his crucifixion, and after being placed in a tomb. Can you imagine anyone telling you the things they intend to accomplish after they die?

But Jesus was no ordinary man! God sent him on a mission trip to rescue mankind from their perpetual sin problem. Jesus was about to take the sin of the world to the place of the dead, and then personally rise from the grave. And as followers of Jesus, we’re filed with hope knowing that death is not the end!

On Easter, Christians shout, “He is risen! He is risen indeed!”

Blessings and safety today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Love God/Neighbor!

For Tuesday, March 30, 2021

From Mark 12:30-31 NLT, Jesus speaking: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

We’re in “Holy Week,” or “Passion Week,” days leading up to Good Friday, the Crucifixion, and ultimately Jesus rising from the dead. He wanted to clarify some theological points before he went to the cross.

Our Bible nowadays is a big book with over a thousand pages. In Jesus’ day, it was individual scrolls; valuable, but kind of disorganized. A religious teacher asked Jesus to clarify the most important commandment, and Jesus identified the top two: Love God and Love your neighbor.

Loving God should be how we live our lives, and loving others should be how we live out our lives.

Jesus’ default mode was ‘compassion,’ and that’s Good News!

Blessings and safety today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Living God!

For Monday, March 29, 2021

Mark 12:27 CEV, Jesus speaking: “God isn’t the God of the dead, but of the living. You Sadducees are all wrong.”

We’re in “Holy Week,” or “Passion Week,” days leading up to Good Friday, the Crucifixion, and ultimately Jesus rising from the dead. He needed to clarify some theological points before he went to the cross.

Jesus was addressing Sadducees, a group that did not believe there was life after this life. They were wrong. Jesus points out that when God spoke to Moses in the burning bush, he referred to Abraham, Issac and Jacob in the present tense! He explained, “The Living God is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error.”

As usual, Jesus brings clarity to the discussion. The Good News and the hope for all of us is that there really is life after this life – Jesus said so! And he’s about to open heaven’s door for all of us!

Death is not the end!

Blessings and safety today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Palm Sunday!

For Sunday, March 28, 2021

John 12:13 NIV: “The crowd took palm branches and went out to meet Jesus, shouting, ‘Hosanna!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Blessed is the king of Israel!’”

Happy Palm Sunday! This day isn’t so much about what Jesus did as it is about the people finally realizing WHO Jesus is! A Messiah had been prophesied for quite some time, so some some had their eyes open to the possibility that Jesus was the One.

And that day all the pieces fell into place. Spontaneously, a celebration erupted in the streets. People cut palm branches and lined the pathway. People decorated the parade route with bright cloth. The true “King of the Jews” was riding through town, and everybody wanted to see it! You could not have stopped this celebration! Jesus said, “If the crowd kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”

This Son of God could forgive sins and grant mankind eternal fellowship in the Heavenly Kingdom, and that’s Good News!

Blessings and safety this Sabbath!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Messiah Agenda!

For Saturday, March 27, 2021

Zechariah 9:9 GNT: “Rejoice, rejoice, people of Zion! Shout for joy, you people of Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you! He comes triumphant and victorious, but humble and riding on a donkey — on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

This coming Sunday, most churches celebrate Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. We know it as Palm Sunday. This event is the fulfillment of prophecy from Zechariah. The people were acknowledging Jesus as the promised Messiah.

But what the crowd expected from a Messiah and what Jesus offered were two different things. The people expected a Messiah to free them from Roman oppression, and Jesus responded, “Your sins are forgiven.” The Messiah was a solution to a spiritual problem, not a political problem.

Strange as it may seem, this “King of the Jews” conquered not with force like other kings. He uses love, grace, mercy and His own personal sacrifice for the sins of His people. He brought hope to the world!

Blessings and safety today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Grace & Mercy!

For Friday, March 26, 2021

Titus 3:7 CEV: “Jesus treated us much better than we deserve. He made us acceptable to God and gave us the hope of eternal life.”

‘Grace’ is defined as ‘undeserved favor,’ and that’s certainly what God and his Son Jesus brought to mankind. God is always the initiator, making us the offer of eternal life. We need to accept God’s offer, the most important decision we’ll ever make!

While God wants you in his corner, no amount of ‘works’ can ever assure your salvation. Response to an altar call does not save. Saying the sinner’s prayer does not save. Baptism does not save. Church attendance does not save. Giving does not save. Reading the Bible does not save. But accepting Jesus’ free gift of salvation sets us up to see the inside of heaven!

It’s his mercy that gives us hope!

Blessings and safety today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Hosanna!

For Thursday, March 25, 2021

Mark 11:9 NIV: “Those who went ahead of Jesus and those who followed shouted, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

This coming Sunday, most churches celebrate Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. We know it as Palm Sunday. Jesus rode a borrowed donkey into the city, and many people gathered for this impromptu parade. They lined the route with palm branches and bright cloth, shouting, “Hosanna!”

“Hosanna” means “Save us,” with an implied urgency – Save us NOW! Save us from our sinful ways; redeem our souls. You wouldn’t cry out to be saved unless you believed the one you were addressing had the power to do what you were asking. These were believers! They had seen the miracles! They believed Jesus was the Son of the Living God – that he could do what he said he could do – that is, assure them of eternal life! Jesus gave them hope!

Blessings and safety to everyone today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Forever-Promises!

For Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Psalm 146:6 NLT: “The Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever.”

God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – created everything, including mankind. God looked at all he created, and declared it to be very good! Therefore mankind has value in His eyes, and knowing that gives us hope!

God’s not about to change his mind. His covenant of love and acceptance is forever, and that’s Good News for us all! God loved the world so much that He sent his Son Jesus to rescue us. God’s plan goes like this: All who confess their sin and believe in Jesus can look forward to eternal life in heavenly kingdom – Assurance of Salvation!

God makes forever-promises!

Blessings and safety to all today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Hosanna - Save Us!

For Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Psalm 145:19 GNT: “The Lord supplies the needs of those who honor him; he hears their cries and saves them.”

Martin Luther prayed in a way that we might find strange. He prayed to God, “Let my will be done.” Luther could pray that because he also added, “My will is for Your will to be done, and nothing else!”

Since God looked at all that He had created and declared that it was very good, how much more might he care for believers, his covenant flock? This caring isn’t a one-time commitment; rather, it’s ongoing, perpetual, forever. Knowing God will supply our need in this life and the next gives us hope!

Those who long for God will receive as much God as they seek and are capable of receiving.

Blessings and safety today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Jonah Rescued!

March 22, 2021 Monday Message

Jonah 2:2 NLT, Jonah praying to the Lord from inside the fish: “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from Sheol, the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!”

God had given Jonah a message for the people of Nineveh, but Jonah was afraid and went in the opposite direction. A storm overtook them at sea, and Jonah was convinced that he was responsible for the curse on the boat, a penalty for disobeying God. So overboard he went!

But God had not taken his eyes off the scenario. A big fish swallowed up Jonah, and from inside the fish, he prayed to the Lord! Three days later, the fish spit him onto a beach, and Jonah went to --- Nineveh, just as God had originally commanded!

Lessons: 1. If God calls you somewhere, you might as well go! 2. No matter how dire your situation appears, a God-rescue is always possible – there is always hope! 3. Jonah was in the fish for 3 days. It took 3 days to see all of Nineveh. Even a tomb sealed with a stone and guarded by Roman soldiers could be empty in 3 days! Coincidence?

Blessings and safety this week!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

"God-trend!"

For Sunday, March 21, 2021

Jonah 2:8 NLT, Jonah praying: “Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies.”

It’s important to understand the character of God. He is loving and forgiving. He wants us to do well in this life. His desire is that no one would perish, but that all would repent and return. He’s a God of second-chances, and then third-chances, etc. He loves us so much that he sent his Son to pay the price for our sin, so mankind could be guaranteed a presence with Him in eternity. That’s the “God-trend!”

In the church where I grew up, they had a painting. I didn’t like it then, and I still don’t. God was at the top in the clouds; some poor sinner was in the middle, on his knees begging for mercy; and the bottom was filled with the fires of hell. God’s finger was pointing down, condemning this sinner to the lake of fire. I think that’s faulty theology. God doesn’t condemn us so much as we condemn ourselves when we fail to accept His forgiveness and mercy. He’s given us chance after chance to say, “Yes!”

When you understand that our Lord is so loving and merciful, why would you choose anything else?

Blessings and safety this Sabbath!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Confident Hope!

For Saturday, March 20, 2021

Romans 15:13 NLT, Paul writing to the Romans: “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Nothing ever stays the same, and Paul is telling the believers that soon everything will get a whole lot better! Knowing that there is a life after this life, eternity in the presence of the Father, fills us with great expectations and a lot of hope! Having heaven as your residence – it doesn’t get any better than that!

Remember that Jesus took the sin of the world to the place of the dead, and then walked away from the grave, conquering sin and death on the same day! He wanted us to know that neither of these things is a problem for God Almighty, and we too can share in these blessings. Believers have “Assurance of Salvation!” Jesus said so!

For non-believers, things will get a whole lot worse!

Blessings and safety today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Transformed!

For Friday, March 19, 2021

James 4:15 NLT: “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”

James is advising Christians who claim to follow Jesus, but go on living their lives the same old way. Truly accepting Jesus should result in a radical transformation, changed behavior for the better.

God is the great facilitator of our lives, and that gives us hope. We are able to live where we live, go where we go, and do what we do because the God who loves us greatly makes it all possible. To think we are running the show is the same kind of arrogance we see in the Garden of Eden story or the falling of Lucifer.

Paul repeatedly buffered his promises with, “...if the Lord permits.” The Message Bible advises us, “You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, ‘If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.’”

Life goes better when God is in the driver’s seat!

Blessings and safety today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Saving the Lost!

For Thursday, March 18, 2021

Luke 19:10 GNT: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

“Son of Man” is a name Jesus calls himself. He’s been dealing with Zacchaeus, a sinner and tax collector, one born to Hebrew parents but who had fallen away from the faith. The irony is that while Zacchaeus was seeking Jesus, Zacchaeus was the one who was lost!

Something similar happened earlier, when Jesus explained, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” (Mark 2:17)

Zacchaeus was lost to his parents, lost to his religion, lost to his community, and lost to whatever friends he might have had – yet in a sense, not lost to God. One lesson here is that if we repent – if we’re willing to seek Jesus, ALL sin can be forgiven. Jesus spotted Zacchaeus in a tree, opened his eyes, and then Zacchaeus sought Jesus and his obtained his forgiveness.

Zacchaeus was given hope!

Blessings and safety today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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