Resurrected!

June 30, 2025, Monday Message:

John 11:4 NLT: “When Jesus heard about it he said, ‘Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.’”

In fact Lazarus DID die, but was raised back to life by Jesus. I’ve always been intrigued by that next reality. The line between life and death isn’t as rigid as we think. In the grocery store check-out line, you can read headline after headline about people who started that journey, but were somehow called back. Those stories fuel tabloids.

Their stories are always similar. The person travels down the transition tunnel, bright light at the end, and is finally overcome by a peaceful feeling that everything will be OK. Quite a contrast to all the crying and sadness at funerals!

Jesus sent advance teams of disciples to every town he planned to visit, telling them to heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead! So raising the dead might not have been commonplace, but it was certainly possible, through the power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Using Lazarus, Jesus was about to show everyone that death is not the end. Death is the same soul that we know and love, still alive but in a different reality.

If God calls you back to life, it’s because you’re not yet finished. He has more for you to do. As someone who was brought back to life, Lazarus could give firsthand testimony about God’s love and Jesus’ power! No one had ever witnessed the miracle of being raised from the dead through any other religion. But now Lazarus, Mary, Martha and everyone present that day could give eyewitness testimony to the truth!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Servant's Heart!

For Sunday, June 29, 2025:

Luke 14:11 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

A disciple of Jesus should look and act the part. In Jesus’ example, those who think more highly of themselves than they ought may be (embarrassingly) asked to step back. The humble have left room to be moved up, to be honored.

Remember that Jesus came not to be served, but to serve others. If we are to follow in his footsteps, we need to have a servant’s heart. No one could ever repay Jesus for healing their malady. He was kind and helpful without any expectation of repayment.

There’s a saying attributed to the army advising soldiers to never volunteer for anything. Too much extra work, and you never know what you’re getting yourself into. There’s a persistent negative attitude in today’s world where a person’s first response is to say “no.”

But Christians should do the opposite of that. We should be helpful, showing kindness to others, doing the next right thing, because that’s what Jesus would have done. Our first response should be to say yes, or at least find a way to help.

One more thing. Stick with what you’re good at. Ministry is sustainable if we stay in our lane, using the gifts and talents given to us by the Almighty. Jesus talks about rewards for doing the right things: “God will repay you on the day the good people rise from death.” I’m good with God’s promise!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Knowledge + Faith!

For Saturday, June 28, 2025:

Hebrews 4:2 TLB: “This wonderful news—the message that God wants to save us—has been given to us just as it was to those who lived in the time of Moses. But it didn’t do them any good because they didn’t believe it. They didn’t mix it with faith.”

Gospel is translated as Good News or Wonderful News, the account of how, through the Great Exchange, Jesus took the sins of the world upon himself, leaving the faithful spotless, suitable for Kingdom residence.

The four Gospels are written in our Bibles, and we believe the Bible to be truth. We need that knowledge of what happened and what Jesus did for us. And along with that enlightenment, we need to add faith, unshakable belief in the truth of the Bible. We need to believe that things will turn out just as Jesus said, and that he can and will do what he said he could do.

This scripture is explaining that the Hebrew people in Moses’ time had knowledge, but lacked faith that Bible prophecies would come to fruition. Deliverance requires both – knowledge and faith. One won’t get us into the Kingdom without the other.

Pray for abundant knowledge of Jesus’ promise and a double helping of faith!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Father and I = One!

For Friday, June 27, 2025:

John 10:31 NLT: “Once again the people picked up stones to kill Jesus.”

People often get confused, belligerent and a little frightened when confronted with something new. God taking on the personage of a human and walking the earth alongside mankind was unheard of. It didn’t fit their model of what God should be or of what religion should be. The crowd called Jesus’ claim, “I and the Father are one,” blasphemy, and the Law says blasphemy is punishable by death. So they gathered stones to hurl at Jesus, not understanding that he was the promised Messiah.

Jesus had previously performed many good works, healings and miracles. “For which of those works do you stone me?” he asked. Interestingly, for this crowd, Jesus’ good works didn’t outweigh the blasphemy of Jesus claiming to be God. There was no trial. There was no judge or jury. This crowd wanted to settle the matter on the spot! “Bring me more rocks!” Spurgeon wrote, “If they cannot answer holy arguments with fair reasonings, they can give hard answers with stones!”

Jesus somehow escaped and wound up near the Jordan, where John had baptized. Many followed him that day, and many did not. But those who followed believed in Jesus, Son of the Most High!

The crowd dissing Jesus was only considering that one moment in time. But nowadays our Bibles are complete. We can read eyewitness testimony of Jesus’ ministry from start to finish. We have been blessed with convincing evidence that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah. We can easily believe that Jesus and the Father are one!

Welcome to the family!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Kindness!

For Thursday, June 26, 2025:

Luke 14:3 NLT: “Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, ‘Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?’”

Jesus was a guest at the home of a Pharisee, about to be seated for the Sabbath meal. The Pharisees were watching him closely, hoping to catch Jesus doing something wrong. That was the Pharisee’s modus operandi, to catch people violating God’s commands and then call them on the carpet. Pharisees appeared to love nobody and were critics of everybody, and Jesus was no exception! How foolish they must have been to think that they could cite God’s Law against God’s own Son!

A man attending the feast suffered from swollen arms and legs. Pain made it challenging for him to move. Jesus saw an opportunity to make the man’s life better, and at the same time correct the Pharisee’s errant theology. He set up the lesson by asking: “Is it legal to heal this man on the Sabbath? You can see he’s hurting! Whaddaya say, guys? Should we heal him or not?”

Lacking a good answer, the Pharisees remained silent. Jesus reached out, touched the man, and instantly he was healed. Jesus turned to the Pharisees and explained, “Every one of you does work on the Sabbath. If a family member or one of your animals fell into a pit, surely you’d pull it out, even on the Sabbath!” The Pharisees remained speechless.

Lessons learned: We should worship God every day, but with special focus on the Sabbath. Because the Sabbath is the Lord’s day, it’s the perfect day to show kindness to our fellows. The Sabbath should never become an excuse for not doing the right things for the right reasons. If you’re loving your neighbor, God will smile on you!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Persistence!

For Wednesday, June 25, 2025:

Hebrews 3:13 NLT: “You must warn each other every day, while it is still ‘today,’ so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.”

Stick-to-itiveness. That’s what we need. Goofy word, but it’s in my dictionary! This scripture encourages us to help each other stick with what we learned from Jesus. He IS coming back, but we don’t know when. Our hearts need to be right today, because tomorrow may be too late!

If we could graph the Hebrew relationship with God, it would look like a rollercoaster – up and down, up and down, closer to God, farther from God. When God has things going well in our lives, humans tend to say, “Thanks, God, but I can take it from here!” We eventually fail and crawl back to God, whining, “Please, God, help us out of this mess we’ve made.” God again rescues His people, giving them a second chance, a third chance, etc.

Things are no different nowadays. Unfortunately, mankind’s tendency is to grow complacent in our worship and in our devotion to the Almighty, and we begin to let things slide. Christianity gets put on the back burner. It’s not that we completely stopped believing. It’s just that religious matters don’t hold the priority they once did in our lives. People caught up in this are called backsliders!

Some theologians teach that if we can fall away from Jesus, we were never really “in” in the first place. Asking Jesus to be Lord and Savior of your life should be an irrevocable decision.

The Bible says, “If we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.” We should all strive to be with that group!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Messiah!

For Tuesday, June 24, 2025:

John 10:24b-25 NLT: Q: “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name.”

Who Jesus is and who sent him seems obvious to us. If he’s fulfilling the job description of the Messiah, that must be who he is. Call him God’s Son, God’s right-hand man or Moshiach – it’s all the same thing! If you examine the miracles, the healings, the kindness and teaching above expectations, Jesus is indeed God’s man for the mission!

You must have a teachable mind to recognize Jesus. People whose minds are closed to new ideas will keep asking for more evidence. They can never be sure. They ask for more and more proof when there’s already plenty!

Jesus says that we need to be like sheep. Sheep know the master’s voice and follow him. Jesus watches out for the sheep, granting them eternal life! They will never perish! If these sheep belong to Jesus and the Father, no one can snatch them from his hand. No one!

Jesus wraps up his comments with the bold statement, “The Father and I are one.”

In a few sentences, Jesus just summarized Christian doctrine. He was sent by the Father, and through his taking away of our sins, he grants believers eternal life. We are saved by grace through Jesus, the Messiah. Though we have experienced God in three different forms, there is in reality only one God. Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”

So stay close to Jesus, your ticket to the hereafter. Love God and love your neighbor, but don’t forget to include Jesus!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

We Are the Church!

June 23, 2025, Monday Message:

Hebrews 3:6 NLT: “Jesus Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.”

In Heaven’s pecking order, Jesus sponsors the earthly faithful. When we knock on the pearly gates, we can point and say, “I’m with that one guy over there, the man seated just to the right of God!” Picture Jesus jumping up and welcoming you with open arms!

In the Bible, Jesus’ welcoming doesn’t mention any church building. And Jesus steers clear of including a specific denomination. Heaven isn’t about man-made rules or organizations. Heaven, the House of God, is always about people, specifically those who claim Jesus as God’s Son and Lord and Savior of their lives. And a Savior will do just what the name says. He will usher the faithful into his heavenly reality.

At my Sunday church, we’re frequently challenged: “Who is the church?”

The congregation shouts back, “WE are the church!” Not the building, not a denomination, but people! Believers are the church!

Today’s scripture was written as a response to backsliders, those who might lose their fire and backslide out of the fellowship. Following the Christian path isn’t always easy, but the reward at the end makes it worth our effort!

Today is the best day to take backsliding off the table. Let’s all commit or re-commit ourselves to knowing Jesus as Lord. Ask him to live in your heart today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Vast Eternal Plan!

For Sunday, June 22, 2025:\

Luke 13:32 NLT, Jesus replying to the Pharisees: “Go tell that fox (Herod Antipas) that I will keep on casting out demons and healing people today and tomorrow; and the third day I will accomplish my purpose.”

Herod Antipas had threatened to kill Jesus. Jesus was disruptive to the stable world maintained by the Romans. Romans weren’t Jewish, but they tolerated religion as long as it kept the population peaceful.

But this new guy, Jesus, was rocking the boat! What should have been a continuation of the Hebrew relationship with God Almighty had turned into a kind of church split. People were leaving the Temple to follow Jesus. Tithes were leaving with the people. (Remember the words of Pastor Norton: People get squirrelly when there’s money involved. Count on it!)

Pharisees offered to kill Jesus for splitting their congregation. They claimed blasphemy, false doctrine, not understanding that the Son of God would surely know what his Father prefers!

Jesus was not afraid, even though he knew exactly what was coming. He vowed to cast out demons and heal people right up until the end. And when it was time for his earthly demise, those who opposed him would actually be fulfilling God’s plan. Jesus could then take the sins of the world to the place of the dead. It’s great that Jesus could heal, cast out demons and teach. But I believe his primary purpose was to solve mankind’s sin problem.

And everything played out just like Jesus knew that it would. After three days, he stepped out of the tomb, declaring, “Problem solved!” The gift of forgiven sin is for each of us who claims Jesus as our Savior.

Today is the accepted day to repent and return to the Lord!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Eternal Address!

For Saturday, June 21, 2025:

John 10:11 NIV, Jesus speaking: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

Jesus again uses an agricultural analogy to make his point. Most young men and some women had experience in sheep-tending. So let’s examine the commitment level of the various shepherds.

Hired hands are just that. “I’ll watch your sheep, but I expect a paycheck.” They’re only in it for the money. You don’t have enough money to get them to stay on through big problems.

The chief shepherd is a leader. He makes certain that the sheep have food and water. Pesky little varmints come by, and he runs them off.

The real test, though, comes when a bear or a lion approaches. These carnivores threaten not only the sheep but also the life of the shepherd. And this is where we separate the men from the boys. Hired shepherds may turn tail and run for safety. But if the shepherd is the owner of the sheep, he will fight to the finish to protect them. He would jeopardize his own life to protect the flock.

And that is what Jesus did. He laid down his own life to settle our sin debt, thereby buying believers eternal life in the Kingdom. Jesus was the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for his flock.

You can have an eternal heavenly address because of what Jesus did!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Path Least Traveled!

For Friday, June 20, 2025:

Luke 13:24 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail.”

The question put to Jesus was, “How many will be saved?” Is it a lot, or perhaps just a few? I don’t need an exact number. Perhaps we could get the answer as a percentage? Are 10% saved while 90% perish? Or is it the other way around? Since the gate is narrow, I surmise that not everyone who calls out, “Lord, Lord,” will be rescued.

God is patient. He’s giving us a lot of time to firm up our decision. God wants more and more of the faithful to cement their decisions for Jesus. But friends, time is running out! There will come a day when God says, “No more time!” Our grace period has ended. It’s a real line in the sand. Those who have committed themselves to Jesus will be “IN!” Those who reject Christ will be “OUT!” Unfortunately, fence-sitters will also be out. If you’re not perceived as being “with” Jesus, you may find yourself on the outside. “I never knew you!”

Those who humble themselves before Jesus go to the front of the line. Those who think too highly of themselves will bring up the rear. The first will be last, and the last will be first. It’s exciting to watch your pecking order shift as judgment day draws closer!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Baa - Baa!

For Thursday, June 19, 2025:

John 10:9 AMP, Jesus speaking: “I am the Door; anyone who enters through Me will be saved [and will live forever], and will go in and out [freely], and find pasture (spiritual security).”

Since we all live on planet Earth, we’re pretty familiar with the earthly realm. But the Kingdom of God extends into a spiritual realm, about which we know little. Jesus has already been there, and now he’s getting believers up to speed on what it takes to see heaven from the inside.

Notice that Jesus begins many of his testimonies with, “Verily, verily I say unto you,” which is translated, “I assure you,” or, “Very truly I tell you,” or, “I tell you the truth.” Pharisees were present, so I assume they also presented their incorrect version of the hereafter. Jesus is setting the record straight. “Listen up; what I’m telling you is truth!”

Jesus’ entire address uses an agricultural analogy. 2K years ago, it could be assumed that most young people had at one time or another tended a few sheep. That example doesn’t work quite as well in 2025!

Jesus taking away our sin problem opened the door to heaven for mankind. Those walking with Jesus will not only be saved, but will experience eternal life. Believers will have spiritual security, assurance of salvation. That’s what Jesus said, and his words are always true!

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Working the Sabbath!

For Wednesday, June 18, 2025:

Luke 13:12-13 NIV: “When Jesus saw the crippled woman, he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.’ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.”

This story sounds OK so far, but it’s the Sabbath and Jesus is teaching in the synagogue, and therein lies the problem – doing work on the Sabbath, even if it’s good work. Some people, obediently serving the letter of the law, have forgotten the spirit of the law. Love and compassion are high up on the list of doing the next right thing, and those actions please God. Jesus says that if we can relieve 18 years of suffering with a simple act, we should put the miracle in motion even though it’s the Sabbath.

The synagogue leader confronted Jesus. “There are six days for work. So heal on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

Jesus points out that even the most religious people water their livestock on the Sabbath. Are they saying that one kind of work is OK, but another is wrong? Out of which side of their mouths are they talking?

But friends, let’s get to the real heart of the matter. Jesus explains that Satan and his demons had kept the woman bound for 18 years. So the real problem wasn’t one of healing. Casting out demons was the issue, and the Sabbath is the perfect day to take Satan down a notch!

The people were delighted with all the wonderful things Jesus was doing!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Second Chances!

For Tuesday, June 17, 2025:

Luke 13:8-9 NIV, Gardener speaking: “Leave the fig tree alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then I’ll cut it down.”

The gardener is giving the fig tree one last chance. Following Jesus gives mankind second, third and fourth chances. God doesn’t throw us away the first time we sin. We’re given an opportunity to repent and return, to correct a situation and make things right with our fellows. Like I said yesterday, it doesn’t seem to matter as much what you did as a sinner, as what you INTEND to do as a repentant believer!

As he died, Jesus took the sins of the world to the place of the dead. Our sin problem is thereby solved. We all need to look to the future. What has changed? What do we intend to do differently? Actions speak louder than words, so hopefully people will acknowledge your newly changed behavior rather than dwelling on the past. Paul is an extreme example of this. If you only considered his past, his persecution of Christianity, Paul would never be elected leader of a Christian fellowship. But on the road to Damascus, Paul did a 180! He became the leading itinerant evangelist of the New Testament!

By sending Jesus to walk alongside mankind, God is giving us another chance. His desire is that ALL would repent and return. If there’s no fruit, the fig tree will be cut down and thrown into the fire. If mankind doesn’t accept the Son – God’s gift of salvation – we too will be thrown into the fire.

Friends, this is serious business, and Jesus doesn’t mince words. Today is the accepted day to choose your eternal destination. There are only two choices: God’s way or the wrong way! God’s way grants us everlasting happiness. The other way gives us eternal misery.

Choose wisely!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship