Lotsa Faith!

For Tuesday, October 20, 2026:

Romans 10:10 NLT: “For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

How much faith is enough? When it comes to Jesus, believers should set their faith to 10! We believe that he’s the Son of God, sent from heaven to redeem mankind. True believers don’t think redemption is some day in the future. It’s already here, it’s already done. Count on it. We believe God also raised Jesus from the dead, and that he walked away from the tomb! Sin and death were conquered in the same event. We trust the eyewitnesses who saw Jesus ascend into heaven, returning to the Father. We believe these facts with all our hearts, with unflinching devotion to the Son!

Our faith tells us that what we know about Jesus is truth, and since it’s all true, we’ve been commissioned to tell others. The Bible says that people of all nations need to hear the Good News. God loves all the people he created, no matter where they reside, and he doesn’t want to lose anyone. His goal is for everyone to repent and return, just like we did.

In this letter to the Roman church, Paul is encouraging them to believe 100%, having all-in faith in the Son. It’s the same for us nowadays. Faith is contagious, and our faith may captivate new believers. That would put a smile on Jesus’ face!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Kingdom at Hand!

For Monday, October 19, 2026:

Mark 1:15 NLT: “The time promised by God has come at last!” Jesus announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

Jesus said that the Kingdom of God was near, but listeners weren’t convinced. The Jews had been expecting God to liberate them from Roman rule, so that’s what they were looking for. They didn’t know God’s plan for their salvation. The dialog might have gone like this:

Jews: “Free us from Roman rule.”

Jesus: “Your sins are forgiven. I’ll make a place for you in paradise!” His solution didn’t fit their request.

The people were seeking political dominance, but Jesus offered them love and absolution. Grace and forgiveness were to take precedence over obedience to the Law. People needed to change their mindsets. The original language implies a change in direction, like if you’d been going south but repented and decided to head north. Rededication to God Almighty would be required to secure a place in the hereafter.

It’s kind of the same nowadays, although our enemy is no longer Rome. But a great many people in our country – even so-called Christians – are floundering with no real connection to the Lord. So first pray that your God-connection would be cemented into place. Irrevocable. Then pray that you would be given the words and the motivation to share that Good News with others. It’s what Jesus said to do!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

When You're Wrong...

For Sunday, October 18, 2026:

Acts 4:21b-22 NLT: “Everyone was praising God for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.”

Peter and John had facilitated a healing miracle in the Temple, and the established religion had nothing to do with it. The Apostles had healed a man in the name of Jesus! The religious council couldn’t deny what had happened, but felt some sort of discipline was called for. They wanted to quash this upstart “Jesus” religion, so the two were told to never again speak or teach about Jesus.

They immediately defied the council. “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him?” These believers had been commissioned to spread the Good News of salvation through Jesus. They knew Jesus was the heaven-sent Son of God! Frankly, they knew more than the religious council!

Peter and John were finally released. There was nothing else the council could do to them, and the crowd was cheering for the Apostles. The council wisely dropped the matter, avoiding the riot that might have ensued.

This was a significant win for team Jesus. He had instructed his believers to heal the sick, cleanse leprosy, raise the dead and cast out demons in his name. Jesus still supports those miracles nowadays. When Jesus visited people, he’d always leave them better off than when he arrived. So invite him into your life. Today is the best day to get to know your Savior! Life is better that way!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Raise the Dead!

For Saturday, October 17, 2026:

Luke 7:14-15 NLT: “Jesus walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.”

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out demons. That’s what Jesus told us to do, and he leads by example. This is a teachable moment.

The disciples had crossed paths with a funeral procession. The deceased was his mother’s only son, and Jesus observed her extreme grief. He had the power to improve her situation, so he acted out of compassion, telling the boy, “Get up!” The boy in the coffin sat up and began to talk!

These people didn’t know that Jesus is the Son of the Most High, but they acknowledged, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.” This resurrection confused and displeased the religious leaders, who had just conducted a funeral! They’d never even heard of anything like this!

This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside. That’s Good News for us all!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Eternal Life Formula!

For Friday, October 16, 2026:

John 17:3 NLT, Jesus speaking: “This is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”

The question isn’t if you’ll see life after this life. You will! What you want to pin down is where you’ll be spending your time.

Those with Jesus will find a place already prepared for them in God’s Kingdom. It will be heavenly! On the other hand, Satan and his demons will be bobbing in the lake of fire, hopefully going down for the third time! This life is our chance to make sure our names are written in the book of life. We don’t get a do-over, so choose wisely. Everyone must choose.

Even 2K years ago, people wanted to know about the life after this life. Jesus responded with this straight-forward answer: “Know the Father, and know me.” Access to an eternal residence is grace, God’s gift to us. We are saved by faith in that one God and the Son he sent to earth, Jesus! Jesus will welcome believers with open arms!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Redeemed!

For Thursday, October 15, 2026:

Romans 10:9 NLT: “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Since Paul isn’t omnipresent (like God,) he needed to send written messages to teach theology to the churches. These letters or epistles are as valued today as they were 2K years ago. If there had been Billboard charts back then, Paul’s letter to the Romans would be in the top 10!

Sidebar, my 2¢: A lot of people expect religion and salvation to be overly complicated. Man-made rules and ritual traditions add to deliverance’s confusion. In many people’s minds, the difficulty of obtaining redemption seems to add to its perceived value. But that’s not the way God wanted it to be.

Re-read today’s scripture. If you claim Jesus as the resurrected Lord of your life, you WILL be saved. Not you ‘might’ be saved, but you ‘will’ be saved for sure. Yes, friends, it’s that simple. Don’t over-complicate it!

I frequently mention Assurance of Salvation. Paul clearly states that principle in this scripture. You don’t have to belong to a church, be baptized or receive communion to get into heaven. Those are all good things to do, but your salvation isn’t hanging on anything that you can do other than loving the Lord. You will be redeemed because of your love for Jesus! That’s what the Bible says!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Baptized!

For Wednesday, October 14, 2026:

Mark 1:9 NLT: “One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John (the Baptist) baptized him in the Jordan River.”

God’s preference is for everyone to repent and return. Backsliding isn’t something we invented in the 21st Century. If you drew a graph of the Jewish people’s relationship with God, it would look like a roller coaster – up and down, closer to God, farther from God, back and forth. As people renewed their commitment to the Lord, baptism was an outward sign of their inward change. The old, defective person would go under the water and emerge figuratively cleaned, leaving sin behind. Renewed!

Most theologians agree that Jesus, being without sin, didn’t really need to be baptized. But it was a teachable moment. He was modeling repent and return for the rest of us.

Notable in this scenario are the two things that followed. First, the Holy Spirit broke open heaven and descended upon Jesus like a dove. And after that, a voice boomed from heaven, saying, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” That’s a proud Father bragging about his #1 Son! Wouldn’t you have loved to hear that voice?

Believers are adopted into that same Holy Family. Jesus told us to pray to “Our Father.” So we’re all sisters and brothers following the #1 Son. Maybe God has your picture on his refrigerator!

Pastor Norton Lawellin
The Father’s House
Jesus In the City Fellowship
Truth & Freedom Church

Great Commission!

For Tuesday, October 13, 2026:

Acts 4:18 NLT: “The religious council called Peter and John back in, and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.”

These two Apostles had facilitated a healing miracle in the Temple, and all of Jerusalem knew what had transpired. They had healed in the name of Jesus! While the council couldn’t deny what had happened, they wanted to make sure the topic didn’t crop up again. So the two were told to never again speak or teach in the name of Jesus.

Question: Do you think Peter and John obeyed the council’s edict? No! But the two had quite different personalities. John probably cooled it for a while. Staying out of trouble might be best. He could later continue teaching about Jesus while staying clear of the authorities.

Peter, on the other hand, is the one I nicknamed “Mr. Impulsive!” He often acted before thinking things through to their logical conclusion. Peter might have run out of the meeting telling everyone what had happened and making a case that Jesus was the ultimate healer, like God himself! For his tenacity, God had earmarked Peter as leader of the first church, The Way.

So neither Apostle honored the council’s decree. Jesus said that we are all to continue sharing the Gospel with all nations, regardless of what some council says. But you and your brother or sister may go about it differently. God made us distinct individuals, yet all are created in his image. We have been given different spiritual gifts and talents, which may influence our evangelistic methods.

Pray to be shown your piece of the Good News puzzle, and then put it to work. Some of us will plant seeds; others will harvest. It’s all good if you’re working for the Son!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Firm Foundation!

October 12, 2026, Monday Message:

Psalm 11:3 NLT: “The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?”

When times are good, David exalts the Lord and thanks him. And in bad times, he’s not afraid to lay the whole situation before God, often complaining verbosely. He writes about the situation as he perceives it. But being a human on earth, defective by definition, his perception isn’t always 100% accurate.

David should have qualified his testimony and said, “The foundations of (earthly) law and order (seem to) have collapsed. What can the righteous do?”

The collapse of earthly law is the result of people neglecting God. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights are based on biblical principles. But when leaders no longer personally uphold God’s value system, domestic laws aren’t valued like they used to be.

Christians need not worry. God is still on the throne of the universe. God is still in charge – of everything! He is our God, and we are his people!

David wraps up the psalm by answering his own questions. He’s a believer, and he already knows the answers. The Lord abhors violence. His prime directive is love, loving the Lord and loving your neighbor. He will punish the wicked, but the virtuous will see his face. Our God loves justice: fairness, honesty and integrity.

That’s our God – I’d know him anywhere!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Gift of Eternal Life!

For Sunday, October 11, 2026:

John 17:2 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Father, you have given your Son authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him.”

In this scripture, Jesus is looking upward, having a 1-on-1 with God Almighty. It appears that in heaven’s pecking order, Jesus is to look after mankind. God has given Jesus authority over the souls of all the people on earth. Turns out that’s a very good thing. Jesus has planned eternal salvation for all who are with him. Hitch your wagon to Jesus, and claim the Assurance of Salvation promised in the Bible!

Now God did not take away our freedom of choice. We can choose Jesus, or make a bad decision and reject the Son. Your choice. But here’s the bad news. We don’t get a ‘do-over.’ When we move to the next reality, our ‘Jesus’ decision is final. There’s no going back. Our destination is predetermined by the choice we made here on earth.

When Jesus says to us, “C’mon, let’s go to my Father’s house,” we want to already be moving in that direction. Jesus went ahead to prepare a place for believers. So there’s a room in heaven with your name on it! Doesn’t it feel good knowing you have a reservation?

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Holy Spirit!

For Saturday, October 10, 2026:

Mark 1:8 NLT: “John the Baptist announced: ‘I baptize you with water, but he (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!’”

During Jesus’ days, adults would make a commitment to follow the Lord. As an outward sign of an internal shift, they would be baptized by a believer, who would then lay on hands and convey the Holy Spirit to the new believer.

Later, Christians began baptizing infants. A great to-do was made of the water baptism, but regrettably, since the candidate was too young to understand, the Holy Spirit fell by the wayside. That’s something we as believers need to correct!

The Holy Spirit makes the Christian experience better, more complete. The Holy Spirit is the conduit connecting our natural world with God’s supernatural world. He helps with healing, raising the dead where appropriate, and casting out demons. Those are things that churches in the first century did regularly. In fact, one of their prime activities was casting out demons. That was considered normal Christianity!

Jesus told us to do these things and to make disciples of all nations. He never sends us on a mission without equipping us for the task. The Holy Spirit is a tool we need to fulfill Jesus’ requests. A pastor once told me, “The Holy Spirit is like your American Express card. Don’t leave home without it!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Flourishing Faith!

For Friday, October 9, 2026:

Luke 7:6-7 NLT: “Jesus went with the Jewish elders. But just before they arrived at the house, the Roman officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed.”

Healing was needed, and Jesus was the only one who could do the job! Because Jews didn’t normally associate with Romans, the Centurion asked some Jewish elders to ask this favor of Jesus. They asked, and Jesus was quick to respond. God loves everyone he created – Romans, Greeks, Jews, Gentiles. There are no separate ethnic races in heaven. There are no religious denominations in heaven. If someone needs help, let’s all pitch in and do what we can to make things better. That’s what Jesus was doing!

But the Roman soldier sent messengers, saying, “Don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home. I’m not worthy! Simply say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed!” Think about this. This Centurion must have had great faith. The Centurion must have been a believer! Wow! Friends, faith can flourish outside of Jewish norms, outside of organized Christian religions. Faith in Jesus may occur in the most unlikely of places. We just need to watch for it!

Jesus says, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” And he’s looking inside a Roman soldier’s heart, not in a synagogue. Can Jesus heal by remote control? Of course! “When the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed!” Saved by grace through faith!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Deserving???

For Thursday, October 8, 2026:

Luke 7:4-5 NLT: So the respected Jewish elders earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”

The servant of a Roman officer was dying, and he sought Jesus’ intervention in the matter. Rather than approach Jesus directly, he used Jewish elders as “go-betweens.” Later in this Gospel, we find out that the soldier doesn’t feel worthy to be in the Son’s presence, perhaps because he’s serving in Rome’s military.

The Jewish elders got it wrong when they said, “If anyone deserves your help, this man does, for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.” None of us ‘deserves’ God’s favor. God’s mercy isn’t dispensed to repay favors.

We’re all saved by grace, which by definition is undeserved favor. God isn’t keeping score. He doesn’t say, “You did this for me, so I owe you one!” Wrong, bad philosophy!

Jesus operates out of love and kindness. He sees a need, he’s able to help, so he does the next right thing. He wants believers to follow in his footsteps. Love God and love your neighbor. Be kind and helpful, not to repay favors, but because it’s the right thing to do! We’ll look at more tomorrow!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Jesus' Mission, God's Plan

For Tuesday, October 6, 2026:

John 17:1 NLT: “Jesus looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you.’”

If we had been present that day, we might not have understood what was going on. It might have appeared to us that Jesus and his Father were losing the battle. “Glorifying the Son” required his arrest, a mock trial in a kangaroo court, severe beatings and eventually, crucifixion. On the surface, it doesn’t look like things are going well!

Frankly, Jesus’ disciples were depressed. Though uneducated, they were not inherently stupid. They could sense the trend that their spiritual mentor was about to die. Regrettably, they needed to step back from the situation, or their lives too might be on the chopping block.

Nowadays, we get to look at the big picture. We now know that Jesus died carrying the sins of the world, mankind having been forgiven. Jesus would leave those sins behind as he rose again and walked away from the tomb. In one gigantic event, Jesus had defeated both sin and death! That was his mission. That fulfilled God’s plan.

So friends, don’t quickly jump to the wrong conclusion. God can turn any situation to his advantage. Continue with faith and loyalty to the Son, and trust that God is still on the throne of the universe! In the Bible, the good guys always win!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Made Right with God!

October 5, 2026, Monday Message:

Romans 10:4 NLT: “Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.”

People cling to their old ways, their old beliefs. That’s normal human behavior. The Bible says that God (and Jesus, for that matter,) are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. So most people aren’t expecting anything to change. For example, If God stated a law or issued a command, obedience should please him, and it still does. What changed is the manner in which we receive salvation.

On the cross, the sins of the world were heaped upon Jesus. He took sin to the place of the dead. Our salvation is a free, undeserved gift because of our loyalty to God’s Son. In other words, believers receive salvation, a reservation in God’s eternal Kingdom, not earning their way in but by accepting the sacrifice made for our rescue.

Today’s scripture summarizes the concept. “All who believe in Jesus are made right with God!” It’s that simple!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church