Love Your Neighbor!

For Wednesday, May 6, 2026:

John 15:12 NLT, Jesus speaking: “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”

Life was not easy 2K years ago. If you wanted to eat, you had to grow food. If you wanted meat, you or someone you knew well needed to butcher an animal, no small task. You could perhaps barter for food by trading your skill, but there was no Cub, Rainbow, Hy-Vee or Aldi. Consequently, the standard modus operandi was to selfishly look out for #1. (or #1’s family.) Daily living became competitive!

When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, he answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” He continued, “The second is like the first: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus was setting forth a new paradigm for how to live one’s life. He was teaching mankind to be less competitive in daily living.

Be nice. Be kind, be helpful. Share what you have with others who don’t have anything. Do the next right thing. These commands all fit with Jesus’ goal.

You can see it play out after the Pentecost celebration following Jesus’ ascension. On Pentecost, thousands pilgrimaged to Jerusalem for the celebration. Simon Peter got up on his soap box and said essentially the same things that got Jesus killed. This time, the crowd listened and asked, “What should we do?”

Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” 3,000 new believers were added to their group that day. Wow! Imagine 3K new members all showing up at your church on the same day! That’s a big problem, but a good problem to have! These newbies didn’t have any place to live, didn’t have more than a day’s food, and didn’t have jobs in Jerusalem. Yeah, big problem. Let’s see how it played out.

Acts 2 concludes, “All the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity — all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.”

Jesus wants us to love our neighbors. It worked out on the first Pentecost, and it can still work out today. Decide today to live Jesus’ way!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Joy!

For Tuesday, May 5, 2026:

John 15:11 NLT, Jesus speaking: “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”

Jesus spent a lot of his time teaching the faithful. He wanted everyone to know how his Father expects them to live. He states unchangeable principles such as honesty and truth. And he foretells the future, wanting believers to have hope.

Many things will happen to fulfill God’s plan, things that may be confusing. Jesus wants to clear things up and let everyone know what to expect. One example is that mankind’s sins will be forgiven, taken away as if they never happened. That sounds good, but the human side of Jesus will die in the process, and that sounds bad. The truth is that everything is good that lines up with God’s plan. Seeing God’s plan come to fruition should bring us joy.

Happiness can be fleeting, but the joy of the Lord comes from substance. Happiness results from circumstances, and the circumstances around you are forever changing. Interestingly, “circumstance” is the same root word as “circus!” Does your life have three rings and a bear on a bicycle? That’ll put a smile on your face, make you happy, but nothing of substance, nothing that really matters lives there. When the bear falls off the bike, the smile falls off your face.

Not so with the joy of the Lord. God gives us a new day each morning and fills us with joy! We read God’s word in the Bible, and that reinforces our joy! We meet our friends and coworkers – more joy! God’s joy is permanent, something that matters, something of substance. It was God’s plan to rescue repentant believers. He took us under his wing, adopted us into the holy family, and that’s forever! We can look forward to living in God’s eternal heavenly Kingdom in the place Jesus has prepared for us, where joy abounds!

We can decide how to live our lives – substance or circumstances, God’s way or the world’s way, fleeting happiness or rock solid joy. Choose wisely!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Prejudice!

May 4, 2026, Monday Message:

Luke 4:22 NLT: “Everyone spoke well of Jesus and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. ‘How can this be?’ they asked. ‘Isn’t this Joseph’s son?’”

Prejudice. It’s a practical word that has taken on a bad connotation. Nowadays, when we think of prejudice, we think of people from one country disliking those of another, simply because they’re from that other country. Racial prejudice is hate based only on skin color. And a number of people always seem to hate the Jews, but I’m never quite sure why.

Prejudice simply means “to pre-judge.” Prejudice could be based on logical assumptions, and not necessarily hateful in nature. In human terms, Jesus was the son of Joseph, so everyone assumed that Jesus would have learned from his father, who was a tektōn, a builder or craftsman. Given the lack of trees in the region and the amount of stone available, it’s more likely that Joseph was a stone mason rather than a carpenter.

But the people are amazed when Jesus reads scripture and speaks in the Synagogue. They hadn’t seen this coming! If he could artfully cut stone, that would have fit their prejudice. But to discover that Jesus could not only read scripture, truly understand scripture, and clearly explain it to others didn’t fit their pre-judged model. Jesus’ gracious words were contrary to what was normal for the time, looking out only for oneself. Again, it wasn’t what they expected.

Jesus is setting the stage for what bystanders around him should expect to see in the future. Friends, prepare yourselves. Expect the unexpected. Watch for problems to be supernaturally resolved. Miracles will be brought to fruition right before your eyes. You can watch it all happen, and wonder, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” Don’t allow your prejudice to overturn what your eyes can see!

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

Invite & Include!

For Sunday, May 3, 2026:

Colossians 1:7 NLT: “You learned about the Good News (Gospel) from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker.”

How did you learn about Jesus? You’re fortunate if your parents taught you, brought you to church as a child. But nowadays, many people aren’t so lucky. A lot of families don’t have a church home, and may not be believers.

Consequently our territory, our evangelism responsibility increased. One pastor I know claims people are in our pews because somebody told somebody who told somebody. I believe that’s right!

Two words need to be in our vocabulary: invite and include. “I’d like to invite you to my church. Where you live is on my way. I could pick you up next Sunday!” -or- Three of us are going to the Bible study at my church. There’s room in the car for a fourth. We’d like to include you!”

Jesus told all believers to make disciples of all nations, not just the pastors. We should start in our own backyards!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Family Business!

For Friday, May1, 2026:

Romans 8:14 NLT: “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”

In this life, we don’t get to choose our families. We stick with them not because they’re always desirable, but because they’re blood-relatives. You may have heard that blood is thicker than water, meaning that family ties are strong. But what if you could choose your family? In a way, we can!

Believers have been adopted into the holy family. John writes, “But to all who believed Jesus and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” Since we can choose to follow Jesus, we can choose to be members of his family. We are “born again” into the family of God!

We used to sing a song with the words, “Come join the family, the family of God.” That implies more than just joining a church or aligning with a denomination. There’s really only one church, the church of Jesus the Messiah. That’s the family to join. Jesus’ invitation is open!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church