Resurrection Sunday – Easter!

For Resurrection Sunday, April 5, 2026:

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

Matthew 28:6 NLT, an Angel speaking: “Jesus isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen.”

According to Jewish tradition of that time, women would prepare a body for its final resting place. So it’s logical that Mary Magdalene, from whom Jesus had cast out seven demons, would be the first to show up, along with the other Mary, mother of James and Joseph. They had been frightened by a sound like an earthquake, made by this gigantic angel descending to earth and rolling away the humongous stone from the tomb. The angel sat on the stone, as if to make a point!

By this time, most believers had given up. Jesus died three days ago. We saw the spear in his side. We watched as his limp body was placed in the tomb. No one person could move the stone sealing the burial place. Besides, it was being guarded by Pilate’s soldiers.

When the women arrived to tend to the body, they were confronted by the angel sitting on the stone that no one could move. “Don’t be afraid!” he said, always an angel’s first words. You should know that angels aren’t those cute little figurines that you see at Hallmark. ‘Angel Army of Heaven’ would be a better way to put it. Big, hairy audacious angels. (I don’t know if they’re hairy; it just sounded cool…) “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen.” Mark this down as one more time that prophecy turned out to be true, that Jesus’ words were synonymous truth!

The angel further instructs the women: “Now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.”

The women took off immediately, but suddenly encountered Jesus along the way. “Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”

Jesus conquered sin and death with the same event! Repentant believers are snatched from Satan’s hand and granted eternal life in God’s eternal heavenly Kingdom. And death is not the end. Believers are born again!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Raised from the Dead!

For Sunday, January 4, 2026:

Romans 6:4b NLT: “Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”

Believers are inextricably linked with Jesus the Christ, although His way is a path from which we should not want to escape. In fact, we should think of a link with Jesus as a gift. If we aren’t connected with Jesus, we’d have no chance at the glorious life after this life that awaits believers. If we are sincere believers, total forgiveness and salvation reserve our place in the hereafter.

And friends, isn’t that all we really want, to live in God’s eternal kingdom? Only good people will be there, those who are radically transformed by the redeeming nature of Christ Almighty. The forgiven will be our neighbors. We may be surprised at how nice everyone is! In Heaven, it will be like everyone is on their best behavior. If God – Father, Son or Holy Spirit – asks us to help out with something, we won’t hesitate. We would be honored to be invited to participate on the winning team!

Jesus rose from the dead in three days, fully restored and still eager to serve God the Father. Even though the sin of the world was heaped upon him as he died on the cross, he took that burden to the place of the dead and left it there. He was given a second chance to change the minds of those who watched him die three days ago, and now see him dancing a jig on the grave of sin. Someone brought back to life should turn heads!

Like Jesus, mankind was burdened with sin, but believers have born again, given a second chance to get things right. When you get to the pearly gates, confidently tell the gatekeeper that you’re with the guy seated just to the right of God. That’s His Son, Jesus! He’ll welcome you with open arms!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Change!

December 29, 2025, Monday Message:

Romans 6:1 NLT: “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not!”

A change of heart on our part would be evidence of our gratitude for God’s gift of forgiveness and salvation. The Lord’s efforts are effective and efficient. He doesn’t seem to waste his time doing needless stuff. So God planned to rescue those who need rescuing. (Friends, that’s all of us!) A Savior wouldn’t have been sent unless people needed saving.

Being born again implies a second chance to get things right, to prioritize the Lord in our lives. We should learn from our past mistakes. The Bible word translated ‘repent’ means to change, like a change of direction. “We were going north, but God showed us that we should have been traveling south!” Radical transformation should be the result of God’s gift, God’s grace. Continued sinning should be out of the question.

God’s gift should bring about positive change!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Gospels!

For Tuesday, April 22, 2025:

John 20:31 NLT: “This (the Gospel of John) is all written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have (eternal) life by the power of his name.”

John may have been the disciple closest to Jesus. He is referred to as “the disciple that Jesus loved.” Of course, Jesus loved them all, but John was special. While on the cross, Jesus entrusted John with caring for Mary, his earthly mother.

John’s is the last Gospel written, which would have allowed him more time to get his thoughts together, and in fact his writings include information not found in the other three Gospels. John’s Gospel is often suggested as a good place for new Christians to begin reading.

That we have any of the Gospels speaks to the obedience of their authors. Jesus didn’t want his journey to earth and his monumental sacrifice for the souls of mankind to not be remembered. He commanded us to share this Good News with all nations, all people, and these four narratives of Jesus’ life, events and spoken words are the cornerstones of our faith.

John tells us that Jesus came into the very world he created. And to all who believed Jesus and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God, adopted into the Holy Family, brothers and sisters of our Savior. Believers are reborn, and that’s a good thing!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Hope!

For Tuesday, November 19, 2024:

1 Thessalonians 4:13 NLT: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.”

The original Greek reads, “...believers who have fallen asleep,” and there’s a certain rationalization in this. Remember that Jesus was crucified and died, but later was resurrected, brought back to life. So to the casual observer, it may have appeared that Jesus was simply sleeping, then later re-awakened. In fact, a primary argument of non-believers was that Jesus hadn’t actually died!

But we know that Jesus did in fact die. No heartbeat; no pulse; no brain waves. Believe me, the centurions knew what they were doing when it came to crucifixion! Believers uphold the miracle of resurrection, someone who died being brought back to life. If Jesus hadn’t died, there’d be no reason for a resurrection miracle! If he was just sleeping and woke up, it wouldn’t be worth celebrating! But we know the truth!

Consequently, we have hope as promised in 1 Peter 1:3: “According to his (God’s) great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” In other words, just like Jesus, we will be blessed with a life after this life. Believers won’t die, nor will we sleep forever. Jesus confirmed our reservation in the heavenly Kingdom!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Born Again!

For Saturday, September 14, 2024:

John 1:13 NLT: “Believers are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”

The other day I was trying to write using my computer, and nothing was working right. Files would disappear; unexpected spaces would appear within words; nothing would “save.” Embarrassingly, it had been weeks since I totally shut down my computer, and as you probably already guessed, the solution was to completely shut down and reboot. After that, everything worked fine. I’m sure there’s a technical term, but I think my device just got confused; too much going on!

When new believers give up the world and return to God, he gives us a fresh start, a reboot. The Bible calls it being born again. This is where we get the term Born-again Christians. Making a commitment to follow Jesus is a dividing line drawn in your life. Your standards and value system were one way before Jesus. But after Jesus, everything changed. It’s better this way. Life makes sense this way. Living according to God’s plan is the better way.

We are blessed by being given a do-over, a fresh start at life. Jesus lets us take a Mulligan on the back nine!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

All in!

For Sunday, April 21, 2024:

Colossians 3:17 ESV: “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

The new person, the born-again person, lives life, all of life, for Jesus! If you’re “all in” with the Jesus program, there’s no going back! There’s no changing your mind. Backsliding shouldn’t be an option!

I’ve previously compared a life dedicated to serving Jesus to getting into a swimming pool. The wrong way to do it is to go to the shallow end and put one toe at a time into the water, because you’re still not sure. The right way to do is to approach the deep end, get a running start, jump high in the air, and – ker-splash! If the water’s cold or hot, it doesn’t matter. You’re fully immersed in the Savior, and that’s a good place to be! Furthermore, it’s an “all in” commitment. If the going gets tough, none of us can levitate our bodies up and out of the water. Like I said, there’s no going back!

There is no decision more important than making an “all in” commitment to Jesus!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

New Life!

For Sunday, April 14, 2024:

Colossians 3:1 NLT: “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.”

Remember that the ‘old you’ should have died with Christ. True Christians have been ‘born again.’ You should be living a new, different, better way. If you’re not, check to see that you’ve given permission for your old self to die. ‘Born again’ isn’t an add-on concept to what you’ve already been doing. It’s totally discarding the old way of living. God is good, and he sent his Son to help us make a fresh start. We have graciously been granted a ‘do-over,’ with heaven being the reward!

Paul wrote, “Set your sights on the realities of heaven, on things above rather than earthly things,” and also, “I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above.”

"Keep your eyes on the prize” is more than a civil rights song. It’s a biblical principal that we all should know. As Christians, we devotedly follow Jesus. His goal for us is eternity in the presence of God, and we should never forget not just what we believe, but also WHY we believe. Be constantly aware of the prize.

Don’t be someone for whom Christianity is just a habit. Some go to church every Sunday but aren’t sure why. They attend Bible studies to see their friends. They donate a little extra for the widows and orphans, because it seems like the right thing to do. But many have lost sight of the goal, the prize, which is that if we believe (faith) Jesus has prepared a place for us in the hereafter (grace.)

Focus on the prize, the great eternal life prepared especially for you!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The "New" You!

For Saturday, April 13, 2024:

Colossians 2:20-21 NLT: “You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, ‘Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!’?”

This scripture touches on difficult-to-grasp concepts. It points out the difference between the old you who lived for the world, and the new you who lives for Christ. The old you must die; the new you is ‘born again!’ The old covenant is history. Jesus gave us a new deal, a new covenant. Everything should be different now that Jesus is living in our hearts!

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that most religions tend to over-value their rituals and traditions. Performing a certain ceremony won’t get you into heaven. Honoring centuries-old traditions won’t matter when you’re stepping into the next reality. Repeating a 2,000-year-old prayer that someone else wrote won’t impress God. He wants to know what’s in YOUR heart. Where does YOUR passion lie?

Those ‘do not, do not, do not’ instructions describe legalistic religions, where the laws of man are erroneously taught as the laws of God. Those people believe that if you can perfectly follow all the rules, you may get to see paradise; but no promises! Following traditions has no real value, whereas loving the Lord has eternal benefits!

Being a Christian requires positive action, doing things that we should do. We do our best to live like Jesus lived, and to love God and our neighbors.

Mankind prioritizing rules and traditions is mankind reaching up hoping to touch heaven. Christianity is God reaching down to mankind in love, through his Son Jesus! May we all be blessed with a touch from God today!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Super-Natural!

For Saturday, June 3, 2023:

1 Peter 1:3b-4 NLT: “It is by God’s great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.”

Our God believes in forgiveness and second chances. Jesus took the sin of the world upon himself, and gave mankind a fresh start. By confessing our sins and acknowledging Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have been assured of salvation. We are saved by grace through faith!

God can redeem us out of any worldly situation. Any! God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are supernatural, not constrained by our human limitations. God has the power to derail Satan and his evil plans for us, and he will do just that! Believers are born again as children of the Almighty. So protecting us is family business!

Pray and expect a miracle from a supernatural God!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

God's Children!

For Thursday, April 20, 2023:

1 John 2:29 NLT: “Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.”

There’s that phrase again, “Children of God,” just like John 1:12: “To all who believed Jesus and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” Believers have been forgiven, given a clean slate and a fresh start. Believers are born-again into the Holy Family. “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Cor. 5:17

Out of gratitude for what Jesus did for us, believers do their best to do what is right in God’s eyes. Believers follow the Son obediently. If we encounter someone standing up for morality, for God’s value system, odds are that person is a Christian. Being human, we won’t get it right 100% of the time. But we will trend in the direction of instinctively doing what is right in our Father’s eyes.

The children of God have a family resemblance to their Father in heaven. He is righteous, so members of the Holy Family also try to do what is right!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Agape Love!

For Saturday, February 11, 2023:

Matthew 7:9 NIV, Jesus speaking: “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?”

It’s been said that home is where when you go there, they have to let you in. No matter what! That’s unconditional love, which the New Testament calls agape love, not to be confused with sexual love or brotherly love. Agape is the highest form of love, the love of God for mankind and our love for our Lord. It’s similar to the love a parent has for their children. We love our children unconditionally, in spite of their faults.

Jesus teaches us to think of God as our Father in heaven, and he’s saying here that if we pray for bread, God will not give us a stone. If we pray for a fish, God won’t give us a snake. Parents forgive their offspring’s shortcomings and always want them to have the best. God is good – all the time!

"To all who believed Jesus and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” Not from a physical birth or plan, but reborn according to God’s grace, adopted into the Holy family, beneficiaries of agape love - forever!

We’re all family now!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship