Assurance of Salvation!

For Thursday, September 3, 2026:

Romans 9:30 NLT: “What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place.”

The last sentence of today’s scripture says it all. Gentiles are made right with God through faith.

Followers of other religions try to please the Lord by doing specific things, thereby earning heaven points. For example, if you do something nice for someone, you earn heaven points. But when driving home from church, someone cuts you off in traffic, and you shake your fist at them. Now you lose heaven points. Q: How do you know when you have enough heaven points to see heaven from the inside? Or how do you know if you’ve lost enough points to be disqualified?

Last week, I was preparing to sing ‘Blessed Assurance.’ I explained how Christians have ‘Assurance of Salvation,’ something no other religion has. God wanted us to stop trying to earn our way into heaven. If we each claim Jesus as Lord of our Lives, we will be redeemed, end of story. Our salvation is by grace, a free, undeserved gift from above. Our faith, our eternal belief in the Son of God, locks in our life after this life.

So Christianity is pretty simple. Place Jesus at the top of your agenda and put your faith in his promises. Claim Assurance of Salvation just like the song says!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Truth Defended!

For Wednesday, July 29, 2026:

Colossians 2:4 NLT, Paul writing to the church in Colossae: “I am telling you these things so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments.”

2K years ago, a lot of people would frequently switch religions. The core beliefs of each group were not always clearly defined, the exception being Jews who had previously encountered the real God. But others – the idol worshipers and such – were constantly proselytizing that there was value in their ever-changing beliefs. There was not. But remember, Christianity was the new kid on the block!

Once people had been introduced to the Son of God, Paul didn’t want their minds polluted with Higher Power misinformation. The Risen Savior personally met Paul on his way to Damascus, so Paul had truth straight from the horse’s mouth. (That’s a common expression; I’m not dissing Jesus! And he’s not Mr. Ed!)

Truth is worth fighting for. Paul’s truth wasn’t based on a rumor or what some random person told him. He’d heard from Jesus, he learned the truth and he was blessed to share it with others. Paul doesn’t want any believer to be side-tracked, because truth is nonnegotiable. Truth is not up for debate.

Truth is what’s in our Bibles!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Faith!

For Thursday, October 16, 2025:

Hebrews 10:37-38a NLT: “In just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith.”

The “Coming One” refers to the second coming of Jesus the Messiah. He will arrive at the perfect time to fulfill God’s plans for the rescue of the faithful. The Bible speaks of the first Christians undergoing terrible suffering, public ridicule, beatings, losing all their possessions, and even jail. We have been blessed by living in the USA, where Christianity is the prevalent religion, and we are free to openly speak of Jesus. There’s no penalty for being a believer, but it may not always be that way. People on our planet are persecuted daily for their allegiance to Jesus.

We are saved (redeemed, granted eternal life) by grace through our faith, believing that Jesus is who He said he is, and that He will do what He said He can do. When Martin Luther was searching for Assurance of Salvation in the 1500s, he concluded that Habakkuk 2:4b was our key to eternal life: “The righteous will live by their faithfulness to God,” and that is quoted in today’s scripture. Our faith in Jesus opens the door to eternal life until He comes again to personally welcome us into the hereafter!

And that’s why we worship together, to share our faith with one another and to bolster our belief in the Messiah Jesus and the Father’s Forever Heavenly Kingdom. Remember, God always keeps his promises!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Cornerstone!

June 10, 2024, Monday Message:

1 Peter 2:6 NLT: “I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

Many people knew that there was a spiritual significance surrounding Jesus. But was this supposed to be Judaism 2.0? Or perhaps a whole new religion, something entirely different? Suffice it to say that there were believers before anyone knew how Christianity worked!

There’s a lot to take in – That all mankind has sinned; that Jesus, Son-of-God, came to arrange forgiveness of those sins. He gave his life to complete this assignment, and God calls his Son the Cornerstone, the solid foundation upon which the rest of our lives can be built!

God will be walking alongside us as we learn about his Son. As we garner more knowledge about Jesus, we’re locking in our salvation. God’s desire is that none would perish, and that all would repent and return.

Be a part of the group that repents and returns!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

One God!

For Sunday, April 7, 2024:

Colossians 1:15a NLT: “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.”

So people have been after you to sign up for the Jesus team. Why should anyone do that? Paul answers that common question with authority. “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.” Paul is, after all, the one who had a (violent) encounter with the Savior on the road to Damascus. He got his theology straightened out in a hurry on that day, and has been teaching people the truth ever since.

In John 14:9, Jesus explains who he is to Philip. “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!”

We get a little more detail in John 10:28-30: “I give my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

Jesus had claimed to be the spitting image of God. He claimed to be the source of eternal life. His religious opponents kept asking the question, “Who is this guy?,” but they didn’t like his answer. “I and the Father are one.” In the past, Jesus performed miracles and healed people, clearly power from heaven. But this, “claiming to be one with God,” seemed like blasphemy, a scriptural untruth. His opponents picked up stones!

The truth is that if you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father. Those were words straight from Jesus’ mouth, and God cannot lie! Do you believe? You should! This is a key plank in Christian theology. One of the mysteries of Christian faith is the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There are differences in how we perceive them, but deep down they’re all the same: God!

If you know Jesus, you know the Father!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Christianity!

For Wednesday, June 28, 2023:

1 John 5:13 NLT: “I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.”

In Jesus’ day and following his crucifixion, Christian theology was in the discovery mode. No books had been written. There was no New Testament added to the Bible yet. People were still trying to figure out how Christianity worked.

Observers believed Jesus was the promised Messiah. They had seen all the miracles and the 3-day resurrection. Many were eyewitnesses, but the question remained: How does all that happened result in MY salvation, MY eternal life?

In the Great Exchange, Jesus took the sins of the world to the place of the dead leaving believers suitable to spend eternity in God’s presence. It’s a free gift resulting from our belief in who Jesus is and faith that he can do what he promised. The epistle author is documenting this, so that many more can learn of eternal life made possible by the work of Jesus.

God wants us all to know the Good News!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Christians Doing Good!

For Tuesday, November 1, 2022:

Romans 12:21 NLT: “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.”

Christians are known for being good people. Whenever there’s some kind of natural disaster, Samaritan’s Purse is always among the first to respond. Christians build schools and hospitals. In my town, there’s St. Catherine University and Methodist Hospital. Their founders were not shy about letting their Christianity be known. In California, Los Angeles is the city of angels, while San Francisco honors St. Francis of Assisi.

I believe that Paul is advising the Roman Christians to be known as people who do good. The “good” nature of believers shouldn’t be kept a secret. Wear your good Christian nature on the outside, so everyone can see!

Like the song says, “They will know we are Christians by our love!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Heavenly Prize!

For Saturday, October 22, 2022:

Philippians 3:14 NLT: “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

The Apostles in Jerusalem ministered mainly to Jews who had seen the light. But Paul’s mission was to the Gentiles in Greece and later in Rome. Greeks originated the olympic games, so they were quite familiar with finishing a big race and winning a prize. Here Paul compares a Christian’s journey with an olympic race.

Running a marathon is challenging, especially considering its length. It’s easy to run to the corner and back, but 28.2 miles tempts us to just give up, to quit. Paul says, “I press on,” even when there are challenges, even when it becomes difficult. Why? Because those who complete the journey are given a “heavenly prize,” the gift of spending eternal life in the light of the Lord!

The Greeks only won olive branches. But this heavenly prize makes running the Christian race worthwhile!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Of One Mind!

 

October 17, 2022 Monday Message:

1 Peter 3:8 NLT: “Finally, Christians should all be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.”

Being “of one mind” speaks to the unity of God’s people. Most of us are willing to do this if the “one mind” lines up with “our mind!” But we also need to look at what’s best for our church, and what’s best for world-wide Christianity. We need to ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” That, then, is the right thing to do!

Peter, who lived with Jesus, describes for us the kind of warm love that should be among the people of God. We should be like family: compassionate, tender-hearted and polite to one another. Interestingly, Jesus often chose compassion over the Law. He would forgive egregious sins of the repentant, wanting to give those people a second chance!

Jesus said, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 13:35)

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

God of Provision!

For Friday, September 16, 2022:

2 Kings 4:7 NLT: “When the widow told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, ‘Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.’”

Q: Did the widow run out of jars, or did God run out of olive oil?

A widow in their group appealed to the prophet Elisha: “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”

Our God, a God of caring and provision, had Elisha tell her to gather every jar, pitcher and pot she could find and then prepare for a miracle. She sent her sons up and down the street to borrow containers from everyone. She poured from her flask into the others, filling every one until there were no unfilled containers. Then the oil stopped flowing.

So you see, God has all the provision we require. The question remains, are we ready to receive God’s gifts when he pours out his blessings on us? You can borrow containers from your neighbors if needed. That’s how Christianity is supposed to work!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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