Freedom & Truth!

For Saturday, July 4, 2026:

John 8:32 NLT, Jesus speaking: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Today we celebrate Independence Day in the US, the day the 13 United States decided to no longer answer to British monarchy. A foreign government could no longer influence our decisions. It involved a war, but we emerged victorious. That bought us some earthly freedom, but what about spiritual freedom?

Almost 1,800 years earlier, Jesus brought us truth. We remember the healings and miracles, and the knowledgeable preaching. An even bigger gift was Jesus, on the cross, taking the sins of the world upon himself, and taking those sins to the place of the dead, leaving mankind forgiven simply by declaring faith in the Son. But let’s not forget that every word spoken by Jesus was true. That truth is the foundation of our religion.

How spiritual leaders can get so far off track is a mystery to me. To many leaders, ceremony overtakes substance. The ritual itself becomes more important than our reason for celebrating. And tradition overcomes truth. “We’ve always done it that way” carries more weight than the reason for the action. Pharisees thought they had memorized God’s Laws, but they skipped the part about compassion, about loving their neighbor. Their actions didn’t line up with Jesus’ teaching.

There is really only one church – the church of Jesus Christ. So why do we have so many denominations? – over 45,000 worldwide, each claiming their way is the only way. Something’s off.

My advice would be to check your Bible and see what Jesus did. Then do that. Read Jesus’ advice. Then follow those instructions. Don’t adopt any new-agie whims. Stick with the basics. The main things are the plain things.

I treat “truth” as a noun, a desirable commodity we should all seek. (Spell-checker may disagree with me…) Jesus hasn’t rehearsed speaking “the truth.” In fact, he can do no other! If Jesus opens his mouth, truth comes out! There are no alternative narratives within him.

Jesus says that all true believers will know the truth, which is the origin of our spiritual freedom. Happy Freedom Day!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Feed Five Thousand?

For Wednesday, March 11, 2026:

Matthew 14:15-16 NLT: That evening the disciples came to Jesus and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”

But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.”

When Jesus heard that his cousin John the Baptist had been executed, he wanted some alone time. So he boarded a boat, seeking peace on the other side of the lake. It didn’t work. The huge crowd followed him up the shoreline and met him on the other side. Full of love and compassion, Jesus healed the sick among them.

That’s when his disciples advised dismissing the crowd, sending them away to obtain food. No one had had supper, let alone lunch, and this was about to become a big problem. Proving he still had a sense of humor, Jesus replied, “YOU feed them!” To understand how ridiculous this was, realize that there were 5K men present, most with their wives and some with a few kids! So the crowd could have numbered close to 20K! The disciples were horribly under-resourced! They had already counted the available food: five barley loaves and a couple of fish! No way this was going to work.

Jesus told his disciples to seat the people in groups, 50-100 people. Then he lifted the bread and fish toward heaven and blessed it. Breaking the bread and fish, he sent a suitable portion to each group and never seemed to run out of food, as if this simple meal had a never-ending supply. Everyone ate their fill, and afterward the disciples gathered up 12 baskets of leftovers!

This miracle is documented in all four Gospels, and typical emphasis seems to be on the “miracle.” That’s not bad, but I also like to remember the love and compassion Jesus showed for his loyal followers. That’s typical Jesus behavior. As we live our lives for Christ, most of us will never get the chance to feed 5K. But we’ll get plenty of chances to lend aid to those seeking the Kingdom.

When in doubt, do what Jesus did!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Love God & Neighbor!

February 23, 2026, Monday Message:

Hebrews 13:16 NLT: “Don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.”

If something in the Bible is extra-important, the writer may repeat those words. They’ll change the text only slightly while restating the principal. The Bible says it twice for emphasis. We get to see it twice so the words sink in!

To facilitate doing good and sharing, Moses taught this message, and Abraham led his followers with these principals. Later, John the baptist previewed these lessons before Jesus, who taught this behavior throughout his entire ministry. These thoughts were some of Jesus’ last reminders as he transitioned to the life after this life.

In the Epistles, followers of Jesus are teaching these things to the Hebrew believers and the Roman converts. Paul dispensed these instructions as he planted churches throughout Asia Minor.

Today, we are the ambassadors bringing these words to the world. “Love God and love your neighbor.” Be nice, be kind, be helpful. Look for the next way to do the right thing. Instead of only looking out for #1, put “Loving the Lord” at the top of your agenda, followed by “compassion and caring” for those on the short end of life. Any prayers for ourselves should come after those items!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Please pray for peace in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Drug kingpin “El Mencho” and eight of his cohorts were killed in a Mexican military operation, and the Cartels are responding with violence. The airport is closed, school is cancelled and the town is basically on fire. Buildings and vehicles are being burned, including busses and the giant Costco store. Most roads are closed, and people are advised to shelter in place. The violence is spreading to neighboring towns in and around Jalisco, including Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, all US tourist destinations. Pray for everyone’s safety, for the violent killings to end and for the peace of the Lord to reign in the region.

Compassion!

For Wednesday, January 14, 2026:

Hebrews 13:2 NLT: “Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!”

How we live our lives on earth is (among other things) a test of our compassion. I hope everyone reading this gets at least 50% on this test. 80 or 90% would be better. Only Jesus scores 100%!

Most of the civil laws and rules to which we conform are manmade laws, not God’s laws. Other than God giving the Promised Land to His Chosen People, I don’t believe he drew any lines on a map. We’re all citizens of planet Earth, and our Creator wants us all to get along. Historically, mankind hasn’t been very good at it!

Jesus said we should love the Lord and love our neighbors. God is always first. Our neighbors could be next door, in our city, state or country, or the country across the ocean. God created a lot of people to populate the planet!

Even when a man-made law is violated, we need to remember that the perpetrator is still one of God’s creations. The ones who appear wrong to us were still made in God’s image, and should be treated with love, kindness and respect.

I remember a scene from a movie. As a couple of religious types walked down the street, they encountered a falling-down drunk begging for food. His clothes were torn, he was dirty, and intoxicated beyond belief. One of the religious leaders commented as they passed, “That man is a disgrace. He needs to get his life together.”

The other replied, “Perhaps the Lord’s testing your compassion!” Guilty!

Dear Lord, please give us more compassion than criticism, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Love Your Neighbor!

 Daily message of hope...
For Sunday, July 6, 2025:

Mark 12:30-31a NLT, Jesus speaking, quoting Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus gives equal weight to both of these commandments. He’s answering Pharisees, a group known as guardians of the Law. They enforced all the “thou shalt’s” and “thou shalt not’s,” but dropped the ball when it came to loving their neighbors. In a way, Jesus is calling them on their neglect of that principle.

Jesus expects believers to be kind and helpful. Love and compassion should be on a believer’s agenda. When needed, correction should be gentle. Doing the next right thing should be a believer’s modus operandi, quite different from the prevalent ‘looking out for #1’ attitude.

The early church, The Way, prioritized loving each other. Their number increased daily as others saw what they were doing and wanted to become part of it.

Thank you, Jesus, for teaching us that loving our neighbors is as important as loving the Lord. Let’s excel at both!

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

Wash Your Soul too!

May 26, 2025, Monday Message:

Luke 11:41 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.”

I tell my grandchildren to wash their hands before we eat. God told the Jews to wash their hands before a meal. The Pharisees called it a commandment or a law, and they came up with an elaborate ceremony ensuring its implementation. Sure, it pleases God if we don’t put germs and dirt into our God-given bodies. But God’s words weren’t about religion; they were about keeping mankind healthy!

Jesus was invited to a Pharisee home for a meal, and he skipped the hand-washing part. To say the Pharisees went nuts would be an understatement! Time for Jesus to separate man-made ceremonies from common sense!

The Pharisees washed their dishes, inside and out, but only cleaned their bodies on the outside. The inside portion, their souls, were a filthy mess. Obsessed with their concern for observing the Law, they overlooked God’s commands telling them to love their neighbors. That principle was huge with Jesus, who taught that the most important commandment was loving the Lord, and the next, like it or equal to it, is to love our neighbors. A person could perform a perfect religious ceremony that would be meaningless if they showed no compassion for their fellows.

Today is Memorial Day in the US. We remember and honor our ancestors. We remember and honor those who gave their lives so that we could live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. I don’t like wars, and there are currently about 80 conflicts in our world where people are shooting at one another with real bullets! Wars are typically about power and money. And wars become good people defending themselves against evil aggression. How much better our world would be if everyone could love their neighbors like Jesus taught, rather than shooting at them!

God will eventually have his way!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Compassion!

For Wednesday, February 19, 2025:

Exodus 22:21 NLT: God’s words, telling Moses what he must teach the Israelites: “You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.”

We should all remember where we came from. If you were mistreated in Egypt, resolve to do better than the Egyptians did when foreigners enter your land.

Aliens walk a tightrope. They want to follow the traditions and rules from their homeland, but also honor the laws of the country where they now live. If someone does not follow the rules of their new country, they will not be welcomed.

What is your background? If you were ever in jail or prison, you should show compassion toward those who are incarcerated. If you were delivered from addiction, counsel and assist those still fighting the devil. If your life is pretty good, then freely share the Gospel with your fellows. They deserve to know Jesus just like you do!

You do know Jesus, don’t you?

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Common sense!

For Saturday, October 26, 2024:

John 7:24 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.”

Jesus was criticized for healing on the Sabbath. Some even wanted to kill him for that sin. But it turns out that our God is also a God of common sense.

Jesus, Son of God, saw that someone could be healed. They were miserable, and he held the solution. What a wonderful gift for that person to be healed on God’s Holy Day. The man will never forget just how good a Sabbath can be!

Male Jewish infants are to be circumcised on the eighth day, and if that falls on the Sabbath, they still do the work. 2,000 years ago, people lived in an agriculture-based society, so everyone fed and watered their animals, even though it might be the Sabbath. It seems the Temple leaders were OK with their agenda for the Sabbath, just not Jesus’ Sabbath behavior.

I’ve used this example before. Pretend you’re driving home from church, and you see a mom with two little kids in her car, and the vehicle has a flat tire. Should you stop and help, or express sympathy and tell her you’ll be back on Monday when work is allowed? She has a big problem now, and needs a solution now, not tomorrow. It’s the perfect time to love your neighbor and to do what Jesus would have done, and Jesus always did the right thing!

Kindness, helpfulness and compassion are not limited to six days a week!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Son of God!

For Thursday, October 17, 2024:

Matthew 16:15-16 NLT: “Jesus asked his disciples, ‘Who do you say I am?’

Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one; the Son of the living God.’”

Believers are adopted into the Holy Family, children of God, and therefore, modern-day disciples. If you had been in that group and Jesus called upon you to answer his question, would you have the correct answer on the tip of your tongue, just like Simon Peter?

Messiah is a Hebrew word; Christ is a Greek word; both mean anointed one, the one chosen by God himself. Peter is testifying that Jesus is more than just another human being. Jesus is “heaven-sent,” sent by God Almighty to offer forgiveness of sins to believers, and to course-correct religion on earth.

Even those who knew God and loved the Lord got the details of religion wrong. Even those who worshiped at the Temple and taught at the Temple didn’t get religion right. I believe the most egregious error was the lack of compassion and caring for others. To say that people at that time were self-centered would be an understatement. The people needed to be taught about being nice, kind, helpful and loving their neighbors. That’s what the Bible said long before Jesus came to earth. It’s time everyone got it right!

Jesus knows exactly what we need to do. After all, he’s the Son of the Living God!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

New Commandment!

For Friday, October 11, 2024:

1 John 4:21 NIV: “Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.”

God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are pretty locked in on this “Love” command. But what if your fellow is a jerk? Really shouldn’t happen, should it? But we are told to forgive. How many times? Peter asked if seven was enough, but Jesus said 70 x 7 was a better answer.

Here are some of Jesus’ final words before going to the cross: “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” This really wasn’t a new command. It had been around for 3,000 years, but God’s command wasn’t being honored. Jesus spent his whole life trying to change that. He was constantly encouraging people to be kind and helpful, to show compassion and offer forgiveness to one another. That’s what he did. It was kind of a new concept to these believers, because they hadn’t been obeying it.

But this is how the first church, The Way, grew rapidly. Members were sharing and taking care of one another. People liked what they saw, and wanted to become a part of it. Christianity grew through attraction.

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

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Love from the Heart!

For Wednesday, September 25, 2024:

1 John 3:23b NLT: “We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.”

The Bible’s message never changes: Love God and love your neighbor. And that includes loving Jesus, who holds the keys to forgiveness and eternal life!

Yes, loving God and loving our neighbor is a command from God, but our reward doesn’t come from being good at following instructions or obeying rules. Your Father desires to see concrete examples of love in action, of caring and of kindness. We are to abandon narcissistic behavior and adopt compassion as our standard mode of operation.

Love puts a smile on God’s face!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

God's Way!

For Friday, September 20, 2024:

James 1:27 EASY: “If you want to serve God in a completely good way, do things like this: Help children who have no parents and women who are widows. Help them in their troubles. If you serve God our Father like that, he will be pleased with you. Do not let the bad people in this world make you bad too.”

James was writing to the 12 tribes of Israel. He might as well have been writing to everyone on the planet! The world had fallen into an “eye for an eye” way of living. Most people only looked out for #1, themselves. This revenge-centered “get even” philosophy left the world a bitter place. I believe Satan had a hand in this.

God designed mankind to live in community, to be kind and helpful to each another. Jesus had to re-teach benevolence, loving our neighbors and looking out for one another. Widows and orphans should never have to worry if they can get by. That they’re included in a community of believers should assure not only their survival, but a good quality of life.

Believers are to love their neighbors, and be kind, helpful and useful. Be joyful and smile. Don’t allow the world to extinguish your fire. Like the song says, “They will know we are Christians by our love!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship