Decision/Assurance!

For Saturday, April 18, 2026:

Romans 8:3 NLT: “The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.”

God’s preferred outcome is that every sinner would repent, return to Him and join Him in the hereafter. Mankind has been given free choice to accept God’s offer or not. The correct choice is obvious, so only a few will intentionally decide incorrectly. The biggest hangup in the US is procrastination by fence-sitters. If someone hasn’t decided to accept forgiveness through God’s Son, it’s counted as a ‘no’ vote. When I did work for Billy Graham, we had a daily radio show called “Decision Today,” the premise being that “today” is always the best day, the preferred day, to make your decision for Christ. Tomorrow may be too late!

Other parts of the world are littered with false gods. Friends, there is only one God, the Creator of everything. The false gods may appear good on the surface. They encourage everyone to do good things and to be kind. Think of a balance scale, where a person is trying to pile up enough good on one side to outweigh the bad on the other. When do we have enough good? I don’t know, and neither do they! In the false religions, no one is ever guaranteed heaven (or paradise.)

Christianity is different. Jesus personally paid the penalty for our sins, past, present and future. Therefore believers, having a clean slate, are eligible to spend eternity in the Lord’s presence. Jesus promised to go ahead to prepare a place for believers, and we are blessed with Assurance of Salvation, something no other religion has!

Now sing a chorus of Blessed Assurance, thank Jesus for covering your sins, put a smile on your face and have a great day!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Idols!

May 20, 2024 Monday Message:

Ephesians 5:5 NLT: “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and of God”

Paul is teaching a huge perspective on theology. But it’s really quite simple. Christians should endeavor to be more like Jesus. Therefore no immorality, nothing impure and no greed should exist in the church. If immorality gets in the way of loving the Lord, then it would appear that person must love the immorality more than he loves the Lord, and something that occupies God’s rightful first place is an idol! As members of the Holy Family, idols should not be an option!

In Jesus’ day, when many people didn’t know the truth of the real God, people were still searching for something to worship. They would invent a god for good weather, bountiful crops – even a god of sexual pleasure. They would make up an image to represent that false god and manufacture multiple copies of the image which could be bought, sold and traded. Apparently god could come from Hallmark! Pagans would buy the images representing their god, and keep them in their homes. Their god became a statuette that could sit on their mantle keeping watch over the entire household. Totally incorrect, and yet somehow convenient!

Nowadays many things can divert our focus from God. Cell phones may top the list, especially among upcoming generations. The internet, sports, jobs and money can all take more of our time than we devote to God. We need to exert extra effort to keep God in first place!

Give God a little extra time today!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship