Sin's Influence!

For Wednesday, April 22, 2026:

Romans 8:5 NLT: “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.”

Think about it. What dominates your mind? If your mind wanders and you find yourself daydreaming, what was your topic?

Satan wants to plant sinful thoughts in your mind because the result is so predictable. At first, a lot of sin can appear to be fun, releasing dopamine, the feel-good hormone, into our brains. Mankind seems to find excitement in taking a little risk, in doing something just a little bit naughty. But as Christians, that isn’t where we should be.

The lie is in thinking that sin is fun, but the truth is that in the long run, sin is devastating. (Satan is always telling us lies!) Sin destroys homes and families, can separate children from their parents, and is a bad example for the next generation. But even worse, it saddens your Father in heaven.

Let me make a broad theological assumption. I’m guessing that if you’ve prayed and asked Jesus to be Lord and Savior of your life, you weren’t intending to exclude Father God or the Holy Spirit. Being a Trinity, you can’t really have one without the others. Being a Christian is family business, the family of God.

So get out of the driver’s seat of your daily life, and let the Holy Spirit call the shots. The Holy Spirit is not influenced by Satan’s temptations, and your life will immediately improve. Tune your ears to only listen to the words of God!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Reciprocal Love!

For Thursday, December 4, 2025

Romans 5:5b NLT: “We know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

Love is reciprocal. Bi-directional. God loves us so much that it becomes easy to love him back. So put the Lord up on a pedestal and add worship to your lives in abundance!

God’s timing is always perfect. When mankind was floundering, he sent Jesus to rescue us. Now that Jesus has returned to the Father, the Holy Spirit has been sent to be our helper and our advocate. As children of God, Heaven is where we belong. Eventually. God is trying to make it easy for us to come home. The Holy Spirit will guide us. Home is where when you go there, theyhave to let you in!

 When we become believers, we’re adopted into the family of God. We receive the rights, privileges and benefits of being a family member. We can inherit salvation! As we transition from this life to the next, Jesus will be there to welcome us with open arms. Jesus is the light of the world, and we should always pursue light, not darkness.

I wish churches would teach more about the Holy Spirit. He’s one-third of the Trinity, but seems to be on the short end of receiving screen time. Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations, but I don’t think I could ever do that on my own. The Earth is just too big! But a team with each member possessing different God-given gifts and talents can bring Jesus’ goal into focus.

Can you heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out demons? By yourself, no. With the Holy Spirit, maybe, if it fits with God’s purpose and timetable. For example, if someone is dying because God is calling them home, we should leave well enough alone. But if someone is dying because demons are disrupting things, we should cast out the demon(s) and heal the illness. God’s way is always the right way! The Holy Spirit will help!

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. He’s already loving you back!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Designed to be Included!

For Friday, January 3, 2025:

Genesis 1:27 NLT: “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

Things created alike tend to stick together. For example, most birds fly south for the winter, but we don’t find mallards in the same flying V with geese. A herd of sheep is just that – sheep! Don’t look for horses among the sheep. (Sheep chew grass right down to the roots! There’d be nothing left to sustain the horses!) Creepy-crawly things stay closer to the ground, and no one wants to live alongside bears and alligators! They keep to themselves. Fish live in schools and dolphins travel in pods, each sticking with their own kind.

God created mankind in His image, after His own kind. So friends, we were designed from the ground up to be members of God’s family, included in God’s community. I remember singing: “Come join the family, the family of God.” That’s a good idea, but we don’t have to JOIN – we’ve already been designed that way! Jesus taught us to pray to “our Father in heaven,” and he wasn’t wrong! Our heavenly Father loves us, cares for us and wants nothing but the best for us! He wants to include us in all that he is doing.

We are blessed to be included in the family of God. God, in His wisdom, intentionally designed us that way!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Family of God!

For Sunday, October 27, 2024:

2 John 4 NLT: “How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded.”

I see a lot of grandparents bringing their grandchildren to church, and sometimes the grandparents are raising these kids themselves, which brings up the question, where are their parents? I call this the missing generation.

Far too many of them have fallen to Satan and his demons. Satan invented drug abuse, alcoholism and gangs – anything to divert one’s attention from God Almighty. Those victims of the devil’s mischief have traded a moment of pleasure for a lifetime of misery.

God’s commandments were designed to keep us safe. Those who have fallen can flip Satan’s script by calling on Jesus. Getting back on track is possible with Jesus, but it really won’t work without him.

I always enjoy seeing new babies in church. That’s how families start! So in our churches, we need to welcome the moms and dads and all the children. God created man and woman and the means to procreate, so this “family system” is part of God’s design. Infants can’t care for themselves yet; they need to be part of a family, and that includes a church family. Socialization should be taught by including everyone in the body of Christ.

After all, we’re all brothers and sisters; we’re all children of God!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Family of God!

For Saturday, October 12, 2024:

1 John 5:1 NLT: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too.”

God commanded that we are to honor our parents, but what if that doesn’t work out? I frequently read about problems in families because of absentee fathers, where there is no male leader to set an example for the youth or to make them toe the line. I’ve read of drug-addicted moms who chose to pursue their sin and then left the kids behind. Sometimes there are no parents to honor. What then?

Did you ever consider choosing your own family? I know, it sounds ridiculous, but people in churches call each other “brother” and “sister” for a reason. We can choose people with whom to do life, and believers have indeed signed up for this new family. Believers are “children of God,” adopted into the Holy Family and given all the rights and privileges of natural-born sons or daughters.

We’ll fit right in, because the family we choose shares our values. We all believe Jesus is the Son of the Living God. We believe that Jesus is the only way, the truth and path to eternal life.

Jesus arranged to forgive our sins, and will prepare a place for us in the hereafter. It’s a great family!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Sing To the Lord!

For Wednesday, October 9, 2024:

Jeremiah 20:13 NLT: “Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For though I was poor and needy, he rescued me from my oppressors.”

Jesus can rescue you from physical, earthly problems, like being poor and needy. And Jesus can stifle your oppressors and buy you some breathing room. If you trust in Jesus, he can also solve your spiritual dilemmas, freeing you from sin and preparing a place for you in the hereafter. That’s why he deserves our praise and worship!

So let’s wrap up our discussion of worship. Q: Are you singing TO the congregation, or leading so that THEY can sing songs of praise? I was taught to maintain 2 different song lists, one for each of those categories. The songs we LEAD – that the congregation sings – are the ones we use in our church service, like hymns in traditional worship. Songs that we sing TO the congregation are used as pre-service walk-in music, offertory, sermon support and exit music. A sermon support song is about a specific topic, reinforcing the message and scripture for the day.

All our music for church should be the best that it can be. We strive for excellence, but keep in mind that there’s a fine line between striving for excellence and OCD. Some days things will go better than others. That’s gonna happen. The important thing is that everyone tries, that everyone gives 100%. After all, this is for the Lord! If everyone tries their best and the performance doesn’t work out, I don’t chew anybody out. That performance is over – it’s history! After all, they gave their best. But next time we hit the platform, we will again give it our best, and it will go better!

As we’re rehearsing music, making suggestions and corrections, someone always comments, “It’s not a show.” True, but we have a program to lead, and it starts at 10AM! (Insert your own number.) People will be coming in, and newcomers will be getting their first impression of our church, and as the saying goes, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression! As we present Jesus to everyone present, we need to make a strong, positive presentation, creating the impression that we’re happy to be there and that we’ve really got it together. We’re praying that newcomers like what they see, and that they would want to become a part of our church family.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Family Business!

For Saturday, September 9, 2023:

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

We all desire fellowship. It seems that mankind fares better when surrounded by love and friendship. And everyone wants to be “included!”

The Good News is that believers – those with Jesus in their hearts and led by the Spirit – are adopted into the Holy Family! Believers become “children of God!” Count on a loving Father taking good care of his children. Believers are never alone!

Welcome to the family!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Faith = Victory!

For Wednesday, June 14, 2023:

1 John 5:4 NLT: “Every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.”

The Bible tells us that despite Satan’s best efforts, believers will be victorious over the ways of the sinful world. Believers are, after all, children of God!

The Bible says that believers achieve this victory because of our faith, faith in who Jesus is and belief that he can and will do what he promised. Jesus himself was the sacrifice for the sins of the world, and with our sins forgiven, we can join him in returning to heaven. Do you believe this? Do you have faith in the promises of Jesus?

Faith is like your car battery. Without recharging, it will soon run out of juice! We can recharge by plugging in to our Bibles, attending a church and associating with fellow believers. We recharge not just by attending church, but by doing the church stuff: showing kindness, being helpful, making things go better and loving our neighbors.

If we persist in this type of service, our Holy Spirit gauge will read “Full!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Son of God!

For Saturday, April 1, 2023:

Matthew 16:15-16 NLT: “Then Jesus asked his disciples, ‘But who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’”

Some thought Jesus was John-the-Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. These people were just guessing, conjecturing, but they didn’t know Jesus very well. They had been watching for a Messiah to free them from the Roman government, but Jesus was here to solve their sin-problem!

Jesus felt it was important to clarify his identity, to make sure his closest friends knew the truth. He started with Simon-Peter: “Who do you say I am?”

Simon-Peter was quick to answer: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus goes on to say, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.” So God’s favor is upon a person when they acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God and claim him as their Savior. Jesus said so!

Welcome to the Holy Family!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Children of God!

For Wednesday, October 19, 2022:

Ephesians 3:6 NLT: “This is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.”

Paul, leading his posse to persecute Christians, was struck down on the road to Damascus, where Jesus himself called Paul into Christian ministry. Blind for 3 days, Paul was led into the city. His sight was restored and he was baptized by Christians. Paul is the only evangelist in the Bible personally called by Jesus after the resurrection!

While Paul was blind, the Bible says that Jesus questioned his persecution of Christians. At the same time, I believe Jesus also gave Paul a great deal of knowledge and theological detail. We can believe everything that Paul’s preaching, because his new theology came straight from the Messiah!

The Son of God came to the world through the Jews, but he is to be the Savior of ALL the world, and Paul makes this clear. Anyone who is a believer – slave or free, male or female, Jew or Gentile – becomes one of God’s children, a member of the Holy Family, with all the rights and privileges of any family member.

Children of God become residents in the Kingdom!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Children of God!

For Saturday, October 8, 2022:

Psalm 87:6 NLT: “When the Lord registers the nations, he will say, ‘They have all become citizens of Jerusalem.’”

While Jerusalem is a real city in Israel, it is also God’s metaphor for the Holy City, a place where the family of God gathers. Jesus, in the Great Commission, called believers to make disciples of all nations. New disciples, having been ‘born again,’ are then adopted into the Holy Family; they are now known as ‘Children of God!’ “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1)

Being a child of God comes with certain rights and responsibilities. A new disciple - a radically transformed individual – should stand up for the Holy Family and participate in what the rest of the family is doing. Being one of God’s children, you stand to inherit eternity in the presence of the Lord, along with the rest of His family, in His Kingdom!

Welcome to Jerusalem!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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