Love vs Hate!

December 22, 2025, Monday Message:

John 15:24 NLT, Jesus speaking: “If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father.”

People are fickle. Their attitudes toward others swing back and forth like a pendulum. We excitedly welcome a new baby, but may grow to hate them later in life. Sometimes that behavior is justified; sometimes, not.

On the church calendar, we draw close to Christmas, celebrating the birth of our savior. Believers had waited over 700 years for the prophesied Messiah. Angels told us that Jesus was the one! God doesn’t send His Messenger Angels on a fool’s errand. If the message is heaven-sent, it’s true!

Here’s what’s odd. Fishermen, laborers and even a tax collector became believers. Priests, religious teachers and Temple leaders never got on the Jesus bandwagon. They weren’t prepared to worship a triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That concept was new, a deviation from their present theology. They thought they had it all figured out. They did not!

I believe power and money stood in the way of a sound decision. Yes, Jesus taught at the Temple, but only in the outer courtyards. He was never accepted into the inner circle of Temple leadership. Furthermore, if Jesus taught and people brought tithes, they were supporting Jesus and his disciples, not the Temple treasury.

Jesus is declaring unbelievers guilty, guilty of not using their eyes, ears and the brain God gave them. If you consider all the miracles and healings performed by Jesus, there is only one logical conclusion: That Jesus is indeed the heaven-sent Messiah. We later discern that he is the Son of God, and his mission is the rescue of mankind.

Today is the accepted day to commit or re-commit yourself to following and believing in God’s Son Jesus. If you consider all the well-documented evidence, you can only reach one conclusion: That Jesus is the key to life after this life. He was sent by the Father to bring us home!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Children of God!

For Friday, May 9, 2025:

Luke 10:21 NLT, Jesus, praying: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.”

Nobody likes a know-it-all, especially God. If we are to learn from Jesus, we must be in “learning” mode, open-minded, not thinking we have everything already figured out. As we study the Bible and learn more about Jesus, we’ll be presented a lot of new information. We’ll see things we’ve never seen before. An open mind can take on that new information!

That’s why Jesus chose fishermen as disciples. When it came to religious matters, their minds were malleable. Nowadays, we might call them “seekers.” They wanted to learn about God, but their minds were not yet settled.

On the other hand, the Pharisees thought they had religion all figured out. They were wrong! They had memorized God’s commandments, and their mission had become to catch someone doing something wrong. Gotcha! But they had overlooked grace, forgiveness and loving their neighbor. Jesus was about to change all that. Loving the Lord is in first place, while loving our neighbors walks hand in hand with it! Jesus never said this was optional! He wants us all to be nice, kind and helpful. He wants us to do the next right thing.

Jesus says that our minds need to be like little children’s, a slate on which he can write. If we’re seeking truth, Jesus will fill in the blanks!

Remember, the first will be last and the last will be first! In the hereafter, some fishermen outrank Pharisees!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship