God's Mission Funding!

For Wednesday, August 5, 2026:

Luke 6:24 NLT: “What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now.”

Certain traits seem to be typical for those who have wealth. They tend to hoard the money, desire money, and seek to obtain more and more money. Money itself occupies that person’s focus, and pursuit of more becomes their life’s work. Those traits aren’t on God’s agenda.

But don’t make the mistake of thinking that Christians are inherently poor. God has granted some believers abundance so that we can do more of his work. We tithe to our local church, sometimes giving even more for special projects. We love our neighbors, seeing that their basic needs are met. We buy food for those who need help, and shoes for their children. Ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?” He healed everyone, blessed the children and fed thousands of people when no food was available. Jesus always did the right things for the right reasons, expecting no reward other than a smile from his Father!

Like Jesus, Christians don’t expect a reward for doing the right thing, but our efforts will be acknowledged in the Kingdom. Kindness only takes a moment, but our rewards are eternal. Be on the right side of God’s value system. When in doubt, just do what Jesus did!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Grace = Free Gift!

For Sunday, February 8, 2026:

Hebrews 13:9b NLT: “Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.”

The Old Testament contains some dietary instructions. Certain animals can transmit various diseases, and God, who always looks out for us, wanted us to remain alive and healthy. But our meat-packing and inspection methods have so much improved that those kinds of diseases have long since vanished. And friends, dietary choice is not a redeeming ordinance. You’re not disqualified from heaven for eating a pig! That would imply that we could earn our way into heaven by doing something or not doing something, and that’s simply not true.

Our hope for our eternal future is God’s grace. It’s a gift. All we need to do is accept it. Our faith in forgiveness, Jesus taking away our sins, is our ticket to the hereafter. We are saved by grace through faith, not by obeying rules. But having said that, Christians strive to conform to God’s rules out of gratitude for all that Jesus did for us!

Salvation is God’s gift to those who place their faith, hope and trust in his Son!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Worry Not!

For Thursday, June 12, 2025:

Luke 12:31 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.”

My father taught me to only worry about things that I could control. Worrying about things over which you have no control is futile, wasted anxiety!

Jesus is saying to seek God and his Kingdom, and not waste time worrying about anything! God already knows your needs, and God will provide. God knows you need food to eat and clothes to wear. Worrying, fretting or wringing your hands will only make you miserable. Worrying won’t magically make food or clothing appear, and worrying won’t add a single day to your life. Jesus advises us to trust in the Lord who loves us!

Birds don’t plant or harvest food, but they seem to find plenty to eat. Surely mankind is more valuable than birds! Lilies are beautiful and fragrant one day, but are thrown into a fire the next. God has a longer-range plan for mankind. He will certainly care for you!

Unbelievers worry about what to eat and what to wear. Encourage them to better know Jesus and abandon worry. If we seek the Kingdom of God above all else, he will give us everything we need.

Now go sing a chorus of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Clean vs Unclean!

For Sunday, March 9, 2025:

Leviticus 11:1, 2b NLT: Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Of all the land animals, these are the ones you may use for food.”

In this chapter, God defines the land animals, birds and fish suitable for food. God must have known this was coming when he designed the animals. Any animal with completely split hooves and chews the cud is good for food. Jews call this “kosher.’ Other animals were considered unclean. Birds are OK, but not those who clean up dead carcasses, like vultures. Fish are good, but not the bottom-feeders that keep the water clean. Vultures and bottom-feeders eat garbage, so they are garbage!

Back then, no one had refrigerators to keep food fresh or stoves to fully cook the meat. There were no professional meat inspectors. So God instituted these rules to protect his people, to keep them safe and alive. Once again God was watching out for his people, protecting them, even when they didn’t yet understand the need.

In the New Covenant, Jesus declares us clean or unclean not by what goes into our bodies, but by what comes out of our mouths!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Neighbors!

For Sunday, May 19, 2024:

Ephesians 5:1-2 NLT: “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus, telling everyone to be nice, treat others kindly and to live harmoniously. We would be wise to appropriate his teaching for the entire world!

Paul is following Jesus’ example, who was following his Father’s example. Did you ever stop and think – pretend with me for just a minute – what the world would be like if everyone followed Jesus’ example? Everyone would get along. Everyone would be nice, kind and considerate. There would be no more disagreements between countries. Wars would vanish!

There is enough food in the world for everyone, but we can’t seem to work out the logistics. In the US, food spoils daily and we simply throw it away. We have more. In other countries, children are dying for a lack of nutrition. We know that we need to get food to those who desperately need it. But various laws, countries and border lines prevent this from happening! As a human race, we could do better!

We are to love our neighbor as ourselves, so let’s define neighbor. The category is broader than it first appears. I believe that anyone you interact with is considered your neighbor and should be treated fairly and honestly. That’s what Jesus would do!

Jesus did a lot of favors for people he just met!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Dinner Reservations!

For Friday, January 19, 2024:

Mark 6:37 VOICE “Jesus: ‘Why don’t you give them something to eat?’

Disciples (looking at Him): ‘What? It would cost a fortune to buy bread for these people!’”

The crowd, hoping to learn more, had followed Jesus into what proved to be a desolate area. His disciples thought the teaching should end so everyone could get to nearby towns and obtain food before sunset. But Jesus told the disciples, “You feed them!”

It’s important for us to grasp the magnitude of the situation. The Bible says that 5,000 men and their families were fed that day. I’ll do the math for you. If most of the men were married and most families had at least two children, this could easily be 20,000 people! This was no longer a few people gathered on a street corner listening to a holy man pontificate. This crowd would fill the Xcel Energy Center, with a few spilling over onto the sidewalks!

The disciples inventoried the available resources – five small barley loaves and a couple of fish. Next Jesus told everyone to sit down in groups. It was suppertime!

God’s Son looked heavenward and blessed the food. He personally broke apart the bread and the fish, and had his helpers distribute some to each group. Everyone ate their fill, and the disciples filled 12 baskets with leftovers, an amount that far exceeded the original resource. It was a “God thing.” It was a miracle! It was Jesus!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

You feed them!

For Thursday, January 18, 2024:

Mark 6:31a NLT: “Jesus said, ‘Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.’”

A short time ago, Jesus had sent his apostles, two by two, on mission trips to nearby towns. To say these missions were successful would be an understatement! People flocked to hear the good news and to learn that God would accept a repentant individual. You could have sold tickets to watch the apostles cast out demons! What a show, and for all the right reasons. The people couldn’t get enough!

According to Jesus, it was time for a well-deserved break. “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat! They hopped in a boat, hoping to get away for a moment’s peace.

To understand why that didn’t work, we need to understand 2,000-year-ago maritime navigation. For the most part, it worked like this: sail far enough out to float the boat, but close enough to follow the shoreline. We have far better GPS in our cars nowadays! Consequently, the crowd could follow the boat by simply hiking up the beach! Wherever the boat stopped, the crowd could easily shout, “Here we are!”

Jesus, who always showed compassion, began teaching them, giving the crowd more heavenly information. Unfortunately, they had followed Jesus and his entourage to a very remote area. Since this was an impulsive gathering, not a planned event, there were no services available – no food, no water, no satellites! By now it was late in the afternoon and nightfall was imminent. The disciples wanted Jesus to end the meeting so everyone could obtain food. Jesus’ response must have surprised the entire staff: “You feed them!”

This is one of my favorite Bible stories. We’ll examine more miracles in tomorrow’s conclusion. Don’t miss it!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Faith vs Worry!

For Friday, February 3, 2023:

Matthew 6:26 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?”

There’s a fine line between prudently planning for the future and unnecessarily worrying about it. Jesus simply said to not worry; the Lord will provide. Birds don’t wake up in the morning and worry about food. They just go about their day and always seem to find enough to eat. Note that birds don’t worry, but they do work. They wake up, get out of the nest and search for today’s meal, which God always provides.

As a human, God may offer you a job. You have to do good work resulting in a paycheck which buys groceries at Krogers, and voilà, you have food! See – God is good!

Psalm 23 says that with the Lord as my Shepherd, I shall not want. God looks after his flock’s basic needs. He won’t provide everything we covet, but our necessities are in his hands.

Jesus is advising ‘faith’ rather than ‘worry.’ “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” (Matthew 6:27)

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship