Let There Be Light!

For Wednesday, August 6, 2025:

John 12:36a NLT, Jesus, warning about the end times: “Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.”

We don’t know what we don’t know. We don’t know how much time remains in our world, because we don’t know the total amount of time left on God’s countdown clock. Jesus said that only the Father knows! Therefore, we must be perpetually prepared to transition into the next reality.

God created mankind with a brain and the freedom to make our own choices.
The Bible frequently speaks of good as being in the light, whereas evil lives in darkness. Jesus is counseling those assembled to trust in the light. Hang out with the good guys. Stay far away from trouble. John’s Gospel tells us that the one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, came into our world. And to all who believe in him and accept him, he gave the right to become children of God.

Believers get to live in the light with assurance of salvation. Those living in darkness have no idea where they’re headed!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Bad Choice!

January 27, 2025, Monday Message:

Exodus 9:1b-3 NLT: “Say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. If you continue to hold them and refuse to let them go, the hand of the Lord will strike all your livestock—your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats—with a deadly plague.’”

Gnats and flies are a pesky inconvenience. But this time, God is going to hit the Egyptians right in the pocketbook! Like most places 2k years ago, the economy of Egypt was largely agricultural-based. Their animals – their livestock were the net worth of their lives. A plague striking all the animals of the Egyptians would slam the brakes on their entire economy.

Surprisingly, the Lord made a distinction between the livestock of the Israelites and that of the Egyptians. The next morning all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but the Israelites didn’t lose a single animal! God did just as he had said. His word is true!

Pharaoh investigated, but his heart remained hardened and he would not let Moses and his people go. Plague #5, the plague on livestock, wasn’t enough to convince him.

God is not through yet. God has given mankind freedom of choice, so God won’t change Pharaoh’s mind for him. Pharaoh must decide on his own to accept Moses’ God as his God. He will have more chances to make up his mind – or not! Like I said, God has given us the freedom to choose, and Pharaoh may ultimately choose incorrectly. We’ll see.

You and I, claiming to be Christians, should already have our minds made up. We love our God not because of a threat or an obligation, but because he also loves us, so much that he sent his Son to be the sacrifice for the world’s sins. We no longer have to pay a sin-penalty. God took care of everything for those who love him, including preparing our place in the hereafter. The love is mutual!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Freedom to Choose!

For Wednesday, January 1, 2025 New Years Day!

Genesis 1:2 NLT: “The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”

God had a blank slate. He could create anything he thought best in his new world. I picture the Holy Spirit hovering over the waters, excitedly saying, “C’mon, man. We’re ready to go! You just give the word, and we’ll get this thing started!”

Everything was going fine. But on the sixth day, God created mankind. In what must have been a difficult decision, he gave mankind the freedom to choose to obey God or not. That way, if mankind truly loved God, it would be real, not just a robot doing the only thing they were programmed to do. That same freedom also gave mankind the ability to make incorrect decisions, to disobey God.

But c’mon friends, we are the Christians, the ones who have chosen to play on God’s team. We’re not perfect and we’ll still make mistakes from time to time. But our heart belongs to the Lord. Think of this new year a dividing line between your old behavior and your new behavior. Make a commitment: “I can live a better life this year, a life more pleasing to God.” Look at this new year as your version of a clean slate, a fresh start!

Get as much as you can out of your gift of another year!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Invitation!

For Saturday, December 21, 2024:

2 Thessalonians 2:13b NLT: “We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy, and through your belief in the truth.”

Salvation is living out eternity in the presence of the Lord. It doesn’t get any better than that! We can look at this as a mathematical equation: truth = salvation. So fill yourselves with nothing but the truth, and live your lives according to the truth you have learned.

Yesterday I was counseling a group on making a decision to follow Jesus, to claim him as Lord and Savior of their lives. Normally I’d talk about the process of making a decision, something that WE do. But for some reason, God led me to focus on heaven’s invitation, something GOD does! Never forget that God’s desire is that all would repent and return. He wants every soul on his team! His invitation is for the whole world. But God also designed us with brains and freedom to choose, and he will not stand in our way of making an incorrect decision.

Knowing truth will enable us to make the correct decision, a decision to partner with Jesus, God’s Son!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Judgment!

For Tuesday, December 3, 2024:

2 Thessalonians 1:7-8 NLT: “God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus.”

As this age comes to an end, the sheep will be separated from the goats. Of course, the sheep will be with their Good Shepherd, Jesus. The goats, who never did obey Jesus, will be judged for their disobedience, the outcome of which will be eternal separation from God and his kingdom.

It will be an exciting time as the New Heaven and the New Earth are created and the word of Jesus becomes the law of the land. Fire, angels and trumpets sounding! Until this time, mankind had the freedom to choose God or to reject God. But now God is asking for your decision. Make up your mind to be one of the good guys!

Choose wisely!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Believers!

For Tuesday, October 15, 2024:

1 John 5:10 NLT: “All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.”

Friends, God doesn’t want anyone to steal, see Commandment #8, so I’m aghast and somewhat confused when someone steals from a church. Frankly, if I was a burglar, I wouldn’t want to take a chance on stealing from God. It seems like he could easily set things right, and that wouldn’t be pretty!

We need to remember that a person like that doesn’t believe. Yet. So they don’t fully fear the consequences of their actions. Before any of us comes to believe, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes, our ears and our hearts to the truth, that Jesus is the Son of God and that everything he taught is truth; that Jesus is the way, the truth and the key to life eternal. But when the Holy Spirit taps a person on the shoulder, they can choose to say “no,” to close their eyes and continue down the wrong path. God doesn’t force loyalty upon anyone; it’s our choice to accept the Holy Spirit’s leading.

Those who believe know the truth and are saved. They have become children of God, destined to live with Him forever. Those who don’t yet believe still need to hear our testimonies!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Choose Wisely!

August 28, 2023 Monday Message:

Romans 6:16 NLT: “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”

As people live their lives, they inevitably pick sides. Some choose to be good; some choose to be evil. That choice determines how a life will go, and sometimes how a life will end.

Organized crime and even street gangs have their own set of rules and loyalty requirements. Those choosing that life become slaves to those rules or face retribution from the bad guys. Their leader is Satan.

On the other hand, good people including Christians become slaves to Jesus’ instructions – kindness and love for our neighbors The difference being that if we have shortcomings, we are offered love and forgiveness. That’s what Jesus taught.

Choose your associates wisely!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Kindness of God!

July 17, 2023 Monday Message:

Romans 2:4 NLT: “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”

The Bible tells us that ALL have sinned. But God, who is kind, tolerant and patient with us, gives us chance after chance to repent and return. It’s up to each of us to choose to live God’s way. But it’s a choice we have to make. We can choose to accept God or reject him. God designed mankind with the freedom to choose.

Paul is seeking a sign of gratitude from the Roman believers. God is so good, continually offering opportunities for us to join with the faithful, continually offering us hope when we don’t deserve it.

And if God’s kindness is intended to turn believers from their sin, we should start seeing less sin among the believers. Out of gratitude for what God has given us – forgiveness and a reservation in eternity – we give back. We do good works and financially support our home church. We sacrificially give to rescue people from natural disasters and other violent tragedies.

Christians should look and act like they’re God’s people, grateful people!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Serve the Lord!

September 12, 2022 Monday Message:

Joshua 24:15 NLT: “If you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

There’s a lot of truth in the Bob Dylan song, Gotta Serve Somebody. The chorus ends, “It may be the devil, it may be the Lord, but you’re going to have to serve somebody.”

If you’re not proactive, you may find yourself working for the wrong team. The Good News is that God gave us freedom to choose, and we can use our God-given intelligence to choose correctly. Serving the Lord and his Son Jesus requires an intentional decision. Christians, armed with knowledge of forgiveness and salvation through the Son, purposefully choose the path of eternal life in the presence of the Father. Choose today whom you will serve!

If you have chosen to serve Jesus, you have chosen correctly!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

God's Invitation!

 For Tuesday, December 1, 2020

James 4:8a NLT: “Come close to God, and God will come close to you.”

God, in his designing wisdom, gave us the freedom to make choices. Having that much power sometimes gets us in trouble, but if we choose correctly the rewards are huge!

We have the freedom to choose to love God, or to try to be God ourselves. We can love the Lord or love the world - pick one! We’re free to follow Satan’s temptations, but God would prefer that we align ourselves with Him.

Seeking is reciprocal. If we seek a closer relationship with the Lord, God will likewise draw closer to us, and that gives us hope! God has issued the invitation - the next move is up to us!

Blessings and safety this week!

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