Prisoners!

For Tuesday, January 20, 2026:

Hebrews 13:3a NLT: “Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself.”

Some people belong in prison to ensure the safety of the rest of our population. Many seem to be inherently evil, filled with demons. Along with incarceration, an exorcism might be in order!

Or not! Some people are imprisoned unjustly, because of lies, false testimony or revenge agenda. They never belonged in prison in the first place. Others have repented of their wrongdoing and deserve forgiveness and a fresh start. That’s what Jesus would have us do.

What is the purpose of a prison? If it’s only to incarcerate people, it’s just a hole into which we pour money. There’s no ROI – return on our investment. But rehabilitated people can excel at their jobs, help grow our economy and become good neighbors. Our vision shouldn’t be to keep people in prisons; it should be to expedite the offender’s release! Our society needs to be more inclusive of the reformed.

If you were imprisoned, what would you expect life to be like? A former prisoner described it to me as “three hots and a cot!” – three meals a day and a place to sleep. Sounds boring to me. A day’s agenda should include helpful work at the institution, job training with specific skills added to the inmates’ repertoires, educational opportunities to get candidates at least a GED and perhaps some college credits, and of course Bible teaching, so their lives could progress in the Lord’s direction. Insist that prisoners set goals, and then celebrate their milestones!

Let us remember those in prison. We pray that they experience kindness, the way we would want life to be if we were there!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Eternity Decision!

For Tuesday, August 19, 2025:

John 12:50, Jesus speaking: “I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

What is your goal in this life? The Bible prepares us to enter the next reality, the life after this life, and it offers only two choices. #1 is spending eternity in the glorious Kingdom with God and his Son. #2 is being miserable under Satan’s hand and eventually gaining first-hand experience in the lake of fire. It’s really no contest! Our goal in this life should be to successfully enter God’s eternity in the next life. Jesus is teaching us things that please the Lord, and we should be intentional about doing those things!

The Good News is that God doesn’t want to lose anyone. His desire is that all would repent and return to the flock. Not everyone will return, because God created us with the ability to choose and make decisions. Unfortunately, some will make the wrong decision.

Therefore, it’s up to each of us to make the best decision possible. If we claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have assurance of salvation. Friends, solidify your eternal goal. Keep your eyes on Jesus, his Father and the Kingdom!

If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never get there!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Escape from Egypt!

For Wednesday, February 5, 2025:

Exodus 13:18 NLT: “God led the Israelites in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.”

God is providing visionary leadership. He knows human nature better than anyone. He knew that Pharaoh would have second thoughts about letting the Israelites go. He knew that Pharaoh would send his army to retrieve the Jews. That army would have expected to find the Hebrews on the most direct path to Israel. So to buy them a little extra time, God aimed the Israelites toward the Red Sea, the Sea of Reeds.

Coming up against this body of water may at first look like a problem, but it was actually a solution. God had more in mind. He allowed Moses to part the water, allowing the Hebrews to escape to the other side. Then, as the Egyptian army pursued them, Moses closed up the sea, drowning the Egyptian army.

(Sidebar: This incident is dramatized in the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille classic, ‘The Ten Commandments.’ Just remember that Moses was probably a short, ruddy-looking Jew, not tall and handsome like Charlton Heston!)

The goal in all of this was to return the Hebrew people to Israel. All the plagues, all the meetings with Pharaoh and the colossal exodus march were stepping stones toward that goal. God will be with them all the way as the trek continues. The job won’t be finished until the Israelites are back home.

Both God and his Son Jesus said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Count on it! If God is “in” your mission, he’s “in” for the entire duration until your goal is achieved! God is good – very good!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

God's Goal!

For Thursday, January 16, 2025:

Exodus 4:20 NLT: “Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to the land of Egypt. In his hand he carried the staff of God.”

Moses was a believer, a man of God. Setting his personal fears aside, obedience rose to the top. God had commanded, “Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”

And so off they went, the whole Moses entourage. His wife and sons on a donkey – (Wouldn’t you hate to have been that donkey!) – his brother Aaron and all their helpers and servants.

God allowed Moses to perform a series of miracles, intended to convince Pharaoh to let the Hebrew people leave Egypt. But he also warned Moses that Pharaoh’s heart would be hardened and that this initial confrontation would fail. But don’t worry, Moses. Don’t be discouraged. God is in this 100%!

We shouldn’t ever think that God failed or that God has no power. He’s just not finished yet. When our God sets a goal, he always achieves it!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

New Life!

For Sunday, April 14, 2024:

Colossians 3:1 NLT: “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.”

Remember that the ‘old you’ should have died with Christ. True Christians have been ‘born again.’ You should be living a new, different, better way. If you’re not, check to see that you’ve given permission for your old self to die. ‘Born again’ isn’t an add-on concept to what you’ve already been doing. It’s totally discarding the old way of living. God is good, and he sent his Son to help us make a fresh start. We have graciously been granted a ‘do-over,’ with heaven being the reward!

Paul wrote, “Set your sights on the realities of heaven, on things above rather than earthly things,” and also, “I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above.”

"Keep your eyes on the prize” is more than a civil rights song. It’s a biblical principal that we all should know. As Christians, we devotedly follow Jesus. His goal for us is eternity in the presence of God, and we should never forget not just what we believe, but also WHY we believe. Be constantly aware of the prize.

Don’t be someone for whom Christianity is just a habit. Some go to church every Sunday but aren’t sure why. They attend Bible studies to see their friends. They donate a little extra for the widows and orphans, because it seems like the right thing to do. But many have lost sight of the goal, the prize, which is that if we believe (faith) Jesus has prepared a place for us in the hereafter (grace.)

Focus on the prize, the great eternal life prepared especially for you!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Primary Mission!

January 29, 2024 Monday Message:

Mark 8:33 NLT, Jesus reprimanding Peter: “Get away from me, Satan! You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

Mankind has been hearing the “Jesus story” for over 2,000 years, which is to say that we’re accustomed to hearing about incidents that fit God’s vast eternal plan. But the disciples were living “inside” the story, and many things Jesus spoke made sense to heaven but seemed illogical or counter-productive to the human disciples.

Jesus explained that he must suffer many terrible things, be rejected by the priests and be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. Frankly, that kind of talk seemed like blasphemy. I mean, if Jesus is the Son of God, why would he allow himself to be killed? It didn’t add up, so Peter took Jesus aside, hoping to get him back on track.

But it was Peter who needed correction. It seems he and the others had lost sight of the primary goal, the mission statement. Jesus was to rescue mankind by taking the sins of the world to the place of the dead, and he had to die to do that. Not to worry – He’ll be back in three days! And everything happened just the way Jesus said!

So as we worship Jesus and pray for good things to happen, we need to put aside our personal assessment of the situation and consider God’s vast eternal plan. We don’t want to find ourselves helping Satan with his work!

What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Concordance!

For Friday, January 5, 2024:

Mark 3:24 NLT, Jesus speaking: “A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse”

Similarly in Matthew 12, Jesus states the same principle. “Every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”

Jesus had been casting out demons, when teachers of religious law theorized that Jesus’ power originated with Satan. Jesus denies every word of that, saying, “How can Satan cast out Satan?” It would make no sense. Satan is fighting to take away God’s position as Supreme Being. Satan will lose that battle, but until then he’s fighting tooth and nail to control a larger portion of the kingdom. It would make no sense for Satan, in his quest for supremacy, to take a step backwards, and Jesus points out the illogical nature of his accuser’s position.

The same principle is applicable in our churches. We need the same goals as our fellows. We probably can’t start much of a children’s ministry if our thrust is visiting prisoners. We can learn from the beginning of Acts 2. Jesus had told his followers to go to Jerusalem, and then wait until the Holy Spirit came upon them before proceeding. Jesus was right. Without the Holy Spirit, the believers would have accomplished little. But finally, when the time was right, evangelism could begin. Peter preached the best sermon ever, and 3,000 were added to their number that day, the result of everyone working together, sharing the same goal. You could say that they were all on the same page, pulling together to achieve a common goal.

This isn’t just for churches. The same principle holds true in business and family situations. Start by making the goal clear and understandable. Concordance is the goal! Much can be accomplished!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

God's Timing!

For Sunday, May 14, 2023:

John 7:30 NLT: “Then the leaders tried to arrest Jesus; but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.”

Jesus was a mystery to the locals. As the harvest concluded, he declined attending the festival of shelters out of concerns for safety, but later changed his mind and was eventually found teaching publicly in the Temple! Most people hadn’t yet settled their minds on Jesus’ origin and identity. Was he a magician with incredible tricks up his sleeve? Was he evil, obtaining his power from Satan? Or, admittedly a long shot, he could be the promised Messiah! Who do you say that he is?

Eyewitnesses saw only a snapshot in Jesus’ life, but we have been blessed with the Gospels, the collection of stories about Jesus’ walk on earth. We’ve been given the big picture with all the details, more than just a single incident!

Remember that Jesus is on a mission trip with the goal of rescuing mankind from the penalty of sin. That goal would be achieved in God’s good time. Jesus walked away from his accusers, because it was not yet his hour, and God is in charge of the clock!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Heavenly Reward!

January 23, 2023 Monday Message:

Matthew 6:1 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.”

It’s always good to help others, but this teaching from Jesus comes down to motivation. If you’re doing a charitable thing, some benevolent act, only to attach your name to the project, that’s the wrong motivation behind it. For example, if you supported a hospital so that they’d name the new building after your family, that’s wrong. We all appreciate a pat on the back once in a while, but receiving accolades shouldn’t be our goal.

We should all love our neighbors because that’s what Jesus said to do. We need to be kind and helpful because it’s the right thing to do. Our goal should be to be helpful, not to let others know what a good person we are! Our reward for doing the right thing for the right reason will come from our Father in heaven. On earth he has given us hope, and there’s a lot more to come in heaven!

God will bestow us with something infinitely better than an earthly reward!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship