Faith = Good Idea!

For Wednesday, October 22, 2025:

Hebrews 11:1 TLB: “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead.”

What is faith? Good question! Habakkuk 2:4b says that the righteous will live (eternally) by faith. So faith in Holy things assures us of residence in the forever Heavenly Kingdom.

Faith includes believing that God-the-Father loves us, and that he sent his Son to redeem us. The faithful believe that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and that all His promises (prophecies) are true. We believe through faith that Jesus can and will do what He said He will do. We believe that God-the-Father, Jesus-his-Son and the Holy Spirit are one God. Believers have no doubt that all of God’s promises will come to fruition. He is, after all, God!

Faithful believers know that Jesus preceded the bulk of mankind into the life after this life, to prepare our forever residence. The believer-filled church is the bride of Christ, and we will be honored to attend the wedding banquet in Heaven’s Great Hall!

Jesus is offering us a gift we cannot repay, residence in an unseen reality for an unending length of time. Our faith tells us that it will be the best thing ever! Sounds good to me! Does it sound good to you?

Pastor Norton Lawellin
Jesus In the City Fellowship
 

Truth!

For Saturday, September 30, 2023:

Romans 9:26 NLT: “Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”

Paul is quoting God’s word through the prophet Isaiah. It sounds like God’s changing his mind, but it’s the people who have changed. Because of disobedience and lack of faith, the Israelites would be scattered, and only a remnant would remain. In fact, for a great many years, there was no nation of Israel.

Then the people repented and returned to the Lord, and in 1948 the State of Israel was declared out of Palestine to be its own country. You see, God had been given a place of honor in his children’s lives, a priority he should have had all along.

The point is that God is always true to his word. What was prophesied in about 700 BC played out in 1948 AD. God’s promises are always true, and the Bible is full of truth. What seems to take a long time by our standards is perfect timing on God’s calendar.

Believers need not worry about God’s promise of salvation. Do not be impatient! When God’s timing is perfect, we’ll all get to see heaven from the inside! That’s what Jesus said!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Glorious Future!

For Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Proverbs 10:28 GNT: “The hopes of good people lead to joy, but wicked people can look forward to nothing.”

God has planned a glorious future for the righteous – if not now, then in eternity; whereas the wicked man or woman faces a future where all desires and expectations for good will be disappointed.

Don't think you can get there on your own. Eternal life is a free gift from God's mercy, but each of us must submit to God's goodness and accept the salvation offered. God is in the driver's seat!

God has good things planned for good people! God takes believers under his wing, and adopts them into the Holy Family as sons and daughters, as children of God! And like any parent, God only wants the best for his children!

Blessings and safety to all today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Promises of Hope!

For Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Psalms 130:5 NLT: “I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word.”

Having made his plea to the Lord, the psalmist then waits patiently for God and the rescue He will bring. But the waiting is not a time of inactivity. The psalmist uses this time to actively set his hope on the promises of God as found in the Word of God, the Bible.

God is true to his word. If God promises us something, we can count on it being so. Our hope is anchored in God's promises in his Word.

Interestingly, the psalmist doesn't keep his hope in the Lord to himself. He wrote it into a prayer that the entire congregation could sing to the Lord! The whole world should know about the hope we have through faith in our God!

Blessings and safety to all today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

God for Mankind!

 For Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Hebrews 6:19 NRSV: “We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain.”

God made a promise to Abraham who endured patiently and then received the promise. God cannot tell a lie; if He promises hope for the future, his word is true!

God wants us all to understand the unchangeable character of his purpose. God's desire is that none would perish, and Jesus was the final piece of the puzzle insuring mankind's redemption. We should all take hold of the hope set before us!

When Jesus died, the curtain separating mankind from God's presence in the Holy of Holies was torn, top to bottom. Now all of mankind has access to God the Creator. Because of Jesus, all of mankind has access to hope!

Blessings and safety today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship 

3249 30^th Ave. S.Minneapolis, MN 55406

Psalms 89 - Hope in the Kingdom

April 17, 2017 Monday Message:

“One of David’s family will always be king, as long as there are skies above us!” Psalms 89:29

Many psalms were written by David, but Psalm 89 was written by Ethan the Ezrahite ABOUT God’s anointed King David, and about God’s Kingdom, both in heaven and on earth.

The prophesy in verse 29 was fulfilled! We know that Jesus, our King of kings, in his earthly form, was a descendant of King David. Of course Jesus is our King for all time – God’s promise is forever – God’s not about to change his mind!

This gives us hope. A lot can go wrong in this world, but God is like a rock – steady, unchanging, the same day after day. If God promised to take care of us and meet our needs, it will be done. If Jesus said he was going to prepare a place for us in the Kingdom, count on it!

I recently overheard a couple of pastors talking. One asked, “How’s your day going?”

The other replied, “Great! I’m going to heaven!”

For me, that says a lot! Many things will go on in our lives – good things, bad things, things we really like, things we detest – it’s like a circus happening all around us! In the long run, most of it doesn’t really matter. Most of what happens has no eternal significance. Just know that God doesn’t change, and focus your eyes on the prize: “Eternity in the presence of the Father.”

God is forever, and Jesus is forever. “Because I (God) am holy I will not lie to David. His descendants will always continue, and his kingdom will go on as long as the sun shines.” Psalms 89:35b-36

Norton Lawellin

Let’s worship together! Jesus in the City Fellowship gathers Sunday, April 23, 2017, at the Akina Church, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30 AM. Following the resurrection, we meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus. See you at church!

God's Promises

Dec. 16, 2013 Monday Message:

“You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” (Luke 1:45)

This blessing was given to Mary, a virgin carrying God’s son in her womb. God had sent an angel to lay out God’s timetable for the upcoming events, and Mary, a godly woman, truly believed that God would deliver on the prophesies; that everything she was told would come to fruition.

God always does what he says. Another example would be when God told the Hebrew people, “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” Lev. 26:12 Evil, jealous people have tried many times to wipe the Hebrew people off the face of the earth. And yet there’s still a flourishing country of Israel, and Jews are everywhere! God wins!

God saw everything that he created – plants, animals, humans, the whole earth – and God declared that it was good. Gen. 1:31a God hasn’t changed his mind about that. Something that God created and pronounced ‘good’ is worth rescuing when it gets off-course.

So God sent his Son to be the offering for our transgressions, to make a way for us to return home and spend eternity as a member of his Holy family. God is reaching down to us, and we need to take his hand and accept the help, God’s free gift for us. God’s Son intends to rescue us; he’s not changing his mind, and he always does what he says!

Christmas is coming – the Kingdom of God is at hand!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets every Sunday at 10:30am in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. This Sunday, Dec. 22, we’ll sing Christmas Carol favorites, and Pastor Michael continues the Christmas story from Luke.