Sacrificial Giving!

For Wednesday, July 23, 2025:

Mark 12:44 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Most gave a tiny part of their surplus, but this widow, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”

How much should we donate to our home church? The Old Testament teaches that the first 10% of everything already belongs to the Lord. That’s a good starting point.

The New Testament teaches us about sacrificial giving. People sold their land or their animals and donated the proceeds to the church. On the Day of Pentecost, 3,000 new believers came on board. Most were from out of town and would require food and housing right from the start. The first church, The Way, took care of them. Jesus and many others taught that the Kingdom was at hand; heaven was quite close. And those living in God’s Kingdom would have no need for worldly assets.

So what does God want? Many Christians are blessed with abundance, enabling them to help others. God wants each of us to be successful. Prospective Christians should be able to look at the flock and say, “They’re doin’ OK. They’re having fun. Life for them seems to be good. I want to become part of it!”

It’s good to save for when you can no longer work, and it’s good to have a rainy day fund. But it’s bad to hoard money, to become a miser. A delicate balance is required. It would be easy to prioritize money over God, and that would be wrong.

My advice is to pray about the matter, and then follow through with what God puts on your conscience!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Delegate Responsibility!

For Saturday, February 15, 2025:

Exodus 18:18 NLT: Jethro the priest counseling Moses: “You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself.”

Who hasn’t ever been to a McDonald’s? The corporation was founded in 1940 by the McDonald brothers in San Bernardino, CA. To grow, they opened multiple locations. Some were franchises, authorizing others to sell their products for a fee.

One franchisee was Ray Kroc, who eventually bought the company and moved its headquarters to Chicago. He understood that the path to big money wasn’t in selling individual hamburgers. Big money was in the franchising opportunity. Now, with almost 42,000 stores serving 69M customers each day, McDonald’s Corporation’s net annual income exceeds $8B!

Are you hungry yet? Sorry… My point here is that Ray Kroc didn’t think up the principle of multiplying his efforts by delegating work to others. It’s in the Bible! Moses was advised to continue to be the liaison with God, and to be the senior leader of the Israelites. But Moses being the judge and jury for all manner of disputes needed to stop. Remember, about 2.5M people had exited Egypt! Moses was counseled to appoint trusted leaders for smaller groups, and he followed that advice.

A challenge for church leaders is to step back from some things. Let others be responsible for certain tasks. A pastor can’t possibly be the best at all things! Encourage others to use their God-given gifts and talents!

We can multiply our efforts by allowing others to help. That way we can multiply the souls rescued, the decisions made for Jesus, and celebrate growth of God’s Kingdom!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Almighty God!

For Wednesday, December 21, 2022:

Psalm 8:3-4 NLT: “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?”

David is amazed at the wisdom of God, the planning and execution of building a universe. The Bible says that if we open our eyes to witness the majesty surrounding us, there will be no doubt that there is a God!

The power of God is incredible! God is the greatest power we know, #1, and he made mankind just beneath himself, #2! The Lord gave us charge of everything he made, putting all things under mankind’s authority—the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.

The Lord thinks so highly of us that he wanted to rescue mankind from our sin problem. We are blessed to be included in God’s vast eternal plan!

After all, we were created in God’s image! Christmas is coming, and we’re about to be rescued!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Helpful!

Monday Message, October 12, 2020: 

John 2:5 NLT: “Mary told the servants, ‘Do whatever he (Jesus) tells you.’”

There’s nothing like a big wedding celebration! Nowadays, the wedding and reception both take place on the same day, and an average basic wedding costs over $10,000. In Jesus’ day, the celebrating could last for a week, so it’s not surprising that they could run a little short on provisions! 

In the case of the wedding at Cana, they were short of wine, and Jesus’ mother Mary first thought, “What could we do that would be helpful?” She asked Jesus to intervene. While others were faulting couple and their parents, complaining about the situation, Mary wanted to do something positive. She explained the problem to Jesus, who said it was not yet his time. Nonetheless, he told the servers to refill the jars used for ritual washing, and then offer some to the maître d’, who raved about the wine’s quality.

This was Jesus’ first known miracle, and Bible teachers tend to focus in on that. But I want us to also look at the motivation for Jesus’ response. When confronted with a problem, the solution wasn’t to complain or assign blame. The solution was to ask, “What could I do that would be helpful? What could I do that would make this better?” 

So reject your first impulse to complain and get angry, and instead improve things - make the situation better! Your hope is in Jesus, so just do what he did!

Blessings and safety all week, 

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

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

Psalms 149 - Sing a New Song!

July 9, 2018 Monday Message:

“Sing to the Lord a new song of praise when his loyal people meet!” Psalms 149:1b CEV

How should we offer worship to the Lord? Psalm 149 gives us several options.

It’s OK to offer a ‘new’ song to the Lord once in a while. While there’s nothing wrong with the old songs, God gave the gift of creativity to those talented and trained in music, and he delights when that gift is put into motion.

Many traditional hymns were written for classical organ. Nowadays a lot of churches have a contemporary worship band and singers. Either is OK, and neither is better than the other; they’re just different ways of praising the Lord. By the way, the pipe organ hadn’t yet been invented when Jesus walked the earth.

We’re told to “Celebrate and worship.” v5b I’ve always believed that worship should be a celebration, should be fun, should be something we look forward to. Bring your harp and your tambourine – let’s dance for the Lord! v3

See you at church!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship meets next Sunday, July 15, 2018, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30 AM. Pastor Van Dickerson continues our study in Hebrews.