Obedient and Thankful!

For Sunday, November 30, 2025:

Luke 1:46-47 NLT: Mary responded: “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!”

Mary was both obedient and thankful. This young woman finds herself with child, never having been with a man. Strange situation! She is about to marry Joseph. How’s that going to look to all the neighborhood gossips? God would have to send his messenger angel again to explain the situation to Joseph!

Gabriel had told her that the child would be known as the Son of God. That convinces Mary that this is a good thing. She’s awestruck at being chosen by the Lord. This simple woman has been given a huge honor! May those gossiping shut their mouths! Mary could get away, perhaps visit her cousin Elizabeth for a while. Elizabeth had been visited by an angel too, and was pregnant with John the Baptist.

Thankfulness flowed out of Mary as she prayed the Magnificat, her song of praise for being honored by God. (Luke 1:46-55) The Lord has a unique task for each of us, and we should all get ready to serve. We should be obedient, and – just like Mary – we should be filled with gratitude for what we have been given.

God is good!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Reciprocal Love!

For Sunday, June 1, 2025:

Luke 12:8-9 NLT, Jesus speaking: “I tell you the truth, everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, the Son of Man will also acknowledge in the presence of God’s angels. But anyone who denies me here on earth will be denied before God’s angels.”

The word “reciprocal” comes to mind. It’s what Jesus taught, what we call the Golden Rule: “Treat other people exactly as you would like to be treated by them.” (Matt. 7:12a)

When mankind comes before the judgment seat, Jesus will treat us as we have treated him. If we honor him and brag about him to our friends, he will do the same for us as we enter the Kingdom. If we are not connected to Jesus in this life, he won’t be connected to us in the next.

So we have a choice. Our earthly relationship with Jesus determines our heavenly path. How we treat Jesus now truly affects our eternal future.

This is truth – Jesus said so!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Happy Mother's Day!

For Sunday, May 11, 2025:

John 2:5 ESV: “Jesus’ mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’”

Mary, Jesus and his disciples were all invited to a wedding in Cana. Back then, a wedding was a multi-day celebration. The reception could last for a week! But this festivity was embarrassingly about to end prematurely. They had run out of wine. Because water wasn’t purified like it is nowadays, wine was the standard beverage served with meals, so without wine, the gala would come to an abrupt halt.

Mary commented to her son, “They have run out of wine,” to which Jesus replied, “What does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Mary ignored his protest and told the servers, “Do whatever Jesus tells you!”

So Jesus stepped up and did the right thing. He honored his mother! Jesus had the servers bring big stone water jars to the Maitre’d. While being transported, the water changed into wine, and the Maitre’d asked why they had saved the best wine for last?

So examining Jesus’ behavior, even though it was not yet his time to go public with his ministry, it was a good decision to honor mom. Following his example, today we celebrate Mother’s Day in the US. It’s a good day to figuratively put mom up on a pedestal. My own mother has passed, so I can only remember her. But I honor my wife, the mother of my children. I honor my two daughters and my son’s wife, who are mothers to my grandchildren.

As Christians, we should honor all women, whether or not they are actually mothers. God saw that it was not good for man to be alone, so he gave us partners. Honoring women honors God’s decision! We should follow in Jesus’ footsteps and honor our mothers and all women – especially today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Parents and Families!

For Friday, December 13, 2024:

Deuteronomy 5:16 NLT, God’s words: “Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

Oh my, it’s Friday the 13^th! Good thing Christians don’t believe in superstition and sorcery!

Interestingly, when little babies are born into a family, there is no doubt who will care for them – their parents! But when the tables are turned, when the parents grow old, who will care for them? The answer is not as clear as it used to be!

The Bible says that a man will leave his parents and take a wife, thereby creating a new family. In Jesus’ day, that might mean building a second house on the family farm, or at least within the same city. Nowadays the new family might reside in a different state or a different country, wherever work or life’s circumstances might take them. So it becomes honor and respect, and not so much ‘care.’ By the way, there are bad parents, and that changes the rules somewhat. We can still honor them as our parents, not speaking ill of them, but also steering clear of them. Sometimes going your separate ways is the best way to honor someone.

Personally, I have become a fan of extended families. Grandchildren are the best! I think that honoring parents makes a lot of sense when those parents honor their children and their children’s progeny. It’s kind of like loving your neighbor, except this is family!

This is the only commandment with a promise!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Teams!

For Friday, December 6, 2024:

2 Thessalonians 1:12 NLT: “The name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you (believers) live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and our Lord, Jesus Christ.”

It’s like choosing up sides for a game, except our eternal destination is no game! It’s serious business!

God desires each of us on his team. Those who make a decision to follow the Son are on God’s side, while those rejecting the Son are on the other team. God honors those on his team, and believers being on the Lord’s side honors God. It’s an unbalanced symbiotic relationship, in which the believers benefit greatly. In the end, there are only two teams, God’s team and the wrong one.

Honor God today by choosing to be on his team. He’ll honor you by choosing you for his eternal Kingdom!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Privilege of Serving!

For Wednesday, July 17, 2024:

1 Peter 5:2 NLT: “Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.”

God has chosen you as partner in sharing the Good News or Gospel. The Good News is that Jesus personally paid the ransom for the sins of the world. That includes your sins and my sins, past sins, present sins and even sins in the future not yet committed.

Since we’re no longer burdened with sin, Jesus went ahead to prepare an eternal place for believers in the presence of the Father. We call that heaven. Heaven comes later.

For now, believers are the hands and feet of God on earth. We have been commissioned to share the Good News with those who don’t believe (yet!) We are to lead our flocks in the ways of the Lord. It is a privilege to serve, and that in and of itself is our reward!

Serving God is an honor, and we are blessed to be called into His service!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Judgement!

For Friday, June 14, 2024:

1 Peter 2:12 NLT: “Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.”

God is honorable, and if we’re “people of God,” we should be just as honorable as our our leader. Someday we will have to answer as to how we lived our lives here on earth. It’s called judgement. I hear people speak of dying and going to heaven. But they tend to leave out the judgement part.

Everyone will have to account their time spent here on earth. We’re here for a limited amount of time, and God wants us to make the most out of every minute! Time is passing by, each moment never to be seen again. God has a purpose in setting us down here, and life’s better if you’re in the game!

Ask yourself, “What would God have me do today?”

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Family!

For Friday, May 24, 2024:

Ephesians 6:3 NLT: “If you honor your father and mother, ‘things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.’”

This is the first commandment with a promise. According to God, honoring your father and mother is not only the right thing to do, but it reenforces the natural order of life, God’s plan. The saddest funerals are when a child has died and his parents are among the mourners. God’s natural order and simple logic should have us expecting children to outlive their parents!

Progeny are given the spirit of independence to leave home, select a mate and start a new family. But an important thing, according to this commandment, is to also not forget the old family. We can glean a great deal of wisdom from their experience of living a long life. I wish I had appreciated what good people my parents were when they were still alive.

I have become a fan of the extended family, several generations living under one roof. One of our daughters and her son have lived with us from time to time. Life seems better when they are here. If they have traveled away, I feel like something is missing!

Honoring your parents is a lot like loving your neighbors. We need to be kind and helpful. We need to be available to do the next right thing. Honoring parents can be a lot of work! Are you up for the task?

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Honor vs Shame!

 

For Thursday, December 1, 2022:

Proverbs 3:35 NLT: “The wise inherit honor, but fools are put to shame!”

Believers are adopted into the Holy Family. We become “Children of God.” If we are to inherit honor, where would that come from? Obviously, from our Father! By the way, he’s also the one sending fools to the lake of fire!

In the US, there’s a saying that “your karma will come back to you.” It’s borrowed from the Hindu people in India. They believe in re-incarnation, and that your actions in this life will determine your position in the next. Christians don’t believe in re-incarnation, but we believe the scenario will play out in this life. You will be treated as you treat others. If you treat others with kindness, they will most likely show you kindness in return.

The ultimate reward comes as we transition from this life to the next. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died paying the penalty for your sins – if you count him as Lord and Savior of your life – then you know that Jesus promised to prepare a place for you in his Father’s house. That is indeed ‘honor!’

May all believers get to see heaven from the inside!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Gratitude!

For Sunday, September 11, 2022:

James 3:13 NLT: “If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.”

The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s standards. On our own, we didn’t stand a chance of seeing heaven from the inside. But our merciful Creator offered us a free gift – salvation through the work of his Son Jesus. Jesus pre-paid our sin-penalty, affording believers residence alongside God’s people in the hereafter! We all need to make a decision to believe in the Son!

Believing in Jesus shows that we have wisdom. Accepting forgiveness and eternal life in the presence of the Lord is a good decision. And out of gratitude for God’s gift, we endeavor to live honorable lives and do good works in the name of Jesus.

The world would be joyful and more peaceful if everyone would behave as Jesus taught. 2,000 years after his crucifixion, I can’t believe the number of people who still don’t “get it!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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