Serve the Lord!

For Friday, January 23, 2026:

Romans 6:12 NLT: “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let sin reign in your body, which is subject to death.”

Bob Dylan sang that each of us winds up serving somebody. We get to carefully choose who we will serve. This is the same declaration that Joshua, Moses’ assistant, made 3300 years earlier. “Choose today who you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Your decision is an alliance and an allegiance. Which team do you want to play for, Jesus’ team or the other team? Jesus’ team aligns with our Creator God, while the other team is always battling their wrongdoings. Surprisingly, it’s easier to align with God, although at times we may be outnumbered!

Choosing Jesus’ team doesn’t instantly make us perfect. But deciding in favor of heaven’s ways gives us standards, goals for which we can strive. Believers wisely choose to adopt God’s value system, and the longer we bond with God, the better we get at serving him. We see progress, but our goal is perfection!

Satan’s sinners face death, while Jesus’ team is destined for eternal life in God’s heavenly Kingdom. Jesus made it possible for believers to view that Kingdom from the inside! Choose today who you will serve.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Jericho!

For Sunday, November 16, 2025:

Hebrews 11:30 NLT: “It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.”

God called Canaan “The Promised Land” and “the land of milk and honey.” He had rescued his people, the Hebrew people, from Egyptian slavery and brought them across the Jordan. The first obstacle to be conquered was the city of Jericho, where they had locked the gates of the city’s protective wall.

God gave Joshua the formula for victory, but it sounds ridiculous nowadays. They needed a big bunch of faith to trust in God’s absurd plan: “March around that wall for six days, and on the seventh, play your trumpets. Sound your shofars! Make a mighty sound that praises the Lord, and the walls will crumble.” It all happened just the way God said, and the Hebrews emerged victorious in the battle of Jericho. With God, anything is possible.

Believers attend churches. We join communities where God is honored, trusted and praised. The Creator is the object of our praise. Decide now what time you need to leave to get to church on time. See you there!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom

Salvation

For Friday, August 26, 2022:

​Deuteronomy 34:9 NLT: “Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him, doing just as the Lord had commanded Moses.”

In ancient times, people’s names had a meaning, and the Bible oftentimes gives us this information. “Joshua,” the name of the leader after Moses who brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, meant “Salvation.” They’d been wandering in the desert for 40 years, and God sent “Salvation” to lead them!

Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, so that name was actually “Y’hoshua.” Most of the New Testament was written Greek, where we find the same name in a different language. We know it as “Jesus,” which also means “Salvation.”

Matthew 1:21: “Mary will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” You are to name him “Salvation,” for he will deliver mankind from our sin-problem. Tell everyone!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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