Miracle Source!

For Thursday, April 16, 2026:

John 12:17-18 NLT: “Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were testifying about it. That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign.”

Jesus could perform miracles, and miracles impress people. Many were in Jerusalem for Passover, hence the large crowds. They had traveled to experience religious things, and all the buzz was about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Everyone was impressed, but it was kind of like they all had attended a magic show. They worshiped the miracle itself, but not where it came from, who did it, why they did it and who that person is.

Jesus intentionally took his time traveling to Martha and Mary’s house, arriving after Lazarus had died. “O Lord, if only you had been here,” cried the women. They’re thinking in earthly terms. Knowing what we now know about Jesus, he could have healed Lazarus from far away. But to Jesus, this needed to be an event. This was about showcasing the glory of the Lord. He wanted Lazarus clearly dead before calling him out of the tomb – a BIG miracle! Perhaps then people would recognize that this was heaven-sent, and that Jesus was God’s only Son!

Friends, don’t just appreciate the miracle, the event itself. Worship the supernatural entity that brought the miracle to fruition. Worship God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – as they bestow miracle after miracle on believers!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Expect the Unexpected

For Wednesday, January 28, 2026:

Three days after Jesus’ crucifixion, the women visited the tomb to care for his body. They encountered a man dressed in a white robe.

(Mark 16:6 NIV:) “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”

Jesus conquered both sin and death during the same event. He first took the sins of the world to the place of the dead. Then he rose from the grave, defying death. When dealing with Jesus, expect the unexpected!

We’ve been retelling this story for 2K years, so we’ve heard this all before. But Jesus’ followers were witnessing this scenario for the first time. The closest to this anyone had seen was when Jesus resurrected the daughter of Jairus, or perhaps when Lazarus was brought back to life. But never before had anyone made themselves alive again. Clearly, Jesus had authority over life and death.

This is extremely good news for those of us who believe. Jesus had proven beyond a doubt that there indeed was life after this life. Death is not the end. Because our sins were taken away and forgiven, believers have a reservation in God’s forever heavenly Kingdom. We are blessed with Assurance of Salvation, something no other religion has.

Put your faith, hope and trust in Jesus, and your life after this life will be a good one. Jesus won’t let you down!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Prophecy!

November 3, 2025, Monday Message:

John 14:29 NLT, Jesus speaking: “I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe.”

Sometimes things are so unusual, so out of the ordinary, that a lot of people won’t believe what just happened, even if they witnessed it with their own two eyes.

Here’s an example. Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha, had died. His body was kept in a closed tomb as it began to decay. Mourners had gathered to console the family. Lazarus was wrapped up like a mummy, a burial tradition.

Jesus was summoned. He dragged his feet getting there, waiting for two extra days, so that what he was about to do would increase in significance. After all, this event was for God’s glory! By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead for four days!

Jesus told Martha that her brother would rise again. She thought he meant in the next reality, in the life after this life. But NO! Jesus meant right now! He had workers roll away the stone, Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!,” and out he came, grave clothes and all!

Locally, this incident became the focus of much discussion. Many thought it was a trick, a prank involving a magician. No one had ever seen anything like it, someone brought back to life after being dead four days. So at this point, it made more sense to disbelieve than to believe what they had witnessed.

Our lesson here is about the value of prophecy. Prophecies tell in advance what God is about to do, and when it happens, we can say, “That was God!,” rather than questioning what occurred. Prophecy is advance confirmation of a God-driven event! Jesus had been sharing signs of the end times, so that when it happens, we can easily recognize it and believe.

When you witness signs pointing to the end times, start saying, “That was God!” He has already told you what to expect!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Rich Man and Lazarus!

July 28, 2025, Monday Message:

Luke 16:22-23 NLT, Jesus telling the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus: “The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet. The rich man also died and was buried, and he went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.”

Just so you know, this is not the same Lazarus, brother of Martha and Mary, who was a close friend of Jesus. Jesus just used this name for a character in a story he was telling.

This poor Lazarus lived alongside the dogs just outside the main gate to a rich man’s mansion. There he begged as the wealthy came and went, transacting their business. As Jesus tells it, Lazarus was sickly and had sores all over himself. Lack of resources had finally taken its toll on his body. Lazarus died, and angels carried him to heaven. The rich man also died and was delivered to the place of the dead, Hades. Here’s where the story gets interesting!

From his place of torment, the rich man caught a glimpse of Lazarus sitting beside Abraham. He pleaded, “Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.”

Well brother rich man, you made your bed, and now you have to lie in it! “No can do! During your lifetime, you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish.” The first will be last, and the last will be first! “Besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.”

Q: Is it possible that part of hell’s punishment is being able to visualize just how great heaven is? Are people in hell confronted daily with their bad decision, having turned their backs on Jesus? They had a chance, but turned down a golden opportunity. The Bible doesn’t say for sure, but Jesus seems to imply that scenario. He also teaches that accepting salvation is a forever decision. Once we reach the next reality, there’s no changing our minds. The chasm is too wide, and no one can cross over in either direction. Repent and return only works in this life!

Today is the accepted day to commit or re-commit our souls to the service of God’s Son. We never know when tomorrow will come, and we must be prepared to embark on the best journey of our lives. Jesus will meet you with open arms!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Parade Day!

For Friday, July 25, 2025:

John 12:13 AMP: “A large crowd of Passover visitors took branches of palm trees [in homage to Jesus as King] and went out to meet Him, and they began shouting and kept shouting “Hosanna! Blessed (celebrated, praised) is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

This scripture describes Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Christians celebrate it on Palm Sunday. Jesus’ popularity with the populous had been increasing, and this day marked the pinnacle of his ministry. The crowd shouted, “Hosanna,” which means, “save us.” Save us from hell, save us from the lake of fire and grant us a place in your Kingdom. Shouting hosanna also implies an urgency. “Save us, save us now!” Stop and think – you’d only ask someone to save you, to redeem you, if you believed they could fulfill that request!

Jesus rode a borrowed donkey that day, fulfilling scripture. Donkeys were valuable in that they could transport a heavy load from point A to point B. Imagine someone saying, “I’m going to take your F-150 pickup. The Lord has need of it!” Probably wouldn’t happen, but God was showing off his Son that day, and He may have had a hand in it! God has a hand in most everything! This was parade day, and Jesus was the celebrated Grand Marshall!

On the street, people were still talking about how Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. That’s why so many flocked out to meet him. They had heard of that miracle. It was starting to look like Jesus could be the promised Messiah. Let’s all go and check it out!

So friends, let’s try this: When everyone is praising the Lord at church, try shouting out, “Hosanna!” Save me, save me now. Picture Jesus riding through the congregation on a borrowed donkey. Picture a parade right up the center aisle. Tell Jesus you love him. Assure him that you’re not like the fickle ones who abandoned him. True believers are in this until the end!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Jesus Messiah!

July 21, 2025, Monday Message:

John 12:10-11 AMP: “The chief priests planned to kill Lazarus also, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away [from the teaching and traditions of the Jewish leaders] and believing in Jesus [following Him as Savior and Messiah].”

Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus were close friends of Jesus. You may recall that Lazarus became quite ill and eventually died. It was Jesus, Son of God, who brought him back to life four days later! Jesus was intentional about waiting four days to arrive, so that observers could be certain of the miracle and glorify God Almighty! This same Jesus would eventually hold all power over sin and death.

2,000 years ago, there was no radio, TV or internet. So when someone returned home and asked, “What’s been happening,” they expected detailed information. “Tell me everything!” Lazarus being brought back to life was #1 on the local buzz. People couldn’t stop talking about it, and many perceived Jesus to be the prophesied heaven-sent Messiah. Many shifted their allegiance from the Jewish priests to Jesus. Nowadays, we’d call it a Church Split.

Sidebar, just my opinion: I believe that faith in God’s Son, Christianity, was never intended to be a separate religion. It should have been just Judaism Chapter 2, a continuation of God’s relationship with Earth’s people. Jesus was raised Jewish, and observed and taught the centuries-old commandments and traditions. Replacing the Old Covenant with the New Covenant should have been a continuation, not a complete break and a restart. Count on humans to get it wrong!

The Chief Priests first plotted to kill Jesus, and now they’re planning the demise of Lazarus. When your religious leadership has murder on its agenda, you know for certain that it’s time to make a switch. Clearly the train had gone off the tracks.

God always favors life. First, he created everything from scratch, and then he commanded all creation to, “Go forth and multiply!” Reproduce your own kind. Make more like yourself, and fill the earth! God never said, “Figure out who to kill, and make a few animals extinct. There are far too many _____.” (snails, tortoises, dolphins, birds – you pick!)

One more thing. Last Friday, I was at the Rice County Fair in Faribault, MN. A couple had brought their newborn baby, and everyone wanted to take a look. A young girl, all smiles, told me excitedly, “He’s not even a week old!” By the time I backed off, at least 35 people had gathered to see God’s creation! They were ignoring the cows, chickens, goats and horses on display and focusing on the infant! The parents should have been awarded a blue ribbon for their exhibit! Moments like this make God smile!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Plotting to Kill!

July 7, 2025, Monday Message:

John 11:48 NLT, Jewish High Council discussing Jesus: “If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.”

Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead, brought him back to life! Jesus made quite a show of the whole thing. After being informed of Lazarus’ illness, Jesus tarried for two more days, I believe to make a point and to better show God’s glory! When Jesus finally arrived, he was cautioned not to open the tomb. Lazarus had been dead for four days and the smell would be horrible. Throwing caution to the wind, Jesus ordered the tomb opened and commanded, “Lazarus, come out!” As Lazarus exited the grave, his body appeared bound up for the hereafter. So Jesus commanded, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

Now this isn’t something you see every day, someone four days dead walking out of a tomb! So everybody was talking about it, shouting the news and exalting the heavenly powers of Jesus of Nazareth. Some people began shifting their allegiance from the Temple to Jesus and his radical ministry. And as I’ve said before, when people leave the Temple, their tithes go with them!

Note that the High Council didn’t say that Jesus had done anything wrong. Only that if they allowed Jesus to continue, they feared that they’d be out of business! Jews had a special deal with Rome. If they kept peace in their region, Rome would allow their religion to continue. This was a unique concession on the part of Rome, since their Caesar wanted to be thought of as a god. But somehow the Jews were allowed to have their own God! The Council feared that the success of Jesus would threaten their sweetheart deal!

The high priest Caiaphas counseled the others: “It’s better that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.” So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death. This was a sad time in the Jewish religion, where the leadership got so off track that they would consider murder. Little did they know that they were plotting the murder of the Son of God!

In fact, they were doing exactly what God wanted. As Jesus died, he would take the sins of the world to the place of the dead, thereby cleansing mankind and making them suitable for spending eternity alongside God Almighty! Heaven awaits!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Resurrected!

June 30, 2025, Monday Message:

John 11:4 NLT: “When Jesus heard about it he said, ‘Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.’”

In fact Lazarus DID die, but was raised back to life by Jesus. I’ve always been intrigued by that next reality. The line between life and death isn’t as rigid as we think. In the grocery store check-out line, you can read headline after headline about people who started that journey, but were somehow called back. Those stories fuel tabloids.

Their stories are always similar. The person travels down the transition tunnel, bright light at the end, and is finally overcome by a peaceful feeling that everything will be OK. Quite a contrast to all the crying and sadness at funerals!

Jesus sent advance teams of disciples to every town he planned to visit, telling them to heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead! So raising the dead might not have been commonplace, but it was certainly possible, through the power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Using Lazarus, Jesus was about to show everyone that death is not the end. Death is the same soul that we know and love, still alive but in a different reality.

If God calls you back to life, it’s because you’re not yet finished. He has more for you to do. As someone who was brought back to life, Lazarus could give firsthand testimony about God’s love and Jesus’ power! No one had ever witnessed the miracle of being raised from the dead through any other religion. But now Lazarus, Mary, Martha and everyone present that day could give eyewitness testimony to the truth!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Belief in Jesus!

For Saturday, May 6, 2023:

John 12:9-11 NKJV: “Now a great many of the Jews knew that Jesus was there; and they came, not for his sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him, many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.”

The good thing Jesus did – raising Lazarus from the dead – was a threat to the religious status quo. Bringing a dead man back to life is too significant a miracle to be ignored. In three verses, John sums up the problem. Note that it wasn’t about God or prophesy or a fine point of theology. It’s about power, influence and ultimately money. If crowds of people were leaving the Synagogues to follow Jesus, their tithes were moving too!

The religious leader’s answer to this problem was a double murder, Jesus and now Lazarus. Their solution flew in the face of God’s commandments. Simply put, they were wrong.

We know now that Jesus dying, paying the price for the sins of the world, was all a part of God’s rescue plan to save mankind. How ironic that the Pharisee’s plot to murder the Son of God would put our salvation in motion! God is truly good!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Dead Man Walking!

Nov. 11, 2019 Monday Message:

Jesus speaking: “Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.” John 11:25b NLT

At the home of Mary and Martha, their brother Lazarus was dead – really dead! He’d been dead long enough that his body was wrapped, prepared for burial and placed in a tomb. Guest were crying, wailing, mourning. They put on ashes and tore their clothes. Lazarus had been dead for four days.

Jesus had been summoned, but it’s like he was dragging his feet. When he heard of the illness of Lazarus, Jesus didn’t even leave for two more days. He says this is for the glory of God, so that everyone will understand who He is.

Arriving at their house, Jesus prayed in a loud voice so that everyone could learn! Jesus claimed, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.” Then Jesus asked Martha if she believed this – but that question should be for all of us. Do you believe what Jesus said?

Dead Lazarus lived once again; everybody present witnessed it!

Jesus himself conquered sin and death on the same day – as a free gift for mankind! Without resurrection and life after this life, there’s no point to our theology. You too can receive Jesus’ gift – forgiveness of all sin and life after this life - if you believe!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship meets next Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30 AM. Pastor Pilla teaches about the prophecies concerning Jesus.