Authorized!

For Saturday, April 11, 2026:

Mark 16:19-20 NLT: “When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with his disciples, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And the disciples then went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.”

Jesus had prepared his disciples, saying that he would not be with them forever. He said that he would suffer and die, rise after three days, and eventually return to the Father. Everything happened exactly as he prophesied! It’s now time for these disciples to put Jesus’ final instructions into play.

Remember that “Apostle” refers to the original 12, but “disciple” is a much larger group of people, both men and women, who believed in Jesus, believed he was the Messiah and that his words were God’s words.

Mark just gives us the Reader’s Digest “condensed” version of the Great Commission: “The disciples then went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.” When Jesus sent disciples on previous evangelistic mission trips, he told them to heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out demons, and it’s no different this time. They would preach the Good News, and God would prove them “authorized” by these miraculous signs!

Those original disciples covered most of Israel, but did not venture far into Asia Minor. God was preparing Paul, Timothy and Silas for that mission field. Where is your mission field? In my previous churches, we supported many missionaries in faraway foreign countries. And each summer, our youth group would lead a VBS in Mexico. I prayed and prayed about this, and finally God sent me to Lake Street in Minneapolis. Turns out He has plenty of work that needs doing right here in town!

So the best place to do ministry is wherever God calls you to do ministry! Pray and then be obedient. Do what Jesus asked you to do!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Turn Around - Face God!

For Thursday, February 12, 2026:

Romans 6:19b NLT: “Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.”

In the Hebrew language, a person caught up in sin is said to be far from God, whereas a righteous person is said to be close to God. That’s a good way to look at it.

If someone appears to have drifted from religion, they haven’t necessarily placed Satan in charge. But they have wandered farther and farther from God. It’s then time to turn, do a 180 and get back closer to God. Teshuva(h) means return, in this case, return to the Lord. Repentance requires acknowledging the sin, regretting it, and vowing to take a better path as the person changes directions and returns to be closer to God.

Who is Lord of your life? (Jesus.) Are you close to God, or far from God? (Closer is better.) If your eyes can’t focus on God, you may be facing the wrong direction. Time to flip around and head back the right way!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Faith!

For Saturday, August 16, 2025:

Luke 18:8b NLT: Jesus asked, “When the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Jesus had just shared the parable of the persistent widow. She repeatedly sought justice from a lazy judge. He kept putting her off, ignoring her request. She didn’t quit! She kept asking and asking, frankly pestering the judge until it was easier for him to grant her request than to put up with her incessant nagging.

Her solution was in that judge. Our solution is in the Lord. Jesus points out that God is far more just than this slothful judge. If our faith is constant, God will hear our prayers. God wants us to have a good life. So double down in unwavering faith!

So never give up on your faith, your beliefs. Jesus said if we have enough faith, we can cast a fig tree into the ocean. See, you have more power than you realize! Put it to work!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

My Lord!

For Saturday, July 19, 2025:

Mark 12:36 AMP: “David himself said [when inspired] by the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord (the Father) said to my Lord (the Son, the Messiah): Sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies under Your feet.’”

Jesus was teaching in the Temple, which in and of itself seems odd since the Temple leaders weren’t big fans of Jesus. Part of what he was doing was correcting incorrect theology put forth by the other Temple teachers. In this case, they were claiming that the Messiah was David’s son. Not so!

In Psalm 101, David himself wrote, “The Lord said to my Lord...” So the first “Lord,” God Almighty, was speaking to the other “Lord,” Jesus the Messiah. It’s a confusing generational puzzle the way it’s stated, but the Amplified Bible helps clear things up!

If you want to learn theology, choose your teacher carefully. Jesus is a safe bet. God’s Son would certainly know what’s going on with God stuff! It’s called truth, and the Bible is full of it. The “High View” of the Bible believes that every word is true, and that things happened just the way the Bible says. But be discerning. A lot of bad stuff happened in the Bible. The text documents it accurately, but we should not engage in such behavior.

Remember, the Lord (God) spoke to our Lord, and our Lord should be Jesus the Christ!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Persistence!

For Wednesday, June 25, 2025:

Hebrews 3:13 NLT: “You must warn each other every day, while it is still ‘today,’ so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.”

Stick-to-itiveness. That’s what we need. Goofy word, but it’s in my dictionary! This scripture encourages us to help each other stick with what we learned from Jesus. He IS coming back, but we don’t know when. Our hearts need to be right today, because tomorrow may be too late!

If we could graph the Hebrew relationship with God, it would look like a rollercoaster – up and down, up and down, closer to God, farther from God. When God has things going well in our lives, humans tend to say, “Thanks, God, but I can take it from here!” We eventually fail and crawl back to God, whining, “Please, God, help us out of this mess we’ve made.” God again rescues His people, giving them a second chance, a third chance, etc.

Things are no different nowadays. Unfortunately, mankind’s tendency is to grow complacent in our worship and in our devotion to the Almighty, and we begin to let things slide. Christianity gets put on the back burner. It’s not that we completely stopped believing. It’s just that religious matters don’t hold the priority they once did in our lives. People caught up in this are called backsliders!

Some theologians teach that if we can fall away from Jesus, we were never really “in” in the first place. Asking Jesus to be Lord and Savior of your life should be an irrevocable decision.

The Bible says, “If we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.” We should all strive to be with that group!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Peter's Pentecost Speech!

For Thursday, June 5, 2025:

Acts 2:14, 16 NLT: “Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, ‘Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. What you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel.’”

God made the ‘roaring wind’ sound on the Day of Pentecost, drawing a large, curious crowd. God had tapped Peter on the shoulder to be the spokesperson for the believers. Never one to appear shy, Peter spoke in a loud voice, as if everyone had come just to hear him! He explained that, like so many things in the Bible, that day’s activities were a fulfillment of scripture. The Holy Spirit was in motion. The end result would be a mass ‘repent and return.’ Joel’s prophecy concludes, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The audience was Jews who were familiar with God, scriptures and religion in general, so Peter’s words came as no surprise. And by now, everyone in Israel had heard about Jesus. Peter connected the dots for them: “God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know.” No surprises. No new information. Just an acknowledgement of what had been going on around them. Yes, Jesus was heaven-sent! Everyone should have concluded as much had they taken the time to think things through. “God released Jesus from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.” How’s that for a God-sized miracle?

Peter continues to make his case for Christ, saying many of the same things that led to Jesus’ crucifixion. But by this time, the Holy Spirit had opened minds. Foregone opinions were cast aside in favor of using brainpower and thinking things through. Peter’s message concludes, “Let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”

His words touched their hearts, and the listeners asked, “Brothers, what should we do?”

Take a moment and put yourself in Peter’s shoes. If you had been the featured speaker that day, how would you answer their question? All believers are supposed to share the Good News, the Gospel about Jesus. Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations. If their hearts are touched and they’re ready to sign up, what should the next step be? We all need to know the best answer, the correct answer!

May the Lord’s blessings go with you today as you fulfill God’s purpose for your life!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Sacrificial Giving!

For Sunday, March 23, 2025:

Leviticus 27:30 NLT: The Lord said to Moses, “One-tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy.”

It takes money to keep a church running. I once worked for a church with a tall sanctuary. Its walls were mostly big windows, composed of multiple small pieces of colored, single-pane glass. Paying the winter bills for heat was always a challenge! I remember leading second-effort financial campaigns, having to ask for a smidge more to bail us out of debt! The congregation always came through for us!

In Leviticus ch. 27, the Lord speaks to Moses about sacrificial giving, over and above the 10% tithe that already belongs to God. Nowadays, people can donate money, but 3,000 years ago they donated “stuff:” livestock, grain and produce, real estate and even humans who became Temple workers. Money is easier. No one has to herd a heifer to the priest!

With most churches, you can donate on their website. There’s often a QR code. Sometimes you can pay with Venmo or PayPal. Visa and Master Card are options, although it’s best to settle up with them right away. Don’t ever enter Satan’s hell of late fees, penalties and interest.

God has been very good to Christians, sending his Son Jesus to blot out our sins and to rescue us from eternal damnation. Jesus even said that he would go to God’s house ahead of us and prepare a place for believers. I hope you’re “in!” If not, today is the best day to claim Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

An understanding of God’s goodness opens our wallets!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Jesus is Lord!

For Saturday, September 16, 2023:

Philippians 2:9-11 NLT: “Therefore, God elevated Christ to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

This scripture does not imply universal salvation, that all will be saved. But at the end of this world, there will be no doubt that Jesus is Lord. God has seen to it. Many will rejoice that they’re believers, but many others will face a final regret that they made the wrong decision. It’s an eternal decision, so choose wisely while there’s still time! Make your decision for Jesus, or reaffirm your commitment to the our Savior today!

Jesus did not exalt himself to this heavenly position. God-the-Father raised his beloved Son and placed him on his heavenly throne. There is no higher name than Yahweh, and Jesus has that name.

Every knee will bow, and that should include yours!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Teacher = Lord!

For Sunday, June 11, 2023:

Matthew 19:16-17a NLT: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

"Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good.”

The rich man was asking his Rabbi, his teacher about eternal life. In truth, he was asking God himself, but he didn’t realize it! (Jesus told us, “I and the Father are one.”) Each of us is to examine the evidence and discern the heavenly origin of our Messiah.

There is no one thing, no one good deed that will gain us entrance to the hereafter. When we understand who Jesus is and claim him as Lord, our lives change. We call it “Radical Transformation.” Believers don’t just go to church; we also do the “stuff,” the commandments and living as Jesus commanded. Christians aren’t known for just one good deed. Observers see a trend among the changed minds, changed lives and changed hearts. Forgiveness, kindness and being helpful are all part of the trend.

Watch for signs of the God-trend as you worship today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Jesus is Lord!

For Saturday, March 19, 2022

Matthew 12:8 NLT, Jesus speaking: “The Son of Man (Jesus) is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” We can and should apply that principle to everything. Therefore God’s 10 Commandments are Jesus’ 10 Commandments too.

We are commanded to remember the Sabbath and to keep it Holy. Jesus is applying common sense to the commandment, which gives us hope! He says, “If your sheep fell into a well, surely you’d pull it out, even if it was the Sabbath.” Jesus is teaching that since a person is far more valuable than a sheep, it’s OK, in fact even preferable, to do good on the Sabbath. Sometimes we just need to be helpful!

Honor the Lord, honor the Sabbath, but ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Hope in the Lord!

For Saturday, February 27, 2021

Psalm 71:14 NIV: “As for me, I will always have hope; Lord, I will praise you more and more.”

This psalmist, like all of us, depended upon God for help. In spite of his current trials, his faith in the Lord filled him with hope for the future. “I will hope continually.” I shall expect deliverance after deliverance and blessing after blessing. And as a result, “I will praise You more and more!”

You've all heard, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!” That's what this Psalm is about. The author didn't give up or fall into depression. He doubled-down on his faith; he replaced tribulation with optimism in God's strength, and then thanked God for his change in attitude.

Spurgeon writes, “When I cannot rejoice in what I have, I will look forward to what shall be mine, and will still rejoice!”

Blessings and safety today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

This is the day the LORD has made!

Sept. 29, 2014 Monday Message:

“This is the day the LORD has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalms 118:24

Today it’s sunny, just a light breeze – all in all, a perfect fall day. It’s easy to get behind this Bible verse when we’re handed such beautiful weather. But our scripture goes much deeper than just the weather.

The psalmist is writing about a day in God’s creation, the fact that we have been created (given) for this day, and that God has a purpose for us today.

God does not make mistakes, and our God never embarks on a fool’s errand; so if you’re here on the earth today, it’s because God has a plan, and he knows things will be better his way. You are intentionally placed into the world – God caused it, and that’s a good thing!

So each day, rejoice and be glad that God has made a new day, and be ever-thankful that he chose to include you. The psalm ends, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.”

Have a blessed day, this day that the LORD has made!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets at 10:00am every Sunday in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. This week, Oct. 5, Pastor Pilla continues in Acts 9, Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem.

Joy of the Lord!

January 16, 2012 Monday Message:

As Paul, Silas and Timothy counsel the church in Thessalonica, they conclude with a summary of how Christians should live, which is as applicable nowadays as it was back then.

•Always be joyful.
•Never stop praying.
•Be thankful in all circumstances (for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.)
•Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.
•Do not scoff at prophecies.
•Test everything that is said.
•Hold on to what is good.
•Stay away from every kind of evil. (1 Thess. 5:16-20 NLT)

We’ll look at all these bullet points in the coming weeks, starting today with the Joy of the Lord.

The Joy of the Lord is much more than simply pasting a smile on your face. It reflects a confidence that God is in charge, that He will use everything for good, even when circumstances look bleak. With God on His throne and our trust placed fully in Him, we know that everything will be all right in the end, no matter how it looks right now. Therefore, even though we feel like we got beat up in the world today, we can still be cheerful, be kind to our families when we come home, and be eager to begin tomorrow as a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ.

The Joy of the Lord is your strength!

Norton Lawellin

We’ll move on to “Prayer,” Friday night, 7pm at New Hope Center.