For Sunday, March 1, 2026:

Hebrews 13:20-21 NLT: “Now may the God of peace—who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.”

This is not only a beautiful prayer of conclusion, but also a commissioning of the Hebrew people to continue doing the will of Jesus. Oddly, the author of Hebrews is uncertain. It was thought that Paul wrote this, but it doesn’t seem to be his writing style. Some experts say the style is more similar to Luke in Acts. Perhaps Paul wrote it in Hebrew and Luke translated it to Greek? Interesting. The writings have been included in the collective works of Paul for 20 Centuries. Nowadays, the authorship isn’t as important as the fact that it reinforces other writings in the Bible and contradicts nothing. If it was Paul, he would have been leaving to plant churches in Asia Minor, so saying goodbye makes sense.

The prayer is also what we should pray for each other—that the Almighty would equip you with everything you need to accomplish his will, and that good things, things pleasing to God, would be the result.

May the Lord walk alongside each of you as you go about his work today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Dr. Luke!

For Thursday, November 20, 2025:

Luke 1:3-4 NLT: “Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write an accurate account for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.”

Thanksgiving is almost upon us, followed by Advent and then Christmas. So I thought is would be a good time to review Luke from the beginning. Luke was never a major disciple of Jesus, but rather a once-removed disciple of Paul, who the risen Jesus personally converted on the road to Damascus. There are records of Luke traveling with Paul and evangelizing alongside him.

Luke was also known as a healer, a physician, so we would expect him to have above-average intelligence. As Luke authored his Gospel, he quoted eyewitnesses who had seen and heard the Savior speak; eyewitnesses who had personally seen miracles play out! I look at Luke as an investigative reporter who interviewed countless people and condensed their stories into an accurate biography of Jesus’ life. He’s writing to “Theophilus,” which means, “Lover of God.” We don’t know if Theophilus is a person, a group of God lovers, or all those who love the Lord nowadays. Perhaps, “All of the above!” Luke stresses the accuracy and truthfulness of his Jesus biography. So listen up and take good notes!

So that we know our location on the timeline of history, Luke tells us that Herod was the king, and Zechariah was serving as a Temple priest. Z’s wife Elizabeth was barren, so they were without children. And Luke tells us, “They were both very old.” Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations, and yet, childless.

The odds were against anyone serving in the Temple sanctuary. It was the day for Z’s group to serve, but they chose by lot which individual would receive the honored call. Much happened while Z was serving, which we’ll cover next time. See how this plays out in God’s vast eternal plan! Hint: Elizabeth was a cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Messiah!

For Wednesday, December 27, 2023:

Luke 2:26 NLT: “It had been revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.”

Obedient, Mary and Joseph brought their first-born male child to the Temple, dedicating him to the Lord. But their heads must have been spinning as they lived through all the supernatural events surrounding Jesus’ arrival.

Mary conceived but hadn’t ever been with her husband. An angel appeared to the couple explaining what was to come, saying, “Fear not!” As Jesus was born, a heavenly chorus appeared directing shepherds to visit and worship the newborn. Then the shepherds left to tell everyone that the Messiah had arrived! Caesar regarded this baby, “the King of the Jews,” as a threat to his power. He wanted to murder the child, forcing the family to flee to Egypt. And now, back at the Temple, both Simeon and Anna called Jesus “Messiah, Redeemer of Israel.”

Mary and Joseph were both consistent and persistent. Their faith in God the Creator never wavered, and in spite of all the anomalies, they persisted in doing the right thing. But Mary was keeping track of all that happened. The Bible says that Mary treasured up all these things, and pondered them in her heart, wondering what lay in the future.

We are blessed that Luke had the tenacity of an investigative reporter. His goal was to author truth, to leave an account for the world of everything that occurred in the life of God’s Son. Therefore we don’t need to take years to discover the truth. By reading Luke’s account, we can quickly gain wisdom! Perhaps we all should re-read some of it today! Blessings!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Salvation!

August 21, 2023 Monday Message:

Romans 6:5 NLT: “Since we have been united with Christ in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.”

Jesus was sent to earth by the Father. He taught, healed and died to take away the sins of the world. But he didn’t come with instructions, with a users manual. No one had written a “How It Works” sheet, a handout for new believers.

The remaining Apostles knew that faith in Jesus was the key. Intelligent converts like Paul put the pieces together and wrote letters to others to teach them about salvation. This is what we’re reading in Romans. Diligent researchers like Luke reported in great detail how Jesus had rescued mankind.

In Jesus’ day, there was considerable disagreement about any kind of life after this life. Jesus removed all doubt! According to the Bible, over 600 people saw him up, walking around and heard him speak after being declared dead and then placed in a tomb. A crowd watched Jesus ascend into heaven as he returned to his Father’s Kingdom.

Jesus promised to prepare a place in the hereafter for all who believe! We’re going there too!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

He's Alive!

April 18, 2022 Monday Message

Luke 24:26 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?”

We know that God is real and that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. Both God and Jesus gave us prophesies, and then it all came true, just as they said it would. The entire Jesus scenario – Jesus coming to earth, suffering for mankind’s sins, his persecution and death – all happened just as Moses, the prophets and even Jesus himself predicted. Everything happened just like they predicted!

Jesus reiterated the prophesies to the two men on the road to Emmaus. They hadn’t recognized Jesus. To their knowledge, he had been crucified and died, and they never expected to meet their Savior while walking to the next town. But then their eyes were opened! They were given understanding! Jesus had risen from the dead! They were given hope!

Luke, like a good investigative reporter, gathered the facts and wrote it all down so that we too could understand and believe the Good News and have hope for our life after this life!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Dr. Luke – Investigative Reporter!

Jan. 21, 2019 Monday Message

We’ve been looking at the Gospel authors. First is Matthew-the-tax-collector, who was recruited personally by Jesus. Second is Mark, the friend of Simon-Peter, who was very close to the Apostles and an eyewitness to all that happened.

The third Gospel was written by Luke, an educated physician, who investigated the story of Jesus with the intensity of Woodward and Bernstein when they probed the Watergate scandal. Reading Luke is like watching an investigative report on 60 Minutes.

Luke’s Gospel is addressed to Theophilus, one who loves the Lord, “…so you can be certain of the truth.” We read it so that WE can be certain of the truth. We know that Luke also traveled with Paul, and they probably met Mary in Ephesus, where Luke garnered details of the virgin birth and the early life of Jesus.

Whereas Matthew and Mark were eyewitnesses, Luke’s approach was to interview all the eyewitnesses he could find, and distill their testimonies into an instructional narrative for all who need to know the truth – and that’s US!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship meets at 10:30 Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019. I’m on vacation, so please welcome Mark Johnson leading worship this week.