Love!

For Sunday, September 14, 2025:

John 13:34-35 NLT: “Now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Apparently, the first Believers, Paleo-Christianity, took these words seriously. It was said about them, “Behold, how they love one another."

Jesus was reminding his followers of a Godly command that had been around for quite some time. Jesus wanted these thoughts front-of-mind. When asked the most important commandment, he had answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” [Mark 12:30] The second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” [Mark 12:31] “There is no commandment greater than these.”

Jesus didn’t just make up these words. He was quoting Old Testament Scripture. Deuteronomy 6:5: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Leviticus 19:18b “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

To keep things simple (KISS), I usually condense this teaching to “Love the Lord and love your neighbor.” That includes being nice, being helpful and being kind. It might involve solving a problem that wasn’t yours in the first place. Christians do the right things for the right reasons without being asked. We are servants to our sisters and brothers. Onlookers will say, “Look at those Christians! They seem to love everyone!”

Being kind to your neighbor is a good way to live. That’s what Jesus did!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Eternal Life!

For Saturday, May 10, 2025:

Luke 10:25 NLT, Religious expert questioning Jesus: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”

That’s a good question, one that we should all have, and this man was knowledgeable in religious matters! So Jesus turned the question back to the alleged expert. “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”

The man answered from Old Testament scriptures: “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

"Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”

Loving the Lord is the easier part of that command. He is, after all, God! God, the creator of everything, can easily occupy the top spot in our devotions. God is unchanging, predictable and repeatable, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. With God, you know what you’re going to get!

But loving your neighbor involves unpredictability. We can show kindness to our neighbors, but we can’t always anticipate their response. Some people can be jerks, and that’s their problem, not ours. Jesus wants his followers to take the high road, always being nice, friendly and helpful, regardless of the other person’s response. Christians can proudly hold our heads up knowing we did the right thing for the right reasons. If we’re OK with what happened and God’s OK with it, we should care little about what others think or say.

Jesus is safeguarding our reward in the next reality!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Forever Words!

For Friday, June 7, 2024:

1 Peter 1:25 NLT: “’The word of the Lord remains forever.’ And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.”

There was old scripture and now there is new scripture. We call that the Old Testament and the New Testament. The ‘new’ begins with the arrival of Jesus. The story of Jesus is called the ‘Gospel.’ Without Jesus, there would be no Gospel, and there would be no purpose in mankind knowing about a Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Peter started by quoting Old Testament, Isaiah, who wrote down the words of our Lord, explaining that His words remain forever.

But God has given us more Holy words, more inspiration – what we call the New Testament. Peter is saying that these new words are just as Holy as the old words. Therefore the Good News contained in the Gospels will also remain forever. Jesus’ words are just as valid as the words God send down from Mt. Sinai!

Grab some Holy words that you can hang onto. Learn the truth of what the Bible says. Put the Word of the Lord in your mind when you wake up, when you’re eating lunch and as you’re drifting off to sleep. When you’ve mastered that scripture, grab another!

Immerse yourselves fully in the words of God!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Only Jesus!

July 1, 2019 Monday Message

Many churches, congregations and individual Christians get off track when they start following a human leader rather than simply following Jesus. The Corinthian congregation had divided itself, some following Paul, some following Apollos and some following Simon-Peter and the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem.

Paul wrote his first Epistle to the Corinthians to set things straight. His simplified plan for church and worship is this:

#1 Believe only what is written, and in Paul’s day, that meant the Torah, the Old Testament. (The New Testament had not yet been compiled.)

and #2 Worship ONLY at the church of Jesus. It’s great to have leaders like Paul and Peter, but we should not worship them; rather, imitate them as they worship Jesus the Christ.

This is another instance where the basics of Christianity, the redeeming ordinances, are fairly simple. Mankind writes book after book attempting to explain the whole Christianity thing, but it doesn't have to be that complicated. I believe God made his redemption plan simple so that ALL of us could “get it!”

So follow what is written and worship only at the church of Jesus. Simple, right? See you at church!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship meets Sunday July 7, 2019, 10:30AM, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406. Evangelist Wendy calls everyone to commit or re-commit themselves to Jesus. (John 3:16)