My Vineyard!

For Friday, October 3, 2025:

Luke 20:15b-16 NLT: “What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to them?” Jesus asked. “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.”

Jesus is sharing the parable of the evil farmers. This is not a well-known story, but it has relevance for all of us, so let’s have a look.

A man planted a vineyard and leased it to others. As the owner, he was to receive a share of the crop. When it was time, he sent three representatives, and eventually his son, to claim his portion. The farmers drove away the reps, and murdered the man’s son, hoping to keep the vineyard for themselves. Jesus asks the listeners, “What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to them?”

You already know Jesus’ answer: “He will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.”

In this parable, the man with the vineyard is God Almighty. The farmers are prospective believers who made the wrong decision. They had a chance at eternal life, but they tried to cut God out of their lives. Didn’t work. As it turns out, God cut them out of His life! They had their chance. God will share eternity with those who are loyal and obedient!

Just like the farmers, each of us has been given an opportunity to play on the Jesus team. Have you said “yes?” I hope so. That’s the answer that points to eternal life in God’s Kingdom!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Lost Son!

July 14, 2025, Monday Message:

Luke 15:11 NLT: “To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons.”

Saturday, we talked about the lost sheep. Sunday was the lost coin. Did you guess that today would be about the lost son? If a fact in the Bible is very important, it will often be included twice, perhaps reworded just a bit, but restated for additional emphasis – so that we can “get” it. The sheep and the coin parables are about returning, about something being put back where it belonged. The lost son includes a factor not in the other stories – willful disobedience. Both repent and return were on Jesus’ agenda as he put forth this scenario.

We know this kid as the “Prodigal Son,” wastefully extravagant and quite full of himself. Growing up, he must have been a piece of work for the poor father. I doubt this was the first time he acted out his vainglorious tendencies.

In Hebrew tradition, if a father passed away, his eldest son would become the new patriarch, the one in charge of family business. Therefore, he would inherit everything. He would also shoulder the responsibility of caring for his siblings. That may not seem fair, but this was an agricultural economy. If the family farm was chopped up into little pieces, no one would have enough to survive. But together, they could all continue enjoying the success they’d known when dad was alive.

So when the younger son demanded, “I want my share of your estate now before you die,” he was totally out of line. He might as well have said, “Dad, I wish you were dead!” ‘A’, That’s a terrible thing to wish on your father, and ‘B’, He really didn’t have anything coming. His older brother would have been next in line.

Nonetheless, the father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons, which is why I call him the Prodigal Father – wastefully making bad decisions. The kid talked him into something that never should have happened.

This is getting long, so we’ll continue with Jesus’ parable tomorrow. Just remember that in the end, the Prodigal Son gives us a clear example of repent and return. The Bible says that ALL have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. So just like the Prodigal Son, we all need to repent and return. It’s our only path to salvation!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Lost Sheep!

For Saturday, July 12, 2025:

Luke 15:4 MSG: “Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it?”

Jesus is teaching the mixed crowd – tax collectors, sinners, Pharisees and teachers of religious law – the parable of the lost sheep. Livestock are valuable, well worth going after if one strays. Sheep share a philosophy that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, so they’re always wandering off, straying, doing the wrong thing, just like many humans! God figures that human souls are worth going after if they stray. That’s why Jesus came to earth, to redeem mankind! Note the ratio, 1 out of 100 missing. We’d check every nook and cranny of the pasture. The search wouldn’t be over until the missing sheep was accounted for!

In real life, something far more valuable than a sheep had gone missing. In this parable, the lost sheep represents a wandering sinner. Heaven patiently waits for each one of us to repent and return, and heaven won’t abandon us until we have had adequate opportunities to reconcile with our Creator. God’s desire is that none would be lost, and that all would repent and return!

When the animal is returned to the flock, the shepherd invites his neighbors in to celebrate the victory. “Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep!”

Jesus summarizes his teaching: “In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Persistent Prayer!

May 1, 2023 Monday Message:

Luke 18:5 NLT, Jesus teaching: “The judge ignored the persistent widow for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

In Jesus’ parable, the persistent widow’s goal was fairness and justice. She was asking the judge for the right thing for the right reason, so she kept on asking, kept seeking justice. In the end, her request was granted, albeit for the wrong reason. The unfair judge did not become a better person, and deep down he was uninterested in justice. But the woman’s persistence wore him down. In the end, justice was served, not because of, but in spite of the unfair judge.

The point of the story is that we too should be persistent. Never give up on prayer. God, as our supreme judge, is fair and honest, unlike the judge in this story. Jesus explains: “Don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly!”

Jesus concludes with a rhetorical question: “When the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” Persistent faith?

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Lost Sheep = Lost Soul!

For Friday, April 28, 2023:

Luke 15:4 NLT, Jesus speaking: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?”

Using parables or short stories with a lesson is a good way to teach. It can be difficult to grasp a theological concept, but most people can more easily remember a story containing that lesson.

In this case, Jesus wasn’t really talking about sheep. He was referencing souls, God’s created eternal beings. If even one soul gets off track, it’s a huge disappointment in heaven. Our Creator will present the stray with opportunity after opportunity to repent and return to the flock. And there is great rejoicing and celebration when the stray returns and is reintroduced to the flock.

Jesus concluded this parable: “There is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship