Gifts & Talents!

For Wednesday, June 10, 2026:

Colossians 1:25 NLT, Paul speaking: “God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you.”

It’s easy for Paul to identify his spiritual calling. The incident on the road to Damascus leaves no doubt!

Each of us is also called to serve, but our calling might not be as straightforward as Paul’s. I knew a man, an architect, who was nationally known for his large building designs. He sat in a pew week after week, wondering how he should serve. Eventually he retired, and that’s when his church decided they needed a new, much larger sanctuary on their campus. He went to work immediately! His purpose became obvious! Also, there was a woman who only knew a few chords on the guitar. She didn’t have the skill for the main worship team in the big room, but she was perfect for leading kids’ songs at church camp.

Sometimes the challenge is identifying your inherent skill. Other times it’s finding the proper venue to fit the available skill. The local church is better when we all share our God-given talents with others in the fellowship.

Are you still trying to identify your gifts, or are you figuring out how to put them to use?

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Continuous Truth!

For Saturday, June 6, 2026:

Colossians 1:23 NLT: “You must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.”

You probably already know that the word “Gospel” is translated as “Good News.” And Bible is also referred to as Truth. Once you have heard the story of Jesus, the Gospel, hang onto it firmly. Now that you know the truth, never waver in your commitment to Jesus.

This is the advice of Paul, who at first didn’t get it either. I jokingly say that Jesus slapped him upside the head on the road to Damascus, but that’s kind of what happened. Paul was struck blind for three days, led into town where a believer cleared his eyes, restoring his sight. Paul should have been quite hungry by then, but the first thing he did was to be baptized. Nothing was more important than obeying this newly discovered truth!

Paul was “all in!” How about you?

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Spirit World!

For Thursday, May 14, 2026:

Colossians 1:16b NLT: “Christ made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.”

There is an entire reality, parallel to our world, that we cannot see. But it affects us greatly. Many Christians dream of going to heaven, a spirit reality, but balk at believing the size and complexity of the spirit realm. It’s truly difficult to believe in what we can’t see, what we can’t verify with our own eyes.

The risen Jesus delayed Paul on the road to Damascus. Christ cleared up who he is and proved that he can do everything he promised. I believe he also gave Paul a glimpse into the life after this life. As Paul describes it to the Colossians, the world we cannot see may be greater than the one we can see. He includes kingdoms with kings on their thrones and battles between them. Just as there is good and evil on the earth, there are spirits on God’s team and demons on Satan’s team. We’d do well to watch out for the latter.

Humans live this life, and then transition to the life after this life. Very few ever return, Lazarus and a few others. Jesus is the only one who existed in the unseen reality, came to earth to forgive mankind’s propensity for sin, and then returned to the spirit realm. These facts may or may not affect our earthly lives. But God doesn’t want to hear us say, “I didn’t see that coming!” Knowing what’s ahead, we can better conform to God’s commandments.

When we approach the pearly gates, they’ll say, “We’ve been expecting you!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Christian Focus!

For Thursday, March 12, 2026:

Romans 7:21 NLT, Paul speaking: “I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.”

Paul is living in a world filled with sin, and as much as he tries to honor God by doing right, frustrations of this life find him slipping back into his old behavior. Remember, when he first set out, Paul was armed with a letter from the Temple leaders authorizing him to stop these radical new Christians, to return them to Jerusalem in chains! The risen Jesus stopped him on the road to Damascus, striking him blind and helpless, saying, “Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?” This was enough to make Paul do a 180, to realize that Jesus was indeed the heaven-sent Son of God. Paul became a Jesus advocate. He was brought into the city and his sight restored by a believer. Paul was immediately baptized and became an instant evangelist! (By the way, “Saul” was his Hebrew name, like King Saul. “Palus” was his Greek name, which we translate into English as “Paul.”)

God gave mankind the power to think and reason. If we were forced to follow Jesus, our loyalty would mean nothing. Therefore, God lets us choose, wants us to choose Him! We’re taken off track by Satan and his demons shouting, “Pick me! Pick me!” At first, sin seems to be fun and exciting, but it never works out in the long run. God’s desire is for everyone to repent and return — repent of our sins and return to the roster of believers. When this life ends, we want to find ourselves on God’s short list, unwavering in our commitment to the Father and his Son.

The longer we’re Christians, the easier it will become to stay on the high road. God wants us to succeed!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

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

Love God & Neighbor!

February 23, 2026, Monday Message:

Hebrews 13:16 NLT: “Don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.”

If something in the Bible is extra-important, the writer may repeat those words. They’ll change the text only slightly while restating the principal. The Bible says it twice for emphasis. We get to see it twice so the words sink in!

To facilitate doing good and sharing, Moses taught this message, and Abraham led his followers with these principals. Later, John the baptist previewed these lessons before Jesus, who taught this behavior throughout his entire ministry. These thoughts were some of Jesus’ last reminders as he transitioned to the life after this life.

In the Epistles, followers of Jesus are teaching these things to the Hebrew believers and the Roman converts. Paul dispensed these instructions as he planted churches throughout Asia Minor.

Today, we are the ambassadors bringing these words to the world. “Love God and love your neighbor.” Be nice, be kind, be helpful. Look for the next way to do the right thing. Instead of only looking out for #1, put “Loving the Lord” at the top of your agenda, followed by “compassion and caring” for those on the short end of life. Any prayers for ourselves should come after those items!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Please pray for peace in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Drug kingpin “El Mencho” and eight of his cohorts were killed in a Mexican military operation, and the Cartels are responding with violence. The airport is closed, school is cancelled and the town is basically on fire. Buildings and vehicles are being burned, including busses and the giant Costco store. Most roads are closed, and people are advised to shelter in place. The violence is spreading to neighboring towns in and around Jalisco, including Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, all US tourist destinations. Pray for everyone’s safety, for the violent killings to end and for the peace of the Lord to reign in the region.

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

God's Presence!

For Tuesday, October 7, 2025:

John 14:15-17a NLT, Jesus speaking: “If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.”

Jesus wants us to obey his (and his Father’s) commandments. Sounds reasonable, but how does that work for mankind? Wasn’t it the Apostle Paul who said, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Paul was human. Paul experienced what we all experience: “shortcomings.”

The Bibles we read were translated from centuries-old writings that were hand-copied and therefore subject to minor differences. I discovered originals that said, “obey my commands,” “you will obey my commands,” and “you should obey my commands.” All of this tells us that following Jesus’ direction is a good idea, but we may not always get it right. After all, we’re flawed humans, subject to shortcomings. As pagans, we used to not care. But now that we know Jesus, we do the best that we can. We’re not perfect, but we have a goal in place of living our lives in a God-pleasing manner.

Jesus said he’d ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to us. (Aha – so there are three of them – Triune God!) He is sending someone to advocate for us, to comfort, encourage and counsel us, someone to walk alongside us through this lifetime. The Greek writers call him “Paraclete.”

Jesus said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” The “I” refers to the 3-in-1 God. Jesus was on earth with us and died so our sins could be forgiven. He ascended to Heaven, so the Holy Spirit will be our helper for the rest of our time here. And when we transition to God’s Kingdom, Heaven, the Father himself will be our master.

Pray that the Holy Spirit would keep all believers pointed in the right direction!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Jesus – Son of God!

For Thursday, October 3, 2024:

1 John 4:15-16 NLT: “All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.”

John knew and understood much about God, Jesus and the Kingdom. He was a 3+ year disciple, living with and taking meals alongside Jesus. God filled in the blanks with the Revelation visions that took place on the island of Patmos. We would do well to listen to John!

Paul’s credential is the same, but he arrived in a much different way. Paul was leading small armies opposing Jesus and the new Christian movement, when he was struck blind on the road to Damascus. Jesus himself did the teaching: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Jesus turned Paul’s values around 180º! The first thing Paul did when he regained his sight was to be baptized! He was “IN!”

Our faith is trusting Jesus and the eyewitness testimony of those who knew him. In today’s scripture, John says that if we declare that Jesus is the Son of God, we too can be “IN!” It’s that simple! Hopefully we can love God as much as he loves us!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Worthless Garbage!

For Thursday, May 2, 2024:

Philippians 3:8 NLT: “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.”

Q: What’s the most valuable gift you’ve ever received?

A: If you’re a Christian, it’s the gift of eternal life in the presence of the Father as the result of the work Jesus did on the cross, freely given to you out of the Father’s love. If you were thinking of any earthly possession, you’re thinking far too small. Jesus went on ahead to prepare your forever residence, and eternity is a lot longer than we can even imagine!

You know that your human limitations don’t apply to God. So don’t you be the one to limit God by assigning him your human attributes.

Paul had been raised up with certain rules, certain traditions, certain values. He had been taught Jewish laws and was schooled as a Pharisee. And here he testifies how worthless it all is! Garbage! The New Covenant has replaced the Old Covenant. Instead of penalties, Jesus brokered forgiveness. Paul’s world had been turned upside down, and he loved the new way. On a scale of 1-10, the old ways and traditions would only get a 1. But partnering with Jesus gets a 10!

Believers are the hands and feet of God on earth. According to Paul, there’s no better way to live!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Live like Jesus!

For Thursday, April 25, 2024:

Philippians 2:5 NLT: “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”

Paul is attuned to Jesus’ mind and attitude. It all happened on the road to Damascus. I jokingly say that Jesus had to slap Paul “upside the head” to get his attention! The truth is that Paul was struck blind until Jesus said otherwise. That got his attention, flipped the script, and turned Paul’s life around 180º!

Paul opened this letter with a series of questions, hoping the reader would “get it.” He states that believers should be like he is, since it was Jesus who personally made a believer out of Paul. But perhaps that’s still too oblique. So Paul points the Philippians directly to the source: “Let the mind of Jesus live in you!” Or in simple words, “Be like Jesus!”

Paul gives this conclusion first, and then goes on to detail several examples of living one’s life like Jesus. This is a text-book teaching method, still being taught nowadays. “State what you’re going to teach, then teach it, and finally summarize what you just taught.” Same thing, three times, three different ways. You don’t want anyone to miss the point of your message!

We all need to know a certain amount about teaching. Jesus commissioned all believers to make disciples of all nations, so we all need the skills to do a good job. Accept the commission and do your best!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

It Is Finished!

For Tuesday, April 16, 2024:

Philippians 1:6 NLT: “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Israel is situated along the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. If you sailed north and west over 800 miles, crossing the Aegean Sea and then another 25 miles inland, you’d find Philippi, home of the Philippian church. It’s well over 1,000 miles if you’re walking. I find it remarkable that the Good News would spread that far in Paul’s short lifetime! Keep in mind, though, that the population was primed for worship; they were determined to worship something. They prayed to the sun and the moon. They prayed for good weather and bountiful crops. They built elaborate temples to worship these idols. They knew about worship but had not yet identified the true God. Jesus was the answer, and many were now onboard!

God never starts a project and then abandons it, leaving it halfway finished. Some projects like the church in Philippi or like your church are on a perpetual growth trend. Knowledge increases and growth continues until Jesus returns. We as individuals should also be on a growth trend until Jesus returns or until God calls us home. (Churches are managed by people with human faults, so don’t be surprised if the church takes two steps forward, and then one backward! Churches aren’t perfect! But if you wait to find the perfect situation, you’ll never know fellowship!)

Has God finished his work in you? I suspect not! None of us is better than all the others seeking to be good Christians. But don’t worry – God will never give up on you! In fact, he’ll keep feeding you knowledge every day of your life! The day you’re called home will be the closest you’ve ever been to the Lord!

God always finishes what he starts!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Church!

For Tuesday, April 2, 2024:

Colossians 1:2a NLT, to the church in Colosse from Paul and Timothy: “We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Early Christians were considered somewhat unusual. They didn’t fit in with the rest of society. Almost everyone else had a selfish “look out for #1” mentality. But these unconventional Christians shared their resources and loved everybody. How odd!

Epaphras was the Christian leader in their city, and he taught well. Followers of Jesus were “all in!” Believers frequently gave up businesses, homes and land, and donated the proceeds to the work of the church, helping spread the Good News! They had experienced unconditional love and friendship from their new Christian family! There was no going back; this was too good! They had made a decision to join up with these Christians. They liked what they saw, and chose to do life with these people. No one is ever sorry they made that decision!

Paul and Timothy wrote only the one letter to Colosse. It was assumed that all the Christians would be doing life together, and their one message would be heard by all.

At my church, following the Good Friday service, we all received an email from the lead pastor expressing gratitude for all the really good people in the congregation, people with whom we can live our lives. I believe God put us together, and each of us made a decision to stay.

I hope everyone reading this has a good church family that they can count on during life’s trials. God wants us to all experience fellowship!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Make Disciples!

For Sunday, November 12, 2023:

Romans 15:21 NLT, Paul speaking: “I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘Those who have never been told about Jesus will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand.”

Paul, who encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, was given an unfathomable task: Take the Good News (Gospel) to the Gentile world. Yikes! Jesus’ disciples started the first church, ‘The Way,’ in Jerusalem where the Jews already knew and worshiped God. Christianity was an extension of the religion the people already knew, so proselytizing was easier, more direct.

Paul’s territory was much larger! He was assigned anywhere NOT in Jerusalem by Jesus himself! So before teaching about our Savior Jesus, Paul had to first explain God-the-Creator! He had to teach the scriptures we call the Old Testament, as his audience had no previous ‘God’ experience. Paul was up for the assignment!

Are you up for a similar assignment? Paul wasn’t the only one called. Jesus commissioned ALL believers to make disciples of all nations, and baptize them. We each have a piece of that assignment. It involves much more than just 1-on-1 evangelism. Worship, hospitality, transportation, administrative and teaching skills are required. We need strong churches so new believers can worship and learn more about Jesus and his Father. We need strong churches from which to send evangelists and support them in the field.

Have you pinned down your piece of Jesus’ assignment?

Blessings – See you at church!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship