Freedom & Truth!

For Saturday, July 4, 2026:

John 8:32 NLT, Jesus speaking: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Today we celebrate Independence Day in the US, the day the 13 United States decided to no longer answer to British monarchy. A foreign government could no longer influence our decisions. It involved a war, but we emerged victorious. That bought us some earthly freedom, but what about spiritual freedom?

Almost 1,800 years earlier, Jesus brought us truth. We remember the healings and miracles, and the knowledgeable preaching. An even bigger gift was Jesus, on the cross, taking the sins of the world upon himself, and taking those sins to the place of the dead, leaving mankind forgiven simply by declaring faith in the Son. But let’s not forget that every word spoken by Jesus was true. That truth is the foundation of our religion.

How spiritual leaders can get so far off track is a mystery to me. To many leaders, ceremony overtakes substance. The ritual itself becomes more important than our reason for celebrating. And tradition overcomes truth. “We’ve always done it that way” carries more weight than the reason for the action. Pharisees thought they had memorized God’s Laws, but they skipped the part about compassion, about loving their neighbor. Their actions didn’t line up with Jesus’ teaching.

There is really only one church – the church of Jesus Christ. So why do we have so many denominations? – over 45,000 worldwide, each claiming their way is the only way. Something’s off.

My advice would be to check your Bible and see what Jesus did. Then do that. Read Jesus’ advice. Then follow those instructions. Don’t adopt any new-agie whims. Stick with the basics. The main things are the plain things.

I treat “truth” as a noun, a desirable commodity we should all seek. (Spell-checker may disagree with me…) Jesus hasn’t rehearsed speaking “the truth.” In fact, he can do no other! If Jesus opens his mouth, truth comes out! There are no alternative narratives within him.

Jesus says that all true believers will know the truth, which is the origin of our spiritual freedom. Happy Freedom Day!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

The "New" You!

For Saturday, April 13, 2024:

Colossians 2:20-21 NLT: “You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, ‘Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!’?”

This scripture touches on difficult-to-grasp concepts. It points out the difference between the old you who lived for the world, and the new you who lives for Christ. The old you must die; the new you is ‘born again!’ The old covenant is history. Jesus gave us a new deal, a new covenant. Everything should be different now that Jesus is living in our hearts!

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that most religions tend to over-value their rituals and traditions. Performing a certain ceremony won’t get you into heaven. Honoring centuries-old traditions won’t matter when you’re stepping into the next reality. Repeating a 2,000-year-old prayer that someone else wrote won’t impress God. He wants to know what’s in YOUR heart. Where does YOUR passion lie?

Those ‘do not, do not, do not’ instructions describe legalistic religions, where the laws of man are erroneously taught as the laws of God. Those people believe that if you can perfectly follow all the rules, you may get to see paradise; but no promises! Following traditions has no real value, whereas loving the Lord has eternal benefits!

Being a Christian requires positive action, doing things that we should do. We do our best to live like Jesus lived, and to love God and our neighbors.

Mankind prioritizing rules and traditions is mankind reaching up hoping to touch heaven. Christianity is God reaching down to mankind in love, through his Son Jesus! May we all be blessed with a touch from God today!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Redemptive Value!

For Sunday, January 21, 2024:

Mark 7:8 NLT, Jesus confronting the Pharisees: “You ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

Our goal should be to spend eternity in God’s presence. In the end, we all want to go to heaven, right? Heaven is the reward that makes this all worthwhile! That’s why we worship God, and lift up his Son Jesus – to see heaven from the inside!

But many who worship cling to old customs, rituals and traditions. Some are good, some are bad, but none will get you into heaven. Rituals and traditions are not what we call a “redeeming ordinance.” Performing a ritual will never save your soul. Observing an ancient custom has no redemptive value.

Jesus is the only way. God loved us so much that he gave his only Son to open heaven’s door for mankind. With Jesus in our hearts, the door will swing wide and heaven will welcome us with open arms. With Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives, heaven becomes the only option for our life after this life!

Thank you, Jesus!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Sabbath!

January 1, 2024 Monday Message:

Mark 2:27 NLT: “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.”

Worshiping the Lord is important. The Sabbath is important. But the honoring the Sabbath should not take precedence over doing what Jesus said to do. People raised in ritual and tradition often get this wrong. Jesus is the final word on honoring the Sabbath.

To love others is more important than religious rituals. (There, I said it!) Showing kindness is more important than tradition. “Is it good, is it right, it it honest, is it fair – should we be doing this thing?” Those are questions to ask yourself any time, including on the Sabbath. Be prepared to do the next right thing.

Pretend you’re driving home from church and you see a mom with 3 kids and a flat tire. Should you stop and help? Always. Help change the tire if you’re qualified, or at least pull out your cell phone and call AAA. Should we be doing work like that on the Sabbath? If you’re showing God’s love to your neighbor, the answer is “yes!”

I used to attend a church with a lot of babies, and sometimes babies can get fussy at inconvenient times such as during a church service. What happened was that a different mom (or grandma or sometimes a dad) would take baby to the lobby until it settled down, giving the parent respite. We called them “pass-around babies!” And children always want to sit with their friends at church, so it was challenging for a newcomer to know which children matched up with which parents! It’s OK to help watch someone else’s kids, even during church. After all, it’s one big church family of God!

So honor God on the Sabbath and do the next right thing!

A little housekeeping... This marks the 21^st year of the Monday Message, and the 5^th year of daily messages. It’s OK to share these messages, or to forward them to friends. If they’d like, we can add them to our distribution lists. And if you’d like to be removed, just ask the person who sent you this message. We don’t want to burden anyone. I know several people who maintain their own forwarding lists, so we have a lot of helpers! The daily message is also posted on my personal Facebook page, and on Jesus in the City’s facebook page. Believers respond from all over the world. Mexico, India, Pakistan and Ethiopia come up often, along with many in the US.

So love the Lord as we begin this new year, and be blessed!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Spirit and Truth!

For Saturday, November 18, 2023:

John 4:23 NLT, Jesus speaking: “The time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.”

Mankind tends to repeat things. Ritual and tradition often win out. But ritual and tradition aren’t always right!

Samaritans worshiped on Mt. Gerezim, while Jews worshiped in Jerusalem. The woman at the well asked Jesus which is correct, and he tells her it really doesn’t matter. (Jews would consider that blasphemy since it’s contrary to their tradition.)

Jesus explains, “God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” Each of us has a soul, a spirit, an eternal essence made to worship the Lord. It’s our spirit that can communicate worship and devotion directly to God’s Spirit. Our spirit and God’s Spirit reside in the same realm, in the same reality. Our spirit can connect with God’s Spirit instinctively. That’s how we bond with God, in his reality.

For Christians, our goal in this life should be to be on the same page as God. God is truth, and we should always stand up for what is true. We don’t worship idols or imaginary false gods. Our worship should only acknowledge truth, that our God is the creator of everything that exists and that Jesus is his Son. God is only capable of living in the truth. Lies and deceit come from Satan.

So set aside ritual and tradition in favor of spirit and truth! That’s what Jesus said!

More tomorrow! Blessings!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Jesus' Attitude!

For Sunday, January 22, 2023:

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

Because Jesus took up life alongside mankind on earth, he brought a simplicity, a practicality to worshiping the Father. Jesus was direct and acted quickly, adding immediacy to the day. If it was time to pray, do it now! On the Sabbath, let’s all gather for worship - now! If someone attending our worship needs healing, let’s do that first, and then get right back to worship!

Temple priests, Pharisees and Sadducees had complicated religion with ceremonies and rituals. Those aren’t necessarily bad, but following the ritual had become more important than the actual worship of the Lord, and that was wrong. Nothing is more important than honoring the Lord. God doesn’t need ‘fancy.’ But he does need ‘sincere.’

This scripture isn’t just about worship. As we live our lives, we make thousands of decisions every day, some of them right, and some of them wrong. Our average would improve if we’d stop and ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?,” and then do that!

Let us all strive to take on Jesus’ attitude and passion for his (our) Father!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Pure Hearts!

For Saturday, January 14, 2023:

Matthew 5:8 NLT: “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.”

When a woman and a man love each other enough to consider marriage, they say, “I love you with all my heart.” Not just what the lips say, and more than a few polite actions. This is an ‘all in’ commitment to one another, with ‘forever’ attached to it! Jesus‘ words, “pure hearts,” carry the idea of honesty and unflinching devotion to God’s value system.

This is a warning to all who are not pure in heart, including the Pharisees who appear pure in ceremony, clothing and food. But their emphasis on ritual and the law was used to persecute others. They had forgotten to be forgiving and to love their neighbor.

The best reward of all is seeing God. In this life, those with pure hearts will find God in nature, in scripture and in our church families, and then face-to-face in the next reality. Keep your eyes peeled; God is all around!

Seeing the Lord fills us with hope!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship