Jesus Messiah!

July 21, 2025, Monday Message:

John 12:10-11 AMP: “The chief priests planned to kill Lazarus also, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away [from the teaching and traditions of the Jewish leaders] and believing in Jesus [following Him as Savior and Messiah].”

Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus were close friends of Jesus. You may recall that Lazarus became quite ill and eventually died. It was Jesus, Son of God, who brought him back to life four days later! Jesus was intentional about waiting four days to arrive, so that observers could be certain of the miracle and glorify God Almighty! This same Jesus would eventually hold all power over sin and death.

2,000 years ago, there was no radio, TV or internet. So when someone returned home and asked, “What’s been happening,” they expected detailed information. “Tell me everything!” Lazarus being brought back to life was #1 on the local buzz. People couldn’t stop talking about it, and many perceived Jesus to be the prophesied heaven-sent Messiah. Many shifted their allegiance from the Jewish priests to Jesus. Nowadays, we’d call it a Church Split.

Sidebar, just my opinion: I believe that faith in God’s Son, Christianity, was never intended to be a separate religion. It should have been just Judaism Chapter 2, a continuation of God’s relationship with Earth’s people. Jesus was raised Jewish, and observed and taught the centuries-old commandments and traditions. Replacing the Old Covenant with the New Covenant should have been a continuation, not a complete break and a restart. Count on humans to get it wrong!

The Chief Priests first plotted to kill Jesus, and now they’re planning the demise of Lazarus. When your religious leadership has murder on its agenda, you know for certain that it’s time to make a switch. Clearly the train had gone off the tracks.

God always favors life. First, he created everything from scratch, and then he commanded all creation to, “Go forth and multiply!” Reproduce your own kind. Make more like yourself, and fill the earth! God never said, “Figure out who to kill, and make a few animals extinct. There are far too many _____.” (snails, tortoises, dolphins, birds – you pick!)

One more thing. Last Friday, I was at the Rice County Fair in Faribault, MN. A couple had brought their newborn baby, and everyone wanted to take a look. A young girl, all smiles, told me excitedly, “He’s not even a week old!” By the time I backed off, at least 35 people had gathered to see God’s creation! They were ignoring the cows, chickens, goats and horses on display and focusing on the infant! The parents should have been awarded a blue ribbon for their exhibit! Moments like this make God smile!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Whole Truth!

For Sunday, July 28, 2024:

2 Peter 2:1 NLT: “There were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.”

Sad to say, but false teachers have not gone away. They work for Satan, and his goal is to increase the number of souls who belong to him. He does this by telling lies and creating doubt, thereby increasing the number of backsliders. Beware! Much of what we see in modern churches is simply tradition and habits that have no biblical basis.

And speaking of the Bible, read it as the inspired word of our God who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Friends, sin doesn’t change! If the Bible says something was sin 3,000 years ago, it’s still sin today! If Jesus called it sin 2,000 years ago, it’s still sin today! God doesn’t change his mind to be politically correct!

When a witness testifies in a court of law, they swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Churches and their pastors should take the same oath. Many teach the truth, but not the whole truth. Controversial topics can be avoided by omission, but that’s not right. A good church will teach the WHOLE truth!

Since this is Sunday, I assume believers will be worshiping today. Bring your Bible, and encourage use of the entire book!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

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

Heart!

For Thursday, June 22, 2023:

Mark 7:6b-7 NLT, Jesus speaking about the Pharisees: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.”

Growing up in a church, I was an acolyte; an altar boy. One of our jobs was to light the candles. We were to begin on the right side with the candle closest to the cross. Jesus, after all, sits at the right hand of the Father, and true light comes from the cross, representing Jesus. When all the candles on the right were lit, go to the left side in a similar manner. Extinguish the candles in reverse order.

One day a new student was assigned ‘candle duty.’ He did it all wrong! Started on the wrong side, lit the candles in the wrong order, and I was pretty sure we were all going to hell for worshiping incorrectly! Or perhaps a lightning bolt would strike the church – God’s revenge for us not paying attention to detail!

As an adult, having studied more of my Bible, I find that God doesn’t give a hoot about our traditions. He wants to know our heart. Man-made traditions are not commands from the Father. True worship involves humbleness, not so much putting ourselves down, but rather lifting up our Savior.

Jesus said to love the Lord and love your neighbor. He’s not concerned with how the candles got lit!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Helpful is Good!

 March 20, 2023 Monday Message:

1 John 2:7 NLT: “Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before.”

In Jesus’ day, the religious establishment put all their efforts into obeying laws and observing traditions. Loving their neighbor wasn’t on the day’s agenda! But Leviticus 19:18 says, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” They should have already known!

The command to love your neighbor doesn’t refer to a single isolated incident. For those Israelites and for many nowadays, it requires a total change of heart, a change in attitude. I explain this to people as figuring out what you could do that would be helpful.

Example: Friends recently took an airplane trip, the husband in a wheelchair, and the wife his caretaker. They boarded the man first, but would not allow his wife on the plane until much later. She explained their medical situation, but was offered no help. It seems that she didn’t have the right kind of ticket that would allow early boarding. When finally allowed on the plane, she was seated 20 rows from her husband. It seems the ticket agent’s goal was enforcing rules, not being helpful! The airline could have done better!

When faced with a situation, ask yourself, “What could I do that would be helpful?”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship