Sin's Influence!

For Wednesday, April 22, 2026:

Romans 8:5 NLT: “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.”

Think about it. What dominates your mind? If your mind wanders and you find yourself daydreaming, what was your topic?

Satan wants to plant sinful thoughts in your mind because the result is so predictable. At first, a lot of sin can appear to be fun, releasing dopamine, the feel-good hormone, into our brains. Mankind seems to find excitement in taking a little risk, in doing something just a little bit naughty. But as Christians, that isn’t where we should be.

The lie is in thinking that sin is fun, but the truth is that in the long run, sin is devastating. (Satan is always telling us lies!) Sin destroys homes and families, can separate children from their parents, and is a bad example for the next generation. But even worse, it saddens your Father in heaven.

Let me make a broad theological assumption. I’m guessing that if you’ve prayed and asked Jesus to be Lord and Savior of your life, you weren’t intending to exclude Father God or the Holy Spirit. Being a Trinity, you can’t really have one without the others. Being a Christian is family business, the family of God.

So get out of the driver’s seat of your daily life, and let the Holy Spirit call the shots. The Holy Spirit is not influenced by Satan’s temptations, and your life will immediately improve. Tune your ears to only listen to the words of God!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Love vs Hate!

December 22, 2025, Monday Message:

John 15:24 NLT, Jesus speaking: “If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father.”

People are fickle. Their attitudes toward others swing back and forth like a pendulum. We excitedly welcome a new baby, but may grow to hate them later in life. Sometimes that behavior is justified; sometimes, not.

On the church calendar, we draw close to Christmas, celebrating the birth of our savior. Believers had waited over 700 years for the prophesied Messiah. Angels told us that Jesus was the one! God doesn’t send His Messenger Angels on a fool’s errand. If the message is heaven-sent, it’s true!

Here’s what’s odd. Fishermen, laborers and even a tax collector became believers. Priests, religious teachers and Temple leaders never got on the Jesus bandwagon. They weren’t prepared to worship a triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That concept was new, a deviation from their present theology. They thought they had it all figured out. They did not!

I believe power and money stood in the way of a sound decision. Yes, Jesus taught at the Temple, but only in the outer courtyards. He was never accepted into the inner circle of Temple leadership. Furthermore, if Jesus taught and people brought tithes, they were supporting Jesus and his disciples, not the Temple treasury.

Jesus is declaring unbelievers guilty, guilty of not using their eyes, ears and the brain God gave them. If you consider all the miracles and healings performed by Jesus, there is only one logical conclusion: That Jesus is indeed the heaven-sent Messiah. We later discern that he is the Son of God, and his mission is the rescue of mankind.

Today is the accepted day to commit or re-commit yourself to following and believing in God’s Son Jesus. If you consider all the well-documented evidence, you can only reach one conclusion: That Jesus is the key to life after this life. He was sent by the Father to bring us home!

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

Passover!

For Sunday, September 7, 2025:

Mark 14:16 NLT: “Two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.”

We can look at Jesus in two different ways. First, we call him the “Son of God.” After all, he came to earth as a little baby, as if he were somebody’s son. But we can also think of Jesus as God himself, as one-third of our triune God, fully God and fully human!

Now let’s look at Passover. The final plague as part of liberating Hebrew people from Egyptian slavery, was the death of every firstborn in the land. To protect the Hebrews from this plague, they were told to sacrifice a lamb and mark their doorposts with its blood. Then the angel of death would “pass over” those homes. Through Moses, God told them to remember this goodness annually, hence the Passover meal.

Jesus and his associates were obedient to God’s request. Not sharing a Passover feast would have been out of the question. They were welcomed into a home and given the upper room, and God’s goodness was celebrated!

Similarly, Jesus’ blood was shed to free mankind from our sin predicament. Jesus is our Passover lamb. God said that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Jesus’ blood was shed for us, and we are the beneficiaries of his forgiveness. Following that sacrifice, Jesus went ahead to prepare a place for all believers. Hope to see you there!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

New Covenant!

For Thursday, September 12, 2024:

1 John 2:27 NLT: “But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.”

Believers no longer have to memorize long lists of complicated laws and strive to obey them all. That’s the Old Covenant. But Jesus gave us the New Covenant. (Hebrews 10:16) “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” (Romans 2:15) “They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.”

You might say that Jesus invented our conscience, our inherent sense of knowing right from wrong. We receive that gift when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. And since the Spirit is our triune God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), he cannot lie. He cannot send us in a bad direction. God is our Father, and believers are his children, and parents only want the best for their progeny.

We can count on the guidance of the Holy Spirit!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Three Gods in One!

For Wednesday, September 4, 2024:

1 John 2:23 NLT: “Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is a package deal. Here the Bible says that if we deny the Son, we don’t know the Father. But through knowing the Son, Jesus, we also know the Father. Those who believe in God and believe Jesus is the Son of God are then filled with the Holy Spirit. We really can’t have one God without the others, because our God is a triune God – one God known to us in three coequal, coeternal divine persons.

The Commandments tell us, “I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other Gods…” So it’s important to know that these three forms of God are really just one God. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are always of one mind. If one speaks to you, you hear them all. If something you do would please God, He is pleased in all forms.

When someone says they believe in God but they don’t know Jesus or the Holy Spirit, I recall the words of Paul Harvey. They need to know the r-r-r-rest of the story! We need to tell them!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Trinity!

For Sunday, May 7, 2023:

John 14:8-9a NLT: “Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!”

Christians believe in one God who makes himself known to us in three different persons: God-the-Father on the throne in heaven; Jesus, known as the Son of God, who walked on earth alongside mankind; and the Holy Spirit, our advocate and comforter, with us until Jesus returns. But like I said, really only one God! Let me explain.

God in all his forms is omnipresent, able to be in many places at the same time. So it should come as no surprise that Jesus on earth could pray to his Father in heaven, or that Jesus could return to heaven to sit at the right hand of God while the Holy Spirit continues earthly work.

Our God is omniscient having all knowledge. After all, he designed many universes, knowing just where each planet should go, how far apart they should be and in which direction they should spin! God placed planet earth 93M miles from the sun, assuring mankind a perfect climate in which to thrive.

God is also omnipotent, all-powerful, which means he can accomplish any task to which he sets his divine mind.

I must confess that as I write or speak, I find myself often using the (technically) incorrect term. Usually it’s when Jesus says something, and I’ll write, “God said…” It happens because there’s really only one God, and in my mind, I consider the different forms simply as only one God. If I (or you) get it wrong, I don’t think it’s any big deal, and God is smart enough to figure out what was intended!

Jesus simplified it as he gave us a boat-load of knowledge: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Great Faith!

 For Thursday, March 2, 2023:

Matthew 9:18 NLT: “The leader of a synagogue came and knelt before Jesus. ‘My daughter has just died,’ he said, ‘but you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her.’”

Faith in Jesus is the key to salvation. This religious leader had apparently seen the miracles and heard Jesus speak, and he believed Jesus was the real deal – the Son of God heaven-sent to rescue mankind. The leader is going out on a limb here, since Jews are monotheistic, believing there is only one God. Christians also believe there is only one God, but known to us in three distinct forms: Father God in heaven; Jesus Son-of-God who walked on earth alongside mankind; and the Holy Spirit, our advocate and helper until Jesus returns.

This leader had faith, believing that one touch from Jesus could restore his daughter’s life! That’s a lot of faith, and Jesus did what the leader asked. He went to their home and took the daughter by the hand. She stood, fully healed, fully restored. Faith in Jesus turned out to be a good thing!

Jesus said, “I and the Father are one!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Prophesy Fulfilled!

For Tuesday, December 6, 2022:

Malachi 3:1 NLT: “’Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

That messenger, of course, was John-the-Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, John baptized them in the Jordan River. An odd looking man, his clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and for food he ate locusts and wild honey.

What I find interesting is the use of pronouns: “I am sending... prepare the way before ME...” It’s as if Jesus himself was giving the prophesy! Another prophesy says that a Messiah would be coming, and that turns out to be our Jesus! And it just makes sense that the Son of God would teach at the Temple. Everything happened just the way the prophets said.

As Christians, we have one God, known to us in three forms: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Personally I don’t make a big distinction between them, for they all represent the one God. Jesus is a part of the “Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” So it’s possible that Jesus would foretell his own arrival on earth. He would be on a mission trip to offer salvation to mankind! He came to rescue you and me!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Father, Son, Holy Spirit!

For Wednesday, November 9, 2022:

 John 14:6-7 NLT: “Jesus told Thomas, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!’”

Jesus is the way, the only way to eternal salvation. Every word he spoke was true, intended to teach those around him about sin, repentance, the Kingdom and salvation through him. Jesus is life. He bought us eternal life in the presence of the Father.

Some translations read, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” In practice of Christianity, there is really only one God, who is known to us in three different forms. But it’s still just one God. We pray to our Father in heaven in the name of Jesus who walked on earth alongside us. The Holy Spirit is moving among us now, until Jesus returns. The Bible says that Jesus was present at creation, and the Spirit moved over the waters of creation, but in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. I get the three mixed up all the time, but I believe that God’s smart enough to sort it out.

Praying is always better than not praying.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Father, Son, Holy Spirit!

 

For Tuesday, October 18, 2022:

1 Corinthians 8:6 NLT: “For believers, there is one God, the Father, by whom all things were created, and for whom we live. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created, and through whom we live.”

And by extension, there is also one Holy Spirit of God, who moved over the waters of creation. (Genesis 1:2b)

A triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is a unique and somewhat confusing concept. Christians believe there is only one God, who is known to us in three different forms. Father God is on the throne of the universe, in heaven. The Son Jesus walked among us and died to redeem mankind. He rose from the dead. And the Holy Spirit is our comforter, our counselor and our helper as we live out our daily lives. We are never far from God!

Paul was writing to the church in Corinth, filled with many Gentile believers who had previously worshiped many, many false gods. Having only one God in three different persons required a radical belief transformation. Paul accepted the challenge!

It’s the same nowadays. Even though false religions crop up all the time, our mission of truth as Christians is to share the Gospel with everyone. Those who trust Jesus as their Savior will see heaven from the inside!

Blessings today as you go about the Lord’s work!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406