Better Direction!

For Friday, June 6, 2025:

Acts 2:38 NLT: “Peter replied, ‘Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

“Repent and return to the Lord.” Sound familiar? For centuries, prophets had been trying to get everyone back on track. One example is Jonah, delivering God’s message to the people of Nineveh. Repent and return. Before Jesus arrived, John-the-Baptist used those same words. Jesus himself spoke those words. And now Peter, following Jesus’ instructions, is encouraging a colossal crowd of Jews to repent and return.

Every language has its quirks, and Hebrew is no exception. “Teshuvah” (repent) indicates a change in direction. “We were headed East, but decided West would be better.” Sinners are “far from God.” Believers are “closer to God.” Combining those two thoughts, people caroming through the world are advised to change directions and return, thereby becoming closer to God. The best way to get closer to God is to repent, change your ways and make a total commitment to follow God Almighty and His Son.

Baptism is an outward confirmation of an inward change. If a person is convinced that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, public baptism shares their decision with the world. There were healing pools nearby, and several other believers to perform the baptisms, making this scenario possible.

Take a moment and re-commit yourself to service on the “Jesus Team!” Each of us has been given specific gifts and talents to add value to our church family. Everyone is needed. Do you know your piece of the worship equation?

See you at church!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Gifts and Talents!

For Tuesday, May 13, 2025:

Luke 10:42 NLT, Jesus, speaking to Martha: “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Some people get Mary and Martha mixed up. Which is which? I was taught to think of Martha Stewart, in the kitchen, doing cooking demonstrations on TV. That’s Martha. Mary (same name as Jesus’ mother) is the one listening at Jesus’ feet.

The question arose as to which woman was doing the right thing. Probably both! Martha was called to be the consummate hostess, providing for the disciples’ daily needs. Mary was enamored with Jesus’ knowledge and teaching skills. She didn’t want to miss a thing! To her, there was nothing better than hearing Jesus speak!

In the end, Jesus didn’t change a thing. He didn’t command Mary to help out in the kitchen; and he didn’t command Martha to abandon the kitchen and listen to his message. Even though we encounter Martha and Mary in the same scenario, we need to remember that they are each uniquely created with distinct skills and different interests. Jesus knew when to leave well enough alone!

Have you identified your gifts and talents? Like Martha and Mary, some of us have the gift of hospitality while others shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a kitchen! There are a multitude of tasks that need doing in a Christian community. Surely there’s a need where you could best serve. Find something that’s a good fit for you.

Pastor Rick Warren says that a non-serving Christian is a contradiction!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Joyful Noise!

For Tuesday, October 8, 2024:

Psalm 100:1 ESV: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!”

We continue our discussion of worship today. The question often comes up concerning in which key the song should be sung. The key doesn’t matter as much as the range of the melody. If we’re asking people to sing along, as worship leaders we need to make sure that’s possible!

Churches missed the boat on this one for years! Hymnals are written SATB – soprano, alto, tenor and bass. The soprano melody would be too high for most people to sing. And most of the congregation doesn’t actually read music, so the harmony parts don’t count for much. Nowadays, most of us use contemporary worship music, so let’s look at that.

Most women will prefer an alto range. Soprano gets way too high for most, just as second alto is far too low. Similarly, male voices prefer a baritone range, not a high tenor or a basement bass. If we look at a treble clef staff (with men singing an octave lower), there’s really only one good octave of singable notes for everyone, from Bb to Bb. Below that, many people bottom out of range. Above that, women switch from chest voice to head voice, which is like falsetto for men. The tone can change drastically, and some women simply can’t go there. Most men can sing a bit higher, but they’re pushing, kind of shouting, which works for a lead singer on stage. But most men in a congregation won’t sing that hard. It matters not if a male or female is leading the song on the platform. It deserves to be in a congregation-singable key.

Settle on musician-friendly keys. Move things a half-step up or down if it makes sense. For example, B major has 5 sharps, which is just asking for mistakes. A half-step up would be C, a key with no sharps or flats and can be played in first position on a guitar. Down a half-step would be Bb, the most common key if you have a horn section. Try to simplify things so everyone on your team can easily do their best.

I’ve noticed a lot of songs lately that start with the singer croaking out low tones in the basement range, barely able to sing. Then later the melody jumps up an octave, which sounds great and adds energy to the performance. I really like that, but I’m not a fan of the ragged performance at the beginning. Just my opinion. Not only can’t the singers sing it very well that way, but the congregation doesn’t stand a chance!

God gave each of us unique gifts and talents. Recognize that your talents may be different from the next person’s. So it’s not only OK, but also a good idea to adjust things to fit your team’s skills. That’s good leadership. When we offered our personal services to our worship teams, none of us signed up to join a Chris Tomlin cover band. (Insert name of your favorite Christian group.) We each have our own level of talent, our own style and our own personality. So let YOUR gifts shine through, so that your worship team can be the best that it can be!

Put your God-given resources to use! A little more on worship tomorrow!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Spiritual Gifts #1

For Tuesday, October 17, 2023:

Romans 12:6-8 NLT: “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”

Our Father made us all the same; two legs, two arms, two eyes, etc. And yet you can look at a crowd of 1,000 people and no two look exactly the same. The same thing goes for spiritual gifts. We are all “good” at certain things and interested in other things. Again, no two of us are wired exactly the same way. We have been gifted certain specific spiritual talents by our Father in heaven.

Do you know your spiritual gifts? Are you sharing your gifts with your church community? Believers identify their spiritual gifts so they can do their best, most effective work for God. Jesus’ was good at preaching, teaching and healing. When he forgave our sins he healed our souls!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Uniquely Qualified!

For Thursday, September 22, 2022::

Revelation 5:5 NLT: “One of the twenty-four elders said to me, ‘Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.’”

Jesus, being the Son of God, is unique. In Revelation ch. 5, God, on his throne in heaven, is holding a scroll with seven seals, and no one - even in heaven - is worthy of taking that scroll from God’s hand, breaking the seals and sharing the information. Not the 4 living beings, not the 24 elders and none of the angels. It turns out that only Jesus is suitable for this task!

Jesus was perpetually obedient to the will of the Father. When God wanted to establish a New Covenant with his created souls, mankind, Jesus was the only suitable messenger. The one who lived a sinless life himself was the only one who could forgive all our sins. His sacrifice paid the price to redeem all who would believe.

Jesus still is a friend to believers. When we transition to the next life, he will welcome us with open arms. He’s uniquely qualified to usher us into heaven!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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