Paid In Advance!

For Thursday, July 16, 2026:

Colossians 1:29 NLT, Paul speaking: “That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.”

After meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul was thoroughly convinced. He threw himself into evangelism, telling everyone the Good News and planting new churches wherever God sent him.

But Paul doesn’t think he can do it all by himself. He knows that Christ is working through him to complete heaven’s mission. We also have a divine helper, the Holy Spirit, to be our advocate as we share with others the truth about God, his Son, sin, forgiveness and redemption. Since the Holy Spirit is working alongside us, we’re responsible for the effort, not the outcome. God’s in charge of that!

Paul is working hard to hold up his end of the partnership, as should we. We’ve all been assigned the task of making disciples of all nations. Half-measures won’t get us 50% of the way to the Kingdom! In fact, all-out effort only works when combined with an unshakable belief that Jesus is God’s Son and that his words are the truth. It’s our faith in the Risen Savior that lets us see heaven from the inside!

When I worked in sales, the letters ‘PIA’ on an invoice stood for ‘Paid in Advance!’ There is an invoice due for your sins and my sins, but it’s marked ‘PIA.” Jesus, through his death on the cross, paid the price to redeem mankind from our sin problem. He took those sins to the place of the dead and left them there, never to haunt us again.

Make a decision today to accept Jesus’ gift of forgiveness. Yes, it’s undeserved, but God sometimes does us a solid. Accept the gift with gratitude and a smile!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Sabbath Again!

For Saturday, July 11, 2026:

Luke 6:9 NLT: Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”

Saturday is the Jewish Holy Day, so everyone had gathered at the Synagogue. The group included a man with a deformed right hand. At this point, it’s pretty clear that the Pharisees were no fans of Jesus, so this was kind of a trick question. If Jesus healed the man, the Pharisees planned to accuse him of doing work on the Sabbath. After explaining the situation, Jesus healed the man.

Here’s Jesus’ explanation for what happened. While honoring the Sabbath is good, it does not supersede any of God’s other commands, in this case loving your neighbor. Being kind and helpful are always good things to do. Jesus was always doing the next right thing, and this is one more example of that. Our lives should always be modeled after Jesus!

Christians worship on Sunday, the third day after the crucifixion, when Jesus walked away from the tomb, conquering sin and death through the same event.

Q: Is it OK to mow the lawn on Sunday afternoon? A: If it’s just to cross one more thing off your honey-do list, the answer is no. But if it puts a smile on your spouse’s face because they like the yard neat and tidy, do it for them. Show pride in ownership and gratitude for the house and yard God gave you. Take good care of it. Joke with God about why the landscaping barely grows but grass doubles in volume each week! (God likes a good pun, I think!) Then take the kids to a pool, a splash pad, or just let them run through the sprinkler in the yard. Make the Sabbath a fun day for everyone!

God gave you the spouse, the children, the house, the yard and the Sabbath. Enjoy everything!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Kindness!

For Thursday, June 26, 2025:

Luke 14:3 NLT: “Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, ‘Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?’”

Jesus was a guest at the home of a Pharisee, about to be seated for the Sabbath meal. The Pharisees were watching him closely, hoping to catch Jesus doing something wrong. That was the Pharisee’s modus operandi, to catch people violating God’s commands and then call them on the carpet. Pharisees appeared to love nobody and were critics of everybody, and Jesus was no exception! How foolish they must have been to think that they could cite God’s Law against God’s own Son!

A man attending the feast suffered from swollen arms and legs. Pain made it challenging for him to move. Jesus saw an opportunity to make the man’s life better, and at the same time correct the Pharisee’s errant theology. He set up the lesson by asking: “Is it legal to heal this man on the Sabbath? You can see he’s hurting! Whaddaya say, guys? Should we heal him or not?”

Lacking a good answer, the Pharisees remained silent. Jesus reached out, touched the man, and instantly he was healed. Jesus turned to the Pharisees and explained, “Every one of you does work on the Sabbath. If a family member or one of your animals fell into a pit, surely you’d pull it out, even on the Sabbath!” The Pharisees remained speechless.

Lessons learned: We should worship God every day, but with special focus on the Sabbath. Because the Sabbath is the Lord’s day, it’s the perfect day to show kindness to our fellows. The Sabbath should never become an excuse for not doing the right things for the right reasons. If you’re loving your neighbor, God will smile on you!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Sabbath!

For Sunday, September 8, 2024:

Luke 6:9 NLT: “Jesus said to his critics, ‘I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?’”

Jesus’ character trend doesn’t change with the day of the week. So if your trend is as it should be – being kind, helpful, forgiving, loving, doing the next right thing – keep behaving that way. That’s what Jesus would do.

Q: If you’re driving home from church and you find a mom with two kids in the car at the side of the road with a flat tire, should you stop and help them change the tire? A: Yes. That’s what Jesus would have done.

Q: Isn’t that working on the Sabbath? A: Yes, but it falls under the “loving your neighbor” exception. When Jesus and his disciples needed food, they gleaned grain from the edge of the road. When a man with a deformed right hand showed up at worship, Jesus healed the man. Yes, Jesus was criticized for these exceptions, but he explained, “The Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

So this Sunday and all future Sundays, do what Jesus would have done. Love your neighbor and do the next right thing. See you at church!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Day of Rest!

September 2, 2024 Monday Message:

Genesis 3:19 NLT: “By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”

As the result of sin, mankind must work to obtain food. That’s actually good news, because God COULD have simply chosen to end his “mankind experiment.” This is more proof of God’s love for us.

In the US, this is Labor Day, when most folk take a holiday from back-breaking work, and that’s good. God said we should have a day of rest, although Labor Day is always on a Monday. Saturday would have been the original Hebrew day of Worship and rest, and Sunday is our day to honor Jesus.

So enjoy the day, and tomorrow back to work!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Faith vs Worry!

For Friday, February 3, 2023:

Matthew 6:26 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?”

There’s a fine line between prudently planning for the future and unnecessarily worrying about it. Jesus simply said to not worry; the Lord will provide. Birds don’t wake up in the morning and worry about food. They just go about their day and always seem to find enough to eat. Note that birds don’t worry, but they do work. They wake up, get out of the nest and search for today’s meal, which God always provides.

As a human, God may offer you a job. You have to do good work resulting in a paycheck which buys groceries at Krogers, and voilà, you have food! See – God is good!

Psalm 23 says that with the Lord as my Shepherd, I shall not want. God looks after his flock’s basic needs. He won’t provide everything we covet, but our necessities are in his hands.

Jesus is advising ‘faith’ rather than ‘worry.’ “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” (Matthew 6:27)

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

You're Working for the Lord!

For Saturday, October 29, 2022:

Colossians 3:23-24 NLT: “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.”

Believers have been “saved,” redeemed as children of God. Therefore let everything you do bring honor to your Father God and his Son Jesus. You are working on earth as a pre-registered citizen of heaven!

The Bible says that those who do not work should not get to eat. But some people such as widows and orphans cannot provide for themselves. Christians always do a little extra, so that we can share with those who need assistance.

Let your work reflect gratitude for the value of the place to which you are going.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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