Name of Jesus!

For Sunday, December 21, 2025:

Luke 2:21 NLT: “Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived.”

Translated into the English language as “Jesus,” the name was originally “Yeshua” which means "Yahweh is salvation" or “God is salvation.” Angels are obedient, messengers sent by God himself. (Any who aren’t obedient don’t last long!) So Gabriel was just repeating the Lord’s instructions. God is sending His Son, confirming His intention to rescue mankind, to grant us salvation. God loves us, and his intention is that all would repent and return. God, who is omniscient, knew that Jesus would be persecuted and eventually crucified. The sins of the world would be placed on an otherwise sinless Jesus, who would leave our sins in the place of the dead. Forgiveness would be an important part of mankind’s restoration and our reconciliation with Heaven. So it appears that God, with his infinite wisdom, had this all planned out well in advance of its implementation.

Our Holy Family, Mary, Joseph and now their baby, consisted of loyal, obedient Jews. So eight days after Jesus’ birth, they found themselves in a Synagogue, in front of a Rabbi, to offer thank-you sacrifices for a successful childbirth and a healthy baby boy. Firstborn males were always dedicated to the Lord. While I’m not sure they understood the significance of all these events, I’m pretty sure they knew this baby was special. Mary was mentally piecing this puzzle together and kept these godly things in her heart.

As believers nowadays, we get more than glimpses of a scenario in motion. With our Bibles, we can read the “Jesus story” all the way to its conclusion. We know that, in the end, God wins, and we are the beneficiaries of His grace. Believers will be adopted into Jesus’ Holy Family, and have the right to call God, “Our Father!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Omni-present!

For Wednesday, January 22, 2025:

Exodus 7:3 NLT, God speaking: “I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.”

It’s important for us to understand what was going on in Egypt at that time. God had been telling Pharaoh – through Moses and Aaron – to “Let my people go!” But now God says he will harden the heart of Pharaoh. Therefore Pharaoh won’t comply. On the surface, this action seems contrary to the stated goal. Seems like this could forestall the project’s completion.

But let us not forget that God can multitask, do more than one thing at the same time. The primary goal was to liberate the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. But while God’s doing that, wouldn’t it be great to let all of Egypt know that there is indeed a God, and to let them know who it is – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – Yahweh – the creator of all things! The same miracles (plagues) God would use to change Pharaoh’s heart would also convince all of Egypt that there is indeed a God Almighty, since the only explanation for the events about to occur would be divine intervention.

So friends, sit back and relax as God does his thing. We can relax more than Moses since we already know the conclusion. Sit with the faithful, the believers. Be patient. We know that eventually we’ll see the Hebrews leave Egypt!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Jesus is Lord!

For Saturday, September 16, 2023:

Philippians 2:9-11 NLT: “Therefore, God elevated Christ to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

This scripture does not imply universal salvation, that all will be saved. But at the end of this world, there will be no doubt that Jesus is Lord. God has seen to it. Many will rejoice that they’re believers, but many others will face a final regret that they made the wrong decision. It’s an eternal decision, so choose wisely while there’s still time! Make your decision for Jesus, or reaffirm your commitment to the our Savior today!

Jesus did not exalt himself to this heavenly position. God-the-Father raised his beloved Son and placed him on his heavenly throne. There is no higher name than Yahweh, and Jesus has that name.

Every knee will bow, and that should include yours!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

One God, Real!

For Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Psalm 77:13 NLT: “O God, your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you?”

One more thing…

3k years ago, pre-Jesus, groups of people – families, cities, nations – would choose ‘their’ god to worship, most notably Baal or Moloch. These gods are fictional characters, and worshiping them accomplished nothing. The biggest downside would be human sacrifice. The Hebrew nation worshiped Yahweh, the one true God.

Post-Jesus, we know that there really are no other Gods. Our one God is known to us in 3 forms: our Father in heaven, Jesus who walked on earth with mankind, and the Holy Spirit who continues to be our advocate. Eliminating the fictitious gods leaves our hope pinned securely on the only God who is real. There are no others.

Remember, Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

My Shepherd!

For Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Psalm 95:7 GNT: “He is our God; we are the people he cares for, the flock for which he provides. Listen today to what he says.”

As Christians, we believe in one God who has made himself known to us in three different persons: God the Father on the throne of heaven; Jesus, who walked on earth alongside mankind; and the Holy Spirit, sent to be our advocate and comforter until Jesus returns – but really, one God.

When this Psalm was written, many pagan gods pervaded the culture. People would weigh the authenticity and benefits, and then make a decision to follow a god. What the people of God are saying here is that an irrevocable decision has been made: Yahweh is our God! It’s an intentional act of allegiance. “I belong to him, and He belongs to me. I am the sheep of his hand.”

Knowing that the Lord is our Shepherd fills us with hope!

Blessings and safety to all today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Psalm 23

Monday Message for July 13, 2020.

Psalm 23:1 ESV: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Since we’re looking for signs of “hope” in the midst of the pandemic, Psalm 23 is an obvious choice. David, worship leader first and king second, was having a good day, perhaps a good month or a good year! It seem that there was always something going wrong in David’s life, but God always kept him safe, and David was grateful. As a worship leader, David authored hundreds of prayers and songs as tributes to God. Psalm 23 is one of them.

Psalm 23 is the best-known of all the psalms; it’s recited at most funerals. Psalm 23 begins with one bold statement, and then five more verses giving us detail pertaining to that initial statement.

It begins, “The Lord.” In the original language, this is God’s name. We all have names like Bob and Jim and Mary and Martha and Yahweh – get it? Actually all that’s written is an abbreviation of God’s name. Copyists did this out of fear that if they wrote the name incorrectly, they could die, and the tradition continues to this day – Some Jews always write “G-d,” never fully spelling out the name of the Lord.

So who is your leader, your mentor? Who do you respect, look up to? Who rescues you when it looks as if all is lost? David writes, “The LORD is my shepherd!” He’s watched others try a variety of spiritual leaders, and none of them seemed to work out. David has prospered by being perpetually faithful to the one true God.

This Psalm was David’s statement, but he intended it to be for the entire congregation. “Say it with me – The LORD is OUR shepherd!” In the midst of a bunch of false gods, the LORD keeps rising to the top. Jesus taught that we are to love the Lord and love our neighbors; this is loving the Lord.

Time after time the Lord has come through for David, and he wants us all to benefit from what he has learned. “With the LORD as my shepherd, I don’t need any other shepherds!”

I’ll continue with the rest of Psalm 23 this week in the Daily Messages, available on my personal Facebook page, the JesusInTheCityFellowship.org web site, or the Blogspot link, and I’d encourage you to check it out. Psalm 23 is awesome – don’t miss it!

Blessings as we begin this new week!

Pastor Norton

Jesus in the City Fellowship

3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

The Lord is My Light

July 25, 2011 Monday Message:

David: “The LORD is my light and my salvation — whom then shall I fear?” Psalms 27:1a

In David’s language, it’s not just, “the Lord.” David is speaking, probably shouting, the actual name of God – YHWH. Go ahead – try it first with some names that you already know. Shout them out!
“Bob is my light!”
“Nancy is my salvation!”
And now with God’s name: “Yahweh is my light and my salvation!!!”
See how that works? Good job!

And there’s emphasis on the “IS.” So this is a rather bold statement! David is crazy about God just as Paul was crazy for Jesus. David’s love for God was all consuming. This is the same David who, while celebrating the return of the Ark to Jerusalem, caroused up and down the street singing songs, playing musical instruments, dancing and blowing the shofar — over-the-top worship!

Whom then shall I fear? First, fear no man. Christ’s light may shine through us or reflect off of us, but no one among us is the source of that light. And no one among us can grant the others salvation.

If God is your source of light and the anchor of your salvation, whom should you fear? Fear our triune God: the Lord YHWH, his Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Show our God all the honor, respect and glory suitable for the creator of all that we know, and all that we don’t know. Celebrate in a big way, like David, who was “certain that he would see the LORD's goodness in this present life.” Psalm 27:13

Are you as “certain” as David?

Norton Lawellin

For the Lord is Good!

February 21, 2011 Monday Message:

“For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.” Psalm 100:5

We are children of God, and because we’ve been adopted into the Holy family, we should have a certain familiarity with God-the-father. God wants us to know him by his name, by his holy name. Most of you know that anytime we see “the LORD” in all-capital letters in the Bible, usually small-caps, it stands for God’s name. This occurs only in the Old Testament. The Hebrew letters correspond most closely to YHWH in our language, so some people pronounce it Yahweh or Jehovah. Unfortunately we do not know the exact pronunciation. But you can be comforted that God wants to be on a first-name basis with those made in His image.

God is good; all the time. The Bible often translates God’s “khesed” as his unfailing love, his everlasting lovingkindness, or some similar verbiage. It’s difficult to put that much love into human words. His love continues forever, and He will be faithful to generation after generation.

Being faithful is a two-way street. God will be faithful to us; but can we remain faithful to Him? Yes, it’s possible, and many remain faithful in spite of adversity. When things go wrong, God will lift us out of the mire and be our substance, our solid ground. After all, through our faith we are saved by His grace.

Norton Lawellin