Convinced!

For Sunday, June 14, 2026

Luke 5:7b NLT: “Soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.”

Jesus had been using Simon’s boat as a preaching platform, and now he repays the favor. “Go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

Simon protests. “Master, we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.”

This time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! The fishermen shouted for help, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking!

It’s easy to convince someone about religious truth when the miracle happens right before their eyes! There was no doubt in Simon’s mind that Jesus was heaven-sent. “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.”

But God had other plans. Simon and his brother Andrew would abandon the family fishing business to follow Jesus. They gave up everything they knew. Simon gathered James and John, also fishermen, and the four became a part of the twelve.

Today’s lesson: Watch for the miracle. Do what your heart tells you is right. Include your friends by sharing the Good News!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Slave vs Friend!

May 11, 2026, Monday Message:

John 15:14-15 NLT, Jesus speaking: “You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.”

Life was different 2K years ago. Nowadays, if we use the word ‘slave,’ our minds go primarily to African people, taken against their will and forced to serve their captors. But in Jesus’ day, being a slave could be voluntary, kind of like having a job or mutually beneficial employment.

If I pitch my tent near Abram’s, I can help him with the herds. He in turn will see that I have food for my family, and protection from raiders. He can command me because I’m there to help. I do what he asks because living within Abram’s group is a better, safer life for my family.

Jesus cleans up the language a bit, calling the relationship ‘friends.’ He confides in his friends, sharing prophecies given to him by God Almighty. As Jesus traveled with his itinerant ministry, there were first the 12 apostles, and then many other disciples in the group. Perhaps hundreds! They were like slaves in that they would do Jesus’ bidding. They were also friends in whom Jesus could confide. They would protect each other. You could say they were all playing for the same team.

So do like Jesus did. Identify your friends, and let them know that they are friends, not slaves. A group of friends with religious beliefs in common is called a church. If you are not part of one, today is the accepted day to sign up. It could be a relationship that lasts a lifetime!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Colossal Crowds!

For Tuesday, March 10, 2026:

Matthew 4:25 NLT: “Large crowds followed Jesus wherever he went—people from Galilee, Decapolis (10 towns), Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.”

"Hear ye, hear ye! The Great Healer is coming to your town! Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! You don’t want to miss this. Jesus Christ, in the flesh! Be there, or be left behind! Tickets available at OneNation.com.”

OK, I wrote a radio commercial for the next Jesus event. Of course they didn’t have radio back then, so this is all the result of my fertile imagination! Word-of-mouth got the job done as well as any radio station might have.

"Large crowds followed Jesus.” Imagine large crowds, much larger than you think. The Apostles were present, but also disciples, hundreds of loyal believers who showed up every time. They just weren’t part of the original 12. They were 100% convinced that Jesus was the heaven-sent Messiah. They didn’t want to miss a single word. Soon, they’d start inviting family and friends to come with them. And before you knew it, the crowd of hundreds had become thousands.

All four Gospels report the miracle of Jesus feeding 5K men, not counting women or children. But most of the men were married, so the number becomes 10K. Let’s assume families had at least two children, so now our number is 20K, quite a significant number of people traveling with Jesus. I’m glad I wasn’t in charge of logistics!

When Jesus heard that John the Baptist was dead, he wanted to be alone, so he got on a boat and headed across the lake. There was no GPS, so nautical navigation was to remain close enough to visualize the shoreline while staying far enough away to be in deep water. The disadvantage was that not only could those on board follow the coastline, but those still on the shore could easily follow the boat. So as Jesus sailed up the coast, the crowd could simply follow on land. There was no escape from the throng, at least not for very long!

Eventually, Jesus fed the 20K with five fish and two barley loaves, but that’s a different message. Today’s lesson speaks of the colossal crowd following Jesus. The key was that core believers shared the Good News with their families and friends. They invited others to join.

A friend of mine was recently voted in as pastor of a hundred-year-old church. They attract only about 60 people each week. I hope he can positively alter their trajectory. Only 60 people in 100 years? Jesus had 20K in attendance, and he preached for only three years!

See you at church! Bring your friends!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Rotten Apple!

For Friday, July 18, 2025:

John 12:6b NLT: “Judas Iscariot was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.”

As the New Covenant was being introduced to Israel, it was Jesus and the 12 leading the way. We accept Jesus, the heaven-sent Son of God, without question. The other 12 require a second look.

They were a diverse lot, ranging from tax collector to fishermen. To say they were religiously uneducated would be an understatement. It was on-the-job training as they ministered alongside Jesus, adopting his theology and philosophy as they taught others.

With a dozen random members on the leadership team, we would be naive to not expect one rotten apple in the barrel. Judas Iscariot was that guy. In his Gospel, John calls Judas a thief. Apparently, he stole from the group for personal gain, and apparently, this was well known within the group. Jesus must have known too, but other matters were higher up on his agenda. And if Jesus was eventually destined to give his life to atone for the sins of the world, someone would need to betray him, and that task had Judas’ name written all over it! I mean, Jesus didn’t just show up one day and say, “Kill me now!” No, fulfilling his Father’s plan turned out to be highly confrontational!

Friends, we need to always look at the big picture. Yes, Judas was a bad guy, but he was the one to fulfill God’s rescue plan for mankind! While you’re cursing Judas, remember to praise God!

No one is worthless; they can always serve as a bad example!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Salvation!

August 21, 2023 Monday Message:

Romans 6:5 NLT: “Since we have been united with Christ in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.”

Jesus was sent to earth by the Father. He taught, healed and died to take away the sins of the world. But he didn’t come with instructions, with a users manual. No one had written a “How It Works” sheet, a handout for new believers.

The remaining Apostles knew that faith in Jesus was the key. Intelligent converts like Paul put the pieces together and wrote letters to others to teach them about salvation. This is what we’re reading in Romans. Diligent researchers like Luke reported in great detail how Jesus had rescued mankind.

In Jesus’ day, there was considerable disagreement about any kind of life after this life. Jesus removed all doubt! According to the Bible, over 600 people saw him up, walking around and heard him speak after being declared dead and then placed in a tomb. A crowd watched Jesus ascend into heaven as he returned to his Father’s Kingdom.

Jesus promised to prepare a place in the hereafter for all who believe! We’re going there too!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Apostles!

For Wednesday, July 5, 2023:

Romans 1:5 NLT, from Paul: “Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.”

I used to work at a church that worshiped 800 weekly and had close to 3,000 on its membership roles. The budget was over $1M annually. But one day the senior pastor lamented to me, “The same 18 people do everything!”

We needed a cheerleader like Paul, always ready to round up a posse to share the Good News! In Paul’s mind, once someone was saved, once they became a believer, they joined the leadership team. Paul says that through Christ, believers are apostles, and apostles are chosen to preach the Gospel. ALL the apostles are charged with sharing the Good News!

Never forget that evangelism is a privilege. Serving Jesus us a privilege. Standing up for Jesus brings him honor and glory.

We serve out of gratitude for all Jesus has done for us!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Apostles/Disciples

Oct. 7, 2019 Monday Message:

“You, then, are to go and make disciples of all the nations and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you…” from Matt. 28:18-20 JBP

Today, “disciple” means follower of a teacher, leader or philosopher. Discussing the Bible, we tend to use ‘disciple’ and ‘apostle’ interchangeably, although the true meanings are slightly different. 2,000 years ago, “disciple” simply meant, “student.” The Greek “mathetes” is a compound word: the mental effort needed to think something through; and a leaner or student. That’s a disciple – one who learns from the teacher.

An “apostle” is the one sent to deliver those teachings to others. The apostle is a messenger, in this case, bringing the Good News (Gospel) to all nations. Just as angels bring heavenly messages, apostles spread the message of salvation to their students, their disciples.

So in Matthew 28, Jesus is empowering all the “apostles” to go forth and make more “disciples.” This is why we do what we do!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship meets next Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30 AM. Founding Pastor Michael Pilla opens up 1 Cor. 14:1-19.

One of the Twelve

May 12, 2014 Monday Message:

2000 years ago, most Rabbis had some disciples, thereby training the next generation of religious teachers. They would instruct 1 or 2 people at a time, with 3 - 4 being the practical limit. No individual Rabbi had more than a half dozen disciples.

But Jesus called 12 disciples, way more than was customary. It’s as if he wanted to make a splash!

If you understand that Jesus is truth, then it all makes sense. Hearing truth right from God’s mouth holds a supernatural attraction for those of us in search of answers to first-order questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose?

When studying Jesus, we need to remember that the congregation of believers numbers way more than just the 12. In Luke 10, Jesus sent 72 other disciples, 2 by 2, as an advance team, to the towns he intended to visit. The word “other” tells me that those sent are in addition to the 12. And the Bible is only counting male-heads-of-household. But many of these people were married and had kids. And some undocumented followers were single women. It would be fair to estimate that a short while after his ministry launch, there were hundreds of people following Jesus most of the time.

By Palm Sunday, the number had increased. By now, ALL of Jerusalem had heard of Jesus - the healings, the miracles, and his claims to be the Son of God. In front of Him, they laid colorful cloth and palm branches, decorating the road for his Triumphal Entry, shouting, “Save us; save us now!” They knew that only God could truly save them.

Nowadays, the number of disciples following Jesus seems to have increased. The number in His circle now stands at over 2 billion. If you’re reading this, you’re probably one of them.

Norton Lawellin

Let’s worship together! This week I’ll open Acts 3 – Peter heals a crippled beggar – Miracles in Jesus’ name are still possible AFTER the crucifixion! Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets every Sunday, at 10:30am, in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis.