Prophecy Fulfilled!

For Wednesday, April 8, 2026:

Luke 24:13 NLT: “The same day as the resurrection, two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem.”

The story of Resurrection Day wouldn’t be complete without a look at the walk to Emmaus. The two men were believers, and had traveled to Jerusalem for Passover. But the crucifixion put a damper on things, and the two decided to return home.

Their walk began as the women discovered the tomb open, and the body of Jesus missing. Where was he? Suddenly a third man began walking alongside the first two, and they struck up a conversation. The newcomer asked, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”

The first two looked sad. “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about what happened the last few days; bad things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth.” Somehow, they didn’t recognize Jesus. “He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago.”

Jesus responds by explaining scripture: “Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

Arriving in Emmaus, it was getting late, and the two invited Jesus to stay the night with them. He agreed. As they sat down to dinner, Jesus blessed the bread, broke it, and... Voilà! Their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus, who immediately disappeared from sight!

The two did a 180º and headed back to Jerusalem. They felt compelled to share this Good News with the remaining 11 apostles. Jesus is alive! He can walk and talk! He has risen from the dead, just as he said he would!

To Jesus and those who love him, death is not the end!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Feed Five Thousand?

For Wednesday, March 11, 2026:

Matthew 14:15-16 NLT: That evening the disciples came to Jesus and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”

But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.”

When Jesus heard that his cousin John the Baptist had been executed, he wanted some alone time. So he boarded a boat, seeking peace on the other side of the lake. It didn’t work. The huge crowd followed him up the shoreline and met him on the other side. Full of love and compassion, Jesus healed the sick among them.

That’s when his disciples advised dismissing the crowd, sending them away to obtain food. No one had had supper, let alone lunch, and this was about to become a big problem. Proving he still had a sense of humor, Jesus replied, “YOU feed them!” To understand how ridiculous this was, realize that there were 5K men present, most with their wives and some with a few kids! So the crowd could have numbered close to 20K! The disciples were horribly under-resourced! They had already counted the available food: five barley loaves and a couple of fish! No way this was going to work.

Jesus told his disciples to seat the people in groups, 50-100 people. Then he lifted the bread and fish toward heaven and blessed it. Breaking the bread and fish, he sent a suitable portion to each group and never seemed to run out of food, as if this simple meal had a never-ending supply. Everyone ate their fill, and afterward the disciples gathered up 12 baskets of leftovers!

This miracle is documented in all four Gospels, and typical emphasis seems to be on the “miracle.” That’s not bad, but I also like to remember the love and compassion Jesus showed for his loyal followers. That’s typical Jesus behavior. As we live our lives for Christ, most of us will never get the chance to feed 5K. But we’ll get plenty of chances to lend aid to those seeking the Kingdom.

When in doubt, do what Jesus did!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

No Yeast!

February 3, 2025, Monday Message:

Exodus 12:17 NLT: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Celebrate this Festival of Unleavened Bread (Passover), for it will remind you that I brought your forces out of the land of Egypt on this very day. This festival will be a permanent law for you; celebrate this day from generation to generation.”

Why unleavened bread? Well, making bread with yeast takes a long time. The yeast has to rise to make the bread fluffy. If you don’t allow the yeast to rise, you wind up with a cracker!

Commercial bakers have a “proofer,” which uses heat and steam to drastically shorten the rising time. But no such equipment existed in Egypt. The bottom line is that when God says it’s time to go, he means right now! We can’t be waiting for bread to rise to partake of our Passover meal.

The liberation of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt was very important to God, so important that he executed 10 different plagues to secure Pharaoh’s cooperation. As the whole debacle wrapped up, Pharaoh not only allowed the Jews to leave; he insisted that they get out of town! “Get out of here, you guys, and take some silver and gold with you!”

Each of the 10 plagues took time. Pharaoh continued to reject the miracles he had seen with his own two eyes! But remember, this series of events wasn’t just to change Pharaoh’s mind. It was also to showcase the supremacy of Moses’ God, the one true God!

God’s timing is always perfect. Everything worked out in the end!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Yeast?

For Wednesday, October 16, 2024:

Matthew 16:6 NLT: “’Watch out!’ Jesus warned them. ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’”

After the disciples crossed the lake and discovered that no one brought any bread, Jesus made the above statement. And the disciples, God bless them, were a simple lot. They didn’t perceive the higher meaning in his words. They were still looking for bread! Yeast? Are we gonna bake our own bread? What’s for supper? Tunnel vision, for sure!

Friends, you don’t need much yeast to make bread rise. I found a recipe with 10 cups of flour that only needed 4 tiny teaspoons of yeast to make the whole batch plump up! Jesus, it turns out, was warning about the untruths being taught about God and religion by the Pharisees and Sadducees. Lies are like yeast! If a lie gets repeated enough times, people will start believing it. And people tend to accept the teaching of their spiritual mentors, even when they’re wrong. But remember, it only takes 4 teaspoons of false teaching to affect the entire Synagogue or Temple!

Unfortunately, many US churches have abandoned their textbook, the Bible. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that more false churches exist than those who teach the truth. Those false teachers are wrong. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, and if something was sin 4,000 years ago, it’s still sin nowadays. Read about it! It’s all in the book!

Truth is God’s opinion on everything! Worship at a church that teaches only truth!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Communion!

For Friday, March 01, 2024:

Mark 14:22 NLT: “While the 12 were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take it; this is my body.”

Jesus is teaching his disciples the basics of Holy Communion. Interestingly, they weren’t doing ceremonial religious stuff at the time. They were not at a church or a synagogue. They were simply finishing their Passover meal.

They’d already enjoyed bread as part of their supper. Jesus tore off small pieces and passed them around, and then passed the cup, saying, “This is my body,” and “This is my blood of the new covenant, given for you and for many.” Some churches make Communion more elaborate than it needs to be. When in doubt, just do what Jesus did!

Some translations include, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Until the end of the earth, we are never to forget the actions of Jesus as he carried away our sin burden and offered forgiveness and a fresh start. Our faith in Jesus opens heaven’s door!

As Jesus passed the cup, he spoke of the New Covenant. The Old Covenant was mankind trying to obey all of God’s Laws, failing, and not making it to heaven. The New Covenant allows us to repent, return to the Lord and be forgiven. Our salvation is a gift from Jesus, who is offering grace, forgiveness and reconciliation. We are saved by grace through faith!

We are never to forget what Jesus did for us!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Dinner Reservations!

For Friday, January 19, 2024:

Mark 6:37 VOICE “Jesus: ‘Why don’t you give them something to eat?’

Disciples (looking at Him): ‘What? It would cost a fortune to buy bread for these people!’”

The crowd, hoping to learn more, had followed Jesus into what proved to be a desolate area. His disciples thought the teaching should end so everyone could get to nearby towns and obtain food before sunset. But Jesus told the disciples, “You feed them!”

It’s important for us to grasp the magnitude of the situation. The Bible says that 5,000 men and their families were fed that day. I’ll do the math for you. If most of the men were married and most families had at least two children, this could easily be 20,000 people! This was no longer a few people gathered on a street corner listening to a holy man pontificate. This crowd would fill the Xcel Energy Center, with a few spilling over onto the sidewalks!

The disciples inventoried the available resources – five small barley loaves and a couple of fish. Next Jesus told everyone to sit down in groups. It was suppertime!

God’s Son looked heavenward and blessed the food. He personally broke apart the bread and the fish, and had his helpers distribute some to each group. Everyone ate their fill, and the disciples filled 12 baskets with leftovers, an amount that far exceeded the original resource. It was a “God thing.” It was a miracle! It was Jesus!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Recognize God

April 28, 2014 Monday Message:

“When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.” (Luke 24:30-31a ESV)

Walking on the road to Emmaus is like our walk through this life. Jesus can be near, rescuing us from situations and opening our eyes to the truth, but we may not always recognize him.

Perhaps the problem is that we’re caught up in the ways of the world – or perhaps we think that by ourselves we can handle all the problems that confront us. We’re proud - we don’t want to ask for help. We don’t want to get out of the driver’s seat long enough to let God do his God-thing.

But eventually you’ll step aside, and then notice some kind of miracle. Some situation will magically turn around. People will be radically transformed, sin and addictions will be left behind, things will be better and there’s no logical reason for it all. Yikes! – You’ve been rescued!

When I see really good things happen for which there is no human explanation, I credit God. We are his children, and as a proud parent, he’ll do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We may not recognize him at first, but when he takes the bread and blesses it, you’ll know that your redeemer lives.

Remember to say, “Thanks!”

Norton Lawellin

Let’s worship together – We’ve completed our 2-year study of Luke, so this Sunday we’ll move into Acts. Think of it as Dr. Luke, chapter 2. 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. See you there!

Daily Bread

September 17, 2012 Monday Message:

“Give us this day our daily bread.” Luke 11:3

Our God is Jehovah Jireh, God our provider. He knows what we need before we ask, and he still provides for those who never ask. But those who never ask miss out on the relationship they could be enjoying with their creator.

God doesn’t want to only provide for you right now. He wants you to rely on him for ALL your needs, day by day, trusting that he’ll be there for you tomorrow, just as he was yesterday and today.

When the Chosen People were leaving Egypt, wandering on the desert, God caused manna to fall from heaven, day by day. Kept overnight, it would rot and be filled with worms — except (miracle!) on the Sabbath!

Each day, the God of provision sends today’s heavenly sustenance for his people. This shouldn’t be a selfish prayer: “Give ME today MY daily bread.” We ask for provision so that we can share. Most of us already have received OUR daily bread, and a little extra - so pass it on.

Norton Lawellin

Mark your calendar – October 7, 2012

Jesus in the City Fellowship and Familia de Fe (Spanish language) will be worshiping together, in the main sanctuary of the Oliver Ministry Building, 27^th Street & Bloomington Avenue, 10:30am. Pastor Michael Pilla teaching, Pastor Walter Chuquimia translating. Pot luck follows in the gym – bring something to share!

I’ll be on the road for a couple of weeks, so John will lead worship until I return. Join JICF at 10:30am Sunday as Pastor Michael continues our journey through Luke.