Children of God!

For Friday, August 28, 2026:

Romans 9:26 NLT, Paul testifying to the church in Rome: “Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”

When Jesus visited us on our planet, it makes sense that he would come through the Jewish people, those who had an existing relationship with Yahweh. But the territory increased greatly after Paul’s encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. Paul was called to leave Israel and evangelize Asia Minor, where he planted church after church after church. And the prophet Hosea called those new believers ‘children of the living God.’

John also tells us, “To all who believed Jesus and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” Once again, ‘children.’ The faithful are adopted into the Holy Family, whereby God is our Father and Jesus is our brother. It’s a good family, and believers can be proud to be part of such a loving and accepting community.

God has opened the offer of eternal life in his Heavenly Kingdom to everyone. He also created us with freedom to choose, and we have the right to choose incorrectly. That’s unfortunate. Eternity is a long time, and we should want to be in the right place forever!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Prayer!

For Wednesday, July 22, 2026:

Matthew 19:13a NLT: “One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them.”

What an opportunity, to have the Son of God pray for your children! Having seen the healings and other miracles, a Jesus touch on their children could only be a good thing. Form a line!

Has anyone ever asked that you pray for them? For some, that means add them to your prayer list when you get home. But for others, the request means stop what you’re doing, lay hands on the person, and pray right now. There’s an urgency to their request that we should not ignore. Some people are shy and reluctant to ask for help. We should still pray. That’s what real Christians do.

Some of the disciples thought Jesus was too busy and shouldn’t be bothered by the wee ones. Wrong! Jesus has time for everyone. He said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them!” Other translations say, “Cause the children to come to me,” or, “See that it happens!” As the song says, “Jesus loves the little children!

Praying for others isn’t reserved for Priests or Pastors. All believers can now have the power of prayer. When Jesus was on the cross, the curtain guarding the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom, ending the separation of God from believers. We no longer need an intermediary. Each of us has the power to pray and expect results. Jesus said we should use his name.

If someone has a need you believe God could address, pray for a positive outcome. Others may like what they see and want to join you in prayer. Use Jesus’ name!

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

Children of God!

For Saturday, May 9, 2026:

Romans 8:19 NLT: “All creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.”

John writes about believers being adopted into the Holy Family, becoming “Children of God.” We’ll get to meet our true Father in the life after this life. And what a glorious day that will be!

Jesus has prepared a place for us in the hereafter, so he’ll be glad to see us. His Father will be pleased. But joy goes deeper than that. This scripture says that “All Creation” is eagerly awaiting our arrival, when the holy family all comes together!

That day is in the future, but it’s closer than you think, so prepare yourself. Be prepared for the life after this life. Be prepared to meet the Father and his Son in person! Blessings!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Family Business!

For Friday, May1, 2026:

Romans 8:14 NLT: “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”

In this life, we don’t get to choose our families. We stick with them not because they’re always desirable, but because they’re blood-relatives. You may have heard that blood is thicker than water, meaning that family ties are strong. But what if you could choose your family? In a way, we can!

Believers have been adopted into the holy family. John writes, “But to all who believed Jesus and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” Since we can choose to follow Jesus, we can choose to be members of his family. We are “born again” into the family of God!

We used to sing a song with the words, “Come join the family, the family of God.” That implies more than just joining a church or aligning with a denomination. There’s really only one church, the church of Jesus the Messiah. That’s the family to join. Jesus’ invitation is open!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Humble!

For Sunday, March 22, 2026:

1 Samuel 16:6 NLT: Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!”

Playing a guessing game with God is not fun. God, as you know, already has all the answers! Put yourself in Samuel’s shoes. You meet one of Jesse’s sons, Eliab, and ask, “Is this the one?”

The Bible doesn’t tell us what made Eliab attractive. Was he the tallest? The oldest? The best-looking? Hair most like John, Paul, George and Ringo? “No,” said God. “He’s not the one,” with no further explanation given.

What about the next sons, Abinadab and Shimea, and four more, as all of Jesse’s sons were presented. “The Lord has not chosen any of these.”

So Samuel asked, “Are these all the sons you have?”

There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied. “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep and goats.” Logic would expect God’s choice to be the eldest, the one who has lived long enough to have gained the wisdom of the world. Last place would go to the kid looking after a few sheep.

God explains: “People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” God doesn’t desire words from your mouth or actions only designed to impress others. God wants to know what’s truly in your heart. Do you honestly love the Lord and love your neighbor? Are you willing to go where God sends you, and willing to do what he sends you to do? How is your heart, really?

God says that we must come to him like little children, innocent, with open minds. Humble is the word of the day. If you think you have it all together, you probably don’t. If you think you’re the pièce de résistance, your mind is already made up and God probably can’t help you. “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.”

Selecting the next leader for the Promised Land requires a great deal of discernment. God knows what he’s doing. Remember, the first will be last, and the last will be first.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Mistreated?

For Wednesday, January 21, 2026:

Hebrews 13:3b NLT: “Remember those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.”

Perhaps TV and the internet have numbed us to what we used to look away from. We can turn on the tube and see people beaten to a pulp, shot and killed every night. Sometimes it’s fictitious as in a movie or TV series. Ironically, law enforcement shows may be the worst. And other times, we may see truth, as in a newscast. We can watch Russia drop bombs on Ukrainian schools, leaving innocent student civilians with no possible escape. People can be shot right here in downtown Minneapolis. It happens almost every day. Drugs and gangs can lead to a lot of violence!

Sorry to start out with the most extreme examples. Mistreating someone can be amazingly simple. Husbands and wives can mistreat one another while living under the same roof. Parents can mistreat their children, and vice versa. We can feud with our neighbors over petty little things! People can be really nice in church, and unruly once they get back in traffic. Are we sometimes our own worst enemy?

Jesus would advise us to never be the source of the mistreatment. And should we witness mistreatment, know that it is bad. We should go to bat for the one being unjustly mistreated, and do what we can to reverse the situation. People should be nicer to one another. Jesus taught us to love God and love our neighbors. That’s what we should do! Pray for those being mistreated, as if their pain were in your own body. Use Jesus’a name!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

All Hallows' Eve!

For Friday, October 31, 2025:

Deuteronomy 18:10b-11 NLT, Instructions for people living in the Promised Land: “Do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead.”

Q: Should Christians celebrate Halloween? A: Only in an innocent and fun way!

All Hallows’ Eve is the night before All Saints’ Day. Pagan Celts erroneously believed that graves would open, and the dead would walk among the living. That’s why we see cemeteries, tombstones and skeletons as Halloween decorations. Witches with their black cats and brooms filled out the dark side of Halloween, practices Christians should avoid at all costs. But Halloween doesn’t have to be like that!

There’s nothing wrong with kids dressing in fun costumes and seeking free candy. My church held a “Trunk of Treat” event. We ate popcorn, drank hot cider, and signed people up for the New Members’ class. The kids played simple games in which everybody won free candy. We signed some of them up for Sunday School! I brought my grandson, dressed as Spiderman. He had a ball! I saw four Spidermen at the event!

We did not have witches, ghosts or ghouls. No “spirits,” evil or otherwise, walked among us. We kept the good, fun parts of Halloween, while discarding the evil.

I want to close by reminding everyone that Satan is real, and he’s always looking to get his foot in our doors. Halloween presents a perfect opportunity for the Devil’s evil plans. His demon helpers are still problematic today. Jesus spent a fair amount of time casting out demons. There’s a lot of evil in our world, and Satan is fueling most of it, so we need to stay alert. Avoid the Evil One at all costs, while loving the children who enjoy a fall party and free candy!

Happy Halloween!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Children Included!

For Thursday, August 21, 2025:

Luke 18:15 NLT: “One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But when the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents for bothering him.”

Little children don’t know much yet, because they’re so young. Their existence is centered on trust and faith. They believe that mom, dad and other big people will protect them, keep them safe and only want what’s best for them.

Jesus wants all of us to have an attitude of trust like these children. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” God Almighty and his Son only want what’s best for us. God will protect us and keep us safe if we trust in him. Faith is a valuable commodity when dealing with the Lord!

On a more basic level, Jesus is teaching that we should bring children to church, and that our activities should include them. If children are taught the ways of the Lord, they will grow up with those beliefs and their souls will be redeemed. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.”

Translating the ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek into today’s English is always challenging. If viewed as a command, it could read, “Cause the children to come to me. Make it so! See that it happens!”

Church is for families. It would be awesome if we could see your family at church this Sunday. It would be more awesome if your family invited another family!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Generational Disfunction!

For Tuesday, December 10, 2024:

Deuteronomy 5:9b-10 NLT, God’s words: “I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.”

Our God claims to be a jealous God. He wants 100% of your allegiance 100% of the time. But friends, think about it: there really are no other gods, so I don’t know if God is jealous as much as he is a truth advocate. He has no patience for competing with fictitious, made-up gods. His desire is that everyone get on-board with him, the one true God, and the only God!

Children attend church with their parents. Therefore any spiritual misinformation gets passed down from one generation to the next...and the next, and the next. As we’re still to honor our parents, it’s a difficult pattern to break. Understand that God doesn’t automatically condemn the third and fourth generations, but it’s bound to happen when children follow in their parent’s footsteps.

God wants us to have enough courage to step away from what we were taught, read our Bibles and then pursue truth. v10 “I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.”

Get on the right track, God’s truth track!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Childlike Faith!

For Saturday, February 3, 2024:

Mark 10:14 MSG, Jesus speaking: “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.”

Jesus implies more than just letting the children come to him. Young children are innocent and trusting. The faith of a child allows them to believe 100% of what the teacher or the adult says. As usual, faith is the key.

So if your salvation depends on childlike faith, you shouldn’t just let the child within you come to Jesus. You should make sure that it happens You should cause it to happen.

"Then, gathering the children up in his arms, Jesus laid his hands of blessing on them!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Childlike Innocence!

For Tuesday, June 6, 2023:

Matthew 19:14 NLT: “Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.’”

Children were attracted to Jesus. He was kind, held the wee ones on his lap and blessed everyone. Some of the disciples wanted to intervene knowing that Jesus had a lot of serious business on his agenda. But Jesus insisted on receiving the children. He said, “Let them come…,” and, “Do not stop them,” which could be taken as, “See to it that this happens!”

Children are young and innocent. Their minds are open, not filled with preconceived notions. If Jesus spoke truth to a child, they’d just say “OK” and give him a hug, whereas adults have to wade through what they’ve already learned about religion, some of it incorrect!

The lesson here is that we need to start afresh. There’s a lot of misinformation about religion, and unfortunately a lot of it comes from churches. So attend a church with a high view of scripture. Open your mind, study your Bible and believe what Jesus said and do what he did.

It’s easier to learn about Jesus when we don’t have to un-learn anything first!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Joy of the Lord!

August 15, 2022 Monday Message:

Psalm 112:1-2 NLT: “Praise the Lord! How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying his commands. Their children will be successful everywhere; an entire generation of godly people will be blessed.”

I have always believed that serving the Lord and attending worship should be fun, something we anticipate and enjoy. If people lament, “I HAVE to go to church,” there’s something wrong with church. It should be, “I GET to go to church!”

If mom and dad are excited about the Lord, it can’t help but show up in the next generation, and I believe that was God’s intention. Parents are the best teachers their children will ever have. From an early age, we can shape shape their attitude toward the Lord, church and life in general. Children with with a positive attitude will be blessed, as will their children and their grandchildren.

Whether called to a sacred or secular career, God promises success to those who are joyful in the Lord.

The joy of the Lord is more than a moment of happiness; it’s a way of life!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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