Holy Spirit!

For Saturday, March 28, 2026:

John 14:15-17a NLT, Jesus speaking: “If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.”

This expands on the original Old Covenant, wherein God-the-Father explained, “You will be my people, and I will be your God.” In the New Covenant, Jesus, being the Son of God, will be our Savior, and we will be his loyal followers. Then, as Jesus is leaving us, returning to the Father, he leaves another to fill the God-space in our lives. The Holy Spirit – Comforter, Encourager, or Counselor – the final one-third of the Trinity, will walk alongside us on our spiritual journey. The Holy Spirit (like Father and Son) can only give us truth, and truth is God’s opinion on everything!

We love Jesus because he died to pay the penalty for our sins so we could be forgiven. Note that Jesus didn’t send the Holy Spirit himself. He asked the Father to care for those who love the Son, so the Father sent our Counselor and Advocate, and we’re better off because of it.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for watching over all the believers!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Zechariah's Prophecy!

For Friday, December 5, 2025:

Luke 1:67 NLT: “Then baby John’s father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy.”

As Zechariah’s voice returned, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke prophecy concerning his newborn. This is not something he just thought up. This is God – the Holy Spirit – speaking through Zechariah.

Let’s review the high points. “The Lord has visited and redeemed his people. He has sent us a mighty Savior. God fulfilled his promise, his covenant with his people. We will be saved from our enemies and all who hate us. We will be rescued from our enemies. We can serve God without fear. And baby John will be called the prophet of the Most High, because he will prepare the way for the Lord. He will tell God’s people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven, is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”

Wow! Those are pretty big tasks, especially for a newborn, but history proves prophecy. We know baby John as John the Baptist, who indeed prepared the people for the ministry of Jesus. Jesus quashed Satan and his demons. Jesus personally died to redeem us. His life was the penalty for the sins of the world, now paid in full. Therefore, our relationship with Father God improved exponentially.

After Jesus, everything was different. After Jesus, everything was better, a lot better!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!

For Saturday, November 1, 2025:

Hebrews 11:11 NLT: “It was by faith that Abraham was able to father a child, even though Sarah was barren and he was too old. They believed that God would keep his promise.”

The thinking was that the opportunity to start a family had passed them by. Abraham was far too old, and Sarah had been barren all her life. That’s when God told Abraham that the number of his descendants would be like the stars in the sky! Didn’t seem possible! But God’s word is always true. Their faith is being tested.

Impatience and second-guessing the Lord can result in missteps on a faith walk. Abraham and Sarah questioned God’s timetable. In their haste, it was decided that Abraham should father a child with Hagar, Sarah’s handmaiden. Problems arose when Hagar started acting like the primary wife, and so Sarah sent her away. But an angel told Hagar to return, and Ishmael, a wild man, was born. Abraham was 89 years old.

God restated his commitment to Abraham and Sarah’s family: “I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” About a year later, Sarah gave birth to a son, Isaac. By now, Abraham was 100 years old. Imagine being a new dad at 100!

Sidebar: God also told Abraham, “I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.” That’s why, to this day, Abraham’s descendants choose to live in Israel, explaining, “It’s our land – God gave it to us!”

Abraham, Isaac and eventually Jacob are the three patriarchs of world religion. Abraham and Sarah’s faith got them back on track, and God’s promises are always good! Remember, it’s our trust in God, our faith, that opens Heaven’s door to all believers!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Direct Connection!

For Sunday, April 13, 2025:

John 16:23 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Following my resurrection, you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name.”

On the cross, Jesus took the sins of the world to the place of the dead. And with sins forgiven and the penalty paid in full, mankind can directly approach the Father. When Jesus died, the curtain protecting the Holy of holies, separating mankind from God was torn – torn from top to bottom, so it was God doing the tearing! We no longer needed a middle-man, an intercessor, a priest. That is why we pray directly to God our Father in the name of Jesus.

 "You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.” In Hebrew jargon, a sinner is said to be “far from God.” Someone who repents and returns to the Lord is “closer to God.” Tearing down the curtain allows us to be closer to God. So apparently God desires us closer to him. He wants a relationship with each of us!

Many things changed with the New Covenant Jesus introduced to the world. A closer relationship with Father God gives us a foot in the door of eternity!

Today is Palm Sunday. Lift your hands and sing with joy! With your family, celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into the Holy City! See you at church!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Obedience!

For Saturday, March 22, 2025:

Leviticus 26:1a, 2 NLT: The Lord said to Moses, “Do not make idols or set up carved images, or sacred pillars, or sculptured stones in your land so you may worship them. You must keep my Sabbath days of rest and show reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.”

If you had wood from a tree trunk or stone from the ground, it’s pretty obvious that those things aren’t any kind of God. Yet ancient people would carve the wood or sculpt the stone and proceed to worship the resulting man-made image. God admits that he hosts a bit of jealousy, saying, “You shall have no other gods before me,” – especially man-made pretend gods!

It’s not that hard to get along with God Almighty. First, make the real God #1 in your life. And #2, just be nice. Get along with people. Cut out the gossip. Love your neighbor as yourself. That’s what Jesus said to do.

Because we’re humans with free choice, some will choose to follow the Lord and some will not. For the disobedient ones, there are consequences. God’s punishment will fall on the unbelievers. Diseases, failed crops and losses in battle may befall those no longer protected by God’s hand. In other words, Satan will have a field day when God steps back from protecting his people.

The punishments described in Leviticus ch. 26 get progressively worse. The more you disobey God, the worse the punishment becomes. That’s fair; the punishment should fit the crime. Continued disobedience results in increased punishment. The solution of course is to repent and return.

In spite of the Israelites’ disobedience, God says He will still remember the Covenant made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These are his people and He is their God, and that will never change!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Covenant!

March 3, 2025, Monday Message:

Exodus 34:27 NLT: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down all these instructions, for they represent the terms of the covenant I am making with you and with Israel.”

A covenant is an agreement or a contract. It’s a 2-way obligation. “You do this thing for me, and I’ll do that thing for you.” Since this covenant was given to Moses, it’s often called the Mosaic Covenant, but it’s really God’s Covenant. We also call it the Old Covenant, since Jesus updated it and gave mankind a much better deal.

The Law given to Moses contains dietary instructions and marks celebrations to honor what the Lord had done for the Hebrew people. The New Covenant, our connection with Jesus, acknowledges that mankind isn’t very good at remembering or observing all those rules and traditions. Instead, we worship Jesus as God’s Son and claim him as Lord and Savior of our lives. In return, Jesus removes our sins, as far as the East is from the West. Our sin lies at the bottom of the deepest ocean. The Book of Life no longer contains any record of our sin. That’s Jesus’ gift to believers!

Mankind is destined to die once and then go before the judgment seat to determine our eternal destination. This will be a terrible time for non-believers. But those walking with Jesus will have him as their advocate, as their defense attorney, so to speak. With our sins forgiven, our destination is predetermined. Jesus has already gone ahead to prepare a place for us in the hereafter!

"But to all who believed him (Jesus) and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” Believers are adopted into God’s Holy family. Enjoy eternity with your brothers and sisters!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Covenant!

January 20, 2025, Monday Message:

Exodus 6:7 NLT, God’s words: “I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt.”

By all rights, Pharaoh should have had the upper hand. The Hebrews were slaves, doing as the Egyptians ordered. And yet Pharaoh feared the foreigners living in his land. His anxiety turned into targeted vengeance, making the Israelite’s existence as miserable as possible.

An intervention was required, so God himself took control. We call this deliverance. Yahweh would deliver the Jews from their misery of living under Pharaoh’s rule.

Deliverance is still available nowadays. God can liberate you from oppression, prejudice, slavery to sin and earthly temptations. He can solve work disputes, financial difficulties and marital quarrels. He is, after all, God over everything! Post-deliverance life is far better than pre-deliverance life. Think about it like this: You have made a covenant with God, and He has made a covenant with you. It’s a good partnership. And by the way, never enter into a covenant with the devil!

The Lord said that you will be my people, and I will be your God. Sign on to the winning team, God’s team!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

One True God!

For Friday, June 30, 2023:

1 John 5:20 NLT: “We know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.”

Mankind was made to worship. Greek and Roman societies worshiped many gods, but none of them were real. Our God, the one true God, has a history with mankind, starting even before the creation of our universe. God’s covenant with Abraham documents God’s desire for an ongoing relationship.

God sent his Son Jesus to earth to better explain what we just couldn’t ‘get.’ Jesus taught and healed, but best of all he solved mankind’s sin problem. As he was crucified and died, Jesus took the sins of the world to the place of the dead, leaving believers suitable for residency in heaven, in the presence of our Creator, for eternity!

The true God wanted us to have eternal life! He chose to include us!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Unchangable God!

For Friday, December 16, 2022:

Hebrews 6:18 NLT: “God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.”

We should find great comfort knowing that God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – can not lie. His promises to mankind will certainly be fulfilled. If God says that believers’ sins will be forgiven through faith in Jesus, it will be so. When Jesus said he would go to the Father and prepare a place for believers, we can count on it. The fact that God can be trusted should fill us with hope!

The only time I can find in the Bible when God changed his mind was when he traded the Old Covenant with Moses for the New Covenant with Jesus, which from our point of view was quite an improvement! The Covenant with Jesus gave mankind an even better promise of salvation. The new deal – being saved by grace through faith – was a better deal – for us!

Since our confidence comes from God’s grace, we can stop trying to earn our way into heaven!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Right vs Wrong!

For Wednesday, December 14, 2022:

Deuteronomy 29:29a NLT: “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us.”

We are only responsible for keeping the covenants that have been revealed to us. Consider Adam and Eve. When created, they weren’t shown right from wrong. Therefore they couldn’t err, since they had no knowledge of God’s Laws.

But when they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it changed everything. (Genesis 3) Now that they knew right from wrong, God would expect them to consistently do the right thing. We and our children are now accountable for obeying God’s commandments (or the penalty for not obeying them.)

Jesus took it a step further. In the New Covenant, God’s Laws are written on our hearts, so we instinctively know right from wrong. People everywhere in the world – people of every religion – know that you shouldn’t kill anyone. You shouldn’t take something if it doesn’t belong to you. Family is important; take care of your mother and father. Don’t mess with someone’s husband or wife. And when shown God, join the throng already worshiping the Lord!

God wants to see us do the right thing!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Friend of God!

For Tuesday, September 20, 2022::

Psalm 25:14 GNT: “The Lord is the friend of those who obey him and he affirms his covenant with them.”

Imagine that God is assembling a neighborhood team to play baseball or soccer or something like that. He’d first choose those with whom he already enjoyed friendship. After all, you’d never ask unknown outsiders to join your team! You’d choose only those you already know and trust.

There may be special plays or secret signals unique to God’s team, and the Lord gladly shares this information with those who love and obey him. When you agreed to join the team, God agreed to equip you for that mission. That agreement to work together is called a Covenant. We had an older Covenant under the Law given through Moses, and a New Covenant given to us by Jesus!

The New Covenant is God’s free gift to us, available to all who believe. We can make new friends and share that Good News with all who have ears to hear! That’s what Jesus said to do!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Confidence and Hope!

For Friday, August 19, 2022:

Job 4:6 NLT: “Doesn’t your reverence for God give you confidence? Doesn’t your life of integrity give you hope?”

These questions were asked of Job at the peak of his despair, but they’re really for all of us. Jesus said that there will be tribulation in this life, but that He has overcome the world. We should trust in him, no matter what life hands us!

Jesus delivered the New Covenant to mankind, saying, “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” And when heaven makes a contract with believers, God always keeps his side of the agreement. It’s mankind who is repeatedly plagued with shortcomings.

The promise of redemption and a heavenly reservation is intended to fill us with confidence and hope, regardless of our earthly circumstances. The rescue of Jesus is certain!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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