Ambassadors!

April 28, 2025, Monday Message:

Mark 16, Shorter ending, NLT: “Jesus himself sent the believers out from east to west with the sacred and unfailing message of salvation that gives eternal life. Amen.”

Scholars have unearthed Gospels of Mark with different endings. Some end at 16:8, some add a short paragraph, while a few offer an additional dozen verses. Since these are consistent with other Gospel writings and reinforce redeeming principles, they deserve a look.

This shorter ending supports the Great Commission that ends Matthew 28. Jesus said we are to love our neighbors, and that includes sharing the way to heaven with them. There is only one road leading to eternity with the Father. Those of us on that road are told to include all who will come to believe. They can choose to walk with Jesus or not—their choice. But the offer includes ALL who choose to believe.

I especially like these words: “unfailing message of salvation…” Jesus prepaying the penalty of sin for believers actually happened. “It is finished!” It’s guaranteed. If your eyes are on heaven, Jesus will get you there every time. He never fails. We call this Assurance of Salvation.

Jesus commissioned believers to cover the earth with the Good News, the Gospel. Our assignments vary. Some missionaries travel internationally. That’s the mission God assigned to them. For years, I went to Lake Street. Lately, I’ve moved over to University Avenue. God will put on your heart where you are to help spread the Good News.

All believers are Jesus’ ambassadors!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

It Is Finished!

For Tuesday, April 16, 2024:

Philippians 1:6 NLT: “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Israel is situated along the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. If you sailed north and west over 800 miles, crossing the Aegean Sea and then another 25 miles inland, you’d find Philippi, home of the Philippian church. It’s well over 1,000 miles if you’re walking. I find it remarkable that the Good News would spread that far in Paul’s short lifetime! Keep in mind, though, that the population was primed for worship; they were determined to worship something. They prayed to the sun and the moon. They prayed for good weather and bountiful crops. They built elaborate temples to worship these idols. They knew about worship but had not yet identified the true God. Jesus was the answer, and many were now onboard!

God never starts a project and then abandons it, leaving it halfway finished. Some projects like the church in Philippi or like your church are on a perpetual growth trend. Knowledge increases and growth continues until Jesus returns. We as individuals should also be on a growth trend until Jesus returns or until God calls us home. (Churches are managed by people with human faults, so don’t be surprised if the church takes two steps forward, and then one backward! Churches aren’t perfect! But if you wait to find the perfect situation, you’ll never know fellowship!)

Has God finished his work in you? I suspect not! None of us is better than all the others seeking to be good Christians. But don’t worry – God will never give up on you! In fact, he’ll keep feeding you knowledge every day of your life! The day you’re called home will be the closest you’ve ever been to the Lord!

God always finishes what he starts!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

God's Creation is Good!

April 29, 2019 Monday Message

“God saw that it was good (tov).” from Genesis 1

God created the heavens and the earth, the light and the darkness, the oceans and the dry land, the plants and animals – and at the end of each creation day, He declared that it was “good.” In the original language, the word is “tov,” which can also be translated as “complete” or “finished.”

Apparently the earth and the plants and animals were complete in their creation, and would require no further attention from God.

Humankind is a little different. We are a work in progress, and our time on earth is often described as “progress, not perfection.” We learn to walk hand-in-hand with God, and that’s good and necessary. With God, we are tov, complete. Without God, our lives are vacuous, empty.

I’m reminded of the “Footprints in the Sand” poem. We are walking with the Lord. But when there was only one set of footprints, the Lord said, “That’s when I was carrying you.” That’s when our lives are tov, complete; when we are with God. Apparently that’s God’s plan for humankind – for us to walk WITH Him.

God summarizes all creation at the end of day six: “God saw EVERYTHING that he had made, and, behold, it was tov me’od (very good.)

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship meets May 5, 2019 at 10:30AM, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406. Pastor Pilla begins our journey through 1^st Corinthians.