New Covenant!

For Wednesday, March 25, 2026:

Romans 8:1 NLT: “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”

If this announcement had been on TV, we’d hear, “Beep-pa-da-beep-beep! Breaking news!” That’s what this was, friends, breaking news! Things had been one way under the Old Covenant. Mankind was living condemned because of sin. But now, after Jesus, everything changed! Under the New Covenant, those who put their faith, hope and trust in Christ Jesus will be forgiven, given a clean start, have their sin-slate wiped clean. Jesus introduces us to a God of second chances and do-overs. I like the golf analogy. “That last sin I did – I’d like to take a mulligan on that!”

Notice that forgiveness isn’t universal. It’s reserved for the repentant who desire to restore God and his Son back to the place in our lives they should have had all along. It’s an apology and an amend to our higher power. There’s an implied, “I’m really gonna try to do better. I intend to change my ways.”

Those whose heart lines up with their words will get to see heaven from the inside. This is our “Assurance of Salvation.” If you belong to Christ Jesus, it’s a done deal. God’s heavenly Kingdom awaits you!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and 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

Instinctively Right!

For Tuesday, September 23, 2025:

Hebrews 10:16 NLT: “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

The New Covenant represents a better deal for mankind. God’s desire is that none would be lost and that all would repent and return. So instead of having to read God’s Laws and try to memorize them, his commands have been permanently placed within us as instinct. No longer can we say, I didn’t know about that rule or I don‘t understand that policy. Now we intuitively know right from wrong. Thank you, Jesus!

This applies regardless of whether the person is a believer. For example, we have civil laws saying that murder is wrong, but we don’t need those laws to teach us. The Bible teaches us! Everyone from the priest to the prisoner in solitary already knows that we shouldn’t murder one another. It’s written on our hearts. We should love God, be kind to our parents; we shouldn’t steal, lie or covet what isn’t ours. Everyone already knows. Our minds have been pre-programmed to do the right thing!

God wisely put every inhabitant of Earth on the same page, giving us a uniform code of conduct. We all have the same rules, the same behavior standards. If a behavior is wrong in Washington, D.C., it’s wrong in Los Angeles. If a sin is wrong in Kansas City, It’s wrong in Moscow too. God has codified His value system and written it on mankind’s hearts. So we already know the right way to live our lives – God’s way!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Prayer!

For Sunday, August 25, 2024:

Matthew 6:5 NLT: “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.”

Interestingly, in the original language, hypocrite refers to an actor, someone pretending to be something they are not. In this case, that someone is pretending to be deeply religious, but it’s all just a show, an attempt to appear more pious than they actually are. Jesus teaches that there’s no reward in that.

The truth is that God knows your heart. He knows what you deep-down believe. God already knows your level of sincerity.

Your prayer should be based on your friendship, your relationship with God. He wants nothing but the best for you! Be honest; be straightforward. Keep it simple. It’s just the two of you – you and God. It shouldn’t be a show for anyone else.

By the way, we don’t get extra points for using more words!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

From the Heart!

January 22, 2024 Monday Message:

Mark 7:15 NLT, Jesus speaking: “It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”

The thoughts, actions and beliefs from deep within the heart are what define you, good or bad as they may be. Jesus explains that evil thoughts are mankind’s downfall. But if your heart is filled with love and kindness, God will be pleased.

Jesus said that we should love our neighbor. I believe that’s a broad term. We should start by loving our spouse and our children, and then our extended family. We should care for the neighbors on our street and those in our church family. We can love starving children in foreign countries or the homeless in our hometowns. It’s all good!

Think good thoughts. Do good things. Love the Lord, and love your neighbor!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

From the Heart!

For Friday, June 23, 2023:

Mark 7:15 NLT, Jesus speaking: “It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”

Questions come up about Jewish dietary laws. They were originally designed to keep the people safe, to protect them from disease and illness. But with modern refrigeration, food prep cleanliness inspections and thorough cooking readily available, what we eat isn’t the threat it once was. Jesus as much as said that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.

We are not defiled by what goes into our bodies, but rather by what comes out. Evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness all come from within. When the heart goes off the tracks, goes off God’s plan, we are defiled by what comes out of us.

We should all be more concerned with what comes out of our hearts than what goes into our mouths!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Heart!

For Thursday, June 22, 2023:

Mark 7:6b-7 NLT, Jesus speaking about the Pharisees: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.”

Growing up in a church, I was an acolyte; an altar boy. One of our jobs was to light the candles. We were to begin on the right side with the candle closest to the cross. Jesus, after all, sits at the right hand of the Father, and true light comes from the cross, representing Jesus. When all the candles on the right were lit, go to the left side in a similar manner. Extinguish the candles in reverse order.

One day a new student was assigned ‘candle duty.’ He did it all wrong! Started on the wrong side, lit the candles in the wrong order, and I was pretty sure we were all going to hell for worshiping incorrectly! Or perhaps a lightning bolt would strike the church – God’s revenge for us not paying attention to detail!

As an adult, having studied more of my Bible, I find that God doesn’t give a hoot about our traditions. He wants to know our heart. Man-made traditions are not commands from the Father. True worship involves humbleness, not so much putting ourselves down, but rather lifting up our Savior.

Jesus said to love the Lord and love your neighbor. He’s not concerned with how the candles got lit!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Pure Hearts!

For Saturday, January 14, 2023:

Matthew 5:8 NLT: “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.”

When a woman and a man love each other enough to consider marriage, they say, “I love you with all my heart.” Not just what the lips say, and more than a few polite actions. This is an ‘all in’ commitment to one another, with ‘forever’ attached to it! Jesus‘ words, “pure hearts,” carry the idea of honesty and unflinching devotion to God’s value system.

This is a warning to all who are not pure in heart, including the Pharisees who appear pure in ceremony, clothing and food. But their emphasis on ritual and the law was used to persecute others. They had forgotten to be forgiving and to love their neighbor.

The best reward of all is seeing God. In this life, those with pure hearts will find God in nature, in scripture and in our church families, and then face-to-face in the next reality. Keep your eyes peeled; God is all around!

Seeing the Lord fills us with hope!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Believers!

 For Saturday, October 1, 2022:

1 Samuel 16:7b NLT, God explaining to Samuel: “The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites. They were like actors putting on a big show at the Temple, but none of it was real. They were concerned with ceremonies and traditions, but forgot to love the Lord and failed to love their neighbor. To them, being God’s chosen people was all an act! They did all the “stuff,” but their hearts didn’t really believe. People like this will knock on heaven’s door, and Jesus will say, “I never knew you.”

Only you and God know when your devotion is real. This is of primary importance because we are saved through our faith in Jesus, believing in who he was and believing that he could do what he said he could do. Salvation is assured if you truly believe.

Only you and God know your heart!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Heart!

For Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Romans 10:19 Phillips: “If you openly admit by your own mouth that Jesus Christ is the Lord, and if you believe in your own heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

We use the heart as a metaphor for deep-rooted all-in belief. Example: A man and a woman say to each other, “I love you with all my heart,” which indicates more than just words, more than a few simple actions. It's an unshakable forever commitment, and that's how we're to love the Lord and his Son Jesus – with deep-down eternal faith that confirms our hope in the promises of Jesus.

Having that kind of faith, we can confidently proclaim Jesus to others. He commanded us to share the Good News, and the fact that our faith resides within our heart makes this possible.

We all want to be saved, rescued and redeemed. We all want an eternal place in the heavenly community with Jesus. And we are saved by the grace of God, through our faith in Jesus the Christ.

Blessings to all today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

You Gotta have Heart!

June 20, 2011 Monday Message:

“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.” Ephesians 3:17a

Each of us has our visible side, the part of us that we allow the rest of the world to see. It’s the face we put on so that we can look good to others. Our outer show is driven by the circumstances around us. Living life like that is like juggling – scrambling to keep all the balls in the air. It keeps us in the game, but mostly it’s not real – there’s nothing of substance behind the show.

Remember that the Pharisees put on a good show. They held elaborate ceremonies, huge rituals and lengthy liturgies, but did not know love for their fellows. It was an empty show; they lacked substance from above.

Each of us also has our inner person, our soul, visible only to us and to God. It’s driven by eternal truths and Godly substance, not other people and circumstances. We sometimes refer to this as “heart.”

If a boy thinks a girl is cute, he says, “I like you.” If she’s extra-special, he tells his friends, “I think we’re in love.” But when it’s time to get married, he confesses to her, “I love you with all my heart!”

When we want to express the most commitment, the most sincerity, we refer to our heart. When we want to get closer to God, we don’t just use the eyes on our face. We sing, “Open the eyes of my heart!” Ephesians 1:18

When Jesus partners with us, we don’t welcome him to some obscure body part. We have prepared the best room inside our temple-of-a-body for His arrival. Jesus will make his home in our hearts, we’ll see Him with the great big eyes of our hearts, and we’ll love the Lord with all our heart. And soul, mind and strength.

May Jesus be alive in your heart today!

Norton Lawellin