Daily message of hope...
For Thursday, August 27, 2026:
Acts 3:26 NLT, Peter, preaching in the Temple: “When God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first to you people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you back from your sinful ways.”
Jesus came to mankind through the Jewish people. It makes sense. They were the ones with the previous relationship with God. But Jesus’ final command was “to make disciples of ALL nations.” Our God is inclusive. His hope is that ALL would repent and return. Because mankind has been given free will, that may not happen, but it’s nonetheless God’s desire.
Where is your mission field? When we speak of a ‘mission trip,’ we think of going to another city, another state or another country. But it doesn’t have to be that complicated. You can minister to coworkers, fellow students and neighbors. There are enough Christians in the US that there’s no excuse for everyone to not have heard about Jesus. The Good News should be common knowledge in our country.
I’ve personally prayed a great deal about this, and the Lord has given me two answers at different times. First, I was elected leader of a church supporting over a dozen overseas missionaries. My piece of the puzzle was to sustain that local church, so that we’d have a strong base from which to send the others. I was also called to preach at a men’s in-patient treatment facility just off Lake Street. I led services for them once a month for over 25 years. My mission field was Lake Street, Minneapolis, where drug use was prevalent, single parents were the norm and poverty was out of control. There was a lot to do, but life was always better with Jesus in it!
Being obedient to Jesus, we all need to identify our piece of the mission puzzle and add action to our conclusions.
Pastor Norton Lawellin
The Father’s House
Jesus In the City Fellowship
Truth & Freedom Church
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Call to Serve!
Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Make Disciples!
For Tuesday, July 28, 2026:
John 16:9 NLT, Jesus speaking to believers: “The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.”
What’s wrong with the world? Nothing that a healthy dose of ‘Jesus’ wouldn’t fix! If everyone believed that Jesus was the heaven-sent Son of God, they’d soon start following his other commands and living like he lived. Our world would be a better place. But the first step is helping everyone believe in Jesus!
Jesus commissioned believers to make disciples of all nations. But if you’re keeping score, friends, we’re falling behind. Christianity is no longer the dominant religion in England and France, largely displaced by Islam, and we seem to be losing ground in the US. We can do better!
Last week, I heard part of a message from an Imam, the Muslim version of a Pastor. Elections are coming up, and he advised his congregation to seek every political office, from Senator to dog catcher. This push is part of their five-year plan to take over the United States.
Our country was founded promising freedom of religion, but all under God’s value system, God’s rules and commands. Different denominations were OK as long as they were Christian denominations. You could claim to be Lutheran, Presbyterian or even Roman Catholic, as long as Jesus was the center of your faith. Our founding fathers never anticipated non-believers trying to manage a nation founded under God’s laws. To non-believers, God’s rules and laws seem irrelevant.
The time is now to prayerfully consider your piece of the Great Commission. Jesus not only wants you to help, but he is graciously allowing you to help! Make this the week you bring a friend to church. Once they know Jesus, the rest will fall into place!
Pastor Norton Lawellin
The Father’s House
Jesus In the City Fellowship
Truth & Freedom Church
Friday, August 29, 2025
Heavenly Kingdom!
For Friday, August 29, 2025:
Hebrews 9:24b NIV: “Jesus entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf.”
A crowd had gathered as Jesus spoke his final earthly words. He said we are to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and he promised to never leave us or forsake us. The crowd looked on in amazement as he was taken up into heaven, into the eternal Kingdom, to sit at the right hand of God the Father.
In an instant, Jesus was gone, but believers are never abandoned. Our sins are forever forgiven because of Jesus’ work on the cross, and the Holy Spirit was dispatched to be our helper. We have Jesus to advocate for us in heaven, and the Holy Spirit to keep us on the right path here on earth. Because of their efforts (not because of anything we’ve done,) we have assurance of salvation.
Most religions teach about a life after this life, but Jesus is the only spiritual mentor to actually access the real eternity. He went ahead to prepare a place for us. Every believer is included. We are blessed with assurance of salvation, and you can only get that from Jesus! Tell everyone the Good News!
Pastor Norton Lawellin
Jesus In the City Fellowship
Friday, March 17, 2023
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
For Friday, March 17, 2023:
Matthew 28:19 NLT: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! It’s a feast day on the Christian calendar of many denominations, added in the 17th century, although Patrick lived around 400AD. Much of what we know about him is based on legend, not fact. For example, he is said to have driven the snakes out of Ireland, but there never were many snakes in Ireland! His father was a deacon and his grandfather a priest, so it follows that Patrick would eventually become a bishop in Ireland.
At 16, Patrick was kidnapped and worked as a shepherd for six years in Gaelic Ireland, where he bonded with the Lord. He escaped, became a priest, and then remarkably, returned to Ireland to share the Good News. He’s use the shamrock – a young 3-leafed clover – to teach about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The ‘Declaration,’ allegedly written by Patrick himself, says he spent many years evangelizing in the northern half of Ireland and converted thousands.
And that’s what we’re all to do: Share the Good News, thereby making disciples of all nations. St. Patrick evangelizing Northern Ireland is a good reason to remember St. Patrick’s Day! Erin go bragh!
Pastor Norton Lawellin
Jesus in the City Fellowship
Friday, October 14, 2022
Let there be Light!
For Friday, October 14, 2022:
Ephesians 5:14 NLT: “The light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, 'Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’”
The Bible frequently describes God, Jesus and goodness as ‘light.’ Satan and all manner of evil is ‘darkness.’ It’s a good metaphor.
We all know that our God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is the creator of everything, and that Satan is a created being. So in the end, God will always have his way. In the long-running battle between light and darkness, light always wins. If darkness comes into light, it will be overtaken by the light. If light and darkness collide, light prevails.
Those living in darkness may not realize the value of light until someone shows them. Jesus called believers to teach others, to make disciples of all nations, to show them the light!
Run from darkness toward the light! It’s Christ who will always give you light!
Pastor Norton Lawellin
Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406Saturday, February 26, 2022
Visionary Leadership
For Saturday, February 26, 2022
Proverbs 29:18a KJV: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
Visionary leadership is sharing intuition about the future. If the leader of an organization, in this case a church, can visualize and communicate where it should be next year, in 3 years, in 5 years, then the steps to get there will make sense and may even become obvious.
Visionary leadership is peeking into the future and believing it could be so. Steve Jobs of Apple is a great example of just such a visionary. His company already had a successful iPod. He reasoned that if you could combine that with a phone and then make the whole thing go on the internet, a lot of people would want one. So far almost 3 billion iPhones have been sold!
Jesus commissioned us to make disciples of all nations, to take Christianity to the world. Calling and equipping the next generation of visionary leaders will bring us closer to that goal.
Pastor Norton Lawellin
Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406
Sunday, December 12, 2021
Make Disciples!
For Sunday, December 12, 2021
2 Cor. 5:18b NLT: “God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.”
Paul is reminding the Corinthians of what Jesus said believers are to do until he returns. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” This isn’t just a suggestion – it’s a command! We’ve been given hope of an eternal life with the Father, and Jesus wants us to share that hope with others!
This entails more than just signing up new members. Jesus said, “...make disciples,” which means, “teach them everything!”
Since God created each of us uniquely, we’ll look different from one another as we fulfill that call to share the Gospel. Some people are overseas missionaries. Some engage in street ministry in the worst parts of downtown. Some staff food-shelves. I knew a security guard who brought his Bible to work and left it on the corner of his desk. It was a conversation starter! Some of us keep the local church strong, so that we have a solid platform from which to send evangelists. What is your piece of this mission?
"We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’”
Pastor Norton Lawellin
Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406
Saturday, April 10, 2021
No Secrets!
For Saturday, April 10, 2021
Colossians 1:27 NLV: “God wants these great riches of the hidden truth to be made known to the people who are not Jews. The secret is this: Christ in you brings hope of all the great things to come.”
What the Bible calls a secret shouldn’t be kept a secret! Through the work of Jesus on the cross, Christians have been blessed with Assurance of Salvation, a promise of a good life after this life. A lot of non-Christians either don’t know or haven’t heard or don’t believe the Good News. But it should not be our secret! We should shout it from the mountaintops!
After lifting up the Lord with praise and worship, the next most important mission of a church should be to bring seekers to Jesus. Jesus said to “make disciples,” which is why we teach from the Bible, so everyone – even the newcomers – can learn God’s plan for the rescue of mankind, and make a decision to be a part of it.
Having Christ in us fills us with hope!
Blessings and safety to all today!
Pastor Norton Lawellin
Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406