God-approved!

For Sunday, November 10, 2024:

1 Thessalonians 2:4 NLT: “We speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.”

Paul, who had the first-person encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, knew that the Good News wouldn’t be accepted everywhere. But he remained faithful in answering his call to preach the Gospel. His goal was not to please mankind, but rather to please the Lord.

That goal should be for all of us. We can’t falsify our beliefs or simply pretend to know Jesus, because God knows our hearts. If we’re ‘ALL IN’ for Jesus, we can join the ranks of messengers approved by God. Not everyone will choose to listen to our message, but remember that our goal is to honor God, not mankind.

If God examines your motives, he should find love for our Creator and love for our fellows. We share the Gospel hoping to help our neighbors find a better way. That’s what Jesus commissioned us to do!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Prophesy Fulfilled!

For Tuesday, December 6, 2022:

Malachi 3:1 NLT: “’Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

That messenger, of course, was John-the-Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, John baptized them in the Jordan River. An odd looking man, his clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and for food he ate locusts and wild honey.

What I find interesting is the use of pronouns: “I am sending... prepare the way before ME...” It’s as if Jesus himself was giving the prophesy! Another prophesy says that a Messiah would be coming, and that turns out to be our Jesus! And it just makes sense that the Son of God would teach at the Temple. Everything happened just the way the prophets said.

As Christians, we have one God, known to us in three forms: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Personally I don’t make a big distinction between them, for they all represent the one God. Jesus is a part of the “Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” So it’s possible that Jesus would foretell his own arrival on earth. He would be on a mission trip to offer salvation to mankind! He came to rescue you and me!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Apostles/Disciples

Oct. 7, 2019 Monday Message:

“You, then, are to go and make disciples of all the nations and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you…” from Matt. 28:18-20 JBP

Today, “disciple” means follower of a teacher, leader or philosopher. Discussing the Bible, we tend to use ‘disciple’ and ‘apostle’ interchangeably, although the true meanings are slightly different. 2,000 years ago, “disciple” simply meant, “student.” The Greek “mathetes” is a compound word: the mental effort needed to think something through; and a leaner or student. That’s a disciple – one who learns from the teacher.

An “apostle” is the one sent to deliver those teachings to others. The apostle is a messenger, in this case, bringing the Good News (Gospel) to all nations. Just as angels bring heavenly messages, apostles spread the message of salvation to their students, their disciples.

So in Matthew 28, Jesus is empowering all the “apostles” to go forth and make more “disciples.” This is why we do what we do!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship meets next Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30 AM. Founding Pastor Michael Pilla opens up 1 Cor. 14:1-19.