Children of God!

For Friday, May 15, 2026:

Romans 8:23b NLT: “We believers wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.”

As believers leave this life to be with the Father, every problem gets solved. Everything that was wrong is made right. Sickness and disease are the result of sin, and there is no sin around the Father. Cancer is only in the past tense. Hearts that were failing are made strong again. Each believer will be restored to better than original specs, the way we were designed from the beginning. A glorified body is part of our reward.

Of course bodies may not be required as our spirits settle in with God, his Son and the angels. After all, God is a spirit-being. But being “God,” he could take on a bodily form if he chose to. He did walk in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and that would have required a body! Either way, we’ll be adopted into the Holy Family with all the rights and privileges of a natural-born son or daughter.

This is all a part of why believers have perpetual hope for a glorious eternity in the presence of the Lord! The future looks bright!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Restoration!

April 20, 2026, Monday Message:

John 14:23 NLT, Jesus speaking: “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.”

As his ministry wraps up, Jesus wants to reassure the believers of what’s coming next. First off, there IS life after this life. Death is not the end! Jesus said so, so we know it’s true!

As Christians, we talk of dying and going to heaven, but my Bible says that’s kind of temporary. At the end of this age, God will create the New Heaven and the New Earth. By then, mankind will have really messed up the planet, and God will be the restorer, putting things back to the way they were designed. I’m thinking “Garden of Eden” specs, but only God knows what needs to be done.

The fully restored New Earth isn’t for all mankind. It’s a sanctuary for believers only. Everyone who lives here will have the same God. There will be no false gods. Mankind will all be on the same page, so to speak. There are no more wars. Everyone will love their neighbor. We will know shalom, the peace of God that surpasses our current understanding.

Jesus says, “We will come and make our home with them.” In other words, we’re not going somewhere to live with God. God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is going to walk the earth alongside us! God has it all planned, and it will be marvelous, beyond all expectations!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

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

New Earth!

For Friday, April 4, 2025:

John 14:23 NLT, Jesus speaking: “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.”

If we please Jesus, the Father will also be pleased. Remember, they are of one mind, really just one God. The acknowledgment of our relationship with God is our obedience. When the angel told Mary she’d be delivering a savior into the world, she replied, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” That’s obedience! When Abraham set out to offer little Isaac as a sacrifice to the Lord, that was absolute obedience. (Thankfully, God stopped the sacrifice – the scenario was only a test of Abraham’s devotion and obedience.)

We often speak of going to heaven when we die. We teach only two choices, heaven or hell. Christians choose heaven, but that’s not our final destination. The Bible promises the “New Earth,” fully restored and perfect in every way. I believe God will restore the Earth to “Garden-of-Eden” specs, and the Bible says that the New Earth will be our forever home. Jesus preparing a place for believers includes restoring mankind’s home, planet Earth.

Jesus says that he and the Father will walk among us, and that’s where I want to be. What an awesome community! We may not even have to fill out “change-of-address” forms!

If it’s good enough for Jesus and the Father, it’s good enough for me!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Forgive!

For Saturday, May 18, 2024:

Ephesians 4:32 NLT: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Our forgiveness of others should be a mirror image of the forgiveness Jesus shows towards us. It’s amazing the way God forgives us. Therefore it would be shameful to withhold forgiveness from those who have wronged us.

God’s forgiveness fully restores us with the Father, proving He still loves us and considers us adopted into the Holy Family. This is one more proof of assurance of salvation. God loves us both in this life and the next!

The Lord’s Prayer always comes to mind as we look at forgiveness. “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We will be forgiven in a similar measure to how we forgive others! So be nice! Your place in eternity depends on it!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

A Big Ask!

For Tuesday, December 12, 2023:

Mark 1:40 NLT: “A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. ‘If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,’ he said.”

Why is this man with leprosy out and about? With a highly contagious disease, lepers were usually isolated from society. Leprosy was a progressive disease, ending with a death sentence.

But Jesus was the talk of the town. It seems that everyone had heard about his miracles, about his ability to heal. Word spread like wildfire, and this man had great faith and believed! He was asking for a second chance at life, a big ask, so he approached Jesus directly.

Jesus reached out and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!”

We should learn from the leper. And we should learn from the eyewitness accounts of what happened that day. When we have a big ask, we should approach Jesus directly. We need to be completely filled with faith in our Savior, that he can do what he says he can do; that he can do again what eyewitnesses have seen.

"Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Friendship!

For Wednesday, August 16, 2023:

Romans 5:11 NLT: “So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.”

Did you ever have a friend, a really good friend, but something went awry and the friendship dissolved. But you miss your friend, so you forgive and compromise to rebuild and restore the friendship. When all is reassembled, we tend to value that special friendship even more, because it was once lost!

God has always loved his premier creation, mankind, but being good friends was out of the question because mankind was lost in sin. Jesus came to straighten things out. He carried our sin away, leaving us free to reestablish our friendship with the Lord. Thank you, Jesus!

Friendship is always bi-directional. Since God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, if the friendship isn’t working, it’s mankind that needs to change.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Worship the Creator!

For Friday, July 14, 2023:

Romans 1:25-26a NLT: “(Those who reject God) traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires.”

You can see this over and over again if you look at the history of the Hebrew people. You could draw it on a graph – up and down, up and down, closer to God, farther from God, closer to God, farther from God, over and over again. Paul is telling the church in Rome that it’s time for an up-swing, to ride the wave that’s headed closer to God!

If you do not choose God, he will not force you. You were created with the freedom to choose God or not. He will not take that freedom away, but if you choose incorrectly, you’re on your own. God will not walk with you on the path to destruction.

It’s important to worship God, our Supreme Being, the Creator of all things, but NOT worship any of those created things. As much as we love planet Earth and are thankful for it, we shouldn’t worship Mother Nature. We live ‘green’ and try to do our part for the environment, cooperating with God’s plan for the planet. But the ultimate restoration will be as God creates the New Heaven and the New Earth. Everything will be restored just as God wants it.

God created the earth once; He can do it again!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Dead Men Speak!

For Tuesday, September 8, 2020. 

Luke 7:16 ESV: “The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.”

Jesus speaks to the dead as if they were alive! Only God can do this! 

Just when the mother thought they had a good funeral procession going, Jesus interrupts the whole thing by starting a conversation with the dead man, the woman’s son! This was the woman’s only son, and she was a widow. Jesus had compassion for them, and restored her son. He IS he Great Healer and the Great Restorer!

With Jesus, we should expect the unexpected – like dead men speaking – that kind of stuff. Nothing is impossible with Jesus. Pray for and expect miracles. 

If anyone asks what kind of God you serve, tell them, “...an Almighty God who raises people from the dead! He’s our source of hope!”

Blessings as we begin this new week! 

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Healing Hope!

For Friday, August 28, 2020. 

Mark 8:25 ESV: “Jesus laid his hands on the man’s eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.”

I love Jesus’ miracles of healing! This man was totally blind to begin with. Jesus first rubbed spit on the man’s eyes (Is that “Holy spit?) and laid hands on him. Checking on their progress, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” 

The man replied, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.”

Jesus then laid his hands right on the man’s eyes, and now he could see clearly. The principle here is that Jesus can restore, Jesus can rescue and Jesus can heal, and he won’t quit until the job is 100% finished and he has done his best! 

With the coronavirus and the civil unrest in our country, we’re facing some uphill battles. We’re looking for hope, and friends, Jesus is the only answer. Jesus can heal individuals and heal our cities and our nation. He can heal, rescue and restore us. Jesus has the original blueprints, and can put people and situations back to the way they were originally designed. 

Jesus won’t quit until the job is 100% finished and he has done his best! 

Blessings and safety today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Touch the Fringe!

For Saturday, July 25, 2020.

Mark 6:56 CEV: “Wherever Jesus went—in villages, cities, or the countryside—they brought the sick out to the marketplaces. They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.”

If there are ever any doubts about Jesus being the great healer, this eyewitness account should settle it. Anticipating his arrival, people would line Main Street with their sick, lame, blind, and mentally deranged friends and family. Since that’s the only road through town, they knew Jesus would be passing by, and healing would be certain!

I sometimes refer to Jesus’ power as ‘supernatural,’ but let me assure you that this is not like the Justice League or some phony magician’s incantation. Jesus, being fully God and fully man, created everyone and everything. So now if something goes amiss with one of his creations, who better to set it right than the creator himself?

Jesus’ healing powers did not end when he returned to heaven. The Holy Spirit helps us pray to God in Jesus’ name, and he can not only heal living things—He can heal our cities and our once-great country. Pray that our families, our friends and our country could touch the fringe of his robe—today!

Blessings to all today – stay safe!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

He Restores My Soul

For Thursday, July 16, 2020.

Psalm 23:2a ESV: “He (the Lord) restores my soul.”

Believers oftentimes sing, “The earth is not my home,” and they’re right! We are from somewhere else, and we are on our way to somewhere else, and that’s what we’re concerned with today. We’re looking at ‘life after this life!’

Following life on Earth, we move on to a different reality. Our earthy bodies are temporary, but our soul, our eternal essence, will live forever. So the question to ask is, “Where will I be spending my time?” The simple explanation is that good people go to Heaven to be with God, and bad people wind up with Satan. Trust me – you want to be with the good group!

Unfortunately, we’ve all made mistakes, done things wrong; the Bible calls it ‘sin.’ And to reserve a room in Heaven, we have to be without sin. We can’t get there on our own, but the Lord provides a way. He restores our souls. God sent his Son Jesus to take care of our sin problem, to be substitutionary atonement for us, so that our names could be on Heaven’s guest list.

When you knock on Heaven’s door, tell them to look for your name in the Book of Life. If Jesus is your Lord and Savior – if you’re saved by grace through faith – your name will be there! They’ll check in the column labeled ‘sin,’ and it will be empty. You can point to Jesus and say, “I’m with THAT guy – the guy just to the right of God!” Congratulations - you made it!

On your own you didn’t have a chance. But the Lord restored your soul – as promised!

Blessings and protection to you all this week!

Pastor Norton

Jesus in the City Fellowship

3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Psalms 85 - Revive Us Again

March 13, 2017 Monday Message:

“Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” Psalms 85:6 NIV

A graph of mankind’s relationship with God would look like a roller coaster – up and down, up and down, closer-to-God, farther-from-God, over and over again.

It seems though, that if the people are keeping their distance from God, He likewise leaves them to themselves. Then predictably, life without God does not go well for the people.

In their misery, God’s people cry out, “Restore us - rescue us – revive us!” But it probably should read, “Revive us over and over, again and again!”

Fortunately, our God is a God of second chances. He is welcoming to all who repent and return to him. “Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.” Psalms 85:10-12

Pray for revival in our churches, our cities and our nation.

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship gathers next Sunday, March 19, 2017, at the Akina Church, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30 AM. Pastor Pilla preaches from Luke 18 – Jesus prophesies his crucifixion, and opens the eyes of a blind man on the road to Jericho.