God Almighty Wins!

March 04, 2024 Monday Message:

Mark 14:44b NLT, Judas Iscariot speaking: ““The one I kiss is Jesus; arrest him and lead him away under guard.”

The entire scenario played out just as Jesus had predicted. He knew the betrayal was coming, and he knew who would betray him. Jesus was arrested, and fearing the temple guards, the crowd with him dispersed.

Those arresting Jesus had been sent by the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the Temple elders. You’d assume that they would cheer for the Son of God, not try to kill him! Their soldiers were armed with swords and clubs to capture Jesus, who always preached kindness and love. Seems like overkill!

Two thoughts come to mind. #1. Jesus said, “The Scriptures must be fulfilled.” And this distasteful event was fulfilling scripture.

#2. We are blessed to have the complete story of Jesus’ time on earth. It’s called the Bible! Reading ahead, we can see that Jesus’ arrest was not the end. Even hanging him from a cross was not the end. Three days later, when the bad guys assumed that Jesus was dead, he walked out of the tomb! Many people saw him and heard him. And eventually a crowd of believers watched as Jesus ascended into heaven and returned to the Father! The bad guys didn’t win! God almighty always wins!

On the cross, Jesus took the sins of the world to the place of the dead. That way those who put their faith, hope and trust in Jesus as Savior will get to spend eternity in God’s heavenly Kingdom.

Thank you, Jesus!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Sins Forgiven!

For Sunday, July 24, 2022:

John 4:44-45 NLT: “Jesus had said that a prophet is not honored in his own hometown. Yet the Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there.”

In the people’s minds, nothing authenticates a prophet like an outwardly visible miraculous sign. The unconvinced were waiting for Jesus to supernaturally pull a rabbit out of a hat. THEN they could believe! They would have been right, but for the wrong reasons.

One time when Jesus was healing a man, he said, “Your sins are forgiven!” (Luke 5:20) And friends, THAT is the true miracle! Only God can forgive sins. The people were watching for a magic trick, while Jesus offered them a ticket to eternity. Jesus had the right answer; the crowd simply hadn’t asked the correct question!

That any of us could make it into heaven is the true miracle!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Promise of Heaven!

For Friday, October 1, 2021

John 21:25 NLT: “Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.”

This final sentence from the Gospel of John tells us a lot. Jesus did so much, so many good things when he walked on this earth with us that it would be impossible to record them all. But we have been given what is essential, everything we need to meet Jesus in the life after this life, and that gives us hope.

If we follow Jesus’ teaching, our sins will all be forgiven and a place will be prepared for us in the hereafter. Jesus said, “There are many rooms in my Father's house, and I am going to prepare a place for you. I would not tell you this if it were not so.”

If you’re a believer, there’s a room in heaven with your name on the door!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

ALL Sin Forgiven!

July 30, 2018 Monday Message:

“God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.” 2 Cor. 5:19a NIV

Having spent 3 years in Psalms, we’ll move on to other topics…

If you were told you could be rescued from hell by confessing your sins – or, from the other point of view, if you were told you could spend eternity in the presence of God by confessing your sins, could you possibly list ALL the sin that’s ever been in your life, to execute a proper confession? Or would you miss a few? I think I’d have trouble with that task.

Big sins and current situations would make the top of the list. But smaller issues and things that happened a long time ago might be missed. That’s why we need Jesus.

His sacrifice for the sin of the world is for ALL the world’s sins – past sin, present sin, future sin – and yes, even forgotten sin. If Jesus is Lord and Savior of your life, you can’t miss because he has it ALL covered.

See – we have hope!

Norton Lawellin

Let’s worship together! Jesus in the City Fellowship meets next Sunday, Aug. 5, 2018, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30 AM. Guest Worship Leader David Boeltl!

Jesus Pays the Price

March 10, 2014 Monday Message:

“God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.” 2 Cor. 5:21b MSG

Remember when you were in school? If the teacher was sick, they called in a substitute.

When God saw that mankind was sick with sin, he called in a substitute, his son Jesus.

The price for redemption from our sin is eternal separation from God. But instead, God – who loves us – decided to pay the debt himself, so that we could have eternal life - with Him - in heaven.

Christian theologians call this, “The Great Exchange,” and it happened on the cross. Jesus took the sin of the world upon himself, and suddenly the followers of Jesus were clothed in garments of white, pure and innocent. The Bible says that not only is our sin forgiven, but that there will be no record of it.

“The Great Exchange” and “Substitutionary Atonement” are close cousins, and we’ll spend more time with these concepts as we approach Easter/Resurrection Sunday.

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets every Sunday, at 10:30am, in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. This week Pastor Michael Pilla teaches Jesus’ position on resurrection and heaven. Don’t miss it!

Good News after the Resurrection

April 25, 2011 Monday Message:

With Holy Week and Easter behind us, it’s a good time to look at what happened and how it affects us.

First of all, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday fulfilled many prophecies. While Bible scholars can debate the exact number, it’s well over 100. A single prophecy fulfilled is evidence that Jesus is who he says he is. But this sizable number of prophecies fulfilled removes any doubt. Jesus is truly the Son of the living God. Jesus really is the way, the truth and the life.

Next, our Savior took the sins of the world to the grave, and in the Great Exchange, clothed us in His righteousness. Most of us don’t have a good perspective on our sin. It’s either, “I don’t think I’m that bad,” or, “I’m so bad I don’t think I could ever be forgiven.” We either don’t take this seriously, or we’re serious to the point of depression. But the Bible doesn’t ask us to judge ourselves; we don’t need to, and we shouldn’t. We can confess without assigning a degree of wrong vs right. If we simply confess our sins and claim Jesus as Lord and Savior, we will be forgiven and become children of the living God, adopted into His holy family. That's Good News!

Finally, death has been conquered for all time. It may be challenging to understand some things about God, such as His omnipresence or the fact that He isn’t constrained by our concept of time. But we certainly understand death. Humans die every day. We put them in the ground, and don’t expect to encounter them again. Death appears to be final. But Jesus walked away from death, and about 600 people saw him walking around and heard him speaking. So Jesus proved that death is NOT the end!

It isn’t just Jesus who rises from the dead. You and I will rise from the dead too. Our bodies will rise to be with Jesus when he returns. So get ready, put on your white wedding garment, and prepare for another resurrection — YOURS!

I’m with the guy on the white horse…

Norton Lawellin