Sacrificial Giving!

For Wednesday, July 23, 2025:

Mark 12:44 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Most gave a tiny part of their surplus, but this widow, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”

How much should we donate to our home church? The Old Testament teaches that the first 10% of everything already belongs to the Lord. That’s a good starting point.

The New Testament teaches us about sacrificial giving. People sold their land or their animals and donated the proceeds to the church. On the Day of Pentecost, 3,000 new believers came on board. Most were from out of town and would require food and housing right from the start. The first church, The Way, took care of them. Jesus and many others taught that the Kingdom was at hand; heaven was quite close. And those living in God’s Kingdom would have no need for worldly assets.

So what does God want? Many Christians are blessed with abundance, enabling them to help others. God wants each of us to be successful. Prospective Christians should be able to look at the flock and say, “They’re doin’ OK. They’re having fun. Life for them seems to be good. I want to become part of it!”

It’s good to save for when you can no longer work, and it’s good to have a rainy day fund. But it’s bad to hoard money, to become a miser. A delicate balance is required. It would be easy to prioritize money over God, and that would be wrong.

My advice is to pray about the matter, and then follow through with what God puts on your conscience!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Not Guilty!

For Thursday, July 10, 2025:

John 11:57 NLT, as people were gathering for Passover: “The leading priests and Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone seeing Jesus must report the sighting immediately so they could arrest him.”

To say that Jewish leadership had it in for Jesus would be an understatement. As Jesus’ popularity increased, leadership sensed an impending church split, and they wanted to nip it in the bud. As I’ve said before, when worshipers leave, their tithes leave too! The case against Jesus was primarily centered on power and wealth.

Theologically though, Jesus was spot on. He preached loyalty to the same God. He exalted the same prophets. He observed the law of Moses, the commandments God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai. There was only one point of contention. Jesus claimed to be the heaven-sent Son of God. Blasphemy, they called it! Religious leadership had never seen or heard of anything like this, and they not only didn’t believe but wanted to crush this errant philosophy.

Jesus’ arrest would be the first step in his demise, leading to sham trials in kangaroo courts and ultimately to the cross. When this scenario came to fruition, the Pharisees thought they had won. But on the cross, Jesus took mankind’s sins to the place of the dead, thereby redeeming believers and fulfilling God’s vast eternal plan. In fact, God won!

And because of what Jesus did, all believers are winners!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Sacrificial Giving!

For Sunday, March 23, 2025:

Leviticus 27:30 NLT: The Lord said to Moses, “One-tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy.”

It takes money to keep a church running. I once worked for a church with a tall sanctuary. Its walls were mostly big windows, composed of multiple small pieces of colored, single-pane glass. Paying the winter bills for heat was always a challenge! I remember leading second-effort financial campaigns, having to ask for a smidge more to bail us out of debt! The congregation always came through for us!

In Leviticus ch. 27, the Lord speaks to Moses about sacrificial giving, over and above the 10% tithe that already belongs to God. Nowadays, people can donate money, but 3,000 years ago they donated “stuff:” livestock, grain and produce, real estate and even humans who became Temple workers. Money is easier. No one has to herd a heifer to the priest!

With most churches, you can donate on their website. There’s often a QR code. Sometimes you can pay with Venmo or PayPal. Visa and Master Card are options, although it’s best to settle up with them right away. Don’t ever enter Satan’s hell of late fees, penalties and interest.

God has been very good to Christians, sending his Son Jesus to blot out our sins and to rescue us from eternal damnation. Jesus even said that he would go to God’s house ahead of us and prepare a place for believers. I hope you’re “in!” If not, today is the best day to claim Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

An understanding of God’s goodness opens our wallets!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Offering!

For Tuesday, March 18, 2025:

Leviticus 22:18b, 19a, 20 NLT: The Lord instructed Moses, “If someone presents a gift as a burnt offering to the Lord, whether it is to fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering, they will be accepted only if the offering is a male animal with no defects. Do not present an animal with defects, because the Lord will not accept it on your behalf.”

The Lord, being God, deserves nothing but the best. We should treat God better than anyone else. It means nothing to sacrifice an animal with one foot already in the grave. Therefore we offer the Lord our finest. He should get our first fruits, not our leftovers.

God admits that he can tend to be jealous. He doesn’t want mankind giving someone or something else credit for his goodness and generosity.

Nowadays we don’t sacrifice animals, but we are called to support our home church. A tithe, 10%, is a good starting place. But at the New Testament church, people would often give sacrificially. They would sell livestock or real estate and donate the proceeds to the church. Don’t lie about doing that. (See Acts ch. 5.) Loving our Lord, we should give joyfully, not begrudgingly.

It’s often said that loving Jesus is a “relationship.” Being a member of the Holy Family should put a smile on your face and joy in your heart!

Pastor Norton Lawellin
Jesus In the City Fellowship

Offering!

For Friday, March 7, 2025:

Leviticus 7:28-29 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you present a peace offering to the Lord, bring part of it as a gift to the Lord.”

3,000 years ago, everyone had to raise their own livestock and harvest their own grain. You couldn’t just stop at Cub on the way home. Here, the Lord is telling Moses to tell the people to bring a little extra for the Priests. Not more fat to burn on the altar, but the breast, good meat, something of sustenance for the religious workers.

Nowadays we give mostly dollars. Cash and checks in the offering. Visa and Mastercard on the web site. Venmo and Paypal for direct deposits. The Old Testament suggested a tithe, 10%, for the Lord’s work. The good news is that we got to keep 90%! The New Testament suggests sacrificial giving. Don’t stop at 10%. Put a little extra towards God’s work.

In Jesus’ day, the mindset was that their Savior would be taking believers to heaven soon, so they really wouldn’t need money or property. Many in the first church, called The Way, sold their homes, their land, their livestock and donated the proceeds to the church. As the saying goes, “You can’t take it with you!”

So prayerfully consider what the Lord would have you do. Talk it out with God. You don’t have to decide this minute. Take this project home, and let the Lord determine your direction, your commitment to growing the church and to making disciples of all nations. What is your piece of God’s project? Then do what the Lord calls you to do.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Tithe?

For Sunday, August 11, 2024:

Malachi 3:10 NLT: “’Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’”

I was brought up in a church where members decided how much they could afford to give to the church, and filled out pledge cards. But the Bible says that the first tenth – the BEST tenth – of everything belongs to the Lord. We are simply called to transport into the storehouse what already belongs to God.

In the New Testament, Jesus teaches benevolence without specifying any amount. At The Way, the first Christian assembly, worshipers gave to meet each other’s needs. They would sell buildings or land and donate the sum for the good of all. With a guaranteed home in heaven, there was no longer any point in hoarding earthly possessions.

In general, the Bible tells us to trust the Lord, not test the Lord. This is an exception. God is challenging believers: “Give it a try, and see if you like the results!” You’ll be amazed!

God loves a cheerful giver!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Conspiracy!

March 18, 2024 Monday Message:

Mark 14:53 NLT: “They took Jesus to the high priest’s home where the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law had gathered.”

We’ve heard a lot in the news lately about conspiracies. A conspiracy is, “an agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act.” The leading priests, elders, and teachers of religious law were conspiring against Jesus. They should be ashamed of themselves. These teachers of religious matters were conspiring to falsely arrest and eventually murder Jesus. Obviously that was a bad decision and a violation of more than one commandment.

Jesus knew more about God, the Kingdom, and eternity in heaven than the alleged religious experts, so jealousy could have played a part in their decision. I believe position, power and money were also a part of their displeasure.

Jesus was an itinerant preacher, which means that he traveled around a lot and spoke in many different places. He acknowledged this, saying, “The Son of Man has no home.” And when these crowds gathered to hear Jesus, they were oftentimes not at the Temple, which means their tithes were not at the Temple.

The way in which these leaders “did” religion was part of the problem. They had studied Torah and knew God’s commandments well. For them, the goal was catching someone else doing something wrong, enforcing the commandments. They obviously skipped over the parts about God’s love, forgiveness and offer of salvation. The text about loving your neighbor as yourself wasn’t front-of-mind.

Having a complete Bible nowadays gives us a complete picture of what those religious leaders got wrong. Following Jesus, we have been taught how to live our lives. Other Christians should be the nicest people we meet!

Remember, God’s desire is that none would perish, and that all would repent and return to their creator!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Giving!

February 20, 2024 Monday Message:

Mark 12:42 NLT: “Then a poor widow came into the temple and dropped two small coins in the collection box.”

Others gave more, but this widow gave all that she had. Nothing is too good for the Lord!

Jews were commanded to tithe, a Hebrew word that means 1/10th. For some people, the tithe is a minimum amount, but for others it’s a maximum. It they gave 10%, they were all done giving! Not a good plan! I believe if God blesses us with abundance, it’s so that we can help others. 10% isn’t a limit, but it’s a good starting point. Consider the needs of your church and your community, and give accordingly.

Luke quotes Jesus: “You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.”

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Belief in Jesus!

For Saturday, May 6, 2023:

John 12:9-11 NKJV: “Now a great many of the Jews knew that Jesus was there; and they came, not for his sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him, many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.”

The good thing Jesus did – raising Lazarus from the dead – was a threat to the religious status quo. Bringing a dead man back to life is too significant a miracle to be ignored. In three verses, John sums up the problem. Note that it wasn’t about God or prophesy or a fine point of theology. It’s about power, influence and ultimately money. If crowds of people were leaving the Synagogues to follow Jesus, their tithes were moving too!

The religious leader’s answer to this problem was a double murder, Jesus and now Lazarus. Their solution flew in the face of God’s commandments. Simply put, they were wrong.

We know now that Jesus dying, paying the price for the sins of the world, was all a part of God’s rescue plan to save mankind. How ironic that the Pharisee’s plot to murder the Son of God would put our salvation in motion! God is truly good!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Test God?

For Sunday, January 31, 2021

Malachi 3:10 NIV: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

In general, we're supposed to trust God, not test God. This is the one exception where God says, “Go ahead – test me on this – see if it isn't so!”

God's promises are always good. If we bring God a little, the Bible says that he will pour out a lot of blessings for us, and that good news gives us hope! Nowadays we use money; dollars. Back then people would tithe a portion of their harvest, bringing it to the storehouse for the priests. We bring our tithes to our local church.

“'Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,' says the Lord Almighty.”

Blessings and safety to all on our day of worship!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Psalm 24a

November 23, 2015 Monday Message:

“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it.” Psalms 24:1a

As humans, we tend to want to own things and control things. Someone once wrote, “When we die, whoever has the most toys – wins!” That was intended to be a joke, but it’s a sad commentary on our relationship with the Creator.

In our land of free enterprise, many people believe that what we earn is ours. We use OUR dollars to buy OUR house, OUR car, OUR clothes, OUR food and OUR toys. The more successful we are, the bigger are our toys. If a church or a charity needs help, most people look to their “leftover” dollars, with the attitude of, “I have everything I want – and a few dollars left-over for God!” I got mine, and God comes after that.

This whole attitude changes if we take a moment to acknowledge God as the creator of EVERYTHING! He made the earth, separated the oceans from the land, the light from the dark, and in fact created our galaxy, our entire universe. God also created humans, made us in His image, male and female. The truth is, the earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it! This was true 3,000 years ago when David wrote Psalm 24, and it’s still true today.

So instead of taking everything you want and giving God the left-overs – or – thinking everything is yours and letting God have 10% — admit that everything belongs to God, a God who is loving, a God of generous provision who wants to make sure that you get 90%! Give thanks for God is good!

Don’t accept more than 90% from God. That’s what the Bible says.

Norton Lawellin

Let’s worship together! Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) gathers at 10 a.m. every Sunday in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. This Sunday, Nov. 29, I’ll open up the Advent season as we prepare for our LORD coming to earth as a little baby! See you at church!