Living in Harmony!

For Friday, November 3, 2023:

Romans 15:5-6 NLT: “May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul has been counseling the church in Rome – rules, commandments, dos and don’ts – when suddenly he inserts a short prayer for these people. It could have been written for us nowadays!

Patience is always needed, myself included. Nothing seems to happen as fast as I’d like. When something is good and right, my instinct tells me it should be put it in motion right away, but that may not be God’s timing. God’s timing will always be the right timing, so we may need a little encouragement along with our patience!

The goal is for believers to live in complete harmony with each other, following Jesus’ example. Everyone can then be on the same page as we give praise and glory to God the Father!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Of One Mind!

 

October 17, 2022 Monday Message:

1 Peter 3:8 NLT: “Finally, Christians should all be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.”

Being “of one mind” speaks to the unity of God’s people. Most of us are willing to do this if the “one mind” lines up with “our mind!” But we also need to look at what’s best for our church, and what’s best for world-wide Christianity. We need to ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” That, then, is the right thing to do!

Peter, who lived with Jesus, describes for us the kind of warm love that should be among the people of God. We should be like family: compassionate, tender-hearted and polite to one another. Interestingly, Jesus often chose compassion over the Law. He would forgive egregious sins of the repentant, wanting to give those people a second chance!

Jesus said, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 13:35)

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Kindness and Love!

For Friday, July 22, 2022:

Colossians 2:2-3 NLT: “I want believers to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Paul was concerned with the unity of the church. He knows that they’ll be stronger if they’re all on the same page, pulling together in the same direction. If the church is solid in its foundation, the individual members will be stronger as well.

Notice that Paul didn’t advocate rules, procedures and traditions. These new believers should live a new way, not held together by mandates but rather bonded by kindness and love. Knowledge of salvation isn’t hidden in secret books. It’s given freely through faith in Jesus, who has all knowledge and willingly shows us the way to heaven!

Untruths divide, but the wisdom of Christ brings believers together!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Messiah!

For Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Matthew 12:23 NLT, Questions from the crowd after Jesus healed a demon-possessed man who could not hear or speak: “Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?”

’Yes’ to all of the above! Jesus was of the line of David, which fulfilled prophesy proving that Jesus was the expected Messiah. We know him better as the Son of the Most High! But if you were in the crowd that day expecting a Messiah, and you witnessed miracles that could only be heaven-sent, wouldn’t you be filled with exuberant hope that this is the guy?

The crowd was convinced, but the Pharisees weren’t so sure. They conjectured that Jesus’ power might have come from Satan.

To Jesus, this was bad news. He was born into the family of God’s chosen people, and he wanted to strengthen his community, not cause division within it. “A Kingdom divided by civil war is doomed.”

Jesus said, “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.” (Matt. 12:30)

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Neverending Hope!

For Friday, September 24, 2021

Psalm 133:3b NIRV: “There the Lord gives his blessing. He gives life that never ends.”

David wrote this Psalm to encourage pilgrims returning to Jerusalem to seek the Lord. Nowadays we can seek the Lord in many ways and places, and pursuit is more important than the exact location.

God’s hope is that no one would perish (hell), but that all would repent and return. He wants to see everybody in the life after this life. Therefore God gives his promise of never-ending life in his presence (Heaven) to all who sincerely seek the truth. God personally gives us hope!

This Psalm speaks of unity. Since we’ll be living alongside other believers in the hereafter, it would be great if we could also get along now! Together, Christians should celebrate their commonality, worshiping their Creator!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Christian Unity!

For Sunday, September 6, 2020. 

Psalm 133:1 NIV: “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”

This Psalm actually begins byasking the reader to “behold” or “notice” what follows, because it’s important! The followers of Yahweh had not always been unified. They disagreed and sometimes fought with each other, and that was wrong. In this song sung to the Lord, David is encouraging everyone to get on the same page! 

If our priority is worship of the Lord, there should be little disagreement. That is good because it reflects God’s purpose for our hearts, and it is pleasant to be among the Lord’s people, avoiding the constant bickering and conflict from the past.

Not everything that is good is pleasant, and not everything that is pleasant is good. Unity among God’s people is a remarkable blessing because it is BOTH good and pleasant! That’s why we worship together – that’s why we have “church” friends! That’s why we share hope! 

Have a blessed Sabbath!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

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

Psalm 67 - Pull Together

October 24, 2016 Monday Message:

“Pray for God’s blessings to continue and for everyone on earth to worship our God.” Psalms 67:7 CEV

In Psalm 67, God has shown favor to his people with a bountiful harvest. God has been kind and has blessed his people. Now that we can prove the God-potential, let’s get everyone on-board. Partnering with God is an awesome thing. God’s blessing on a nation will increase when the people are united and everyone is pulling in the same direction, God’s direction.

Jesus taught us to grow Christianity through attraction. Outsiders should be able to easily see the love in our fellowship, and then desire to be a part of what we have. Be joyful! The psalmist writes, “Be pleased and smile. Then everyone on earth will learn to follow you, and all nations will see...” from Ps. 67:1-2

In this time of political division in our country, it would be restorative to turn from our differences and, for a moment, celebrate the good things we have in common. Our country was founded by people who desired religious freedom. Declaring our independence, they wrote, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights…” Our founding fathers acknowledged a creator who was good to us – perhaps we can all agree on that.

So put a smile on your face, sing a joyful song, and let’s all pull together with the positive values we share. Let’s all play for God’s team.

Norton Lawellin

Let’s worship together! Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets at the Akina Church, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30am. This Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016, we’ll unpack Martin Luther and the Reformation – Getting the church back on track! See you there!