Excellence vs Perfectionism

Sept. 30, 2019 Monday Message:

Doing Kingdom work with excellence honors God and inspires people, but being a nit-picking perfectionist is a sin.

Perhaps we can define ‘excellence’ as ‘each person doing the best they can do.’ The Carnegie Hall pianist and the Church pianist will probably exhibit different levels of competence, but each should be doing his/her best.

Sometimes the challenge is matching the right talent to the right task. A hobby-level guitarist probably shouldn’t serve on the Worship Team in the big room for the main service. But we DO need people to lead folk songs around the campfire. And elementary students love to sing simple songs. We need to find the task that’s the best fit for a person’s talent and skill-level.

If a person is learning a new job and they’ve reached a point where they’re ‘pretty good’ at it, we need to put them in the game. They may not be perfect yet, but their skills will increase as they acclimate to the position.

If you’re leading a Bible study group, there will come a time when MOST of the class will understand MOST of the teaching. You’ll know when. And then for the sake of the entire class, it’s time to move on, knowing you’ve done your best.

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship meets next Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30 AM. This week founding Pastor Michael Pilla looks at 1 Cor. 14:1-19 – Tongues and Prophesy.

Body of Believers

Sept. 23, 2019 Monday Message:

Paul writing to the Corinthian Church: “If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how could you smell anything?” 1 Cor. 12:17 NLT

Just like the human body, our body of believers is made up of many different parts. The Spirit has given us different spiritual gifts and talents, and we are called to put those varied talents to work for the kingdom.

Your talents are different from my talents, and the kingdom is better with us all. The saying, “Our strength is in our diversity,” rings especially true here.

The Bible says that we have all been entrusted with at least one spiritual gift; some are given with several. We are given these spiritual gifts so that we can share our talent with the kingdom. It’s kind of like tithing. Nowadays most of us earn money, and we’re expected to render a certain portion of that to further the kingdom. In the same way, the Spirit has entrusted us with spiritual gifts and talents, and God expects us to put some of that to work for His Kingdom too.

Pastor Rick Warren – “Purpose-driven Rick,” says that a non-serving Christian is a contradiction in terms. So what are your talents that you can share with your fellow believers?

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship meets next Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30 AM. This week founding Pastor Michael Pilla looks at 1 Cor. 12:12-31.

Jesus' Baptism

Sept. 16, 2019 Monday Message:

Jesus speaking: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19 NLT

Jesus sets the example when it comes to baptism, saying, “We must carry out all that God requires.” So he went to the Jordan River, and after a brief discussion with John the Baptist over which one of them should baptize the other, Jesus went into the water. (See Matt. 3:13-16)

We aren’t given much detail about the baptism ritual, which tells me that God isn’t overly concerned with such details. The important thing is obedience - that we make an outward visible sign of the radical transformation that’s occurred within us – Just DO IT!

What I love best is what happened AFTER the baptism. “The Spirit of God descending like a dove settled on Jesus. And a voice from heaven called out, ‘This is my dearly beloved Son, who brings me great joy.’”

And there you have it – Jesus Son-of-God in the water, the Holy Spirit showing up in a visible way, and the voice of God booming from the heavens, clearly identifying Jesus as the Son of God. Father – Son – Holy Spirit, in the same sentence. That’s the one God in three different forms – the Triune God that we worship. That’s what differentiates the Christian God from the gods of all other religions.

Jesus speaking: “The Father and I are one.” John 10:30

Norton Lawellin

Let’s worship together! Jesus in the City Fellowship meets next Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30 AM. This week we’ll look at 1 Cor. 12:1-11 - Spiritual Gifts for all! See you at church!