Golden Rule!

For Sunday, September 15, 2024:

Matthew 7:12 NLT: “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”

During the Sermon On the Mount, Jesus counseled us to treat others the same way we’d like to be treated. Nowadays we call it the “Golden Rule.” He’s reinforcing the Old Testament command from Leviticus 19:18: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”

Back then, people were living in a culture with “an eye for an eye” philosophy. People often felt the need to get even. Jesus wanted to change all that. Jesus wants us to turn the other cheek.

In Matthew 22:39, Jesus taught us to “Love our neighbor as ourself.” That means the way we’d LIKE to be treated, not necessarily the way we ARE treated. Be nice, be kind, be helpful, do the next right thing and don’t hold a grudge. Christians no longer try to get even. Christians forgive one another.

That’s what Jesus would do!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Born Again!

For Saturday, September 14, 2024:

John 1:13 NLT: “Believers are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”

The other day I was trying to write using my computer, and nothing was working right. Files would disappear; unexpected spaces would appear within words; nothing would “save.” Embarrassingly, it had been weeks since I totally shut down my computer, and as you probably already guessed, the solution was to completely shut down and reboot. After that, everything worked fine. I’m sure there’s a technical term, but I think my device just got confused; too much going on!

When new believers give up the world and return to God, he gives us a fresh start, a reboot. The Bible calls it being born again. This is where we get the term Born-again Christians. Making a commitment to follow Jesus is a dividing line drawn in your life. Your standards and value system were one way before Jesus. But after Jesus, everything changed. It’s better this way. Life makes sense this way. Living according to God’s plan is the better way.

We are blessed by being given a do-over, a fresh start at life. Jesus lets us take a Mulligan on the back nine!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

God's Children's Calendar!

For Friday, September 13, 2024:

1 John 2:29 NLT: “Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.”

Today is Friday the 13^th. Superstitious people expect bad luck on this day; they fear that things will go wrong. That’s called “triskaidekaphobia.”

But to believers (followers of Jesus,) it’s just another day on the Gregorian calendar, put into effect by Pope Gregory XIII in October of 1582. At that time, the calendar we now know replaced the older Julian calendar. With that change, the days shifted, the numbers shifted, and Friday the 13^th moved on the physical calendar. Therefore the date we curiously note has no real significance.

Interestingly, Pope Gregory got the starting date wrong. He was trying to establish date “zero” as the birth of Jesus. Historians now believe that Jesus was born +/- 4-6 BC, probably in the fall.

So no matter what we choose to name it, this is the day the Lord made; let us rejoice and be glad in it! Praise our God who is holy, his Son who is holy, and cast superstition to the wind. After all, we’re blessed; we’re children of God! Believers have been accepted into the Holy Family! Hallelujah!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship