Hopping in.
You hopping in?
It is nationally recognized as the best flavor that Wingstop has.
Lemon pepper is disgusting.
Lemon pepper is gross.
Oh, dude.
Christian agrees lemon pepper is bad.
We're in the mid-minitron.
Eat one.
Oh, eat one.
Hey, hey, hey.
I'll take one.
Get in here, bro.
Did you wing?
No.
No, I'm not there, man.
I'm not winging.
All right.
Matt, I've got to say, it's not fair that you went ahead and already filled out your whole packet.
That's rude.
That's cheating.
That's not cheating.
I'm the one that made the packet, bro.
That's cheating.
I didn't know what they were doing, but a kid literally got up in the middle of class and was like I'm not doing this, back at you.
And he like did the bit.
Oh, he like did the bit.
He did the bit and everything.
And I was like, you can't leave class.
And everybody was just cracking up.
And I was like, all right, whatever, bro.
Hey, is it heretical for me to eat on the word if the word is the bread of life?
You know what I'm saying?
You're just seasoning it.
Listen to how big of a mess you make on it.
Hey, he turns my mess into a message, so.
Dude, is that it?
I literally eat a page of the Bible every night before I go to bed.
That's right.
That is like a wave being tossed.
I was tossing.
Oh, heck no.
Will, stop, bro.
Hey, they're going to be left on the table?
No, they're not, dude.
Well, we're cuddling over here.
Will, they're minors, bro.
Good stuff, Will.
All right.
Good stuff, Will.
As we're eating, I just want to see, with a show of hands, did Jonah get swallowed by a whale?
Raise your hand if you think for sure it was a whale.
Are we talking about classification?
This is a true question.
No, I'm just wondering.
Personally, I think it was a Goliath.
I accidentally got a kid this morning, and I used to think...
Shark tank?
Yeah, you're good.
You can eat.
A shark tank?
He told him that the Leviathan mentioned in Jonah was something from Shark Tank.
And I said, dude, that's a show about investors.
And he said, yeah, I know.
I said, all right.
It's not that.
So you guys rage baited the kid?
I was trying to be helpful.
He was just joking, and he ended up actually believing it.
All right, fair enough.
Back to the question.
When you were in kids' church or were raised learning the Bible and stuff, who was taught that it was a whale?
I think elementary.
I don't know.
It does.
Elementary-wise, yes.
But once you get middle school, high school, it's a big fish.
Yeah.
All right, so what are some other things that we know about the whole book of Jonah?
Just spout them out.
Somebody start talking about it.
So Jonah was trying to run away from an assignment that the Lord gave him, right?
Supposed to go to Nineveh.
Supposed to go to Nineveh.
Where did he go instead?
Not Nineveh.
He got stuck in a fish, bro.
Yeah.
All right.
Don't ruin it, bro.
I'm not.
I'm not.
How many chapters is the book of Jonah?
Four.
Okay.
Okay.
Another question.
What punctuation mark does the book of Jonah end with?
Question mark.
Yep.
It's the only book in the Bible.
The only book in the Bible out of all 66 that ends in a question mark.
You know why?
We're going to find that out on way forward.
He's asking the questions here.
All right.
What is Jonah really about?
Just spitballing.
This is free discussion right now.
Not a wrong answer.
Yeah, no, not a wrong answer.
I think there's a lesson in obedience.
A lesson in obedience?
Okay, somebody else.
What's Jonah about?
Jonah.
I think it's BYU.
BYU.
It's about Jonah?
You think it's about him?
Okay, somebody else.
For sure it's about Jesus.
Yeah, for sure.
We'll get into that.
Somebody else.
Speedy, go ahead.
Were you going to say something?
I think it's about your calling.
How you choose to follow it.
That's good.
I think it's a good way of showing you what fear can do in your life.
If you let it expound upon that, what do you mean?
I think i mean jenna was.
It seemed like he was fearful and had anxiety of going to nineveh, and that's why he ran, and we we tend to do that when we're fearful or get anxiety of something that god tells us to do.
So i think it's a great example of okay well, you can run, but you can't hide like you're gonna end up doing what god wants you eventually yeah, and to not be afraid of it, because there's always a God outcome.
It might not be a good one, it might not be a bad one, but it's a godly one, and that's the one that you should expect.
Okay, here's another question.
Can you run away from your calling?
No.
Yeah.
You can try, but no.
We've got some no's, we've got some yes.
Jonathan and hold on.
Just maybe, maybe a little bit could be, could be asking that uh jonathan, you said no, you cannot run away from your calling.
Why do you think that?
Well, you can try, but it's the.
It's the same way, with the fear and the anxiety part of it.
If it's something god's called you to do, you'll eventually step into your calling, like i didn't want to become a pastor.
It wasn't the first thing on my radar to do and I ran from it for several years and even though I'm 23.
But I've known since I was young.
But look where I'm at now.
It's something that it continues to seek you out, and it will seek you out until you say yes.
Until you submit to it.
Somebody that was on the yes train, somebody give your reasoning why.
You can run away from it.
Well, he did say in his statement that he said he ran away from it for a period of time, and I think we can run away from it for our whole life if we choose, because God gave us the free will to choose which direction and which path we're going to take.
Sadly, some people choose to live their entire life running away from what god has, you know, called him to do.
Yeah so, so imagine that there's a guy.
I don't think you can make it disappear, i don't think you can like, make your calling not exist but like, i think you could definitely go in the opposite direction so you can try to run as much as you want to run.
But whatever the lord wants you to do and who he's trying to make you become, you're taking it with you.
No matter what right we could agree with that, you act on those.
Whether you act on that call yeah, that calls in with you forever.
Yeah, you act on.
So you can run, you can hide, you can try to get inside of a whale's belly but, no matter what, that calling is still inside of you, right?
Shut up.
We'll get there.
All right.
Is everybody good to go ahead and start reading, or do we need to wait just a couple more minutes?
Will, will you pray over our prayer requests?
Absolutely.
And then Chris, would you care to just pray over just a word, and you know the scripture that we're going to get into, and just that we'll have ready hearts after we'll praise.
Yeah.
All right.
And then Caleb, will you just pray just for all of us men that are here tonight, that we would just continue to grow in our relationship with the Lord as well.
After Chris prays
All right.
Let's go ahead and bow our heads.
Let's pray.
Jesus, we thank you so much for.
Yes, Lord.
Tonight Lord, I pray Lord, that as we, You know, tonight is not necessarily going to be at least the plainest and not necessarily going to be a night full of you know, necessarily.
You know, eyes closed, praying and getting quiet in the presence.
It's going to be a night to learn and discuss.
But Lord, as we enter into this time of prayer, I pray that if it's a couple minutes that we can lock in and we can commune with you as we lift these requests and we pray over various things and we can.
We can dip into that cup Lord, that fills us up and that gives us joy tonight as we get ready to study.
But Lord, we lift these requests to you, Jesus.
There's a lot of requests for different types of healing, whether it be for something in the body, whether it be for someone's salvation, somebody's revelation of the kingdom of heaven Lord.
And Lord, we lift these things to you.
We lay them at the feet and we know that you already knew at the foundation of the world that that was going to be on the list tonight, that you know the end of what it looks like, you know what the outcome is going to look like and we know that, if we are endeavoring to love you and we are endeavoring to pursue a relationship with you and to become more like you and to become a disciple, that you know those requests and you're working all of these situations for our good.
So Lord, I pray that you would give us eyes to see about these situations Lord, that we've all laid down.
Lord, I pray that you would give us eyes to see that we don't miss what miraculous thing you're going to do in each and one of these situations.
Lord, we thank you and we give you the glory for how the deliverance is going to come.
We go ahead and thank you in advance, because that's the security that you provide for us when you show us your character and you tell us the way you feel about us and you tell us how much you love us.
And we don't have to worry, and we don't have to fret, because everything is going to work out for the greater good of our lives.
Lord, it may not look like it.
So Lord, we thank you so much and we praise you and we give you the glory and honor and the thanksgiving of Jesus.
Amen.
God, I just thank you for an opportunity to gather in your name.
Thank you for the courage that's already been released in the room.
Yes, Jesus.
God, I just ask that faith would arise, God.
Yes, Jesus.
Yes, Lord.
God, we pour over your word and seek you and discernment.
God that you would just bring a fresh revelation, God in the room that your spirit would be tangible.
And God that you would lead us in this conversation this evening.
God, we give you glory and honor in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You said just a general well-being?
Yeah, yeah.
Lord, Heavenly Father, we come to you tonight and we thank you for just letting us all be able to get out of bed, to go to work and to come here.
Lord, we just thank you so much for being able to even So just praise you, Lord.
Just open our mouth to you and say your name.
Open our minds, open our hearts tonight so we can learn more about you.
Take it into the world and spread it, Lord.
In Christ's name I pray.
Amen.
Amen.
All right.
So if you've got your Bible or you've got your phone, we're going to be in, of course, the book of what.
Jonah and the...
The version that your notes are in are in ESV, and so where are the ESV Bibles if you want an actual?
Some under the drawers on the couch, and there's some on the counters here.
Okay, so up here on the counter, there's some ESV ones, and then underneath the... All the couches.
All the couches.
So, Will, if you pull out your drawer right there... It's one of the drawers.
There should be some in all of them.
Where at up here?
After chair one.
There's Bibles if people wanted them.
All right, so it's Jonah.
We're obviously doing chapter one.
So Jonah chapter one is where we need to be right now.
Once you're there, you can say skibbity or teed or say eat one.
Just say something silly so that I know that you're there.
Jonah is?
That's awesome.
I did not know that.
Oh, you turd.
You got me.
All right, so I'm going to assume most of y'all are there, even though I didn't hear any skibbities or I'm teed or I'm there.
Eat one.
Yeah.
Will, you struggling over there, bub?
I'm going to shut it.
Shut your face, grandma.
Shut your face, grandma.
Okay, my bad sorry, i apologize.
All right well, we're literally all waiting on you.
I will leave the one for the rest of the 99.
Yeah, i'm not jesus.
Okay, he gave us a no, he is there, all right so um So, Jonah is a story that is going to expose us.
And like Chris said earlier, it's going to point to Jesus.
So part one, just some opening notes.
As I'm talking, as I'm sharing, just fill it in the best that you can.
It's not for a grade.
This is not school.
But like what you think is going to fit is probably what you should fill it out as.
So Jonah isn't written to make us admire Jonah.
Jonah is written to expose the human heart and to point us to someone greater.
And who is that?
That's Jesus, just like Chris said.
So if we are reading Old Testament scripture and we're not looking to see where Jesus is in it, then we're going to be confused.
Because all of the Old Testament, when it was written was, of course, was written for the people that were going through it and then the next generation to remember it.
Now that we are no longer in either of those generations, it's now written to us as what?
As a shadow pointing to what is to come, which was Jesus.
So we should be trying to find Jesus in that.
So in every verse and in every chapter in the next four weeks, we should be trying to point back to Jesus as we're going through this.
Just a couple things, like maybe five quick points I want to go over really quick before we read.
Jonah is a super short book.
There's only 17 verses in what we're reading tonight, so it'll be super quick.
But number one, we will see in this book that every shortcoming that Jonah has we can flip toward into the gospels, and Jesus fulfills every single shortcoming that Jonah has, which is incredible.
So Jonah, what does he do?
He runs from God.
What does Jesus do?
He runs towards the Father over and over and over again.
Jonah, what does he do?
He absolutely hates his enemies.
What did Jesus come to do?
Love his enemies.
Jonah, he obeys reluctantly.
He doesn't necessarily want to do what he's told.
But begrudgingly, he finally does.
You know, my parents used to tell me, you know, being obedient but not really having the right heart posture behind it, that's not necessarily obedience at all.
So what did Jesus do?
He completely obeyed fully and joyfully the will of the Father.
Jonah preaches without compassion.
What do we see Jesus doing?
He was moved with compassion.
Mark says immediately Jesus was moved with compassion over and over and over again.
Jesus preached with compassion, with tears, and with truth.
Jonah, he gets angry when God shows mercy.
What happened with Jesus?
Jesus becomes the very mercy that Jonah resents.
And we'll see it over and over again.
Everything that Jonah... comes short up to, right?
Jesus then fulfills.
Jonah shows us what human... Holy crap.
Somebody pray for me.
Come on now, somebody.
Jonah shows us what humanity looks like when we are left to ourselves.
Jesus shows us what humanity looks like when we fully submit to God.
Jonah could not save Nineveh or himself.
Jesus saves both sinners and the self-righteous.
Jonah could not live up to his name, but Jesus lives up to his name.
The word Jonah means dove, and a dove is a symbol of peace. of purity, and of God's Spirit.
But what does Jonah bring?
Jonah brings judgment without love.
Jonah resists peace.
And Jonah rejects the very Spirit-led compassion that God shows all human beings.
Jesus is literally affirmed by what when he's baptized by John the Baptist?
A dove.
A dove.
Jesus is literally affirmed by the Spirit descending like a dove.
Jesus is literally the Prince of Peace.
And Jesus brings truth and grace perfectly.
Jonah carried the name of peace but lived in anger.
He was almost like a raven.
Jesus carried the mission of peace and fulfilled it completely.
Therefore, he was the true dove.
Jonah wore the right name but had the wrong heart.
Jesus lived the name that he was given.
The Lord saves.
That's what Jesus means.
Number three.
This one is so cool.
And we're going to see this in the scriptures that we read.
So Jonah, as you get into it, Jonah reflects a lot of other people and a lot of other books and stories of the Bible.
The first one that we're going to talk about is Jonah and Luke 15.
Does anybody know what Luke 15 is all about?
The prodigal son story, right?
That's really the prodigal son story.
Most people think Jonah is about the sailors of Nineveh, and then Jonah leaving, and then Jonah getting swallowed, and then Jonah preaching, and then that's how they end it.
But Jonah is actually closer to the older brother of Luke 15 than anything else.
The older brother in Luke 15, what does he do?
He obeys outwardly, but what is his heart posture?
Well, how come you never threw me a party, Father?
Why did you never throw me a party?
Yep.
The older brother resents grace.
Why is he getting a party?
He's been out doing all these awful things, right?
He's angry when mercy is given.
He thinks that fairness is greater than forgiveness, right?
That's the older brother in the prodigal son story.
Jonah knows God deeply, but what?
Resents the grace that he wants to give.
He obeys what?
Externally.
Do you guys see where I'm coming from right now?
So Jonah isn't the prodigal who runs away, really.
Jonah is more like the older brother who stayed at home, but never really shared the father's heart.
It's possible to be near God, and still far away from his heart.
It's very possible.
I know people in the church today that with their mouth, they praise the Lord, they worship him.
Their worship is very admirable crying, worshiping with all their heart, but they would not give the shirt off their back for the person they saw on the street right.
That's knowing God and being near to him, but being pretty far away from his heart.
The next person, Jonah and Peter.
There's another parallel.
Same failure, different response.
Jonah and Peter are shockingly similar.
Here's some similarities.
They both know God personally.
They both hear his voice.
They both are called into the mission field.
They both fail publicly.
Both struggle with fear and both struggle to be in control.
Here's the difference.
Jonah runs away after the failure.
Peter runs back to Jesus.
Jonah hardens.
Peter repents.
Failure does not disqualify you.
Pride does.
God can redeem denial with Peter, but resistance, Jonah, leaves us stuck in the same place.
So maybe you're in here tonight or maybe you're watching online, but you feel like you're stuck and you're in the same place over and over and over again.
Well, it's probably because what?
Probably because you've got some pride in your life.
You're not running towards the Father.
You're trying to figure it out on your own.
Jonah can also be seen with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Cain and Abel as well.
The only book that ends in a question mark, we went over that already, should I not pity Nineveh?
That's the last thing that the book says.
Should I not pity Nineveh?
And I want you to make a mental note of that.
Because when we get done with this book, we're going to answer that question together.
Should I not pity Nineveh?
This question is not for Jonah.
I'm a huge book reader.
I read 25 books last year.
This year the goal is 26.
In literary works, when there is a question mark at the end of the story, do you think that it's for the character?
No.
No.
The character doesn't matter.
He doesn't need to answer a question.
He's not real.
The story itself necessarily isn't real.
So who's the question mark for?
It's for the reader.
So that question mark is there for us, and we're going to go through it together.
Jonah ends with a question, because the story continues in us and we're going to figure out what to do with that question.
Last one, number six, why this matters for us men today.
Jonah exposes our pride, our anger, our selective obedience and our discomfort with grace.
So Jesus is going to invite us, through this story of Jonah, into repentance, into obedience with love, compassion for the loss, a transformed heart, not just correct behavior.
Jonah tells us what we are and Jesus shows us who we are meant to be.
So as we read tonight, you're going to see yourself in Jonah.
You are going to see yourself in Jonah.
Jonah is a book and a person that we can put ourselves into the story and we can see ourselves in.
Because how many times have you tried to run from what the Lord wanted you to do?
But in the end, it would just have been so much easier if you just did the right thing, right?
Right.
So Jonah's not written to show us how great Jonah is, but to show us how great Jesus is.
Jonah's story exposes what happens when a person knows God's character, knows God's power, but resists God's mercy and or will.
Disobedience doesn't always look like rebellion.
Sometimes it looks like comfort or control, okay?
In this first chapter.
Tonight we are going to read about something that may look like comfort to Jonah.
But just because something's comfortable doesn't mean that it's from the Lord.
And we're going to go over that.
Disobedience doesn't always look like rebellion.
Sometimes it looks like comfort or control.
Jonah doesn't deny God.
Jonah doesn't curse God.
Jonah just simply tries to what?
Avoid God.
Raise your hands if you've ever tried to avoid God.
How'd that work out for you?
No, he's omnipresent.
You can't get away from him.
Jonah is, but it shows how great Jesus is.
I just want to...
Shout out a verse from Psalms, right?
Psalms says that, and this is David, if I make my bed in heaven, you're there.
If I make my bed on the earth, you're there.
If I make my bed in hell, you're there.
So we can't avoid him.
He's omnipresent.
His presence is all around us at all times.
Okay, here we go.
Speedy, will you read Jonah chapter 1?
Verses 1, 2, and 3.
Yep.
Loud and proud, please.
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.
But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish.
Tarshish.
Say it again.
Tarshish.
Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord.
He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish.
So he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord.
Okay, so you can look back through the scriptures right there and you can fill out the blanks if you want to do that.
You're not forced to, but it kind of just helps.
So we see that Jonah was called to go where?
Nineveh.
But instead he goes where?
Tarshish.
Yes.
And he's trying to flee what?
The presence of the Lord.
That's going to be a reoccurring theme.
Running from God always costs us our peace.
Joppa is a place.
So Tarshish means Wandering aimlessly.
And that's not written down, but that's what Tarshish means.
So how many times in life have we tried to go away from the presence of the Lord and we just begin to just roam aimlessly.
We just feel like we're going nowhere.
That's how it's been for me.
I also want to point out in verse 3 that he goes down to...
Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, is what the NSAB says.
So he went down to Joppa.
He found a ship that was going to Tarshish.
So how many times have we been in situations where we are trying to figure something out on our own, but then we're like oh, this is automatically working out for my favor.
This automatically has to be God, but then it's not.
Do I need to say that in another way or do you all understand that?
Yeah.
So it's like for me.
I have been like oh, this is definitely God, because everything is working out in my favor, especially when committed first started.
I was like, oh, this has to be God because it's all working out in my favor.
But then when I get down to the nitty gritty to actually make the decision, it was a crap shoot.
It was a crap show.
It did not work out well, didn't look well.
Not just because everything is comfortable and easy to control doesn't mean that it's from the Lord.
So when I run from God, I usually run toward what?
Control or comfort.
And that's what we see Jonah doing right here.
He's running towards control and he's running towards comfort.
For me, when I fall into sin or sin cycles...
What am I usually falling into or seeking for?
Comfort or control, right?
So a lot of us in this room, well, I don't know how I can get away from this sin cycle.
Well, you usually get in that sin cycle because you're looking for either of those two things control or comfort.
All right.
Lenny, would you care to read verses 4 through 6?
That's fine, you should be fine.
Then the lord sent a great wind on the sea and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.
All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god and they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But jonah had gone below deck where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
The captain went to him and said how can you sleep?
Get up and call on.
Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.
Okay, what sticks out to you guys there as we read that?
I've never really thought of it like this, but is there any parallel of Jesus sleeping?
That's exactly what I just thought of.
I've never really thought of that.
That's never processed to me.
That's crazy.
Chris, why do you think that's crazy?
Like we all just got that same revelation.
I've been reading this book for 40 years and I've never processed that.
Even with the parallel Jesus at the end.
Yeah.
But I don't know.
It's really cool, isn't it?
Go ahead, Will.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's a storm, right?
And in this storm, everybody begins to call out to, it says, their own God, right?
But the one true God was the only one to make the storm stop.
So everyone else is trying to call out to their one true God, but the only person that could bring the answer was the one that really did truly have the one true creator, God Yahweh, who is our God that we serve.
I just thought that was really cool.
It gives me chills just thinking about it, for sure.
So the storm came from who?
The Lord.
The Lord sent the storm.
If we fast forward and we go to the book of John, I believe it says that the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness.
No, well, we can't go through bad seasons.
We can't go through hard times.
Nothing bad can happen when we're following the Lord.
The Lord threw a storm at this boat.
Fast forward to New Testament writing, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, right?
Sometimes we're going through bad things so that the Lord can help us realize that the calling that he has on our life and what he wants us to be obedient to is much better than than anything that we think that we can be a part of.
Enduring bad things is what creates character.
Yep.
And obviously, Jonah's character right now is not too good, not too great.
He's a coward right now.
He's running away.
Come on, Revelation 21.8.
Go ahead, Speedy.
Yeah, I remember reading this a while back ago and first they say cried out to his, his god.
Did they cry out to their like their god, their own personal god that they believed in?
But then um, and he says, perhaps the god will give a thought to us talking about jonah's god.
Yeah, you almost wonder if there was some sort of reputation of jonah there.
Maybe there was some previous conversations that i don't know.
Yeah, that jonah.
Maybe jonah admitted that He believed, like in, you know, the God of the Hebrews.
Yeah.
And people would recognize and know all the stories.
Yeah.
You know.
Or.
Hebrews, because, like, that's what they called him.
You know, people, they were like, like Moses, you know.
Yeah.
He was one that, you know.
Yeah.
The God of the Hebrews.
For sure.
Maybe that's why, like, his God's done all kinds of miracles before.
Maybe.
Maybe he could do it again.
He's not going to do something now, you know.
Yeah.
So, while everyone else was afraid and praying, Jonah was asleep.
And down below, right?
We went over that.
Same thing with Jesus.
Everybody else was going crazy.
They were afraid.
They were praying.
But Jesus was asleep down below.
What does that just make you think about?
Like for the rest of the world and then us as disciples of Jesus Christ?
Go ahead, Christian.
Some people in life, they have nothing to hold on to.
They have no foundation where to – even morally, they have no moral compass.
They have no – even after life, they have nothing to hold on to.
It's just everything is matter.
Once you die, you go back to become that matter.
Nothing matters.
Whereas us, we have a foundation in things.
We have a place to go, a place to look.
We have a compass, but they don't.
So I feel like he –
He knew that he was in God's hands, even if he was running away because he was down sleeping during the tempest.
When do we go to sleep when we're tired and we feel like we can be at rest?
So Jonah was not afraid and was not worried about the situation right now.
It's hard to sleep when you're worried and stressed out.
So he did not worry about the situation at all.
And so how many times in life have we gotten to a point where it's just like And I mean, I'm just not really worried about it because I know that it's going to be fine?
But we're not saying that in a matter of fact way that we know that God's going to take care of it.
We just almost harden our hearts and our minds so much to the point of like well, I don't necessarily even care anymore.
So then God has to send something to wake us up.
Right.
So what do you mean?
You sleeper arise, call out to your God.
So these people are telling him, wake up.
We need you call out to your God. will you read uh verses 7 through 10 yeah before i do go ahead man it's it's just so peculiar to me that he can have the mindset that he has but yet he reflects the exact same thing that christ did because as we read like we find out that jonah normally does the opposite of what christ would do generally yeah and so it's like so then what like How many times have you lived in sin but God still used you?
Exactly.
I know that.
I'm not saying that God doesn't use you.
It's like if he was so anxious and nervous about what God told him in the first place that he decided he was going to go be a sojourner and leave and travel.
Like that's not – now I can go hit the KRT and run out.
You know what I mean?
I could travel somewhere relatively easily.
Then, man, you're like –
It's a big deal to travel.
Some people.
In that time.
People grew up and lived within the same couple square miles their entire life.
And so for him to do that, to be that anxious and nervous.
But then when the storm came and he was on the boat, somehow he wasn't anxious and nervous.
I feel like there's a little bit of mystery in that.
Do you think he was avoiding it?
I don't know.
Maybe God knew that this was going to be one of the parallels.
For sure.
That we were going to be able to see tonight in this room.
I mean, you know, I have the revelation of like Chris talked about, like, you know what I mean?
That it's just a place where it's, you know, we see that in the new and the old testament.
For sure.
I just think that is to not be anxious in the storm and out at sea.
Yeah.
But be anxious because God told you to do something.
It's just, you know, and I just think it's a little bit.
Before you go on, just, okay, I'm going to say this and then I'll go to you, Shafe.
How many times have you been on a plane or you've been on a roller coaster and people have been cussing up a storm before the flight takes off?
They're hooping and hollering before the roller coaster takes off.
But as soon as that flight starts or as soon as the roller coaster starts Jesus Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, the whole entire time, right.
You wouldn't even believe that they're a believer.
But then as soon as they get in a situation, it's like oh, I've got a little bit of faith for this person called God, right.
I feel like it's that same exact thing, where it's like, even though he's trying to run away, he still knows that at his core, from his foundation.
I've got a little bit of faith to know that, even though I'm traveling, even though this could get rough for me to leave, I know that God's still going to take care of me.
Do you think he could have been like exhausted?
And he got on the bus and was like, I'm getting away.
And maybe he just doesn't even know.
Maybe he literally went down there and fell asleep.
I mean, what did it say?
Did it say the storm started before or after?
However, the Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea, so that the ship was about to break up.
So he was already asleep.
He was already there and sleeping.
I'm thinking he's like, I'm on the boat.
I made it.
I'm getting away from this thing.
I've got to do it now.
That also parallels Elijah resting as well.
That's right.
All right, Schaefer, we said we'll go to you next.
And Will, you can read.
I was just going to say.
I think there's some significance to it that it says that the captain came to them.
So it's not just like a random.
Yeah, people in leadership.
That's a good point.
You ever been on a cruise?
Like if the captain's going downstairs, that's pretty legit.
Yeah.
It's kind of just incredible that, like even when we might be living in sin and we're doing the wrong thing, like people of authority and power will still come to Christians when they need help.
Yeah, I mean, man, that maybe even, that maybe even solidifies the like thought.
I mean, it's just this isn't scripture necessarily or doctrine that maybe that Jonah really did have that reputation of being someone that believes in you know, God of the Hebrews, because they had all kinds of other gods?
And, like I said, cry not to the others, but that even probably solidifies it more if the captain even knew about that.
Yeah.
I wonder how far away, you know, wherever he was to Joppa.
I don't know if it's there on the map.
Maybe Joppa is just right down the road and that's where the fort was.
7 through 10.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
And they said to one another Come, let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.
So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
Then they said to him, Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us.
What is your occupation?
Where do you come from?
And what is your country?
And of what people are you?
And he said to them I am a Hebrew and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.
Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, What is this that you have done?
For the men knew that that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told them.
Okay, so we get some confirmation there that he was fleeing the Lord and he told them that he was fleeing the Lord.
But we also get confirmation that they did know and have heard the stories of Yahweh, the Hebrew God right.
Yeah, I mean, there it says some of them didn't.
Yeah, that's really cool that it literally just popped up.
For sure.
So Jonah, he his actions show fear of God.
His actions also show inconsistency in his obedience to God and his actions also show avoidance.
Jonah fears God with his words, but not with his actions.
Right.
How many times are we like, oh, yes, Lord, I love you.
I'm going to do this.
I'm going to do that.
But then we don't actually we don't actually do it.
Or we say Lord, I believe that you are going to provide a way for me to pay my rent this month at my house.
But then again, you're like, but how can I add a third job to my weekend?
And how can I make this extra money so that I can then provide?
Well, do you truly say with your words that he is provider and then let him provide or not?
Yeah, for sure.
Anything stand out to you guys before we move on to the next one?
Yeah, I was kind of just like imagining that conversation.
I'm a Hebrew and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.
That's his response after they're just like – Freaking out.
I'm berating him with questions.
I can just imagine him being backed up into a corner or something and just confronting him.
And then finally he's like, I fear the Lord.
Yeah.
Anyone else?
Yeah, it's his actions show fear of God, inconsistency.
That was supposed to be in, not and, sorry.
Inconsistency, in obedience to God, and then also avoidance.
Yeah, man.
Jonah, will you read 11 through 16?
Had to throw you in there since this whole book's about you, bro.
Here we are, boys.
I haven't had to read them in there.
Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee that the sea may be calm unto us?
For the sea wrought and was tempest.
I don't know how to say it.
And he said unto them, Take me up and cast me forth into the sea.
So shall the sea be calm unto you.
For I know that for my sake, This great tempest is upon you.
Nevertheless, the men rode hard to bring it to the land, but they could not.
For the sea wrought and was tempestuous against them.
Wherefore they cried unto the Lord and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee.
Let us not perish for this man's life and lay not upon us innocent blood.
For thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.
All right, time out really quick.
They're just praying and seeking the Lord.
Yeah.
I want us to all just please pay attention to this.
We think that our sin and our actions have no consequence on any other person but ourself.
That thought process is wrong.
We look at Jonah's life.
Jonah's life right here is causing other people's lives to be at danger.
If I would begin to preach a false doctrine to the people that I get to shepherd, I would be putting their lives in danger right.
If I took all of my 40 kids in my gym class and made them go and jump in the river, right?
And it's freezing cold outside.
I would be putting their lives at danger because that is unwise right.
So every decision that we make, whether it's sin or not sin, we are affecting somebody else.
But it's even heightened.
It's even more heightened when we are sinning because it can deliberately cost people their lives.
And I know that's harsh.
I know some of you guys are in high school.
I know that's pretty heavy to hear and listen to.
But, like man, if you can digest that and incorporate that into your life, your sin is not just affecting your life but people's lives around you.
I think really it's when, i mean especially when you don't obey oh, when the lord speaks.
Yeah, can you share your, your testimony?
I feel always spirit giving me this uh, reminder share the testimony of the woman that was asleep in the car on the way to maranatha.
If you weren't obedient, oh my goodness, your disobedience would have cost that woman.
I remember, because my memory gets literally gets so bad, but i do remember this story.
Yeah i um, I used to play basketball every single Wednesday night for like three or four years.
And I'd like, this life had been getting busy and I got married and like things were happening.
I hadn't been able to go very much.
And like, this was the beginning of it.
Of course I haven't been in a couple of years now, but rarely.
But anyway, you went to go look at a truck and the Lord told you not to do it, but you went and went ahead and went to go do it instead.
And so then you were driving back, and you were like, no, I'm— That's a different one.
Okay, okay.
That's a different one.
So this one, I'm pretty sure, but I know what story you're talking about.
That's a different one.
So anyway, I had to drive to Charleston.
My parents called me.
They were like, hey, we forgot our concert tickets, and we're here for the concert.
My parents, in my 25 years of existence, had never gone to a concert in their life.
They really wanted to go see this person.
I was like, man, I've got to go to basketball.
I have just enough time.
And I'm going because I hadn't been in a couple weeks.
And it was like how I got my workout in.
I really wanted to go.
And so I'm like, okay.
So I drive all the way to Charleston.
I drive all the way to Charleston.
And I just hit his leg.
And I drive all the way to Charleston.
I give him their tickets, and I'm on my way back.
And Matt had invited me.
He's like, hey, man, why don't you come out there?
We're going to service at Maranatha.
If you want to come, you know, just feel free, whatever.
And I was like, no, man, go play basketball.
And so I remember that, and I knew I was going to be coming past there.
And I felt it just heavy on my heart.
It was like, you need to be at Maranatha.
And I'm like, I'm going to play basketball.
And so I drive past.
I literally completely disobeyed.
Drive past the first exit that I could have taken to get to Maranatha.
And the Lord puts it even heavier on my heart.
You need to go to Maranatha.
And the Lord knew I was going to disobey the first time because the timing was perfect.
So i get off the exit and i'm i'm mad, like i'm going, i do not want to go.
Yeah, like i'm not.
Like okay lord, i'll go, time out, time out.
Good, it's obedience right, but the heart posture is not posture was.
It was definitely not correct.
Yeah um, but i will be honest, still better to obey than to yes, the wrong heart yes, and not obey at all.
Because i get off the exit.
I'm coming down mccorkle avenue going towards where I got to turn off to go to Maranatha.
And I have this person in front of me just starts, just starts like veering off.
And they were in like far right lane.
They started veering off.
I'm like, what are they doing?
They're in the median.
They're all the way on the other side of the road.
And there's like four or five cars coming.
And I lay on the horn.
I get in literally just enough time.
I think they fell asleep while they were driving.
They woke up and they just missed like the oncoming traffic. going the other direction.
And so I mean, just think if I hadn't obeyed and I couldn't have honked that horn and, who knows, maybe the Lord would have provided another way.
And he does sometimes.
Yeah, he does sometimes.
But in all reality, if we're going to be realistic, I mean there's a very good chance that would not have happened.
And who knows if somebody could have died.
I don't know.
There's kids in the car, any of those cars?
I mean, it could have been a horrible situation had I not obeyed.
But I mean, literally scripture tells us that obeying the Lord is life or death.
It is imperative that whenever he speaks, we obey him.
So there's my little story.
Thank you, Will, for sharing that.
Just that was perfect timing to be able to stop and go over that while Jonah was reading that.
So Jonah, just go ahead and reread 14 and go to 16.
Wherefore they cried unto the Lord and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee.
Let us not perish for this man's life and lay not upon us innocent blood.
For thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.
So they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging.
Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows.
Okay.
No, just wait.
Okay, so they cast.
They cast what?
Yeah, they cast them into the sea.
They literally pick them up and hurl them into the sea.
So hold on really quick.
Where else do we see in Scripture about casting something?
Casting lots, casting nets, specifically when we're anxious or afraid.
Cast your burdens upon the Lord because he cares for you.
Right?
So we can even see here another parallel to Peter from Jonah that they're anxious.
They're scared.
They're worried.
So what do they got to do?
They cast their cares to the Lord.
They chuck him into the sea.
And what happens?
Peace comes.
And when the peace comes, they worship the Lord.
Yeah.
What did they sacrifice?
They threw everything out of the boat.
That's what I want.
They killed one of the crew members.
Oh, my gosh.
No, no.
No human sacrifice.
No human sacrifice.
I mean, condoms.
They threw condoms out.
That was consensual.
I don't know.
All right.
It was consensual murder.
Let's just finish.
There's probably a goat or something on the boat.
I actually have two things.
The second one is a question.
I think it would be a good discussion.
I just want to acknowledge how God is using Jonah in this moment, too, because I read it somewhere.
They were going to try to get him to get back from sea initially, but then the storm got worse.
Their hearts are already turning towards God, and then they even like they plea out to God later on.
Like they, like Jonah, said like, cast me out into the sea, and they were like like they don't say no specifically, but they said like that they tried to go to the land, or where was it?
Oh, and they rode to the land.
Yeah, nevertheless, the men rode hard to get back to the dry land, but they could not.
So, like, they were going to try and get him back to the land.
So it was, like, right there in that moment, you could see that, like, heart posture almost like be like transformed and then um then like the pleading after the lord but i also wanted to ask because i highlighted it here uh oh lord let us not perish for this man's life and lay not on us innocent blood for you oh lord have done as it pleased you um is that any parallel to shall not perish but have eternal life yeah or has anyone ever thought about that And then someone mentioned the sacrifice too, which Jesus was.
Jesus was a sacrifice.
I was going to get there.
But yeah, so the next fill in the blank.
The second one is Jonah is willing to sacrifice himself, but not obey God.
Jesus is willing to sacrifice himself To obey God.
To be obedient.
So, yes, that is a parallel.
Jonah, he's fine with sacrificing himself, but he still doesn't want to obey God.
Honestly he might be thinking that's kind of a way out and I don't have to have the weight and burden of disobeying.
Because I mean, surely if Jonah is who he says he was and said he was a Hebrew and said all those things about believing, I mean, could you imagine the guilt and the shame that he was carrying?
Yep.
You know, that's the kind of stuff that, you know.
Well, they know about my God.
Yep.
So, yeah.
So he then sacrifices himself, but he doesn't obey the Lord as well.
So sometimes, and I was getting there, and I'm glad that you said this great segue, Will.
How many times are we willing to do something even harder than it would have been?
If we would have just obeyed, right, it would have been hard.
It would have been hard to obey.
I'm not saying that it's not hard.
But sometimes we would rather do something even harder, just so we don't have to do the thing which we're called to obey to do.
And there's also never going to be a time that it wasn't worth it.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
It's like never going to be a time that you're upset about it.
If the Lord speaks and you obey, no matter what it is.
If you're sad about that, then maybe there's some hard things that you'd be a little upset about.
But generally, when you're in the will of God and you obey and you get that confirmation, it really doesn't matter what's going on around you.
You're at peace.
Yeah, yeah.
Anything else from anybody else that stands out?
It stuck out to me when Jonah says I know it's because of me that this great tempest has become on you.
And I think that that just shows a hard posture.
Sometimes you do know.
Sometimes you'll fall into those sin cycles, and you know that it's affecting other people.
But just know that sin brings shame, sin brings doubt, and sin brings things that bring you down.
So when you break those things, you flip that switch and it won't affect other people around you anymore.
So this is a very...
You know, like, well, duh, once I actually say this.
But I really want you to get it into your heart.
Jonah, at the beginning of this chapter, receives the Lord's prophecy of what he's supposed to go and do.
And then it says he goes down to Joppa.
And he goes down into the boat.
We will later see that he's going to go down into the belly of a whale.
So once we make one decision, To not obey.
And then we don't repent.
It's much, much easier to keep going down, down, down.
But that's what happens when we don't obey.
And I'm not saying that every single time you don't obey, you're going to fall into sin.
No, but it's a lot easier to keep going down to Joppa, down into the boat, down into the belly of a whale, right.
All right, last verse, number 17.
Chris, will you just finish it out for us?
Yeah, sure.
Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.
Okay, read that first thing again.
The first part of that sentence.
The Lord had prepared a great fish.
What?
The Lord had done what?
Prepared.
The Lord had done what? prepared a great fish for Jonah.
How often were we taught when we were kids that the whale was punishment or the big fish was punishment?
God doesn't prepare punishment for us, right?
If God's preparing something, that's provision.
Why would anyone give provision to something they're trying to punish?
It doesn't make sense, right?
So the fish was not punishment, but what mercy?
Oh yeah, it was mercy.
Go ahead, christian.
What do you mean whenever you said that he wouldn't give him?
He would give punishment instead of provision we're talking about so?
So why would yeah?
So why would god if god is trying to quote unquote punish someone, why would he then give them provision to survive?
Okay, that doesn't necessarily make sense.
Exactly yeah, so so if a?
So what he read was God prepared the fish for him.
He gave him a way of escape.
He gave him a chance at survival.
He prepared the fish for him because even when God gave him the word to go to Nineveh, He already knew that he was going to decline the word.
So he knew that he was going to go down to Joppa.
He knew he was going to try to go to Tarshish.
He knew that he was going to have to get thrown off the boat.
So God had to do what?
He had to prepare a fish so that he could still send Jonah.
And we're going to get to this to go where?
To Nineveh.
Sometimes in life, there are things...
To the Lord that are bigger and better than our sin.
Not saying that sin doesn't matter.
I'm not saying that you don't need to repent.
Not saying any of that.
But there are some things in life that are bigger and better than the sin that you're going through.
And a lot of us, we don't like to hear that.
And a lot of us, that's not preached in pulpits across America, because they try to keep you bound in sin and shame so that you can go to the altar every single week, right.
It's not very often preached.
But there are sometimes things that are greater than the sin that you're struggling with.
And we see that.
We see that right here in this story with Jonah.
And then we see another parallel here. three days and three nights.
And for me, what I took from this is that even in my sin, God will still provide for me.
Even in my sin, he will be buried and raised for me so that I can still accomplish what I need to accomplish, that he set for me.
So if you didn't get those last two fill in the blanks, that's the fish was not punishment, but mercy.
And Jonah was in the fish three days and three nights.
And we all know that that's a parallel to Jesus, as he was in the tomb for three days and three nights, and then he was resurrected.
So spoiler warning, Jonah is probably not going to just stay there for three days and three nights.
He's going to be resurrected just like Jesus was.
And we'll get there next week.
Anything that stood out in verse 17 that I didn't mention that you guys want to talk about before we do some discussion?
No, but I want to take it back to the last part, because you moved on too quick before I could think about it.
I apologize.
Yeah, it's all Matt's fault.
Always is.
It's interesting that even in Jonah's disobedience and I don't want to skip ahead to the rest of the story, but maybe some of you guys know about kind of what Nineveh was about historically you know kind of cruel, kind of different religions going on in the area.
It's a difficult place to be.
But even in this disobedience of oh, I don't want to go there and deal with those people, I don't really care for those people God still had a way for him to serve.
And even though that was him sacrificing himself, throwing himself off the boat To serve others, it still gave the sailors and the other people a chance to see God, even through his disobedience.
I think that's a really cool area and reminder in our lives that even in times where we don't feel like listening to God sometimes, other people may still see God in us.
So we should probably try to listen a little bit better.
Yeah.
All right, we've got five questions that we're going to do just together.
These are super easy, quick questions for each group to discuss.
Let's do Lenny, Speedy, Noah, and Chris, if y'all will be one group.
Christian, Seth, Will, and Kenan, will y'all be one group?
Noah.
Go ahead, brother.
See you, man.
Thank you so much for coming.
I'll see you, bro.
See you, man.
Spencer, Caleb, Schaefer, will you all be one group?
And then us three?
Yeah, go ahead.
Jesus prayed right before he went to the cross and said if there's any other way, let this cup pass.
So he considered the boat, but he was obedient to the whale.
And Jonah chose the boat and still ended up in the whale.
That parallel, that's really good polarizing.
Because jesus saw the boat yeah, he asked god if there's any other way.
Yeah, take this cup from what else?
What's the other option?
Yeah, and he said i'm not willing to do it like if there's one, i would like it, but i'll be here.
And jonah said he still ended up in the belly of the earth.
Yeah, it didn't matter.
They both got to a belly eventually.
That's a good word.
Yeah, go ahead when he keeps saying like oh man, Is that where Jesus like sweated blood?
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
In the garden of Gethsemane?
Yeah.
He knew it was going to be super hard, but he still chose to do it.
Yep.
Jerry knew it was going to be hard, and he chose not to do it.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
Yes, ma'am.
That's good.
Yeah.
All right.
So just those five questions should take you maybe seven minutes to do all that.
I'll give you eight minutes, yeah.
All right, boys.
Why does God's mercy towards Nineveh upset Jonah so deeply?
Question number one.
Question number one.
Why does God's mercy towards Nineveh upset Jonah so deeply?
That's what God, that's what they're, yeah, that's what they wanted.
I mean, you know, they wanted nothing to do with it.
They were like, just give us the rules that we need to follow.
Yeah.
I think Jonah really, truly, I mean, he is a prophet in the prophetic books of the Bible.
And I think he truly wants to disciple Christ.
But I don't think he wants to disciple Christ, but I don't think he wants to do it like God wants him to do it.
And that's why he gets upset.
And that's when God's mercy.
You know Jonah's like, I don't want to.
You know he's like, why don't you do that?
Is there anyone else?
Kind of like how Jesus was like, you know.
Jonah, what do you think?
Why does God's mercy toward Nineveh upset Jonah so deeply?
Read verse 2.
It's crazy to...
Read verse 2 of chapter 1.
It's because of their what?
Their wickedness, right?
So why does God's mercy towards Nineveh upset Jonah so deeply?
It's because when wicked people do stuff, we want them to experience what?
Justice.
Justice.
Right.
But God says, I don't want them to experience justice.
I want them to experience mercy.
So it's like when this is this is a real world application, Jonah.
We see some somebody just raped a boy on Facebook and the comments in the on Facebook are saying what.
Well, this guy should be castrated.
This guy should be killed.
The same thing should be should happen to him from somebody else.
Right.
That's what. quote unquote, the world of justice would want for them to happen, right?
But what does God say?
No, I want to show him mercy, right?
So would that make your human flesh upset that that person is going to get mercy instead of justice, right?
But what about everything that you've ever done wrong in your life?
Do you want justice for yourself or do you want mercy?
I think it's come to a point in our personal life that we...
I don't know how we can work.
We should change our hearts and minds.
But throughout the Christian walk that we're on, especially in our Western culture, it's we expect mercy now instead of justice.
For sure.
And I think that's a difference in a lot of key parts of the world.
Yeah, for sure.
So you kind of get why he's upset.
All right, number two.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Jonah, will you read question two?
Yeah.
Jonathan, what do you think, bro?
Oh, you're still writing out answer number one.
I'm sorry.
I'm going to pass that to you and let you answer first, because I feel like we're going to have a very similar answer.
So the question is what does Jonah reveal about our hearts as human beings when God shows grace to people we don't like?
It's like the example for Facebook that I just gave.
Our Jonah, not the Jonah in the book.
But like for me personally, it's like, oh, somebody just punched my sister in the face.
What's my knee jerk reaction?
I'm going to go punch them right in the face.
And justice would say I would give it to them even worse than they gave it to my sister.
So it's like our hearts are just wired for revenge.
To seek and get revenge.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know if I necessarily agree with her heart's seek revenge.
I don't know if I agree with that terminology.
I do believe that our flesh seeks... Yeah, that's a better way to put it.
Our flesh seeks some type of retribution or some type of answer to whatever has happened.
But I think... That's a better way to put it.
I'll agree with that.
It's just a connotation of... Because I don't believe that we are... inherently wicked.
We're inherently sinful, but we're not inherently wicked.
The original intent of every person was to worship Christ and be in harmony with Him.
So I agree with that.
Number three, why do the sailors seem to respond to God more genuinely than Jonah?
Because they're more afraid than Jonah.
I mean in all reality, Jonah.
I mean you can tell by just Jonah sleeping in the bottom of the boat, but he wasn't really scared.
He was like, okay, I'm running.
I'm hiding.
God can't see me.
Um, kind of like how Adam in the garden, um, hiding, you know, God's like, why are you hiding?
Oh, I'm naked.
Well, how do you know that?
You know?
Um, It's a very similar parallel to that.
He thinks he's hiding from God, but God obviously knows where Jonah's at.
And the other people obviously, by the statements they were bringing to their own gods, their own elegance.
They had no clue what was going on.
So out of fear and out of panic, they were like, dude, why don't you try praying to your God?
You said, I mean, through context, you know, some of us know that you're like a Hebrew worshiper.
Let's see what your God can do.
About two to three minutes, two to three minutes.
I think it's just out of fear that they responded to God more genuinely, because they actually got to see the power of God where Jonah, as a prophet, knew it already and was just running from it.
Jonah, did you have anything you wanted to add?
Something that just kind of surprised me, I guess.
I don't know.
It was just weird to know when the storm happened and everything.
It was weird to me how everyone called out for it.
But it was weird and cool at the same time.
But the second that they woke up Jonah and talked to Jonah about it, like they were all in for it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, when the real truth of life is revealed to you, it's almost impossible to go back from it.
Number four, why is surrender often harder than sacrifice?
Can I answer?
Because I really like what Will said.
He said, because sometimes, when we sacrifice ourselves, it's easier to sacrifice yourself, because then we don't have to – deal with any of the repercussions of what happens after the sacrifice.
So you're taking sacrifice and surrender in two different definitions.
Yeah yeah not, not as, not as one.
So surrender, so jonah's sacrifice was throwing himself off the, off the boat and into the fish, but his surrender doesn't come till later in the story, when he actually goes to midnight.
Yes okay yeah well, in that case um Yeah, I mean I 100 agree, because you can and there's people that sacrifice and I'm going to go back to that call that we talked about at the very beginning.
There's people who sacrifice themselves to go into their call but they're not surrendering themselves fully to be true disciples and disciples into their call.
Which is kind of why I said like no, you can't run from your call because as a true disciple of Christ,
You literally can't.
If you're truly discipling Christ, you're going to be in your call.
If you're not truly surrendering yourself or sacrificing yourself, then you're not in your call.
Yeah, for sure.
All right, y'all maybe like one minute left and then we're all going to go back 17 minutes.
Number number five where do you see yourself most by love man?
Where do you see yourself most in jonah, chapter one, right now?
Where do you see yourself?
Yeah, that's a fun one.
Um the lord, i'm just kidding.
Let me go back.
I think throughout my life, in a lot of different moments, I've seen or have felt like not even more of a calling or like an exact message, but just like I was way further away from God than I should have been.
Yeah.
And like Jonah, I just kept on.
It was honestly.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know if the correct answer is to say I don't.
But if I had to say something, I would say the sailors in 16, where they're exceedingly worshiping God.
Because, I mean, I'm just told I've already gave the sacrifice, I've already gave the surrender.
I'm not saying that throughout my life and throughout my sacrifice and surrender that I haven't had to do tough things like go to Nineveh or anything like that.
It's just I'm not in that season right now.
So I'm in that season of rest, that season of exaltation and seeking.
All right, let's all head back.
You didn't answer that one.
I'm going to answer right here in a second.
That's what I would say too.
Christian and Seth, you all get to talk about all five of them.
All right, good job.
Spencer, you all get to talk about all five of them.
We got to talk about all five of them.
When they're done, we'll finish up.
Hey, that final reflection.
Right now.
I relate most to Jonah, because I want you guys to write out your response as we're waiting on them.
Oh, they're done.
Just kidding.
Y'all got to do all five?
Yeah.
Good job.
Nice.
I'm going to share my answer really quick.
Just hopefully you guys got to talk about it as well.
Where do you see yourself most in Jonah 1 right now?
I see myself in the belly, just now getting in the belly.
What does a belly – other than the uh, the grave and resurrection and um, all that jazz?
What else does a belly represent in scripture?
Birth.
Um, so I just I just feel like there's something that's going to be birthed um, not only in me, but also in committed and guys nights right now.
Um, and I just feel like there's a, there's a new birth of something coming.
Um, and that's just kind of where I see myself right now.
Can I change my answer?
No.
See, that was good.
Thank you.
Final reflection.
Right now, I relate most to Jonah because... I just want you to close your eyes, take a deep breath.
Right now, I relate most to Jonah because... Why?
Does anybody want to share?
They've got their answer.
If not, write down your answer.
I'll share.
Go ahead, Speedy.
Just in the simplest form I was telling them and I feel like maybe we all do it, but sometimes we think we know what's best in the moment and then it may happen and sometimes it takes some mental thought process to recognize that we didn't know what's best and that maybe we should have listened to God more in the moment.
Yeah, for sure.
Anyone else?
Where do you relate to Jonah right now?
I think I relate to him right now where it says well, it doesn't say, but how he talked about his sin affected everyone on that ship.
I feel like I can see that as my sin affects not just me, but others around me.
That's right, man.
That's right.
Anyone else?
For me, I just feel like I relate to him because I know that I've got a mission.
And sometimes the mission is heavy and I don't always want to complete the mission or do the mission.
Sometimes I want to run away from the mission and just be done with it.
But I know that the mission has to be done.
The mission has to be completed.
I think my dad told me this one time, if not him, then somebody that I view as a mentor.
You're the only person that god has given the mission of your life to.
You are the only person that has your exact mission.
There's no one else in the world that could complete that mission.
No one else has the qualities that you have.
No one else has the reach that you have.
You are the only person that can complete your mission.
Jonah was the is the only person that could have completed his mission.
Um, And sometimes man like we do not want to do it.
We want to give up.
We want to run away.
We want to get away from the presence of God.
And why?
Why do we want to get away from the presence of God?
Because sometimes we just want to sulk in our bitterness and sadness and tiredness.
But what does the Lord do every single time?
He rejuvenates us and he puts us back out there in the battle and he gives us the ability to complete the mission.
That's how I'm relating right now.
You see that time and time again throughout Scripture, whether I mean there's rejuvenation through rest with Elijah, and even in the disciples when, right before they feed the 5000, Jesus says hey, go off to an isolated place, take some time for yourself and eat, because they didn't even have time to eat as they were teaching others of who god was and teaching others um, the great things about christ.
So it's, it's something that that's found throughout all of scripture and it's something that's still relatable today that our god is a god of rejuvenation yeah um, and it's something that we should seek, because if we don't seek, it's going to find us anyways, because you're going to end up yeah, like Elijah laying beside the juniper tree.
And sometimes maybe you don't want to wake up yourself.
Well, God's going to wake you up and say hey, let me take care of you for a hot second and then go complete your mission.
Because, after God woke him up the second time, you see Elijah going 40 days and nights to Mount Sinai, where God meets him again and has Elijah anoint.
Hazel king over Aram and Elisha as his prophetic successor and Jehu over king of Israel.
I mean, there is a mission, but there's also rest that should be found in the mission.
And that's where that rejuvenation spirit of God comes in handy.
I just preached on this side.
Yeah.
Anyone else, man?
We don't want to leave until everybody feels like they're clear of sharing what they need to share and get off their chest.
Sweet.
Did you guys enjoy tonight?
Yeah.
Was it helpful?
I think Jonah did a really, really good job.
Yeah, Jonah, you did good, bro.
Yeah, that's how I relate with him.
Yeah.
It's got to be the name, right?
Like a Johnny.
If there's one thing that you can do to incorporate this into your life and not just let it be another regular night that's always been our thing.
Committed guys, we do not leave the same.
Do not let this just go in one ear and out the other.
Tell someone tomorrow about something that you learned tonight.
I went to school for five years.
I promise you, this is the number one proven way for you to learn something and get it inside of yourself.
The number one way for you to learn something is to go and teach it to someone else.
It's the number one way that you will remember it and that you will incorporate it into your life.
So one thing from tonight whether you do it tonight or tomorrow, go and tell and or teach someone about it tomorrow.
No, they can't be in this room.
That's my only requirement.
Can't be in this room.
All right, let's stand up.
Let's hold hands.
And I've got a prayer to pray over us all.
It's because it's unity, bro.
You don't have to touch if you don't want to touch.
It's fine.
Me?
No, I'm praying.
Yeah, you can put your hand up.
I'm going to hold that way the live stream is with us.
Yeah, that's right.
Come on out, baby.
All right, let's bow our heads.
Lord God, tonight you didn't just speak through your words.
You exposed each and every single one of our hearts.
Lord Jesus, we confess that so often we look like Jonah, but we hear you and sometimes we hesitate.
Lord God, we know your character, but at some times we resist your calling.
We resist the mission.
We obey your actions, yet sometimes we wrestle with your heart that you're trying to develop in us.
Lord God, we repent and we know that you have forgiven us for the times that we've run.
But not just because we didn't believe you, but because our obedience felt uncomfortable or costly or inconvenient to us.
Lord, we repent of these mindsets.
Give us boldness.
Give us courage.
Give us strength. to be obedient in the moment.
That's the only way that we can have a successful life, Lord Jesus.
Lord, thank you that even when we run, you run after us even the more.
You pursue us even more.
Just like Luke 15, the father saw the son running home and he ran towards him.
So as fast as we're trying to run, Lord, you are running after us even faster.
Thank you, Lord, for the storms that wake us up.
Thank you, Lord, for the mercy that meets us in places we never expected it to.
And God, thank you for grace that refuses to let us go.
Lord God, teach us to stop sleeping through what you're doing.
Lord God, help us not to go down and just sleep in the middle of the boat during the storm, but help us to be like Jesus and be a storm stopper.
Give us hearts that don't just know you, but trust you.
Help us to love what you love, even when it challenges us.
Lord God, help us to choose mercy for other people, even when we want to choose justice or revenge or retaliation.
Jesus, thank you for being greater than Jonah.
Lord Jesus, when Jonah ran, you stayed.
Where Jonah resisted, you surrendered your life to your heavenly father.
Where Jonah failed, Lord Jesus, you were the only one that has ever been faithful.
As we leave here tonight, Lord, don't let us forget the question that you left hanging.
Shape our lives into something that can have an answer to the world.
Holy Spirit, hear our heart cry tonight that we do not want to run anymore.
We don't want to hide anymore.
We want to walk in complete obedience and authority.
Forever humility and compassion for your people.
Lord God, tonight is a night of surrender to you.
Lord, if there's anything in us that needs to be thrown into the sea, we throw it into the sea right now.
And Lord, we ask this and we speak this in your mighty, mighty name, Jesus's name.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Love you boys.
We will be back here next week.
