WEBVTT 00:00:07.900 --> 00:00:11.099 Hey guys, this is Tracy. If at any time you'd 00:00:11.099 --> 00:00:15.019 like to connect with HCV, go to hcv .church forward 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:18.100 slash connect. If you feel called to give, go 00:00:18.100 --> 00:00:21.980 to hcv .church forward slash give. And if at 00:00:21.980 --> 00:00:23.920 any time you feel called to make a change in 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:29.399 your life, text change me to 970 -00. Enjoy the 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:32.880 message. Many of you know that we celebrate communion 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:35.179 as a community of faith every first Sunday of 00:00:35.179 --> 00:00:38.060 the month. Last Sunday, of course, was Easter, 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:40.640 and we knew there was going to be a plethora 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:43.979 of people gather with us. So we pushed it to 00:00:43.979 --> 00:00:46.079 this week. So for those of you that may be joining 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:49.359 us for the first time, we do communion here 12 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:53.039 times a year, the first Sunday of every month. 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:55.020 If you need an element. and you didn't get one 00:00:55.020 --> 00:00:57.600 on your way in, put one hand up, and our top 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:01.700 banana will be around to give you an element. 00:01:01.740 --> 00:01:04.560 If you need gluten -free, excuse me, put two 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:08.480 hands up, and don't make sure you get your element. 00:01:08.659 --> 00:01:11.239 They're on their way now. So if you could all 00:01:11.239 --> 00:01:16.439 focus in here. At HTV, we believe that communion 00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:20.340 is not just something we do as a church. Jesus 00:01:20.340 --> 00:01:23.780 actually told us to do it. In other words, It's 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:25.819 a command that he said, hey, church, do this 00:01:25.819 --> 00:01:29.500 after I am gone. And he said that because when 00:01:29.500 --> 00:01:32.019 we remember him and we reflect on what he did 00:01:32.019 --> 00:01:35.459 for us as we celebrated last week, this is an 00:01:35.459 --> 00:01:38.379 opportunity for you to encounter a living God. 00:01:39.019 --> 00:01:41.099 So whatever you brought into this place, it could 00:01:41.099 --> 00:01:44.000 be a sin. It could be a habit. It could be an 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:47.079 addiction. It could be a broken marriage. It 00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:49.680 could be a healing that you need. This is an 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:53.939 opportunity for you to lay down any sin, anything 00:01:53.939 --> 00:01:55.760 that's keeping you apart from God. This is an 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:57.799 opportunity for you to put a request before him 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:01.019 and say, hey, God, I need a miracle. And it's 00:02:01.019 --> 00:02:04.680 in this instant that God could show himself to 00:02:04.680 --> 00:02:08.979 be true. So Holy Spirit come, search our hearts, 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:14.379 God. You know us, you know what's there. Make 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:17.620 us be real and honest before you as we come before 00:02:17.620 --> 00:02:20.009 you and ask. that you meet us in this place. 00:02:20.830 --> 00:02:25.030 On the night before he died, Jesus took bread. 00:02:25.629 --> 00:02:28.129 He broke it. He gave it to his disciples and 00:02:28.129 --> 00:02:31.150 said, take, eat, this is my body, which is broken 00:02:31.150 --> 00:02:35.810 for you, and do it in remembrance of me. Let's 00:02:35.810 --> 00:02:43.889 eat. Likewise, he took the cup of wine. He said, 00:02:43.930 --> 00:02:46.729 this is my blood, which is shed for you and for 00:02:46.729 --> 00:02:49.680 many. For the forgiveness of sins, drink it often. 00:02:49.780 --> 00:02:53.740 And when you do, do it in remembrance of me. 00:02:54.280 --> 00:03:03.039 Let's drink. Holy Spirit, come. God, open our 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:08.280 hearts, our minds, our ears to receive your truth 00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:11.599 today, God. May we be transformed. May we be 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:15.930 changed. May we leave this place different. And 00:03:15.930 --> 00:03:19.069 may we reflect the very image of your son. In 00:03:19.069 --> 00:03:29.689 Jesus' name, amen. All right, I want to begin 00:03:29.689 --> 00:03:32.050 today by asking those of you that are followers 00:03:32.050 --> 00:03:37.650 of Jesus, by show of hands, how many of you want 00:03:37.650 --> 00:03:43.750 to hear from God? Wow, great response. You desire 00:03:43.750 --> 00:03:47.069 God's will for your life. Great news. But I also 00:03:47.069 --> 00:03:49.629 have to warn you, give you a yield sign, if you 00:03:49.629 --> 00:03:54.810 will. Whenever God speaks to you, he's often 00:03:54.810 --> 00:03:58.050 going to ask you to do something that you don't 00:03:58.050 --> 00:04:01.909 want to do. Today, we are kicking off a three 00:04:01.909 --> 00:04:04.650 -week series in the Old Testament book of Jonah. 00:04:05.370 --> 00:04:07.590 We're going to be discussing God's scandalous 00:04:07.590 --> 00:04:11.030 love for the next three weeks. And I was reading. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:14.639 Just this past week about a boy in fifth grade 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:17.779 who attended a Sunday gathering and heard the 00:04:17.779 --> 00:04:20.620 story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale. He 00:04:20.620 --> 00:04:22.519 was excited about the story, went to school the 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:24.540 next day and began to tell his friends all about 00:04:24.540 --> 00:04:28.160 it. His teacher overheard his excitement and 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:31.600 said, calm down, son. That isn't true. A whale 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:34.779 cannot swallow a human being. The boy responded, 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:37.339 yes, it is true. And the teacher quickly retorted, 00:04:37.399 --> 00:04:40.870 no, it's not. The boy again responded, yes, it 00:04:40.870 --> 00:04:44.110 is true. It's a true story. And the teacher again 00:04:44.110 --> 00:04:47.750 said, no, it's not. The boy responded a third 00:04:47.750 --> 00:04:49.889 time by saying, yes, it is true. When I get to 00:04:49.889 --> 00:04:52.769 heaven, I'm going to ask Jonah what it was like 00:04:52.769 --> 00:04:56.529 inside that well. To which the teacher responded, 00:04:56.850 --> 00:04:59.410 what if Jonah is not in heaven? What if he's 00:04:59.410 --> 00:05:02.730 in hell? The little boy said, well, then you 00:05:02.730 --> 00:05:12.939 can ask him. That's a little tool for your tool 00:05:12.939 --> 00:05:19.079 belt there. Now, Jonah is one of those stories 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:22.639 that many people have heard, have read, maybe 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:26.519 even believe that they understand the book. But 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:28.860 in reality, there's so much more to the story 00:05:28.860 --> 00:05:32.259 than a prophet who ran and was swallowed by a 00:05:32.259 --> 00:05:36.339 big fish. For example, another question to ponder, 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:38.279 who is the main character in the book of Jonah? 00:05:40.170 --> 00:05:43.730 The answer is not Jonah. It's what most people 00:05:43.730 --> 00:05:46.449 would guess, but it's actually not. Jonah is 00:05:46.449 --> 00:05:48.649 actually the only name mentioned anywhere in 00:05:48.649 --> 00:05:51.290 the book. There's no king. There's no captain. 00:05:51.610 --> 00:05:54.449 He is the only name, but he's not the main character. 00:05:55.250 --> 00:05:58.290 Someone would then point to the big fish. But 00:05:58.290 --> 00:06:00.689 oddly enough, there's only three verses in the 00:06:00.689 --> 00:06:04.850 entire book that talk about the big fish. So 00:06:04.850 --> 00:06:08.089 if it's not Jonah and it's not the fish, who's 00:06:08.089 --> 00:06:10.899 the main character in the book? Of course, the 00:06:10.899 --> 00:06:13.920 answer is God. God is the main character of the 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:16.860 book of Jonah, a God who never gives up on his 00:06:16.860 --> 00:06:21.240 people, even when they give up on him. See, the 00:06:21.240 --> 00:06:24.399 whole book begins this way, Jonah 1 .1, the Lord 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:28.180 gave this message to Jonah, the son of Amittai. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:34.740 See, we follow a God who speaks. How do we know 00:06:34.740 --> 00:06:36.459 this? Well, the Bible tells us, in the beginning 00:06:36.459 --> 00:06:39.120 was the Word, and the Word was with God. The 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:41.699 Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt 00:06:41.699 --> 00:06:45.279 among us. In the beginning was the Word. See, 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:48.519 our God is a God who speaks to us, just like 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:52.019 he spoke to Jonah. And I believe that God is 00:06:52.019 --> 00:06:53.800 going to speak to us throughout this series. 00:06:54.259 --> 00:06:57.779 He's going to challenge us. He's going to challenge 00:06:57.779 --> 00:07:00.319 us to grow and change to become more like Jesus. 00:07:01.230 --> 00:07:03.509 And I believe that if you come in here expecting 00:07:03.509 --> 00:07:05.870 over the next three weeks you will be different 00:07:05.870 --> 00:07:09.790 by the time May rolls around. But again, it's 00:07:09.790 --> 00:07:12.550 a choice. It's a choice to open our ears, our 00:07:12.550 --> 00:07:15.189 minds, and our hearts to receive God's truth 00:07:15.189 --> 00:07:18.949 and allow that to form us to become who we are. 00:07:19.329 --> 00:07:22.569 All of that leads us to our first thought. If 00:07:22.569 --> 00:07:26.389 we run from God, the enemy will help us go a 00:07:26.389 --> 00:07:29.220 little further. See, Jonah chapter 1, verses 00:07:29.220 --> 00:07:32.100 1 through 3 reads, The Lord gave this message 00:07:32.100 --> 00:07:34.540 to Jonah, the son of Amittai, Get up and go to 00:07:34.540 --> 00:07:37.959 the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment 00:07:37.959 --> 00:07:40.660 against it, because I have seen how wicked its 00:07:40.660 --> 00:07:45.300 people are. Jonah, of course, was a prophet. 00:07:45.620 --> 00:07:48.579 We first read about Jonah in the book of 2 Kings, 00:07:48.980 --> 00:07:53.019 chapter 14, verse 25, that says that Jonah was 00:07:53.019 --> 00:07:57.569 a man that God chose to speak on his behalf To 00:07:57.569 --> 00:08:01.209 the Jewish people. So we open this book by seeing 00:08:01.209 --> 00:08:04.029 that Jonah was given an assignment by God. And 00:08:04.029 --> 00:08:07.649 let's see how he responds. But Jonah got up and 00:08:07.649 --> 00:08:09.769 went in the opposite direction to get away from 00:08:09.769 --> 00:08:12.430 the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa where 00:08:12.430 --> 00:08:15.449 he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought 00:08:15.449 --> 00:08:17.889 a ticket, went on board, hoping to escape from 00:08:17.889 --> 00:08:21.209 the Lord by selling to Tarshish. So scripture 00:08:21.209 --> 00:08:24.709 says that he ran from God. In fact, if you take 00:08:24.709 --> 00:08:27.759 a look at this map. you'll see that Jonah actually 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:32.960 ran really, really far. He went to great lengths 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:36.860 to get away from God and ran as far as you possibly 00:08:36.860 --> 00:08:40.340 could. As you see, Joppa is in the lower right 00:08:40.340 --> 00:08:42.919 -hand corner. He was asked to go to Nineveh, 00:08:42.940 --> 00:08:46.759 which was 550 miles away. Not a large journey. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:56.600 He chose to hop on a boat and go to Tarsus, direction. 00:08:57.480 --> 00:09:00.559 Tarshish at this time was actually the last known 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:06.600 civilization on the planet. So what did Jonah 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:11.379 do? He disobeyed God. God gave him an assignment, 00:09:11.399 --> 00:09:14.899 and he said, no, I'm not going to do that. Now 00:09:14.899 --> 00:09:17.659 why? Why did he run from God? Well, the reason 00:09:17.659 --> 00:09:20.980 is because God wanted him to go and preach to 00:09:20.980 --> 00:09:24.299 the Ninevites, and Jonah despised the Ninevites. 00:09:24.889 --> 00:09:27.330 Just to give you a little context, Jonah was, 00:09:27.350 --> 00:09:30.470 of course, a Jewish Hebrew from Israel, and Nineveh 00:09:30.470 --> 00:09:34.129 was the capital of Assyria. The Assyrians hated 00:09:34.129 --> 00:09:38.549 the Israelites. The Israelites hated the Assyrians. 00:09:38.730 --> 00:09:41.789 It was kind of like a Star Wars, Luke Skywalker 00:09:41.789 --> 00:09:45.230 versus Darth Vader type of hatred. You know, 00:09:45.250 --> 00:09:49.429 good versus evil attitude. He despised these 00:09:49.429 --> 00:09:52.769 people, and it was for a very, very good reason. 00:09:53.450 --> 00:09:57.409 The Assyrians were a brutal and horrible group 00:09:57.409 --> 00:10:03.350 of people. You can read accounts of Assyrian 00:10:03.350 --> 00:10:07.269 kings that would quote how they conquered different 00:10:07.269 --> 00:10:10.870 civilizations. They would conquer a city. They 00:10:10.870 --> 00:10:13.190 would abuse the women. They would kill the children. 00:10:13.470 --> 00:10:15.750 They would take survivors. They would skin them 00:10:15.750 --> 00:10:18.649 alive, bury them in the sand, drive a stake through 00:10:18.649 --> 00:10:22.590 their tongue, and allow them to die a brutal. 00:10:23.350 --> 00:10:26.470 Take it a step further, any army that came before 00:10:26.470 --> 00:10:29.090 them, when they were defeated, they would cut 00:10:29.090 --> 00:10:32.490 off all their heads and stack them outside of 00:10:32.490 --> 00:10:35.490 their cities to make a statement about what they 00:10:35.490 --> 00:10:40.169 do to people. But see, this isn't why Jonah didn't 00:10:40.169 --> 00:10:43.450 want to go. He was not afraid of the people. 00:10:44.490 --> 00:10:47.610 It's because he knew God's character. And he 00:10:47.610 --> 00:10:51.029 didn't want God to show favor and grace and actually 00:10:51.029 --> 00:10:55.200 forgive his enemies. So Jonah ran away from God 00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:59.899 and rationalized his disobedience. Well, they 00:10:59.899 --> 00:11:03.820 don't deserve God's mercy. Now, I know none of 00:11:03.820 --> 00:11:06.259 us do that in our world that we're living in 00:11:06.259 --> 00:11:10.919 today. But if we're honest, if we run from God, 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:14.120 many of us know that the enemy will help us go 00:11:14.120 --> 00:11:17.240 a little bit further. And this is not just in 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:20.899 the book of Jonah. This is in our choices as 00:11:20.899 --> 00:11:24.120 well. We read this. about a son in Luke chapter 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:27.360 15. A few days later, this younger son packed 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:29.340 all his belongings and moved to a distant land. 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:34.759 And there he wasted all his money in wild living. 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:38.399 About the time the money ran out, a great famine 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:41.179 swept over the land and he began to starve. Notice 00:11:41.179 --> 00:11:45.700 how he's going down, down, down. He persuaded 00:11:45.700 --> 00:11:47.860 a local farmer to hire him and the man sent him 00:11:47.860 --> 00:11:50.799 into the fields to feed the pigs. The young man 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:53.080 became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding 00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:56.159 the pigs looked good to him, but no one gave 00:11:56.159 --> 00:11:59.779 him anything. Church, we have to realize that 00:11:59.779 --> 00:12:03.220 when we choose disobedience, our enemy is waiting 00:12:03.220 --> 00:12:07.919 to lead us away from God. And those choices and 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:10.259 that sin doesn't just impact us, which leads 00:12:10.259 --> 00:12:13.059 us to our second thought. See, rationalizing 00:12:13.059 --> 00:12:17.120 sin affects ourselves and others. And what does 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:20.500 it mean to rationalize sin? Well, Jonah probably 00:12:20.500 --> 00:12:23.980 thought something like, hey, these people, they're 00:12:23.980 --> 00:12:27.500 so evil. They're so wicked. They don't deserve 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:32.500 God's grace. So I'm not doing it. He rationalized 00:12:32.500 --> 00:12:36.720 his sin. And church, we do that when we hold 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:39.799 unforgiveness in our heart. You realize that? 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:43.399 When we hold someone to unforgiveness, basically 00:12:43.399 --> 00:12:45.519 we're saying they don't deserve God's grace. 00:12:45.740 --> 00:12:49.460 They don't deserve God's mercy. And it's not 00:12:49.460 --> 00:12:51.919 about the evil that they did. Maybe they just 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:55.240 offended us. Maybe they look different. Maybe 00:12:55.240 --> 00:12:57.179 they sound different or speak different. And 00:12:57.179 --> 00:12:59.480 suddenly when we hold unforgiveness in our hearts 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:04.240 towards others, we're no better than Jonah. Rationalizing 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:07.419 sin is when our mind makes an excuse for what 00:13:07.419 --> 00:13:10.340 our spirit knows it's wrong. It's when our mind 00:13:10.340 --> 00:13:12.279 makes an excuse for something that the Bible 00:13:12.279 --> 00:13:16.840 says, no, this is not God's best for you. And 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:20.460 we know it in our spirits that it's wrong, but 00:13:20.460 --> 00:13:23.340 we choose to rationalize that sin and say, I'm 00:13:23.340 --> 00:13:27.080 doing it anyway. Maybe God asks you to no longer 00:13:27.080 --> 00:13:30.179 be in a relationship with that person. You know 00:13:30.179 --> 00:13:32.320 they're bad for you. You know their relationship 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:35.740 with Jesus and your heart is suffering, but you're 00:13:35.740 --> 00:13:38.220 choosing their physical appearance over God's 00:13:38.220 --> 00:13:41.580 best. Or to take it a little step further, you 00:13:41.580 --> 00:13:44.139 rationalize, well, I need to move in with them 00:13:44.139 --> 00:13:47.159 to test the waters. to see if it's okay that 00:13:47.159 --> 00:13:50.779 I marry them. Maybe God has been asking you to 00:13:50.779 --> 00:13:53.720 be honest about that secret sin on your phone 00:13:53.720 --> 00:13:56.879 or in your computer. Maybe God has been challenging 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:00.759 you to check your spending, to stop buying what 00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:03.200 you want, and to make a budget living on what 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:06.179 you need. Maybe God has been highlighting a few 00:14:06.179 --> 00:14:08.860 friends in your life that are struggling. He 00:14:08.860 --> 00:14:11.059 wants you to reach out and share Jesus with them, 00:14:11.100 --> 00:14:13.740 but your response is always, I'm not ready yet. 00:14:14.409 --> 00:14:17.750 This isn't the best time, God. You know, I don't 00:14:17.750 --> 00:14:21.730 really feel like it. I'll get to it later. See, 00:14:21.809 --> 00:14:24.909 sin is going in the opposite direction of what 00:14:24.909 --> 00:14:28.049 God wants you to do. And we see that in Jonah's 00:14:28.049 --> 00:14:33.210 life. Jonah ended up a long way from God. But 00:14:33.210 --> 00:14:35.309 please understand this sin doesn't just impact 00:14:35.309 --> 00:14:39.080 us. Let's continue in the story. Jonah won four 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:41.159 through eight, but the Lord hurled a powerful 00:14:41.159 --> 00:14:43.299 wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that 00:14:43.299 --> 00:14:45.899 threatened to break the ship apart. Freeing for 00:14:45.899 --> 00:14:48.039 their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to 00:14:48.039 --> 00:14:50.639 their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:52.559 to lighten the ship. So notice the men on the 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:55.159 boat didn't even believe in God. They had different 00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:57.360 idols they were worshiping, but all this time, 00:14:57.440 --> 00:15:01.019 Jonah, where was Jonah? Sound asleep down in 00:15:01.019 --> 00:15:04.539 the hold. So the captain quickly went down after 00:15:04.539 --> 00:15:06.399 him. How can he sleep at a time like this, he 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:10.889 shouted. get up and pray to your God. Maybe he 00:15:10.889 --> 00:15:12.809 will pay attention to us and spare our lives. 00:15:12.889 --> 00:15:16.370 And the crew cast lots to see which of them had 00:15:16.370 --> 00:15:18.389 offended the gods and caused a terrible storm. 00:15:19.049 --> 00:15:21.509 When they did this, of course, the lots identified 00:15:21.509 --> 00:15:26.830 Jonah as the culprit. Why has this awful storm 00:15:26.830 --> 00:15:29.110 come down on us, they demanded. Who are you? 00:15:29.570 --> 00:15:31.830 What is your line of work? What country are you 00:15:31.830 --> 00:15:34.389 from? What is your nationality? Now I want you 00:15:34.389 --> 00:15:37.669 to notice, these sailors, They were innocent. 00:15:38.230 --> 00:15:41.389 They hadn't done anything wrong yet. They're 00:15:41.389 --> 00:15:45.450 in the middle of a storm that God sent because 00:15:45.450 --> 00:15:51.090 of Jonah and his choice to compromise. The sailors 00:15:51.090 --> 00:15:54.590 were suffering because of a rebellious guy on 00:15:54.590 --> 00:15:56.990 the boat. And some of you might be struggling 00:15:56.990 --> 00:15:59.710 right now because you got the wrong person in 00:15:59.710 --> 00:16:02.610 your boat. You're lusting. You're not in love. 00:16:03.690 --> 00:16:05.669 Some of you are struggling today because you're 00:16:05.669 --> 00:16:08.830 following influencers that take you away from 00:16:08.830 --> 00:16:12.549 God. Anytime that consistent voice is in your 00:16:12.549 --> 00:16:15.909 life distracting you from God, you need to get 00:16:15.909 --> 00:16:18.889 that voice out of your boat. Here we have these 00:16:18.889 --> 00:16:20.610 sailors, and they're in the middle of a storm 00:16:20.610 --> 00:16:23.409 that they didn't cause. Their boat's falling 00:16:23.409 --> 00:16:26.730 apart, and what's Jonah doing? He's sleeping. 00:16:28.319 --> 00:16:32.039 Jonah is running from God because he's rationalizing 00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:35.600 his sin, and now he's so comfortable in disobeying 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:38.879 God that he's sleeping through it. Notice what 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:42.039 Hebrews chapter 3 reminds us. Be careful then, 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:44.379 dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your 00:16:44.379 --> 00:16:46.740 own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning 00:16:46.740 --> 00:16:50.019 you away from the living God. You must warn each 00:16:50.019 --> 00:16:53.360 other every day, while it is still today, that 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:55.460 none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened 00:16:55.460 --> 00:16:59.009 against God. As a community of faith, I want 00:16:59.009 --> 00:17:02.009 to challenge you. If you see a friend that is 00:17:02.009 --> 00:17:05.529 struggling in sin, lovingly challenge them to 00:17:05.529 --> 00:17:09.630 change today. Don't wait till tomorrow. Because 00:17:09.630 --> 00:17:12.190 if we wait and we put it off, they can continue 00:17:12.190 --> 00:17:15.109 to drift and get further from God. We don't want 00:17:15.109 --> 00:17:17.490 to be a community of people that are comfortable 00:17:17.490 --> 00:17:22.289 in our sin. What does this look like? Well, verse 00:17:22.289 --> 00:17:25.160 8, the sailor asked, Why has this awful storm 00:17:25.160 --> 00:17:27.279 come down on us, they demanded. Who are you? 00:17:27.859 --> 00:17:29.880 What is your line of work? What country are you 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:32.680 from? What is your nationality? Listen to Jonah's 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:37.119 response. Jonah answered, I am a Hebrew, and 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:39.799 I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:44.119 the sea and the land. If you fast forward to 00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:46.619 today, Jonah is literally quoting what we now 00:17:46.619 --> 00:17:50.460 know as the Nicene Creed, which begins, I believe 00:17:50.460 --> 00:17:54.359 in one God, the Father Almighty. Creator of heaven 00:17:54.359 --> 00:17:59.559 and earth. And many people in the church today 00:17:59.559 --> 00:18:03.160 can quote those words. Unfortunately, there are 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:05.960 many people in the church today that have become 00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:09.099 comfortable in their compromise. They can talk 00:18:09.099 --> 00:18:11.880 about Jesus. They can go to church. Yet they 00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:15.380 live a life of compromise. Maybe you've created 00:18:15.380 --> 00:18:18.500 a habit. You gather on Sunday. You worship. You 00:18:18.500 --> 00:18:21.589 are challenged by a teaching. but you're not 00:18:21.589 --> 00:18:23.509 reading the Bible or praying during the week. 00:18:24.190 --> 00:18:27.269 Maybe you say you are following Jesus, but your 00:18:27.269 --> 00:18:29.670 social media feed is full of negativity, judgment, 00:18:29.730 --> 00:18:33.710 and hate. Maybe you say you love Jesus, but you 00:18:33.710 --> 00:18:36.789 haven't served in the church for years and are 00:18:36.789 --> 00:18:39.089 still talking about your experiences 20 years 00:18:39.089 --> 00:18:44.829 ago. Maybe you believe in God, but you find yourself 00:18:44.829 --> 00:18:48.650 making excuses of why you shouldn't give to God's 00:18:48.650 --> 00:18:51.380 kingdom. Oh, the church just wants my money. 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:54.740 Or you're simply giving a tip rather than a tithe. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:19:00.579 See, we have to realize Jonah is a direct reflection 00:19:00.579 --> 00:19:04.079 of our lives today. It's a mirror that stands 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:07.519 in front of us, if you will, for us to look into 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:10.859 and say, okay, God, speak to me. Highlight areas 00:19:10.859 --> 00:19:15.460 of my life that I'm struggling with. And as he 00:19:15.460 --> 00:19:19.299 does that, it leads us to our next thought. Church, 00:19:19.319 --> 00:19:22.779 we cannot outrun the grace of God. He is going 00:19:22.779 --> 00:19:26.420 to follow you and pursue you. Jonah 1, 10 through 00:19:26.420 --> 00:19:30.140 12. The sailors were terrified when they heard 00:19:30.140 --> 00:19:32.680 this, for he had already told them he was running 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:38.140 away from the Lord. What did you do? They groaned. 00:19:38.259 --> 00:19:40.380 And since the storm was getting worse all the 00:19:40.380 --> 00:19:42.920 time, they asked him, what should we do to you 00:19:42.920 --> 00:19:46.400 to stop this storm? Throw me into the sea, Jonah 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:49.849 said. And it will become calm again. I know this 00:19:49.849 --> 00:19:54.589 terrible storm is all my fault. And this is a 00:19:54.589 --> 00:19:57.910 devastating point in the story. Sad, if you will. 00:19:58.710 --> 00:20:02.569 It's as if we can feel his sadness. His heart 00:20:02.569 --> 00:20:09.349 is broken. And he desires for it to end. He's 00:20:09.349 --> 00:20:13.029 depressed. He's overwhelmed with life. He knows 00:20:13.029 --> 00:20:15.029 he made a mistake and he's beating himself up. 00:20:16.039 --> 00:20:19.519 Jonah was God's chosen prophet. He is now at 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:21.680 a point in his life where he's so far from God, 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:25.059 so depressed, so overwhelmed, he doesn't care 00:20:25.059 --> 00:20:28.119 if he lives or he dies. He says, it's my fault. 00:20:29.019 --> 00:20:32.079 Just throw me overboard. And this is heartbreaking 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:37.319 because God chose Jonah. God called Jonah. And 00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:42.839 Jonah ran from God as far away as possible from 00:20:42.839 --> 00:20:47.700 that once important relationship. And I believe 00:20:47.700 --> 00:20:49.960 there's many gathered here today. Maybe you're 00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:54.359 watching online. You've said yes to God. You've 00:20:54.359 --> 00:20:57.559 trusted him with your life. You made Jesus Lord 00:20:57.559 --> 00:20:59.240 of your life, but today you've been running from 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:03.220 him. You've been doing your own thing. God called 00:21:03.220 --> 00:21:05.339 you. Now you're running from God in the opposite 00:21:05.339 --> 00:21:07.980 direction, and you find yourself stuck in a storm. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:11.440 See, we get there when we ignore God, and we 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:13.440 end up in a place that we never, ever wanted 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:19.160 to be. Depressed. hopeless, seeing no way out. 00:21:20.460 --> 00:21:22.920 Then our immediate reaction, our human responsibility 00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:27.940 is to blame someone else. It's their fault. It's 00:21:27.940 --> 00:21:30.519 the captain's fault. It's the sailor's fault. 00:21:31.619 --> 00:21:36.240 So is the Syrian. It's Nineveh. When in reality, 00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:40.119 it was his own fault. Jonah became comfortable 00:21:40.119 --> 00:21:43.180 in his compromise. He loses all hope. He says, 00:21:43.220 --> 00:21:47.119 throw me in. And the guys on the boat, who don't 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:49.799 even believe in God, they wanted to do the right 00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:52.619 thing, which is kind of strange. Let's continue 00:21:52.619 --> 00:21:55.940 in the story, verses 13 to 16. Instead, the sailors 00:21:55.940 --> 00:21:58.960 rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. 00:21:59.380 --> 00:22:01.779 But the stormy sea was too violent for them, 00:22:01.799 --> 00:22:03.900 and they couldn't make it. Then they cried out 00:22:03.900 --> 00:22:06.119 to the Lord, Jonah's God. Notice how their hearts 00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:08.799 changed. Oh, Lord, they pleaded, don't make us 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:11.500 die for this man's sin. Don't hold us responsible 00:22:11.500 --> 00:22:15.579 for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm 00:22:15.579 --> 00:22:19.119 upon him for your own good reasons. Then the 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:21.599 sailors picked Jonah up, threw him into the raging 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:25.339 sea, and the storm stopped at once. The sailors 00:22:25.339 --> 00:22:28.279 were awestruck by the Lord's great power, and 00:22:28.279 --> 00:22:30.319 they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:34.500 him. I mean, these men who did not believe in 00:22:34.500 --> 00:22:38.480 God, now we see them making a commitment to follow 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:41.680 him because they saw his mighty power at work 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:45.779 over the sea. This is what is so amazing about 00:22:45.779 --> 00:22:50.220 God and his mercy. Jonah can disobey and run 00:22:50.220 --> 00:22:53.660 from God, endangering the lives of others around 00:22:53.660 --> 00:22:58.039 him, yet God can still use him to ignite a spiritual 00:22:58.039 --> 00:23:02.380 revival on a boat full of unbelievers. Friends, 00:23:02.420 --> 00:23:08.460 we cannot outrun God's mercy. We can run, but 00:23:08.460 --> 00:23:10.799 sin will not hinder God's plan to reach people 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:14.369 with the good news. He can use people that are 00:23:14.369 --> 00:23:19.230 not okay to transform the lives of others. Now, 00:23:19.269 --> 00:23:24.690 I am in no way justifying sin. I am in no way 00:23:24.690 --> 00:23:28.049 justifying you running from God. I am simply 00:23:28.049 --> 00:23:30.910 challenging you to examine your life and see 00:23:30.910 --> 00:23:33.210 if there's any area that God wants you to change 00:23:33.210 --> 00:23:38.950 so you don't have to walk through a storm. And 00:23:38.950 --> 00:23:40.750 if you know you're walking through a storm today, 00:23:40.809 --> 00:23:44.799 be encouraged. Because God always provides a 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:48.779 way out. We read this in Jonah 1 .17. Now the 00:23:48.779 --> 00:23:51.700 Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow 00:23:51.700 --> 00:23:55.039 Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:59.960 days and three nights. Now I get it. When hearing 00:23:59.960 --> 00:24:03.660 this verse, so many people immediately think, 00:24:03.859 --> 00:24:07.599 okay, Chris, see, it's just the story. There's 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:13.650 no way that can happen. It's just a story. Or 00:24:13.650 --> 00:24:17.890 is it? Let's watch this news clip. Now for the 00:24:17.890 --> 00:24:20.710 mother of all whale tales. I mean, this is pretty 00:24:20.710 --> 00:24:22.369 amazing, and you've got to see it to believe 00:24:22.369 --> 00:24:24.230 it. Fortunately, there's video. Yes, there is. 00:24:24.289 --> 00:24:27.450 A young man swallowed by a humpback whale and 00:24:27.450 --> 00:24:30.869 quickly spit out, thankfully. So here he is on 00:24:30.869 --> 00:24:33.349 the kayak. This is on the Strait of Magellan 00:24:33.349 --> 00:24:37.710 in Chile. All right? 24 years old, kayaking with 00:24:37.710 --> 00:24:39.630 his dad when this happened. His father was recording 00:24:39.630 --> 00:24:44.359 the video. The wave comes up, takes a big gulp 00:24:44.359 --> 00:24:47.960 with the sun, just for a few moments, and then 00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:50.980 releases him. The sun said he thought he was 00:24:50.980 --> 00:24:53.859 going to die. It was his life vest, he believes, 00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:56.720 that pulled him up, kept him buoyant enough. 00:24:57.140 --> 00:24:59.960 He asked if he'd kayak again. They said, of course. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:04.019 Of course we would. Wow. Yeah. That's pretty 00:25:04.019 --> 00:25:05.779 amazing. That's crazy, huh? Of course we would! 00:25:07.559 --> 00:25:10.480 Why would I? not kayak again. I just got swallowed 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:17.220 by a whale. See, friends, the story of Jonah 00:25:17.220 --> 00:25:20.180 is written in the Bible as a historical account 00:25:20.180 --> 00:25:24.619 to teach us a lesson today so that we can reflect 00:25:24.619 --> 00:25:28.759 on and see our own heart, and God can then challenge 00:25:28.759 --> 00:25:30.839 us to change, which leads us to our fourth thought. 00:25:31.160 --> 00:25:34.460 See, prayer should be our priority, not a last 00:25:34.460 --> 00:25:37.940 resort. Moving to Jonah chapter 2. Then Jonah 00:25:37.940 --> 00:25:40.519 prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. 00:25:41.259 --> 00:25:43.440 He said, I cried out to the Lord in my great 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:46.700 trouble and he answered me. I called to you from 00:25:46.700 --> 00:25:49.480 the land of the dead and Lord you heard me. You 00:25:49.480 --> 00:25:51.660 threw me into the ocean depths and I sank down 00:25:51.660 --> 00:25:54.339 to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed 00:25:54.339 --> 00:25:57.279 me. I was buried beneath your wild and stormy 00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:01.440 waves. What did Jonah do when he was in trouble? 00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:07.240 He prayed. But please notice. Jonah didn't pray 00:26:07.240 --> 00:26:11.480 when God called him to go to Nineveh. Jonah doesn't 00:26:11.480 --> 00:26:13.980 pray when he boards a ship. Jonah didn't pray 00:26:13.980 --> 00:26:17.599 when a storm hit. Jonah didn't even pray when 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:20.740 he was thrown overboard. Jonah didn't pray when 00:26:20.740 --> 00:26:22.579 he was sinking to the bottom of the sea. He didn't 00:26:22.579 --> 00:26:26.420 even pray when he was swallowed. It's after three 00:26:26.420 --> 00:26:31.640 days and three nights that Jonah begins to pray. 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:39.069 And what do we learn? A lot for us to pray. And 00:26:39.069 --> 00:26:46.170 why? Why is it so difficult for us to pray? Well, 00:26:46.190 --> 00:26:50.029 think about it. When trouble comes our way, we 00:26:50.029 --> 00:26:53.410 talk about it. We think about it. We worry about 00:26:53.410 --> 00:26:57.210 it. We analyze it. We try to figure it out ourselves. 00:26:57.690 --> 00:27:00.710 We try to do it in our own strength. And then 00:27:00.710 --> 00:27:03.109 God finally gets our attention. And then we're 00:27:03.109 --> 00:27:08.390 like, oh, yeah. Pray about it. I want to challenge 00:27:08.390 --> 00:27:12.150 you. Prayer needs to be your priority. Not just 00:27:12.150 --> 00:27:16.410 in times of trouble, but every single day. In 00:27:16.410 --> 00:27:19.950 good times, in bad times, we are called to pray. 00:27:20.289 --> 00:27:23.230 And notice how Jonah was praying in verse 2. 00:27:23.369 --> 00:27:26.029 I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble. 00:27:27.029 --> 00:27:30.609 Jonah was crying out to God. This is the same 00:27:30.609 --> 00:27:34.549 root word in the Greek. as a woman crying out 00:27:34.549 --> 00:27:39.269 in pain during labor. In other words, Jonah was 00:27:39.269 --> 00:27:44.930 hurting, and he cried out to God. But why does 00:27:44.930 --> 00:27:48.009 it seem like every time we gather as a community 00:27:48.009 --> 00:27:51.609 of faith, when we're going to church, people 00:27:51.609 --> 00:27:56.460 become so conservative? It's as if we're afraid 00:27:56.460 --> 00:27:58.900 to be open and honest with our feelings and our 00:27:58.900 --> 00:28:02.200 emotions. We don't sing out in praise like we 00:28:02.200 --> 00:28:07.279 can. We want to cover our emotions. We don't 00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:09.519 want to cry. We want to look at the ground. We're 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:12.160 fearful to lift our hands. Someone may be watching 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:15.940 me. We get all quiet and conservative. It's as 00:28:15.940 --> 00:28:20.420 if we're singing kumbaya around a campfire. Why? 00:28:21.330 --> 00:28:24.769 Why? Because examine your life. In any other 00:28:24.769 --> 00:28:28.569 relationship, our lives involve real emotion. 00:28:29.390 --> 00:28:32.289 You know, your favorite sports teams win. You 00:28:32.289 --> 00:28:35.549 go nuts. I mean, you paint your face. You wear 00:28:35.549 --> 00:28:41.890 cheese on your heads. You do crazy stuff. Okay. 00:28:42.509 --> 00:28:45.509 So you don't like sports. You get in a disagreement 00:28:45.509 --> 00:28:50.779 with your spouse. Dude. If I was Alexa looking 00:28:50.779 --> 00:28:52.640 at your conversations, I'm going to see real 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:54.740 emotion. Now, you're not going to tell me that. 00:28:54.859 --> 00:28:59.059 Oh, yeah, we're real calm when we argue. You're 00:28:59.059 --> 00:29:02.799 right. You're not. You're not calm. You're intense. 00:29:02.980 --> 00:29:06.420 You're open about your feelings and emotions. 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:09.799 And that's how we need to be in church. Because 00:29:09.799 --> 00:29:12.059 we have a relationship with the living God. He 00:29:12.059 --> 00:29:14.539 already knows our heart. Why are we trying to 00:29:14.539 --> 00:29:17.599 hide it from him? Let's be open and honest because 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:21.259 he hears us. Psalm 116 verses one through two. 00:29:21.319 --> 00:29:24.619 I love the Lord because he hears my voice and 00:29:24.619 --> 00:29:27.339 my prayer for mercy because he bends down to 00:29:27.339 --> 00:29:31.220 listen. I will pray as long as I breathe. Now 00:29:31.220 --> 00:29:33.079 listen to verse three of Jonah's prayer. You 00:29:33.079 --> 00:29:35.380 threw me into the ocean depths. I sank down to 00:29:35.380 --> 00:29:37.900 the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed 00:29:37.900 --> 00:29:39.700 me. I was buried beneath your wild and stormy 00:29:39.700 --> 00:29:43.339 waves. See, Jonah is aware that his shortcomings, 00:29:43.400 --> 00:29:47.660 his choices, led to his current situation. His 00:29:47.660 --> 00:29:50.819 choices led him to literally being in the belly 00:29:50.819 --> 00:29:55.400 of a whale. And you may be here today, and you're 00:29:55.400 --> 00:29:58.400 saying, Chris, my marriage is in trouble. Someone 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:00.859 else might be saying, have you seen these food 00:30:00.859 --> 00:30:04.000 prices? My paycheck isn't enough for me to live 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:07.039 financially. Others of you are struggling with 00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:08.559 your health. Still some of you are struggling 00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:11.980 with your kids. No matter what you might find 00:30:11.980 --> 00:30:15.079 yourself troubling you or struggling with today, 00:30:15.400 --> 00:30:18.920 it very well might not be your fault. But no 00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:21.099 matter what's going on, the Bible says this in 00:30:21.099 --> 00:30:24.279 James 5, 13. Are any of you suffering hardships? 00:30:24.619 --> 00:30:29.380 You should pray. And any of you are happy, you 00:30:29.380 --> 00:30:32.339 should sing praises. See, and this is a challenge 00:30:32.339 --> 00:30:34.779 for us, and it leads to our fifth and final fault. 00:30:35.099 --> 00:30:38.660 While we wait in prayer, God is still working. 00:30:39.240 --> 00:30:42.299 While we wait in prayer, God is still working. 00:30:42.420 --> 00:30:45.319 Jonah 2 .9, but I will offer sacrifices to you 00:30:45.319 --> 00:30:47.339 with songs of praise and I will fulfill all my 00:30:47.339 --> 00:30:51.319 vows for my salvation comes from the Lord alone. 00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:54.579 By show of hands, how many of you have ever been 00:30:54.579 --> 00:30:57.859 around someone and when they pray, it's like, 00:30:57.880 --> 00:31:00.039 man, they sound spiritual, like they're connected 00:31:00.039 --> 00:31:01.599 to God. Have you ever been around anyone like 00:31:01.599 --> 00:31:03.859 that? You know, you're hanging around Rick Vance 00:31:03.859 --> 00:31:09.349 and it's like, oh my gosh, he's in heaven. It's 00:31:09.349 --> 00:31:13.990 like when they pray, you listen to their prayer 00:31:13.990 --> 00:31:16.009 and it's like, oh man, God is hearing that prayer. 00:31:16.089 --> 00:31:18.529 I need to touch them. You know, it's just so 00:31:18.529 --> 00:31:22.190 nice to listen to. Yet when sometimes I feel 00:31:22.190 --> 00:31:26.890 like I'm praying, God help! Right? God save me! 00:31:26.950 --> 00:31:31.210 God help me! Change this situation! Right? It's 00:31:31.210 --> 00:31:35.849 as if we just can't stay focused and pray a prayer 00:31:35.849 --> 00:31:40.759 that God's going to hear. When in reality, some 00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:43.680 people that pray and they sound eloquent, do 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:45.339 you know why they sound eloquent when they pray? 00:31:46.259 --> 00:31:49.799 Because they're simply praying the Bible. The 00:31:49.799 --> 00:31:52.779 most effective way that we can pray is to actually 00:31:52.779 --> 00:31:54.519 pray the Bible. And you say, Chris, well, why 00:31:54.519 --> 00:31:57.839 would we pray the Bible? Well, because the Bible 00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:00.319 tells us that the Bible is living, active, powerful, 00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:03.519 stronger than any two -edged sword. The Bible 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:06.720 tells us that the words written in it are never 00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:09.460 going to return void. And one of the most powerful 00:32:09.460 --> 00:32:11.240 things that we could ever pray is to pray the 00:32:11.240 --> 00:32:13.619 Bible out loud. And that's exactly what Jonah 00:32:13.619 --> 00:32:17.119 is doing. In Jonah chapter 2, Jonah was praying. 00:32:17.400 --> 00:32:20.559 And what do you think he was praying? Jonah was 00:32:20.559 --> 00:32:23.440 praying the Psalms. Check this out. Check this 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:27.240 out. Jonah 2 .2. I called to the Lord and he 00:32:27.240 --> 00:32:31.259 answered me. Psalm 3 .4. I call out to the Lord. 00:32:31.710 --> 00:32:35.109 And he answers me. Jonah 2 .2, deep in the realm 00:32:35.109 --> 00:32:38.210 of the dead, I called for help. Psalm 16, you 00:32:38.210 --> 00:32:40.869 will not abandon me to the realm of the dead. 00:32:41.789 --> 00:32:44.109 Jonah 2 .4, I've been banished from your sight. 00:32:44.529 --> 00:32:48.049 Psalm 31, I am cut off from your sight. Jonah 00:32:48.049 --> 00:32:51.710 2 .5, the waters closed over me. Psalm 69, the 00:32:51.710 --> 00:32:55.049 waters have come up to my neck. Jonah 2 .8, those 00:32:55.049 --> 00:32:58.670 who cling to worthless idols. Psalm 31 .6, I 00:32:58.670 --> 00:33:08.109 ate those who, oh. I hate, sorry. You don't eat 00:33:08.109 --> 00:33:15.170 idols. Typo. I hate those who cling to worthless 00:33:15.170 --> 00:33:20.509 idols. That's funny. That's funny. Jonah 2 .9. 00:33:20.670 --> 00:33:23.690 What I have vowed I will make good. Psalm 116. 00:33:23.690 --> 00:33:30.190 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord. So let's 00:33:30.190 --> 00:33:33.470 say you're here today and you're struggling with 00:33:33.470 --> 00:33:41.410 fear, anxiety, depression, sometimes mental struggle 00:33:41.410 --> 00:33:43.690 that you can't seem to overcome. I'm going to 00:33:43.690 --> 00:33:47.430 challenge you. Do a quick Google search or open 00:33:47.430 --> 00:33:50.569 your Bible app and search how you're feeling. 00:33:50.650 --> 00:33:54.869 Type in depression scriptures. Then just start 00:33:54.869 --> 00:33:58.769 praying what you read. God, I'm feeling anxious. 00:33:59.480 --> 00:34:02.480 Therefore, I cast my cares on you, God, because 00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:06.039 you care for me. You might pray, God, help me 00:34:06.039 --> 00:34:09.679 not be anxious. The Bible tells me to be anxious 00:34:09.679 --> 00:34:12.079 about nothing, but with everything, my prayer 00:34:12.079 --> 00:34:15.159 and petition, I submit my quest to you. God, 00:34:15.239 --> 00:34:18.820 I thank you that your promise to me is peace, 00:34:19.079 --> 00:34:21.980 that your peace will guard my heart, my mind, 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:25.829 my soul through my relationship with Jesus. God, 00:34:25.849 --> 00:34:27.750 the Bible says you have not given me a spirit 00:34:27.750 --> 00:34:30.670 of fear or timidity, but a spirit of power, love, 00:34:30.769 --> 00:34:34.429 and self -discipline. You see, I'm praying truth. 00:34:35.130 --> 00:34:38.510 I'm believing truth. Why? Because God already 00:34:38.510 --> 00:34:42.510 wrote it. Jonah cried out to God, and he listened 00:34:42.510 --> 00:34:45.750 to his cry. Jonah prayed, and what did he pray? 00:34:45.849 --> 00:34:50.030 He prayed the Psalms. But please notice that 00:34:50.030 --> 00:34:54.960 Jonah prayed, and he said, God heard me. But 00:34:54.960 --> 00:34:57.980 if you look carefully, nothing happened immediately 00:34:57.980 --> 00:35:01.539 when he prayed. And this is encouraging to me. 00:35:01.739 --> 00:35:04.559 You say, why is that encouraging to you? Because 00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:07.300 it's not about our timing. It's God's timing. 00:35:07.760 --> 00:35:10.860 But yet we want everything to be about our timing. 00:35:11.079 --> 00:35:14.139 God, I need healing right now. God, I need restoration 00:35:14.139 --> 00:35:17.659 right now. But it doesn't always work that way. 00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:23.000 God knows what is best for us. Jonah prayed. 00:35:24.199 --> 00:35:29.940 And it took 10 verses before his prayer was offered. 00:35:30.300 --> 00:35:34.199 But notice verse 9. Verse 9 of Jonah says, I 00:35:34.199 --> 00:35:37.420 will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise. 00:35:37.900 --> 00:35:41.679 In other words, I'm shouting to you, God. I'm 00:35:41.679 --> 00:35:44.300 worshiping you. I can't contain it. I'm letting 00:35:44.300 --> 00:35:47.719 it out. It's grateful praise that I will sacrifice 00:35:47.719 --> 00:35:50.670 to you. And what's powerful about this verse 00:35:50.670 --> 00:35:54.889 is Jonah praised before the miracle happened. 00:35:55.570 --> 00:35:58.190 And it's real easy, right? We all know it's real 00:35:58.190 --> 00:36:02.429 easy to praise God after the miracle. But what 00:36:02.429 --> 00:36:04.329 does it look like to praise God before the miracle? 00:36:05.329 --> 00:36:07.789 Because see, when we praise God before the miracle, 00:36:07.969 --> 00:36:10.969 it lifts our spirits, it raises our attitudes, 00:36:11.170 --> 00:36:14.090 and it allows for us to experience freedom. But 00:36:14.090 --> 00:36:18.030 you have to choose to do it. You have to choose 00:36:18.030 --> 00:36:23.150 to praise before the miracle happens. And you 00:36:23.150 --> 00:36:27.809 praise with a means of just letting it out, which 00:36:27.809 --> 00:36:31.710 leads us to our one action step. Stop making 00:36:31.710 --> 00:36:36.690 excuses. Church, stop making excuses and receive 00:36:36.690 --> 00:36:40.949 a supernatural second chance. Notice Jonah 2 00:36:40.949 --> 00:36:44.090 .10. Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah 00:36:44.090 --> 00:36:48.199 out on the beach. Now, in studying Jonah this 00:36:48.199 --> 00:36:50.980 week, I learned that many scholars believe this 00:36:50.980 --> 00:36:58.699 beach was on the shores of Joppa. That Jonah, 00:36:58.860 --> 00:37:05.000 in choosing to run from God 2 ,500 miles in the 00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:08.579 opposite direction, ends up in the belly of a 00:37:08.579 --> 00:37:12.710 whale for three days. And three nights. And through 00:37:12.710 --> 00:37:16.010 his prayer and through his praise, ends up getting 00:37:16.010 --> 00:37:19.849 spit back out on the shores of Joppa where he 00:37:19.849 --> 00:37:23.929 was originally called to speak and challenge 00:37:23.929 --> 00:37:28.630 the people there. Now, how many days was he in 00:37:28.630 --> 00:37:33.250 the belly of the fish? Three. Three days and 00:37:33.250 --> 00:37:35.230 three nights. Now, does that sound familiar? 00:37:35.949 --> 00:37:40.679 We may have celebrated that last Sunday. And 00:37:40.679 --> 00:37:45.119 it's interesting, Jonah lived somewhere around 00:37:45.119 --> 00:37:51.440 785 to 800 years before the birth of Jesus. And 00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:55.880 here we see the Old Testament foreshadowing what 00:37:55.880 --> 00:37:58.300 Jesus talked about in the New Testament in Matthew 00:37:58.300 --> 00:38:03.400 chapter 12. But Jesus replied, only an evil and 00:38:03.400 --> 00:38:05.559 adulterous generation would demand a miraculous 00:38:05.559 --> 00:38:08.380 sign. But the only sign I will give them is the 00:38:08.380 --> 00:38:11.039 sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in 00:38:11.039 --> 00:38:12.960 the belly of the great fish for three days and 00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:15.480 three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the 00:38:15.480 --> 00:38:18.780 heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 00:38:19.519 --> 00:38:23.179 See, church, God is speaking to us and showing 00:38:23.179 --> 00:38:27.480 us and revealing to us. We have to stop rationalizing 00:38:27.480 --> 00:38:30.820 our sin. We have to stop allowing ourselves to 00:38:30.820 --> 00:38:34.440 compromise with culture. We have to be a people 00:38:34.440 --> 00:38:37.119 that even though we're walking through trouble, 00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:39.679 what Jesus told us we would, He promised we would 00:38:39.679 --> 00:38:42.940 go through trouble in this life. We have to choose 00:38:42.940 --> 00:38:47.500 to pray and praise. And as we pray and praise, 00:38:47.800 --> 00:38:51.659 we are reminded that Jesus spent three days and 00:38:51.659 --> 00:38:56.099 three nights separated from his father to the 00:38:56.099 --> 00:38:59.179 point where when he rose again, we celebrate 00:38:59.179 --> 00:39:02.699 it every single year. Why? Because that's our 00:39:02.699 --> 00:39:06.300 connection with the living God. The living God 00:39:06.300 --> 00:39:09.460 that empowers us to be difference makers from 00:39:09.460 --> 00:39:19.139 this day forward. Will you stand with me? Now, 00:39:19.219 --> 00:39:23.500 as I was praying for this gathering just a few 00:39:23.500 --> 00:39:27.539 minutes ago, just being honest with you, I felt 00:39:27.539 --> 00:39:30.099 like God spoke to me that many of you brought 00:39:30.099 --> 00:39:32.800 trouble into this place. And it may not be of 00:39:32.800 --> 00:39:34.619 your own doing. It could be a friend, a family 00:39:34.619 --> 00:39:38.679 member. And it's overwhelming you mentally. You 00:39:38.679 --> 00:39:41.980 feel depressed. You feel anxiety. And it feels 00:39:41.980 --> 00:39:45.099 like you're literally sinking. But I want to 00:39:45.099 --> 00:39:49.420 challenge you. Renew your faith. And God highlighted 00:39:49.420 --> 00:39:52.380 for me Peter. Peter got out of the boat. Jesus 00:39:52.380 --> 00:39:54.260 invited him. Get out of the boat. He's the only 00:39:54.260 --> 00:39:57.670 human being to ever walk on water. because he 00:39:57.670 --> 00:39:59.530 had the faith to step out of the boat. But even 00:39:59.530 --> 00:40:01.989 as he stepped out of the boat and walked on water, 00:40:02.210 --> 00:40:07.429 the storm caused him to sink. But did Jesus let 00:40:07.429 --> 00:40:10.409 him go under? No, he picked him back up, restored 00:40:10.409 --> 00:40:13.730 him, and put him back in the boat. Jesus is never 00:40:13.730 --> 00:40:17.289 going to let you sink to the point where you're 00:40:17.289 --> 00:40:20.889 underwater and not able to come back. He's going 00:40:20.889 --> 00:40:23.469 to bring you back, and he's going to allow for 00:40:23.469 --> 00:40:26.429 you to be restored, and your relationship with 00:40:26.429 --> 00:40:29.630 Jesus will grow closer and stronger than you 00:40:29.630 --> 00:40:32.489 ever have before. But it's a choice. It's a choice 00:40:32.489 --> 00:40:34.889 to acknowledge what is happening around you, 00:40:35.010 --> 00:40:37.670 and it's a choice to lay it all down and to give 00:40:37.670 --> 00:40:42.690 it to him. You know, for me, I've been struggling 00:40:42.690 --> 00:40:44.570 the last couple weeks because there's not anything 00:40:44.570 --> 00:40:49.420 with me. I'm physically great. I feel good. I'm 00:40:49.420 --> 00:40:52.360 pastoring a church I love. I'm doing what I'm 00:40:52.360 --> 00:40:56.480 called to do. But my kids are struggling. And 00:40:56.480 --> 00:40:58.719 when your kids are struggling, it tears you down. 00:41:00.340 --> 00:41:02.380 It doesn't feel like I'm in a storm. It feels 00:41:02.380 --> 00:41:05.780 like I'm in a hurricane. But yet I got to choose 00:41:05.780 --> 00:41:09.829 to focus on and to rely on him. I gotta choose 00:41:09.829 --> 00:41:13.690 to give my kids to him, believing that he's gonna 00:41:13.690 --> 00:41:15.929 make a way, that he's gonna heal, that he's gonna 00:41:15.929 --> 00:41:18.269 set free, that he's gonna restore, that he's 00:41:18.269 --> 00:41:20.409 gonna do what needs to happen, not in Chris's 00:41:20.409 --> 00:41:24.469 timing, but in his timing so that he can be glorified. 00:41:25.070 --> 00:41:28.690 So I'm in it with you, friends. I get it. But 00:41:28.690 --> 00:41:32.610 it's a choice to choose to pray and to praise. 00:41:33.949 --> 00:41:36.730 And may this be a reminder that whatever you 00:41:36.730 --> 00:41:39.579 brought in here, You can lay down right now. 00:41:40.380 --> 00:41:46.179 So Holy Spirit, come. God, whatever it is, each 00:41:46.179 --> 00:41:49.840 and every person brought into this place, I pray, 00:41:49.920 --> 00:41:52.159 God, that they're able to choose to lay it down 00:41:52.159 --> 00:41:54.900 at your feet. That they're able to choose to 00:41:54.900 --> 00:41:58.940 pray and to praise what you're going to do through 00:41:58.940 --> 00:42:00.860 this trouble, through this storm, through this 00:42:00.860 --> 00:42:03.420 anguish, God. And that you're going to make a 00:42:03.420 --> 00:42:09.510 way for peace and calm to come. May this be a 00:42:09.510 --> 00:42:12.809 day, God, that people mark as the day where freedom 00:42:12.809 --> 00:42:16.670 reigns, where freedom comes. And as that freedom 00:42:16.670 --> 00:42:19.849 comes, you release them to be a people of light. 00:42:21.190 --> 00:42:24.690 That their pain can be used for purpose. That 00:42:24.690 --> 00:42:27.650 their pain can be used to lead others into a 00:42:27.650 --> 00:42:31.670 relationship with you. In Jesus' name, amen. 00:42:32.460 --> 00:42:34.920 Now, I'm going to pray a simple prayer. And listen, 00:42:35.119 --> 00:42:37.039 if you walked away from God, you're distant, 00:42:37.119 --> 00:42:39.079 you're far from him. You never started a journey. 00:42:39.239 --> 00:42:42.780 We pray this prayer every Sunday. And we do it 00:42:42.780 --> 00:42:44.820 because we believe God brings people in our midst 00:42:44.820 --> 00:42:47.940 that have walked away just like Jonah. You may 00:42:47.940 --> 00:42:49.960 be questioning your faith or you may never started. 00:42:50.059 --> 00:42:53.639 You may be like those sailors. But God is inviting 00:42:53.639 --> 00:42:57.440 you home today. Let's pray. Jesus, I'm broken. 00:42:57.980 --> 00:43:03.579 I'm full of doubt, shame, regret. Sin, change 00:43:03.579 --> 00:43:09.219 me. Forgive me. I believe you're God's son. I 00:43:09.219 --> 00:43:14.019 believe you died for me. Make me new. Set me 00:43:14.019 --> 00:43:18.880 free. Fill me with your spirit. In Jesus' name, 00:43:19.059 --> 00:43:22.659 amen. Now, if you prayed that prayer, see me, 00:43:22.800 --> 00:43:26.239 text me, hug me, see Rudy, do something. There 00:43:26.239 --> 00:43:27.920 were several words of knowledge. They were very 00:43:27.920 --> 00:43:30.619 specific that I want to share for you. so that 00:43:30.619 --> 00:43:32.760 you can get prayer and experience freedom today. 00:43:32.820 --> 00:43:35.360 You heard Rick on the announcements. We've had 00:43:35.360 --> 00:43:39.260 many testimonies of healings in this place. Don't 00:43:39.260 --> 00:43:41.960 leave here if this is you. You have sharp pain 00:43:41.960 --> 00:43:44.780 in the fingers of your left hand. You have muscle 00:43:44.780 --> 00:43:48.360 pain in the right arm and running down into your 00:43:48.360 --> 00:43:52.420 leg. You have right hip pain. You have a herniated 00:43:52.420 --> 00:43:55.989 disc in your lower back. You have a growth on 00:43:55.989 --> 00:43:59.010 your skin in the lower part of your back, and 00:43:59.010 --> 00:44:01.750 you have pain in your tailbone that's making 00:44:01.750 --> 00:44:05.050 it difficult to sit. So if that's you or if you 00:44:05.050 --> 00:44:07.590 have any other prayer requests, our prayer team 00:44:07.590 --> 00:44:09.949 will be on my left and my right. Please make 00:44:09.949 --> 00:44:12.150 your way up here and receive some prayer. Why 00:44:12.150 --> 00:44:16.429 are you all leaving? Like, seriously. I didn't 00:44:16.429 --> 00:44:20.849 say goodbye yet. Joyce, you better get your guys. 00:44:21.110 --> 00:44:24.769 That's unacceptable. Come on now. So listen, 00:44:24.869 --> 00:44:26.750 we're going to continue with Jonah for the next 00:44:26.750 --> 00:44:29.869 two or three weeks. This is going to be a great 00:44:29.869 --> 00:44:32.250 series of reflection and challenge you to grow 00:44:32.250 --> 00:44:35.469 and change. God bless you guys. I look forward 00:44:35.469 --> 00:44:38.110 to celebrating all that God's going to do throughout 00:44:38.110 --> 00:44:40.309 the entire month of April. Thank you for joining 00:44:40.309 --> 00:44:53.039 us online. life for mine either one turn water 00:44:53.039 --> 00:44:55.619 into wine please fix my heart things inside