Hey guys, this is Tracy. If at any time you'd
like to connect with HCV, go to hcv .church forward
slash connect. If you feel called to give, go
to hcv .church forward slash give. And if at
any time you feel called to make a change in
your life, text change me to 970 -00. Enjoy the
message. Many of you know that we celebrate communion
as a community of faith every first Sunday of
the month. Last Sunday, of course, was Easter,
and we knew there was going to be a plethora
of people gather with us. So we pushed it to
this week. So for those of you that may be joining
us for the first time, we do communion here 12
times a year, the first Sunday of every month.
If you need an element. and you didn't get one
on your way in, put one hand up, and our top
banana will be around to give you an element.
If you need gluten -free, excuse me, put two
hands up, and don't make sure you get your element.
They're on their way now. So if you could all
focus in here. At HTV, we believe that communion
is not just something we do as a church. Jesus
actually told us to do it. In other words, It's
a command that he said, hey, church, do this
after I am gone. And he said that because when
we remember him and we reflect on what he did
for us as we celebrated last week, this is an
opportunity for you to encounter a living God.
So whatever you brought into this place, it could
be a sin. It could be a habit. It could be an
addiction. It could be a broken marriage. It
could be a healing that you need. This is an
opportunity for you to lay down any sin, anything
that's keeping you apart from God. This is an
opportunity for you to put a request before him
and say, hey, God, I need a miracle. And it's
in this instant that God could show himself to
be true. So Holy Spirit come, search our hearts,
God. You know us, you know what's there. Make
us be real and honest before you as we come before
you and ask. that you meet us in this place.
On the night before he died, Jesus took bread.
He broke it. He gave it to his disciples and
said, take, eat, this is my body, which is broken
for you, and do it in remembrance of me. Let's
eat. Likewise, he took the cup of wine. He said,
this is my blood, which is shed for you and for
many. For the forgiveness of sins, drink it often.
And when you do, do it in remembrance of me.
Let's drink. Holy Spirit, come. God, open our
hearts, our minds, our ears to receive your truth
today, God. May we be transformed. May we be
changed. May we leave this place different. And
may we reflect the very image of your son. In
Jesus' name, amen. All right, I want to begin
today by asking those of you that are followers
of Jesus, by show of hands, how many of you want
to hear from God? Wow, great response. You desire
God's will for your life. Great news. But I also
have to warn you, give you a yield sign, if you
will. Whenever God speaks to you, he's often
going to ask you to do something that you don't
want to do. Today, we are kicking off a three
-week series in the Old Testament book of Jonah.
We're going to be discussing God's scandalous
love for the next three weeks. And I was reading.
Just this past week about a boy in fifth grade
who attended a Sunday gathering and heard the
story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale. He
was excited about the story, went to school the
next day and began to tell his friends all about
it. His teacher overheard his excitement and
said, calm down, son. That isn't true. A whale
cannot swallow a human being. The boy responded,
yes, it is true. And the teacher quickly retorted,
no, it's not. The boy again responded, yes, it
is true. It's a true story. And the teacher again
said, no, it's not. The boy responded a third
time by saying, yes, it is true. When I get to
heaven, I'm going to ask Jonah what it was like
inside that well. To which the teacher responded,
what if Jonah is not in heaven? What if he's
in hell? The little boy said, well, then you
can ask him. That's a little tool for your tool
belt there. Now, Jonah is one of those stories
that many people have heard, have read, maybe
even believe that they understand the book. But
in reality, there's so much more to the story
than a prophet who ran and was swallowed by a
big fish. For example, another question to ponder,
who is the main character in the book of Jonah?
The answer is not Jonah. It's what most people
would guess, but it's actually not. Jonah is
actually the only name mentioned anywhere in
the book. There's no king. There's no captain.
He is the only name, but he's not the main character.
Someone would then point to the big fish. But
oddly enough, there's only three verses in the
entire book that talk about the big fish. So
if it's not Jonah and it's not the fish, who's
the main character in the book? Of course, the
answer is God. God is the main character of the
book of Jonah, a God who never gives up on his
people, even when they give up on him. See, the
whole book begins this way, Jonah 1 .1, the Lord
gave this message to Jonah, the son of Amittai.
See, we follow a God who speaks. How do we know
this? Well, the Bible tells us, in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God. The
Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us. In the beginning was the Word. See,
our God is a God who speaks to us, just like
he spoke to Jonah. And I believe that God is
going to speak to us throughout this series.
He's going to challenge us. He's going to challenge
us to grow and change to become more like Jesus.
And I believe that if you come in here expecting
over the next three weeks you will be different
by the time May rolls around. But again, it's
a choice. It's a choice to open our ears, our
minds, and our hearts to receive God's truth
and allow that to form us to become who we are.
All of that leads us to our first thought. If
we run from God, the enemy will help us go a
little further. See, Jonah chapter 1, verses
1 through 3 reads, The Lord gave this message
to Jonah, the son of Amittai, Get up and go to
the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment
against it, because I have seen how wicked its
people are. Jonah, of course, was a prophet.
We first read about Jonah in the book of 2 Kings,
chapter 14, verse 25, that says that Jonah was
a man that God chose to speak on his behalf To
the Jewish people. So we open this book by seeing
that Jonah was given an assignment by God. And
let's see how he responds. But Jonah got up and
went in the opposite direction to get away from
the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa where
he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought
a ticket, went on board, hoping to escape from
the Lord by selling to Tarshish. So scripture
says that he ran from God. In fact, if you take
a look at this map. you'll see that Jonah actually
ran really, really far. He went to great lengths
to get away from God and ran as far as you possibly
could. As you see, Joppa is in the lower right
-hand corner. He was asked to go to Nineveh,
which was 550 miles away. Not a large journey.
He chose to hop on a boat and go to Tarsus, direction.
Tarshish at this time was actually the last known
civilization on the planet. So what did Jonah
do? He disobeyed God. God gave him an assignment,
and he said, no, I'm not going to do that. Now
why? Why did he run from God? Well, the reason
is because God wanted him to go and preach to
the Ninevites, and Jonah despised the Ninevites.
Just to give you a little context, Jonah was,
of course, a Jewish Hebrew from Israel, and Nineveh
was the capital of Assyria. The Assyrians hated
the Israelites. The Israelites hated the Assyrians.
It was kind of like a Star Wars, Luke Skywalker
versus Darth Vader type of hatred. You know,
good versus evil attitude. He despised these
people, and it was for a very, very good reason.
The Assyrians were a brutal and horrible group
of people. You can read accounts of Assyrian
kings that would quote how they conquered different
civilizations. They would conquer a city. They
would abuse the women. They would kill the children.
They would take survivors. They would skin them
alive, bury them in the sand, drive a stake through
their tongue, and allow them to die a brutal.
Take it a step further, any army that came before
them, when they were defeated, they would cut
off all their heads and stack them outside of
their cities to make a statement about what they
do to people. But see, this isn't why Jonah didn't
want to go. He was not afraid of the people.
It's because he knew God's character. And he
didn't want God to show favor and grace and actually
forgive his enemies. So Jonah ran away from God
and rationalized his disobedience. Well, they
don't deserve God's mercy. Now, I know none of
us do that in our world that we're living in
today. But if we're honest, if we run from God,
many of us know that the enemy will help us go
a little bit further. And this is not just in
the book of Jonah. This is in our choices as
well. We read this. about a son in Luke chapter
15. A few days later, this younger son packed
all his belongings and moved to a distant land.
And there he wasted all his money in wild living.
About the time the money ran out, a great famine
swept over the land and he began to starve. Notice
how he's going down, down, down. He persuaded
a local farmer to hire him and the man sent him
into the fields to feed the pigs. The young man
became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding
the pigs looked good to him, but no one gave
him anything. Church, we have to realize that
when we choose disobedience, our enemy is waiting
to lead us away from God. And those choices and
that sin doesn't just impact us, which leads
us to our second thought. See, rationalizing
sin affects ourselves and others. And what does
it mean to rationalize sin? Well, Jonah probably
thought something like, hey, these people, they're
so evil. They're so wicked. They don't deserve
God's grace. So I'm not doing it. He rationalized
his sin. And church, we do that when we hold
unforgiveness in our heart. You realize that?
When we hold someone to unforgiveness, basically
we're saying they don't deserve God's grace.
They don't deserve God's mercy. And it's not
about the evil that they did. Maybe they just
offended us. Maybe they look different. Maybe
they sound different or speak different. And
suddenly when we hold unforgiveness in our hearts
towards others, we're no better than Jonah. Rationalizing
sin is when our mind makes an excuse for what
our spirit knows it's wrong. It's when our mind
makes an excuse for something that the Bible
says, no, this is not God's best for you. And
we know it in our spirits that it's wrong, but
we choose to rationalize that sin and say, I'm
doing it anyway. Maybe God asks you to no longer
be in a relationship with that person. You know
they're bad for you. You know their relationship
with Jesus and your heart is suffering, but you're
choosing their physical appearance over God's
best. Or to take it a little step further, you
rationalize, well, I need to move in with them
to test the waters. to see if it's okay that
I marry them. Maybe God has been asking you to
be honest about that secret sin on your phone
or in your computer. Maybe God has been challenging
you to check your spending, to stop buying what
you want, and to make a budget living on what
you need. Maybe God has been highlighting a few
friends in your life that are struggling. He
wants you to reach out and share Jesus with them,
but your response is always, I'm not ready yet.
This isn't the best time, God. You know, I don't
really feel like it. I'll get to it later. See,
sin is going in the opposite direction of what
God wants you to do. And we see that in Jonah's
life. Jonah ended up a long way from God. But
please understand this sin doesn't just impact
us. Let's continue in the story. Jonah won four
through eight, but the Lord hurled a powerful
wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that
threatened to break the ship apart. Freeing for
their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to
their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard
to lighten the ship. So notice the men on the
boat didn't even believe in God. They had different
idols they were worshiping, but all this time,
Jonah, where was Jonah? Sound asleep down in
the hold. So the captain quickly went down after
him. How can he sleep at a time like this, he
shouted. get up and pray to your God. Maybe he
will pay attention to us and spare our lives.
And the crew cast lots to see which of them had
offended the gods and caused a terrible storm.
When they did this, of course, the lots identified
Jonah as the culprit. Why has this awful storm
come down on us, they demanded. Who are you?
What is your line of work? What country are you
from? What is your nationality? Now I want you
to notice, these sailors, They were innocent.
They hadn't done anything wrong yet. They're
in the middle of a storm that God sent because
of Jonah and his choice to compromise. The sailors
were suffering because of a rebellious guy on
the boat. And some of you might be struggling
right now because you got the wrong person in
your boat. You're lusting. You're not in love.
Some of you are struggling today because you're
following influencers that take you away from
God. Anytime that consistent voice is in your
life distracting you from God, you need to get
that voice out of your boat. Here we have these
sailors, and they're in the middle of a storm
that they didn't cause. Their boat's falling
apart, and what's Jonah doing? He's sleeping.
Jonah is running from God because he's rationalizing
his sin, and now he's so comfortable in disobeying
God that he's sleeping through it. Notice what
Hebrews chapter 3 reminds us. Be careful then,
dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your
own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning
you away from the living God. You must warn each
other every day, while it is still today, that
none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened
against God. As a community of faith, I want
to challenge you. If you see a friend that is
struggling in sin, lovingly challenge them to
change today. Don't wait till tomorrow. Because
if we wait and we put it off, they can continue
to drift and get further from God. We don't want
to be a community of people that are comfortable
in our sin. What does this look like? Well, verse
8, the sailor asked, Why has this awful storm
come down on us, they demanded. Who are you?
What is your line of work? What country are you
from? What is your nationality? Listen to Jonah's
response. Jonah answered, I am a Hebrew, and
I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made
the sea and the land. If you fast forward to
today, Jonah is literally quoting what we now
know as the Nicene Creed, which begins, I believe
in one God, the Father Almighty. Creator of heaven
and earth. And many people in the church today
can quote those words. Unfortunately, there are
many people in the church today that have become
comfortable in their compromise. They can talk
about Jesus. They can go to church. Yet they
live a life of compromise. Maybe you've created
a habit. You gather on Sunday. You worship. You
are challenged by a teaching. but you're not
reading the Bible or praying during the week.
Maybe you say you are following Jesus, but your
social media feed is full of negativity, judgment,
and hate. Maybe you say you love Jesus, but you
haven't served in the church for years and are
still talking about your experiences 20 years
ago. Maybe you believe in God, but you find yourself
making excuses of why you shouldn't give to God's
kingdom. Oh, the church just wants my money.
Or you're simply giving a tip rather than a tithe.
See, we have to realize Jonah is a direct reflection
of our lives today. It's a mirror that stands
in front of us, if you will, for us to look into
and say, okay, God, speak to me. Highlight areas
of my life that I'm struggling with. And as he
does that, it leads us to our next thought. Church,
we cannot outrun the grace of God. He is going
to follow you and pursue you. Jonah 1, 10 through
12. The sailors were terrified when they heard
this, for he had already told them he was running
away from the Lord. What did you do? They groaned.
And since the storm was getting worse all the
time, they asked him, what should we do to you
to stop this storm? Throw me into the sea, Jonah
said. And it will become calm again. I know this
terrible storm is all my fault. And this is a
devastating point in the story. Sad, if you will.
It's as if we can feel his sadness. His heart
is broken. And he desires for it to end. He's
depressed. He's overwhelmed with life. He knows
he made a mistake and he's beating himself up.
Jonah was God's chosen prophet. He is now at
a point in his life where he's so far from God,
so depressed, so overwhelmed, he doesn't care
if he lives or he dies. He says, it's my fault.
Just throw me overboard. And this is heartbreaking
because God chose Jonah. God called Jonah. And
Jonah ran from God as far away as possible from
that once important relationship. And I believe
there's many gathered here today. Maybe you're
watching online. You've said yes to God. You've
trusted him with your life. You made Jesus Lord
of your life, but today you've been running from
him. You've been doing your own thing. God called
you. Now you're running from God in the opposite
direction, and you find yourself stuck in a storm.
See, we get there when we ignore God, and we
end up in a place that we never, ever wanted
to be. Depressed. hopeless, seeing no way out.
Then our immediate reaction, our human responsibility
is to blame someone else. It's their fault. It's
the captain's fault. It's the sailor's fault.
So is the Syrian. It's Nineveh. When in reality,
it was his own fault. Jonah became comfortable
in his compromise. He loses all hope. He says,
throw me in. And the guys on the boat, who don't
even believe in God, they wanted to do the right
thing, which is kind of strange. Let's continue
in the story, verses 13 to 16. Instead, the sailors
rowed even harder to get the ship to the land.
But the stormy sea was too violent for them,
and they couldn't make it. Then they cried out
to the Lord, Jonah's God. Notice how their hearts
changed. Oh, Lord, they pleaded, don't make us
die for this man's sin. Don't hold us responsible
for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm
upon him for your own good reasons. Then the
sailors picked Jonah up, threw him into the raging
sea, and the storm stopped at once. The sailors
were awestruck by the Lord's great power, and
they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve
him. I mean, these men who did not believe in
God, now we see them making a commitment to follow
him because they saw his mighty power at work
over the sea. This is what is so amazing about
God and his mercy. Jonah can disobey and run
from God, endangering the lives of others around
him, yet God can still use him to ignite a spiritual
revival on a boat full of unbelievers. Friends,
we cannot outrun God's mercy. We can run, but
sin will not hinder God's plan to reach people
with the good news. He can use people that are
not okay to transform the lives of others. Now,
I am in no way justifying sin. I am in no way
justifying you running from God. I am simply
challenging you to examine your life and see
if there's any area that God wants you to change
so you don't have to walk through a storm. And
if you know you're walking through a storm today,
be encouraged. Because God always provides a
way out. We read this in Jonah 1 .17. Now the
Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow
Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three
days and three nights. Now I get it. When hearing
this verse, so many people immediately think,
okay, Chris, see, it's just the story. There's
no way that can happen. It's just a story. Or
is it? Let's watch this news clip. Now for the
mother of all whale tales. I mean, this is pretty
amazing, and you've got to see it to believe
it. Fortunately, there's video. Yes, there is.
A young man swallowed by a humpback whale and
quickly spit out, thankfully. So here he is on
the kayak. This is on the Strait of Magellan
in Chile. All right? 24 years old, kayaking with
his dad when this happened. His father was recording
the video. The wave comes up, takes a big gulp
with the sun, just for a few moments, and then
releases him. The sun said he thought he was
going to die. It was his life vest, he believes,
that pulled him up, kept him buoyant enough.
He asked if he'd kayak again. They said, of course.
Of course we would. Wow. Yeah. That's pretty
amazing. That's crazy, huh? Of course we would!
Why would I? not kayak again. I just got swallowed
by a whale. See, friends, the story of Jonah
is written in the Bible as a historical account
to teach us a lesson today so that we can reflect
on and see our own heart, and God can then challenge
us to change, which leads us to our fourth thought.
See, prayer should be our priority, not a last
resort. Moving to Jonah chapter 2. Then Jonah
prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish.
He said, I cried out to the Lord in my great
trouble and he answered me. I called to you from
the land of the dead and Lord you heard me. You
threw me into the ocean depths and I sank down
to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed
me. I was buried beneath your wild and stormy
waves. What did Jonah do when he was in trouble?
He prayed. But please notice. Jonah didn't pray
when God called him to go to Nineveh. Jonah doesn't
pray when he boards a ship. Jonah didn't pray
when a storm hit. Jonah didn't even pray when
he was thrown overboard. Jonah didn't pray when
he was sinking to the bottom of the sea. He didn't
even pray when he was swallowed. It's after three
days and three nights that Jonah begins to pray.
And what do we learn? A lot for us to pray. And
why? Why is it so difficult for us to pray? Well,
think about it. When trouble comes our way, we
talk about it. We think about it. We worry about
it. We analyze it. We try to figure it out ourselves.
We try to do it in our own strength. And then
God finally gets our attention. And then we're
like, oh, yeah. Pray about it. I want to challenge
you. Prayer needs to be your priority. Not just
in times of trouble, but every single day. In
good times, in bad times, we are called to pray.
And notice how Jonah was praying in verse 2.
I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble.
Jonah was crying out to God. This is the same
root word in the Greek. as a woman crying out
in pain during labor. In other words, Jonah was
hurting, and he cried out to God. But why does
it seem like every time we gather as a community
of faith, when we're going to church, people
become so conservative? It's as if we're afraid
to be open and honest with our feelings and our
emotions. We don't sing out in praise like we
can. We want to cover our emotions. We don't
want to cry. We want to look at the ground. We're
fearful to lift our hands. Someone may be watching
me. We get all quiet and conservative. It's as
if we're singing kumbaya around a campfire. Why?
Why? Because examine your life. In any other
relationship, our lives involve real emotion.
You know, your favorite sports teams win. You
go nuts. I mean, you paint your face. You wear
cheese on your heads. You do crazy stuff. Okay.
So you don't like sports. You get in a disagreement
with your spouse. Dude. If I was Alexa looking
at your conversations, I'm going to see real
emotion. Now, you're not going to tell me that.
Oh, yeah, we're real calm when we argue. You're
right. You're not. You're not calm. You're intense.
You're open about your feelings and emotions.
And that's how we need to be in church. Because
we have a relationship with the living God. He
already knows our heart. Why are we trying to
hide it from him? Let's be open and honest because
he hears us. Psalm 116 verses one through two.
I love the Lord because he hears my voice and
my prayer for mercy because he bends down to
listen. I will pray as long as I breathe. Now
listen to verse three of Jonah's prayer. You
threw me into the ocean depths. I sank down to
the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed
me. I was buried beneath your wild and stormy
waves. See, Jonah is aware that his shortcomings,
his choices, led to his current situation. His
choices led him to literally being in the belly
of a whale. And you may be here today, and you're
saying, Chris, my marriage is in trouble. Someone
else might be saying, have you seen these food
prices? My paycheck isn't enough for me to live
financially. Others of you are struggling with
your health. Still some of you are struggling
with your kids. No matter what you might find
yourself troubling you or struggling with today,
it very well might not be your fault. But no
matter what's going on, the Bible says this in
James 5, 13. Are any of you suffering hardships?
You should pray. And any of you are happy, you
should sing praises. See, and this is a challenge
for us, and it leads to our fifth and final fault.
While we wait in prayer, God is still working.
Jonah 2 .9, but I will offer sacrifices to you
with songs of praise and I will fulfill all my
vows for my salvation comes from the Lord alone.
By show of hands, how many of you have ever been
around someone and when they pray, it's like,
man, they sound spiritual, like they're connected
to God. Have you ever been around anyone like
that? You know, you're hanging around Rick Vance
and it's like, oh my gosh, he's in heaven. It's
like when they pray, you listen to their prayer
and it's like, oh man, God is hearing that prayer.
I need to touch them. You know, it's just so
nice to listen to. Yet when sometimes I feel
like I'm praying, God help! Right? God save me!
God help me! Change this situation! Right? It's
as if we just can't stay focused and pray a prayer
that God's going to hear. When in reality, some
people that pray and they sound eloquent, do
you know why they sound eloquent when they pray?
Because they're simply praying the Bible. The
most effective way that we can pray is to actually
pray the Bible. And you say, Chris, well, why
would we pray the Bible? Well, because the Bible
tells us that the Bible is living, active, powerful,
stronger than any two -edged sword. The Bible
tells us that the words written in it are never
going to return void. And one of the most powerful
things that we could ever pray is to pray the
Bible out loud. And that's exactly what Jonah
is doing. In Jonah chapter 2, Jonah was praying.
And what do you think he was praying? Jonah was
praying the Psalms. Check this out. Check this
out. Jonah 2 .2. I called to the Lord and he
answered me. Psalm 3 .4. I call out to the Lord.
And he answers me. Jonah 2 .2, deep in the realm
of the dead, I called for help. Psalm 16, you
will not abandon me to the realm of the dead.
Jonah 2 .4, I've been banished from your sight.
Psalm 31, I am cut off from your sight. Jonah
2 .5, the waters closed over me. Psalm 69, the
waters have come up to my neck. Jonah 2 .8, those
who cling to worthless idols. Psalm 31 .6, I
ate those who, oh. I hate, sorry. You don't eat
idols. Typo. I hate those who cling to worthless
idols. That's funny. That's funny. Jonah 2 .9.
What I have vowed I will make good. Psalm 116.
I will fulfill my vows to the Lord. So let's
say you're here today and you're struggling with
fear, anxiety, depression, sometimes mental struggle
that you can't seem to overcome. I'm going to
challenge you. Do a quick Google search or open
your Bible app and search how you're feeling.
Type in depression scriptures. Then just start
praying what you read. God, I'm feeling anxious.
Therefore, I cast my cares on you, God, because
you care for me. You might pray, God, help me
not be anxious. The Bible tells me to be anxious
about nothing, but with everything, my prayer
and petition, I submit my quest to you. God,
I thank you that your promise to me is peace,
that your peace will guard my heart, my mind,
my soul through my relationship with Jesus. God,
the Bible says you have not given me a spirit
of fear or timidity, but a spirit of power, love,
and self -discipline. You see, I'm praying truth.
I'm believing truth. Why? Because God already
wrote it. Jonah cried out to God, and he listened
to his cry. Jonah prayed, and what did he pray?
He prayed the Psalms. But please notice that
Jonah prayed, and he said, God heard me. But
if you look carefully, nothing happened immediately
when he prayed. And this is encouraging to me.
You say, why is that encouraging to you? Because
it's not about our timing. It's God's timing.
But yet we want everything to be about our timing.
God, I need healing right now. God, I need restoration
right now. But it doesn't always work that way.
God knows what is best for us. Jonah prayed.
And it took 10 verses before his prayer was offered.
But notice verse 9. Verse 9 of Jonah says, I
will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise.
In other words, I'm shouting to you, God. I'm
worshiping you. I can't contain it. I'm letting
it out. It's grateful praise that I will sacrifice
to you. And what's powerful about this verse
is Jonah praised before the miracle happened.
And it's real easy, right? We all know it's real
easy to praise God after the miracle. But what
does it look like to praise God before the miracle?
Because see, when we praise God before the miracle,
it lifts our spirits, it raises our attitudes,
and it allows for us to experience freedom. But
you have to choose to do it. You have to choose
to praise before the miracle happens. And you
praise with a means of just letting it out, which
leads us to our one action step. Stop making
excuses. Church, stop making excuses and receive
a supernatural second chance. Notice Jonah 2
.10. Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah
out on the beach. Now, in studying Jonah this
week, I learned that many scholars believe this
beach was on the shores of Joppa. That Jonah,
in choosing to run from God 2 ,500 miles in the
opposite direction, ends up in the belly of a
whale for three days. And three nights. And through
his prayer and through his praise, ends up getting
spit back out on the shores of Joppa where he
was originally called to speak and challenge
the people there. Now, how many days was he in
the belly of the fish? Three. Three days and
three nights. Now, does that sound familiar?
We may have celebrated that last Sunday. And
it's interesting, Jonah lived somewhere around
785 to 800 years before the birth of Jesus. And
here we see the Old Testament foreshadowing what
Jesus talked about in the New Testament in Matthew
chapter 12. But Jesus replied, only an evil and
adulterous generation would demand a miraculous
sign. But the only sign I will give them is the
sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in
the belly of the great fish for three days and
three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the
heart of the earth for three days and three nights.
See, church, God is speaking to us and showing
us and revealing to us. We have to stop rationalizing
our sin. We have to stop allowing ourselves to
compromise with culture. We have to be a people
that even though we're walking through trouble,
what Jesus told us we would, He promised we would
go through trouble in this life. We have to choose
to pray and praise. And as we pray and praise,
we are reminded that Jesus spent three days and
three nights separated from his father to the
point where when he rose again, we celebrate
it every single year. Why? Because that's our
connection with the living God. The living God
that empowers us to be difference makers from
this day forward. Will you stand with me? Now,
as I was praying for this gathering just a few
minutes ago, just being honest with you, I felt
like God spoke to me that many of you brought
trouble into this place. And it may not be of
your own doing. It could be a friend, a family
member. And it's overwhelming you mentally. You
feel depressed. You feel anxiety. And it feels
like you're literally sinking. But I want to
challenge you. Renew your faith. And God highlighted
for me Peter. Peter got out of the boat. Jesus
invited him. Get out of the boat. He's the only
human being to ever walk on water. because he
had the faith to step out of the boat. But even
as he stepped out of the boat and walked on water,
the storm caused him to sink. But did Jesus let
him go under? No, he picked him back up, restored
him, and put him back in the boat. Jesus is never
going to let you sink to the point where you're
underwater and not able to come back. He's going
to bring you back, and he's going to allow for
you to be restored, and your relationship with
Jesus will grow closer and stronger than you
ever have before. But it's a choice. It's a choice
to acknowledge what is happening around you,
and it's a choice to lay it all down and to give
it to him. You know, for me, I've been struggling
the last couple weeks because there's not anything
with me. I'm physically great. I feel good. I'm
pastoring a church I love. I'm doing what I'm
called to do. But my kids are struggling. And
when your kids are struggling, it tears you down.
It doesn't feel like I'm in a storm. It feels
like I'm in a hurricane. But yet I got to choose
to focus on and to rely on him. I gotta choose
to give my kids to him, believing that he's gonna
make a way, that he's gonna heal, that he's gonna
set free, that he's gonna restore, that he's
gonna do what needs to happen, not in Chris's
timing, but in his timing so that he can be glorified.
So I'm in it with you, friends. I get it. But
it's a choice to choose to pray and to praise.
And may this be a reminder that whatever you
brought in here, You can lay down right now.
So Holy Spirit, come. God, whatever it is, each
and every person brought into this place, I pray,
God, that they're able to choose to lay it down
at your feet. That they're able to choose to
pray and to praise what you're going to do through
this trouble, through this storm, through this
anguish, God. And that you're going to make a
way for peace and calm to come. May this be a
day, God, that people mark as the day where freedom
reigns, where freedom comes. And as that freedom
comes, you release them to be a people of light.
That their pain can be used for purpose. That
their pain can be used to lead others into a
relationship with you. In Jesus' name, amen.
Now, I'm going to pray a simple prayer. And listen,
if you walked away from God, you're distant,
you're far from him. You never started a journey.
We pray this prayer every Sunday. And we do it
because we believe God brings people in our midst
that have walked away just like Jonah. You may
be questioning your faith or you may never started.
You may be like those sailors. But God is inviting
you home today. Let's pray. Jesus, I'm broken.
I'm full of doubt, shame, regret. Sin, change
me. Forgive me. I believe you're God's son. I
believe you died for me. Make me new. Set me
free. Fill me with your spirit. In Jesus' name,
amen. Now, if you prayed that prayer, see me,
text me, hug me, see Rudy, do something. There
were several words of knowledge. They were very
specific that I want to share for you. so that
you can get prayer and experience freedom today.
You heard Rick on the announcements. We've had
many testimonies of healings in this place. Don't
leave here if this is you. You have sharp pain
in the fingers of your left hand. You have muscle
pain in the right arm and running down into your
leg. You have right hip pain. You have a herniated
disc in your lower back. You have a growth on
your skin in the lower part of your back, and
you have pain in your tailbone that's making
it difficult to sit. So if that's you or if you
have any other prayer requests, our prayer team
will be on my left and my right. Please make
your way up here and receive some prayer. Why
are you all leaving? Like, seriously. I didn't
say goodbye yet. Joyce, you better get your guys.
That's unacceptable. Come on now. So listen,
we're going to continue with Jonah for the next
two or three weeks. This is going to be a great
series of reflection and challenge you to grow
and change. God bless you guys. I look forward
to celebrating all that God's going to do throughout
the entire month of April. Thank you for joining
us online. life for mine either one turn water
into wine please fix my heart things inside