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. Good, good. So good to see a packed
house. Before I jump into our talk today, two
things. If you did not get a communion element
or you did not get a Sour Patch Kid, put your
hand up now because that's all going to take
place at the end of our gathering. I don't want
to interrupt the end of our gathering. So if
you need communion and you need a Sour Patch
Kid, I know it doesn't sound like it makes sense,
but it will, I promise. Bear with me. Put your
hands up. There you go. Our team will come around.
They're coming now. Mike Swain, a previous banana,
you know, we got it. So just keep it up. There
we go. All right, bring it back. That's not freedom
to talk. Just put your hand up. All right. I
don't want to be your teacher here. I don't want
to be your teacher. I want to be your leader.
All right. I want to share with you about Jonah.
All right. We also have a group. I want to let
everyone know. We also have a group of people
leaving today for North Carolina. They're heading
down for a week to serve and to repair houses
that were destroyed a few years ago when all
the floods came through near the Asheville area.
So we have a whole team of people headed to North
Carolina for this week for construction. So if
you could be praying for them, please do. And
I'm going to open in prayer now as they're handing
out all this stuff so that we can refocus and
bring ourselves back. Is that cool? All right,
let's pray. Jesus, we invite you into this place.
Holy Spirit, come. God, open our minds, our hearts,
our ears to receive your truth today, God. May
we see a little of Jonah in all of us, God. May
we leave this place different and open us up,
God, to your truth this morning. And bless that
van as they're heading to North Carolina, God.
May they have just supernatural encounters with
people. May we hear testimonies of all that you
did through their lives, not just serving, but
pointing others to you. We're grateful, God,
for all that you're doing in our community of
faith. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so for
those of you that haven't been here, if you're
new, welcome. We're glad you're here. We're in
the fourth and final week of our series, God's
Scandalous Mercy, A Journey Through Jonah. And
if you have been here, I don't know about you,
but this has been a great series thus far, right?
Do you think so? I have learned so much about
Jonah, but more importantly, I've learned a lot
about myself. Today we'll be reading from the
fourth and final chapter of the book. But before
we jump in, let's take a look at this recap that
I found on YouTube from Jonah himself. Are you
ready? Let's watch. What's up, fam? Jonah here.
So God said, go to Nineveh. Yeah, hard pass.
We're running. Wish me luck. Just booked a one
-way trip. Destination, not Nineveh. Let's see
if this works. Okay, so, apparently there's a
huge storm up top. Me, I'm vibing down here.
Nap game strong. Hit subscribe for more travel
updates. Turns out this storm, kind of my fault.
Should I just jump? Welp. Booked a trip to Tarshish.
Now I'm getting unbooked. Overboard we go, I
guess. See ya. So, quick update. Inside a giant
fish now? Yep. Should've just listened to God.
My bad, Lord. Super sorry. Lesson learned. Lord,
I was wrong. Please forgive me. I will go to
Nineveh. Just deliver me from this place. Okay
update out of the fish alive praise God Nineveh
here I come after some serious cleanup All right
in Nineveh about to preach Super excited. Can't
you tell? Yeah, I mean either All right So Jonah
was called by God to go and preach the city of
Nineveh. The Assyrian people were, of course,
his sworn enemies. Jonah said, no, thank you.
Booked a trip to Tarsus, more than 2 ,000 miles
away from Nineveh. God sends a storm to stop
Jonah. The storm was so frightening that the
sailors, fearing their own lives, commit to following
God and throw Jonah overboard to quiet the storm.
Jonah then finds himself in the belly of a large
fish for three days and three nights. He repents,
and God has the fish vomit Jonah back on the
shore of Joppa. God speaks to Jonah a second
time, and last week we learned that God is a
God of second chances. He goes to Nineveh and
preaches what could be the worst and shortest
sermon ever recorded. Five words, you are going
to burn. In one of the greatest miracles ever
recorded in the Bible, God uses that sermon to
convict the people. They all turn back to God
from the least to the greatest. We see one of
the greatest revivals in all of human history
take place. And the people in the city of Nineveh
celebrate God's mercy for giving them a second
chance. And I believe if God can do that miracle
in Nineveh, he can do it anywhere. Because God
is a God of second chances. And as a community
of faith, we believe that God wants to do the
same thing through us in the tri -state area.
We have a big God -sized vision to see the kingdom
of God invade the hearts of people all the way
from Virginia up into Pennsylvania. Just this
year, we've nearly baptized 200 people and we
are believing that many more will come in the
coming months. But here is what is tough about
the book of Jonah. If the story ended in revival,
It would be perfect. It would be the Disney ending.
Unfortunately, it doesn't end in celebration
or revival. Jonah has one last plot twist, which
leads us to our first thought. It's possible
to follow God's commands and not reflect his
love. Think about it. The whole nation, from
the king, the richest... in the city to the very
poorest turned to God. And how do you think Jonah
responded? Well, Jonah was a preacher. He was
similar to me. This national revival breaks out.
I can tell you right now that if everyone in
this gathering turned and declared that Jesus
is their Lord and began following him, I would
be celebrating and doing backflips. It would
be like hitting a walk -off home run in the bottom
of the ninth inning for me personally. If all
of you, Get me into a relationship with Jesus
today. It would be one of the greatest days that
I've ever celebrated. But Jonah, Jonah preached.
They repented. And what did he do? Well, let's
learn. Jonah 4, 1 through 3. This change of plans
greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry.
See, Jonah wasn't happy. Jonah wasn't worshiping,
right? Everyone in Nineveh is celebrating. The
Bible tells us that all the angels were celebrating.
Even us today are declaring this is a miracle.
We are celebrating the fact that hundreds of
thousands of people came into a relationship
with God, but not Jonah. Now the Hebrew word
used for Jonah's reaction is the word ra. Everyone
say ra. Doesn't that kind of sound angry? Right?
It sounds negative. Well, ra is translated as
exceedingly evil. And it's actually the same
word God used to describe the Ninevites in chapter
1. The Ninevites were ra, exceedingly evil. And
now you see Jonah's reaction to God's mercy is
ra. And you begin to wonder, how can he have
that type of reaction? Let's continue. So now
he begins to complain to God. He complained to
the Lord about it. Didn't I say before I left
home that you would do this, Lord? That is why
I ran away to Tarshish. I knew that you are a
merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry
and filled with unfailing love. It's amazing.
He's complaining about God's characteristics.
The things that we celebrate, Jonah's what? He's
complaining about them. You are eager to turn
back from destroying people. Just kill me now,
Lord. I'd rather be dead than alive if what I
predicted will not happen. Now, after reading
those words this week, I made it begin to thought
about Jonah. It's like, really? I mean, this
is God. And you're going to be upset and angry
and screaming at God? And it's really easy for
us to throw shade at Jonah until we put ourselves
in his shoes. And that's what I want to challenge
you to do today. Remember in week one, I told
you about the Ninevites, how they would rape
the women, they would murder the kids, they would
take over an entire area, they would kill the
soldiers, putting their heads on top of the cities.
Scholars tell us that it's possible, in fact,
very likely, that some of Jonah's own family,
possibly his mom and his dad, his grandparents,
maybe some relatives, that they were tortured,
killed, and murdered by the Ninevites or the
Assyrians. So when we're looking at Jonah, we
have to realize there's history, painful history.
And we all need to acknowledge that Jonah eventually
did what God asked him to do. God told him to
go and preach to the Nevites. He did it. He did
the will of God, but he wasn't happy about it.
And what did he preach? 40 days from now, you
better turn or God will destroy you. And Jonah
is simply showing us a problem that all of us
have. He shows us that it's possible for us to
follow God's commands and not reflect his love.
It's possible to do what God wants, but to do
it with the wrong attitude, with negativity and
wrong motives. And it could be any number of
different ways in our life as we are in a relationship
with Jesus. I've seen it greatly in the church
when it comes to money. Once a year, I do a three
to four week series on money and giving and tithing,
and it's constantly pushback, pushback, pushback.
Does God really tell us to deal with money? And
then he convicts us, and then we give a little,
but we don't really want to, and then we're upset
at the messenger. It's Chris's fault. You're
justifying tithing. It really isn't biblical.
Jesus never spoke about it. Then begrudgingly,
Right? To clear our conscience, we throw a $20
bill in. You know, it's a hard issue, church.
I talk about it because Jesus talked about money
nearly more than anything else when it comes
to topics because he knew that money was the
closest thing to our hearts. Or it comes to service.
I challenged all of you last week, serve in our
community of faith. Give your time, right? And
maybe you are here and you're serving and you're
committing your life to serving and you're serving
in the kids or the welcome team, whatever it
may be, but what's your home life like? Are you
being harsh and negative at home, but being happy
and smiling here? Or it could be the exact opposite
saying, okay, God, I'll go to church. I'll go
to church. I'll show up, but I don't have time
to serve. I'll go to church, but someone else
can take care of my kids. I'll go to church,
but I can't show up early and high five people.
Or then it's the other factor where we judge
others because of their big sins. while we harbor
pride and bitterness and prejudice in our own
hearts. You know, God knows our hearts, church.
He knows our attitudes. He knows everything that
goes in and out of our mouth, what we say, what
we think. And he's challenging us to get real
before him, to identify ourselves, that there's
times in our life where we serve, yes, where
we do the things of God, but our heart is just
in the wrong place. And when it comes to love,
1 John 4, 8 and 20 says, but anyone who does
not love does not know God, for God is love.
If someone says, I love God, but hates a fellow
believer, that person is a liar. For if we don't
love people, we can see how can we love God whom
we cannot see. It's possible to follow God's
commands and not reflect his love. And the story
continues, which leads us to our second thought.
Selfishness and unforgiveness lead us away from
God. Jonah chapter four, verses four through
five, the Lord replied, is it right for you to
be angry about this? Then Jonah went out to the
east side of the city and made a shelter to sit
under as he waited to see what would happen to
the city. So picture this. Jonah preaches one
of the worst sermons ever recorded. He gets out
of town, leaves town, goes up on a hill east
of the city, and he's hoping that the city will
be destroyed. And it's interesting that this
very specific direction is in the Bible. One
more time. Which direction did Jonah go? East.
He went east. And this is important because in
the Bible, anyone who travels east, this is often
a picture or represents moving towards exile
and bondage. Many times in the Bible, when someone
travels east, they're moving away from God's
will because of selfishness and unforgiveness.
Let's look at a few examples. You got Adam and
Eve in Genesis 3, 24. After sending them out
of the garden, The Lord God stationed mighty
cherubim, notice where, to the east of the Garden
of Eden so that they would not come back in.
Genesis 4, 16. So Cain left the Lord's presence
after killing Abel, and notice where he settled,
in the land of Nod, which was the east of Eden.
Genesis 13. Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan
Valley to the east. east of them. He went there
with his flocks and servants, but the people
of this area, notice, were extremely wicked and
constantly sinning against the Lord. Ezekiel
chapter 8, then he brought me into the inner
courtyard of the Lord's temple at the entrance
to the sanctuary between the entry room and the
bronze altar. There were about 25 men with their
backs to the sanctuary of the Lord. They were
facing east, bowing low to the ground and worshiping
not the Lord but the Son. What did Jonah do?
He didn't obey God. Then he listened to God with
impure motives. And then he finds himself going
east, probably because we now know he's not trusting
God again. And this is where it gets personal.
Jonah was a prophet. and he claimed to follow
God. All throughout the book, if you were to
read the four chapters, you can read that Jonah
called God his Lord and the Lord. He believed
in God, but in this case, he turned his back
to God. He moved away from him. God, I claim
you and your ways, but once again, he turned
his back toward God, hoping that God would destroy
the city. And it's not uncommon to see that in
the church today, unfortunately. People will
say, hey, Jesus saved me. And they know him by
name, but they have not made him Lord of their
life. Meaning they want to remain in control
of their own life. They want to do what they
want. They don't want to submit to God's authority.
And this is not God's best. Because simply when
people do that, they're saying that we believe
in Jesus. We love Jesus with our spoken words,
but our actions simply don't line up. Our lives
are not producing good fruit. And Jesus said
this, one day people are going to be like, Hey,
I called on you, Jesus. I did these works in
your name. I went to church in your name, God.
I did all these things, Jesus. And Jesus will
look back and say, I've never known you. Because
they personally haven't made him Lord of their
life. They haven't prioritized that relationship
Monday through Saturday. And unfortunately, I
wonder if there's anybody here, and I can pastorally
say, I love you, and that's why I'm saying this.
Do you claim God with your lips, but you live
with your back towards him? And the good news
is simply this. All you have to do is turn. That's
all God is inviting you to. He's inviting you
back to himself. So here we got Jonah, and I'm
actually starting to understand him a little.
And the reason I'm understanding him is because
I see a little bit of Jonah in myself. What is
Jonah ultimately doing in this situation? He's
throwing a tantrum. He's acting like a child.
And if you're anything like me, we're all the
same way. We get frustrated. We get aggravated.
Things don't go our way. And then we get negative
and spew venom at the people we love. We make
judgments and we say things we regret. He was
hurting. He was frustrated. He's mad. He's uncomfortable.
Things were not going his way. And now he finds
himself baking in the hot sun, which leads us
to our next thought. Humanity wants God's blessings,
but pushes back on God's growth. Jonah chapter
four, verse six. And the Lord God arranged for
a leafy plant to grow there. And soon it spread
its broad leaves over Jonah's head, shading him
from the sun. This eased his discomfort. And
Jonah noticed now how he changes his attitude
was very. grateful for the plant. So first God
provides a fish to save Jonah from the sea. Now
God provides a plant to cover him, and he was
very happy, extremely grateful. And the Hebrew
word used here was the word weizma, and it means
to rejoice greatly or exceedingly overjoyed.
In other words, this isn't like finding $20 in
your pants pocket. I mean, that's a good day
that we can smile about. But the word used here
in the Hebrew, Jonah was celebrating that he
won the lottery. That's the type of joy he was
experiencing. He was exceedingly overjoyed. And
why was he happy? Because of God's blessings.
God sent a plant to shade him from the sun and
he was happy. Not. Not because of the people
that turned to God. Not because of the hundreds
and thousands of people that were saved because
of God's mercy. It was all about him. And that's
the part that makes me uncomfortable because
that's me. Jonah loves receiving God's blessings,
but notice what he's doing. God's going to now
teach him a lesson. Jesus is the good teacher.
God wants us to grow, but sometimes allowing
us to walk through the wilderness and tests.
God is about to give Jonah an object lesson.
And Jonah didn't like the lessons. He's like
many of us. He wants to skip the lessons and
get right to what? Get right to the blessings.
Give me the blessings, God, but I'm not ready
to change. Jonah 4, 7 through 8, but God also
arranged for a worm. The next morning at dawn,
the worm ate through the stem of the plant. and
it withered away. And as the sun grew hot, God
arranged for a scorching notice, east wind, negativity,
frustration to blow on Jonah, the sun be down
on his head until he grew faint and wished to
die. Death is certainly better than living like
this, he exclaimed. So what is happening? Jonah
is having a pity party. He's throwing another
tantrum. And in our eyes, we're thinking, this
is pathetic. And as you read this story, We're
so quick to criticize. But it's incredible that
the Bible includes all these details about his
emotions. It's very real. I mean, think about
it. Jonah's all over the place. He's up. He's
down. He's happy. He's sad. He's celebrating.
He's angry. He's worshiping. He's praising. He's
screaming at God. He's all over the place. I
don't know about you, but I can be just like
that. In fact, while studying the book of Jonah,
there's now expert research done on his personality
that measured historic Jonah against today's
personality types and different mindsets. Now,
what I want you to do is I read these three different
mindsets and approaches. See if you identify
with any of these behaviors. The first one is
this. He had erratic mood swings ranging from
courageous obedience. to extreme dissatisfaction
and anger, suggesting underlying frustration
and the need to control. I know that's none of
you, but I'll put a check for me. The next one
is this. He had entitlement issues, focusing
on his own views of justice and expecting God
and others to operate within his parameters.
The things that make you go, hmm. The third one,
he had depressive symptoms manifesting from feelings
of burnout, sadness, anger, and hopelessness.
I don't know about you, but I just checked all
three boxes. It's so easy to criticize this guy's
emotional tantrums and drama. I get it. We're
reading the story. But if we're honest and admit
it, we are just like Jonah. I can obey God with
great faith one moment and then ignore God and
do my own thing the next. I can be in the presence
of God, worshiping him passionately, authentically,
with heartfelt song and dance on a Sunday morning.
And then Monday, I can be apathetic, even act
like he doesn't even exist. I can be completely
obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit,
praying for someone, seeing signs, wonders, and
miracles break out as I pray. And the next day,
God prompts me to do the exact same thing. And
I say, no, that's the devil. I don't have time
for that. We hate the lessons. But we sure do
love the blessings. All of us can relate. It's
kind of like these two plants from that object
lesson. We can look at them and say, oh, this
is definitely God's blessings. It's healthy.
It's plentiful. It's growing. Oh, this is God's
temptings. This is God's tests. This is God's
wilderness. But what if we flip the script? And
what if we said that abundant life is obedience?
abundant life as walking through tests and seeing
us come out stronger on the other side. When
in reality, when we focus on self and selfishness,
we're a dead, dying, withered plant that can
go nowhere. That's why James 1, 2 through 4 says,
Dear brothers and sisters, when trouble of any
kind comes your way, consider it an opportunity
for great joy. Not just joy, but great joy. Why?
Because you know that when your faith is tested,
your endurance has a chance to Grow. So let it
grow. And when your endurance is fully developed,
you will be perfect and complete, needing absolutely
nothing. Let's all learn from Jonah on what not
to do when God wants us to grow and change, which
I believe he wants us to do every single day.
Let's be grateful and joyful because as we walk
through those testings, we receive God's blessings,
which leads us to our fourth thought. Getting
a second chance is easier than giving. A second
chance. Jonah 4, 9 through 11. Then God said
to Jonah, is it right for you to be angry because
the plant died? Yes, Jonah retorted. Even angry
enough to die. Then the Lord said, you feel sorry
about the plant that you did nothing to put it
there. It came quickly and died quickly. But
Nineveh has more than 120 ,000 people living
in spiritual darkness. Not to mention all the
animals. Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great
city? And see, what is being exposed through
Jonah's actions is a deeply seated racism and
hatred that Jonah had towards his enemies, the
Assyrians. And I get it. The Assyrians were a
brutal group of people, the type of people that
if they were alive today and we saw their actions
on the news and their evil, I believe that many
of us would pray for God to intervene, for God
to get rid of them. But here's the issue when
God intervenes. It may not be the way we want
him to move. Remember, God is using Jonah as
a mirror to reflect issues in our heart. And
the reality is all of us have those people in
our lives. It may not be the Assyrians, but who
are those people in your life that God is calling
you to give them a second chance? See, maybe
these people, they dress a little different.
Maybe they talk different, look different, vote
different than you. Maybe it's people that sin
different than you. Right? I sin, but not how
they sin. Maybe it's someone that has hurt you
in the past. A parent that wasn't there for you
as you grew up when you needed them the most.
Maybe it was a friend that betrayed you or a
spouse that said for better or worse, but apparently
didn't mean it. The book of Jonah is causing
us to look in the mirror and that mirror is looking
back at ourselves saying, who is it in your life
that you're harboring bitterness and unforgiveness?
And isn't it true that it's much easier to be
forgiven by God than to extend forgiveness to
those that have hurt us? Jonah, we see it. He's
wrestling with God. He's now angry. He's angry
that God extended mercy to a group of people.
We saw that Jonah knew God's character. He knew
that God would forgive. And friends, in today's
world of social media and news, we're constantly
bombarded with opportunities for our hearts to
be corrupted with hate. judgment, and unforgiveness
towards others. Jonah didn't have an issue with
receiving a second chance from God. We see it
all through his life. But he did have an issue
with giving a second chance to others. And we
have to realize that all of us have a little
hypocrite in our hearts. How do I know that?
Brene Brown writes this in her book. I thought
it was just me. The biggest potential for helping
us overcome shame is this. We are those people.
Truth is, we are the others. Most of us are one
paycheck, one divorce, one drug -addicted kid,
one mental health illness, one sexual assault,
one drinking binge, one night of unprotected
sex, one affair away from being those people,
the ones we don't trust, the ones we pity, the
ones we don't let our kids play with, the ones
bad things happen to, the ones we don't want
living next door. What is she saying to all of
us? We're quick to see the faults in others,
but so easily the myths false in our own life.
We judge others by what they do, but we judge
ourselves by our motives. We judge others by
what they do, but we extend grace to ourselves
when we need it after making a bad decision,
choice, or reaction. And Jesus warns us in Matthew
chapter 7, why worry about a speck in your friend's
eye when you have a log in your own? How can
you think of saying to your friend, let me help
you get rid of that speck in your eye when you
can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite.
Get rid of the log in your own eye, then you
will see well enough to deal with the speck in
your friend's eyes. And when it comes to God
giving grace, it's our decision. The fact that
we even think that we're capable of making that
judgment shows that we're hypocritical. and shows
that we have no business harboring unforgiveness
and anger towards others. Jonah's story is our
story. And that's why it makes it difficult to
read, which leads us to our fifth and final thought.
God is for us, but not just us. God is challenging
us through the book of Jonah to see that God
is a God for all people. He is the God of creation.
And this book is challenging us to see that we
cannot allow our prejudices nor our politics
to determine who God can and can't love. It's
for us. God is not just for us. He is for all
people, and he desires to see all people come
into a loving relationship with him. We read
in Jonah 4 .11, but Nineveh has more than 120
,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not
to mention all the animals. Should not feel sorry
for such a great city. I mean, you see God challenging
Jonah, open your eyes. This is truth. There were
people in that great city that were not committing
the horrible atrocities that the soldiers are
doing and have done to the Israelites. And that's
why Jesus taught us in Matthew 5, you have heard
the law that says, love your neighbor and hate
your enemy. But I say, Jesus says, love your
enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6, 12, we are not
fighting against flesh and blood enemies. Let
me read that again. We are not fighting against
flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers
and authorities in the unseen world, against
mighty powers in this dark world, and against
evil spirits in the heavenly places. And remember,
when Paul wrote those words, it wasn't theoretical.
Jesus' followers were being stoned, murdered,
imprisoned, and persecuted. Yet Paul says, if
they are flesh and blood, And even if they're
hurting you, God is for them. God is for those
people. Translation, if your enemy is made of
flesh and blood, they are not your enemy. They
are not your enemy. And I wanted to make this
as real as possible for all of us living in 2026
in the United States of America. I'm going to
flip some images up on the screen. And as you
see these images, see how your heart responds.
Let's look at our first one. The person in that
car driving is not your enemy. Even if they cut
you off and even if they're driving slow in the
left -hand lane, they are not your enemy. The
same person that goes through the express lane
with a cart full of groceries, they are not your
enemy. They're not your enemy. I mean, they're
not thinking clearly, but they're still not your
enemy. To keep it going, HCV, these people are
not your enemies. They're really easy to hate,
but they're still not your enemies. Let's keep
it going. The rich and powerful in our world
are not your enemies. And they're also not your
saviors. But you also have to remember, it's
not just the rich and the powerful. It's the...
It's the politicians. They are not your enemies.
And it's not just them. This group is not your
enemies. They are flesh and blood. But unfortunately,
in our current political culture, there is deep
division and hatred between both. And we can't
allow that deep division and hatred to enter
into our hearts. In the same way, these people
are not. We cannot allow CNN and Fox News to
tell us who we can love and hate. God determines
who we love. Therefore, these people aren't your
enemies. Next slide. Thank you. And if it's not
these people, it's not these people either. Neither
one of them are your enemies. If they are made
of flesh and blood, they are not our enemies.
And we have to stop allowing politics and prejudice
determine who and how we love. And listen. And
listen, if any of those images made you feel
uncomfortable in any way, then the book of Jonah
is for you and me. And God is saying, I am a
God of all humanity and desire that all people
come into a relationship with me. Because we
have to remember Romans 5 .10. For since our
friendship with God was restored by the death
of his son, while we were still his enemies,
we will certainly be saved through the life of
his son. We used to be enemies with God. And
now I'm God's friend. And therefore, we are challenged
to allow our hearts to be friends with all people
throughout the world, which leads us to ponder,
what is God trying to show us through Jonah?
Well, it's one simple truth. Church, we need
to choose to forgive. We need to choose to forgive.
Jonah chapter 4 verse 11, but Nineveh has more
than 120 ,000 people living in spiritual darkness.
Not to mention all the animals. Should not feel
sorry for such a great city. Now, hear me out.
Many scholars believe that that number that God
is referencing there is the number of innocent
women and children that were alive currently
in Nineveh. Remember, that city had more than
600 ,000 people, and God is calling Jonah back
to his heart. He's saying, you have to come back
to my heart. Jonah was so angry that he wanted
to die, and God is trying to show him that bitterness
and unforgiveness is literally killing him from
the inside out. And it's been said that holding
on to bitterness and unforgiveness is like lighting
yourself on fire and hoping the smoke annoys
the person next to you. Bitterness and unforgiveness
only hurt you and me. Does it make us any better
to hold on to anger and unforgiveness toward
that parent or spouse? No. It just makes us angry
towards our own children. Is the rage and negativity
toward a coworker or classmate or boss making
us a better person? No. It's just making us not
good at our job. So what I want to do for you
is I want to give you a simple example. Many
of you were giving a Sour Patch Kid on the way
in. Please open up your pack right now. If you
did not get one, there's like six Sour Patch
Kids in that pack. Give it to your neighbor,
okay? Because Chris made a foolish mistake of
purchasing Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish.
The Swedish Fish, unfortunately, aren't sour,
so I just need the Sour Patch Kids. So if you
have one, put it in your hand now. And what I
want you to do is, if you're able, I want you
to put a Sour Patch Kid in your mouth and look
at your neighbor's reaction to the sour. Ready,
set, go. Okay, you see where I'm going with this.
Okay. Typically, I get it, work with me. Typically,
when we put something sour in our mouth, our
face suddenly turns, like, what was that? And
our initial reaction when we put sour in our
mouth is to spit it out. Now, unfortunately,
with candy, it turns sweet, so it doesn't quite
fit the example. But we want to spit something
out of our mouth that's sour. Why is it when
it comes to bitterness and unforgiveness in our
hearts, we want to hold on to it and stew over
it and stew over it and stew over it to make
ourselves more angry and upset? Because it's
a choice that we want to heap negativity on the
person that hurt us. When in reality, God is
challenging us to let go of bitterness and unforgiveness.
Matthew 6. If you forgive those who sin against
you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But
if you refuse to forgive others, notice, your
heavenly Father will not forgive your sins. Ephesians
chapter 4 tells us, church, get rid of all bitterness,
rage, anger, harsh words, slander. as well as
all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind
to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
And the best way, church, to move past bitterness
and unforgiveness is to release it to God. And
that's why I'm skipping next week and moving
communion to this week. Because see, for many
of us, we think that communion is just something
we do at church. When in reality, Jesus left
this as an ordinance to the church. And an ordinance
means something that we should do regularly to
remember what God did for us. The bread represents
Jesus' broken body on the cross. The juice represents
his shed blood for what? The forgiveness of our
sins. And the Bible very clearly tells us that
before you take communion, before you drink the
juice, search your heart. So what he tells us
to do, he says, look in the mirror and if there's
any unforgiveness or bitterness or anger or rage
in your heart, towards anyone, towards a parent,
a spouse, a son, a daughter, a group of people,
whatever it may be, that we're to lay that down
before we drink that juice because we just learned
what Jesus said to us. Our Father in heaven can't
forgive us until we've what? Forgiven others.
In other words, get rid of the roof that you're
putting over yourself and open up your connection
with God. Will you stand with me? So before we
take communion, I want to share a little instructions
with you. We're going to share in the bread together
and celebrate God's broken body, Jesus' broken
body on the cross. But before we drink the juice
together, I want to pray a simple prayer giving
you an opportunity to lay down any unforgiveness
and bitterness in your heart. And I want to encourage
you. You may have been holding on to it for years
and this is your opportunity to leave this place
free. Stop making excuses. Stop putting it off.
Lay it down. Let God have it so that you can
live and walk in abundance. This can be an incredible
celebratory day for many of you. But again, it's
a choice. God desires that we choose to forgive.
On the night that he was betrayed, Jesus took
bread, broke it, gave it to his disciples and
said, take, eat, this is my body, which is broken
for you. Do it in remembrance of me. Let's remember
Jesus on the cross. Likewise, after supper, Jesus
took the cup of wine, said, this is my blood,
which is shed for you and for many. For the forgiveness
of sin, shrink it often. And when you do, do
it in remembrance of me. Let's pray together,
church. Holy Spirit, come. Search our hearts.
If there's any unforgiveness, bitterness, anger,
rage, reveal it now in Jesus' name. And now say,
I choose as an act of my will to forgive. Lay
it down. Lay it down. Lay them down. Lay them
down. Let's drink. God, we are grateful for freedom.
We celebrate the ability to extend forgiveness
and grace and mercy to others. Allow for us to
see in Jonah ourselves, but more importantly,
to change and not live like Jonah, but live like
your son, Jesus. And we're grateful for all you
do. In Jesus' name, amen. Now, there are several
words of knowledge. Hold on, we're not done.
That I wanna share with you before we go, and
then we're gonna pray a simple prayer. Our prayer
team will be on my left and my right for any
of these issues. If these are you, believe that
God wants to work a miracle in your life. You
have confusion in your mind about a decision
that's leading to anxiety. You have right hip
pain. You have muscle spasm in your right leg.
You have left inner ear pain. You have pain radiating
from your lower back to the base of your neck.
You have forgiveness and bitterness issues that
you need to lay down. So if any of those are
you, our prayer team will be here to pray with
you or any other need that you may have. And
now like we always do as a community of faith,
we're gonna pray a simple prayer. And for some
of you, when I was talking about professing Jesus
with your mouth, but not living like him, this
prayer is for you. It's all about the relationship.
It's all about putting him first and prioritizing
making Jesus Lord of your life. And if you've
never made that decision, this decision is for
you also. And we'll all pray together. 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.
I believe you're alive today. Make me new. Set
me free. Fill me with your spirit. Help me, God,
to serve others. In Jesus' name, amen. So listen,
if you prayed that prayer, see me, hug me, see
Rudy. We're gonna give you some next steps. We're
gonna get you baptized. We want to lead you into
a relationship with Jesus. Next week for May,
we kick off text to talk, and we're going to
be focusing on reading the Bible and prayer so
that our relationship with Jesus can grow and
flourish. It's going to be a great month of growing
closer to God. God bless you guys. I'm going
there to say goodbye to everyone. Have a great
week. Cut off my lifetime I was stuck up in that
grind Not knowing you gave your life for mine
You don't wanna turn water into wine Please fix
my heart and the things inside