Running From Your Calling | Brett McBride | 06.20.21

[Music] hey [Music] uh [Music] hey [Music] hello and good morning church thanks for joining us in our virtual lobby over the next 30 minutes our hosts and pastors will be engaging all of us in some key events and activities coming up in the life of our church on how our week has been going and joining us in prayer if you're currently watching us on our youtube channel we'd love for you to participate in this virtual lobby you can do so by visiting our church website and clicking on the join us button it's just that simple for all of us to come together as one global church family now let's continue to connect virtually and greet one another as we continue our morning in worship together [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] my name is patricia and this is my story all my life growing up as a christian i've been taught to be careful with my finances this is an important biblical principle but what i was taught less about was generosity this is also an important biblical principle for me these two important principles come together in my practice of faith promise giving but let me tell you a bit about how god taught me generosity when i got my first job in a drug store my mother sat me down and explained that it was important to thank god for all his good gifts in my life by giving back 10 percent of whatever money i earned this seemed logical and not difficult then and i did it cheerfully as my mother had encouraged i had few financial commitments at the time and giving felt right and made good sense in those days i thought that if i was careful with my money and gave what was owed back to the lord then i would never be in need but life isn't always that simple i got my certification as an accountant with a good company but then i fell in love and got married and had two beautiful children i was staying at home with the children and my husband was working a good stable job but then he had an accident at work and hurt his back badly we went to doctor after doctor and no one seemed to be able to help we prayed for healing every day but he was still in such pain we tried everything a new bed massage therapy most of it not covered by insurance and our careful savings disappeared quickly although he was still young my husband had to go on long-term disability and with the kids at school i went back to work it's hard to find work when you have been raising children for 10 years and the only job i could find was a minimum wage job in retail but i took it and worked hard my husband went into a depression and i was feeling overwhelmed most months we just barely made all of our payments and i was no longer cheerful as i put in my 10 percent into the tithe envelope but i did it maybe out of obligation maybe out of desperation but not out of joy deep inside although i would never have admitted it at the time i felt like the lord hadn't lived up to our agreement about me giving 10 faithfully and never being in need i cried out to the lord for strength and help but i often felt like he had forgotten about me and my family i remember the day the card arrived in my mailbox to this day i don't know who felt led to put it there it wasn't signed but it said simply your god will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in christ jesus and there were five crisp 100 dollar bills tucked in the card now you need to know that i never let anyone know that things were tight it was probably less virtue and more pride but even when my own family were asking we told them everything is fine you also need to know that there wasn't any particular financial need just this constant knot in my stomach every time the bills came due so when i saw the money inside the envelope my first reaction was actually to be offended i remember thinking how awful someone thinks we are poor can you imagine god sent me a beautiful gift and my heart was so proud and hurting that it took me a while to even be thankful for it but as i prayed god softened my heart and i realized that you don't just give because you have to or because there is an urgent need sometimes you give just out of love god had moved the heart of someone to give a gift of love this was a real revelation to me and i was thankful the end of the month came and i hadn't spent any of the money from the envelope as i said each month we always had enough to pay all the bills but i took the envelope out and read the card again and tried to imagine who had given me this gift and what they were thinking as they put the money in the envelope and wrote out god's promise for me and then i had this stirring inside of me that i should take one of those 100 bills and put it in an envelope and write a card with the same verse it took me a few days to know who god wanted me to give it to but i put it quietly in a neighbor's mailbox prayed that it would remind them that god loves them and answers their prayers it gave me such joy i smiled all the way home the next month when i was giving my 10 percent the lord gently brought to my heart and mind the four remaining 100 bills that were still tucked in the card remember i told you i have always been careful with my money i hadn't ever given to faith promise before i always thought that in our financial situation it was enough to give my 10 percent but the stirring inside me was strong and i took two of those bills and put them in an envelope and marked faith promise on them i imagined how god would send the money to someone who was calling out to him from somewhere in the world i imagined how he would use my small gift to answer someone's prayers just as he had answered mine i secretly hoped that it would be a mother with children just thinking of this as i tucked the money into the envelope brought such joy to my heart as i licked the envelope closed i realized that god hadn't given me that money to pay my bills or even give my tithe he had given me that money so that i would learn the joy of being generous he showed me how he answers prayers and how he gives us the privilege of being part of how he answers prayers for others that was many years ago my children are grown and my husband and i are retired but that experience changed my life it was like priming a pump within my heart to get the generosity flowing faith promise giving is one of my great joys in life something god and i do together [Music] anytime my heart turns from darkness to light anytime temptation comes and someone stands to hide [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] any time and weakness someone falls upon their knees or dares to speak the truth that says men free any time the choice is made to stand upon the word i know i know i know i know god is on the moon [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] i see a generation [Music] send me here i go i know i know i know [Music] hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Music] is [Music] [Music] god [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] we hope that you had a chance to say hello to someone you know this morning and if you're new we hope you got a chance to connect with someone as we get ready to enter into our live stream service this morning we want to remind you of a couple things if you're watching on our youtube channel right now and want to engage in the chat in post-service prayer time you can do so by visiting our church website and clicking the join us button second our pastoral care team will be available in the chat for 30 minutes after the service to engage you further around the message answer any questions you have and for an extended time of prayer just click the request prayer button to connect with someone church let's quiet our hearts now as we focus in together on the word of god in our songs of worship and a message from scripture i'm looking forward to continuing with you in worship [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] do [Music] good morning church we want to extend an extra special warm welcome to all our fantastic dads out there happy father's day we appreciate all of you and we are so thankful for you we know this season hasn't been easy as a parent as you wear multiple hats each and every day thank you for your perseverance over this past year as you continue to share christ in your home thank you to all the dads uncles grandfathers stepdads and to all those men who care and go above and beyond to show love to those closest to them before we hear from our worship team today we wanted to take the time to say thank you as part of our service now whether you're new here or you've been calling the people's church home for years and wherever you're joining us from welcome to our online service [Music] if you're watching us on our youtube channel this morning and are wondering where the chat's gone we'd love to welcome you to join us at our new home for our online worship experience each sunday simply visit our church website and click the join us button to engage with our online hosts pastors and church family in new and exciting ways at the end of the service today our virtual church lobby will stay open for 30 minutes for you to engage further with today's message and for an extended time of prayer with our pastoral team today pastor brett begins a new series called jonah nationalism racism and the gospel before we sing out loud to our great god together let's pray our father you're the best dad ever thank you for being our father thank you for accepting us in your family as your children and today i want to thank you for all the dad's stepdads grandfathers uncles male figures in our congregation i pray that they will be men after your own heart as they care of the people dear on your heart and on theirs father god as we prepare our hearts to worship you i pray that our hearts will be the good soil where your word will fall and will bear fruit for your glory we pray this in jesus name amen now before we hear from our worship team today we want to acknowledge all our dads joining us to worship a good dad is strong and he keeps me safe a good dad is wise a good dad works hard to take care of his family a good dad helps when you need him a good dad gives good gifts to his children [Music] a good dad shows up a good dad loves us no matter what we do thanks for trying to show us god by loving us the way he does [Music] and thank you god for loving us as only a perfect father could [Music] happy father's day dads happy father's day dads man it's so good to be with you today uh to all my kids my three kids at home hi guys good to see you soon i'll see you soon and we'll have a fun afternoon together but for all you dads out there we love you we appreciate you and we celebrate you today you know there are all kinds of examples of fathers and sons and fathers and daughters and relationships family relationships in scripture and i want to just um turn our attention to the end of first chronicles where this is the passing of david and his reign as king onto solomon one of his sons and for him to become king and i just love that at the close of david's reign one of the final things that he's recorded in saying here in scripture is praise praise to god praise to the lord and he is able to set his son's reign out on the right foot by helping him to to carve a good path and it says here david praised the lord in the presence of the whole assembly saying praise be to you o lord god of our father israel from everlasting to everlasting yours o lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor for everything in heaven and earth is yours yours o lord is the kingdom you are exalted as head over all wealth and honor come from you you are the ruler of all things in your hands our strength and power to exalt and give strength to all now our god we give you thanks and praise your glorious name fathers and everyone else who's with us today we want to lift hi the name of jesus we want to praise him and if you're in the presence of your kids today then i would hope that you would set an example for how to praise and how to worship your god and your father today how to honor him so could we all stand wherever we are in many different rooms across this country or around the world wherever you are at joining us from today and let's lift high our god today let's praise him with all we have let's join with all creation and praise the king of kings today let's sing the song together come on praise god from [Music] praise him all creatures here below [Music] praise him out of he heavenly [Music] praise father son and holy amen hallelujah to the lamb let's sing that together again church come on praise god praise god from praise him praise him all creatures hear [Music] raise him above [Music] heavenly [Music] and praise father son and holy we worship you today lord jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] and praise the fall praise the son [Music] of praise praise forever [Music] [Music] jesus foreign sun rays praise forever in the morning that you rose all of heaven held its breath till that stone was built for good for the lamb had conquered death [Music] yes [Music] [Music] for the love of jesus christ who has a resurrected [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign amen amen amen church we're going to learn a new song today are you ready to learn a new song can i hear you that's kind of quiet in here but i'm gonna i'm gonna take it that you're with me today we're learning a song called make us one and the words of this song just declare some great things that no matter what nation what denomination what generation we are in we want to see the reconciliation of the father with his children today come on let's sing this out can you put your hands together wherever you are yeah come on we worship you lord [Music] father holy spirit one with the father one with the spirit one with the son of god one with our sister one with our brother one family by the blood make us make us [Music] together church one voice your second verse one heart with heaven one mind connected one body us together now and forever jesus be glorified here's the chorus [Music] make us [Music] make [Music] offenses we confess we've been afraid we repent of all the all right washed away for all the wars and fights against our enemy come here [Music] lord make us [Music] oh [Music] lord one heart one mind one body unified lord you can move mountains in our lives and you can move the mountain that is in front of us when it comes to these things seeing eye to eye with our brother and sister being one around the things that we agree upon around the centrality of jesus christ this lord [Music] the lordship of the father the son the holy spirit so lord we praise you today praise you wherever we are even though we're not in one room today we praise you with one voice father i thank you for what you're doing in our hearts in our minds the work of transformation which is ongoing in each of us [Music] thank you for the salvation that we've received and that it is once and for always but lord i pray that we would just release to you the control of our hearts and minds today [Music] and allow you to heal wounds [Music] to restore truth [Music] and breathe life we need you today lord we need you we run to you today in jesus name amen [Music] [Music] too long on my own [Music] i wasn't created to bury it alone i hear your invitation [Music] to let it all go i see it now i'm laying it down [Music] no [Music] [Music] again [Music] you saw my condition [Music] the [Music] for that kind of love i don't understand i can't comprehend all i know is [Music] [Music] again and again and again [Music] my heart has been in your sights [Music] is oh i feel this rush deep in my chest your mercy is calling out just as fall into grace [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] again and again and again [Music] thank you father for your great love for us it is always there it is faithful [Music] but your arms are wide open ready to receive us [Music] we run to you today we worship you lord with all we have with all creation today in jesus name amen hello friends happy father's day to our dad happy father's day to my wonderful husband mark whether you are a biological father a stepdad a father by adoption or spiritual father we wish you happy father's day today and we're happy that we have our heavenly father that we can come to him anytime and worship and bringing our tithe and offering is a way that we worship our lord we thank him for his provision as we bring our ties and offering cheerfully faithfully generously we remember how he's blessed us as his provide for our families and how he's given us seed to be able to invest in his kingdom whether it's locally or around the world there are several ways you can give you can give by texting people's gift at 77977 you can give by clicking on the give button in the chat right now or you can also give online by visiting the church website in the past few weeks we've concluded our global missions conference where we were challenged to see the world differently and to engage in mission differently and faith promise is a way for us to engage in our global mission it's a prayerfully pledged to commit financially to the work that we're doing globally in the coming years so whether you need to submit your faith promise if you haven't done it yet or if you need to find out more about how you can do it we encourage you to visit our church website so let's come together to the lord to lead our prayers and to live to our tithe and offering let's pray heavenly father we thank you for your provision we thank you that you blessed us your good god you are our abba father daddy god and you are the one who provide and on this father's day we thank you that we have a heavenly father we thank you father we pray for all our dads we thank you that you've touched their hearts today in a special way we thank you that you will continue to provide as they seek to provide for their families we thank you father god that you continue to protect them as they seek to protect those that you've entrusted to them father we thank you that you will continue to preserve them as they seek to preserve the truth of your word for the next generation of god we pray that you will give them an abundance of grace and wisdom that they will be able to lead their children in faith father we thank you for them today we pray for those fathers who may have lost their health all their job all sorts of incomes recovered we pray father that you will make the way for them where there is no way oh god we pray for those who have lost the father together whether in the past or during covet we thank you that you will comfort them touch their heart father let them know that they have a heavenly father who is a father to the fatherless and to the orphans and we remember lord god fires as fall the nine-year-old from london ontario who lord he's lost his father and mother and sister to the june 6 attack in london ontario we thank you that you would touch him today in a very special way let him know that you were there father send laborers on his path to minister your grace to him lord god and father as pastor brett prepares a mess present the message today from the new series oh god in jonah we thank you that you would anoint him by your holy spirit help him to bring a powerful prophetic word that would touch our hearts and that words will bring healing will bring peace will bring truth and reconciliation in our church and in our community of god father we pray that you will make us one as in john 17 21 father son holy spirit that we will enter into that unitarian unity father we thank you for the beautiful unity and diversity that we have here at the people's church so we pray that you will continue to just bring the word in our spirit that heart we prepared to receive that word we thank you and we bless you in jesus name we pray amen church let's now welcome pastor bread as we bring our worship today from his new series from the book of jonah a good morning church happy father's day to all you dads out there if you have your bible that i invite you to turn to jonah chapter 1. jonah is a powerful powerful book and i i felt led to step into this book last year as i was praying through the upcoming preaching calendar this this was what was laid on my heart to go into after our global missions conference and as i was preparing this in the past few weeks i don't know if you follow the news but there was a lobster fisherman just off the coast of maine a couple weeks ago he was taking his seven second dive into the water to catch some lobsters and when he dove into the water everything went dark and he quickly realized that he was in the mouth of a large animal it turns out that he wasn't in the mouth of a shark which is what he thought first but in fact in the mouth of a whale and i guess the whale didn't like the flavor he ended up spitting him out he had some minor injuries and recovered well in hospital that but that blew up facebook and twitter and and social media michael packard was swallowed by a whale and it quickly reminded people of the book of jonen when i heard that story i was like thank you lord you gave me some free advertising right before we went into jonah my youngest son thought that was a bit insensitive but such is the case as it is now when we come to the book of jonah we tend to remember the sunday school version of jonah and and often the image of a whale we don't know what kind of fish swallowed jonah but that's what we remember from this book but jonah is about so much more jonah is a book that presents timeless themes it's a book that's relevant in every generation we see the principles contained in this book at work in our world all around us and also at work in our own lives within the book of jonah we observe the very human struggle that he goes through as a strict nationalism drives some of his decisions there's racial tensions as jonah struggles to embrace god's call to his enemies and there's a frustration in his walk with god when when god's call for service goes beyond his comfortable understanding of what it means to be a believer but most of all jonah is about god's compassion it is an emotionally charged book that reveals the very heartbeat of god you look around our world today and we live in a world that is divided tribe against tribe nation against nation kingdom against kingdom coalition against coalition even our united nations are not united national interests draw strict lines and lead to an us versus them dichotomy that often leads to conflict nations go to war against other nations with weapons of warfare such as drones bombs and armies sent in or economic weapons such as sanctions or market manipulations but in the midst of this reality god calls his people to live differently embedded in the very promise given to abraham god reveals his heart i will make you a blessing to the nations you're going to be a kingdom that is different from the rest of the kingdoms of the world you're going to be a tribe that reflects my heartbeat to a broken world but as we will see in the life of jonah it took time for god to help his people understand his purposes god asked to help jonah let go of his national identity and expand his vision of the kingdom so that he understands that eventually the kingdom of heaven will be composed of every nation tribe people and language but even beyond that jonah is a book about a father disciplining his child something very relevant on father's day let's dive in jonah chapter 1 verse 1 we read this the word of the lord came to jonah son of amitai go to the great city of nineveh and preach against it because its wickedness has come up before me but jonah ran away from the lord and headed for tarshish he went down to joppa where he found a ship bound for that port after paying the fare he went aboard and sailed for tarshish to flee from the lord you notice that opening statement jonah the book of jonah opens with him running away from the lord he's called to nineveh which is east of israel but he goes to the furthest southwestern point in israel joppa and he gets on board a ship and he purchases a ticket to the furthest port city known in his day and age he purchases a ticket to the end of the line tarshish was the furthest point away you could get from nineveh this is like being called in canada by god to go to saint john's newfoundland and you end up purchasing a ticket to victoria bc it's the exact opposite of what god asked him to do this isn't casual disobedience this is outright overt rebellion on the part of jonah and so it begs the question why is jonah running away from his calling what has this prophet running the wrong way is he simply the very worst missionary we've encountered in the scriptures god gives him an assignment and he goes the opposite direction is he afraid of what god's asking him to do or is he just having a rough patch in his walk with god in order to explore those questions we have to go into a bit of the back story of jonah to understand why he's running now we know from the scriptures that jonah is a prophet among the northern tribes of israel after king solomon the kingdom of israel split into two kingdoms ten tribes to the north known as israel two to the south judah and benjamin known as the kingdom of judah and the ten tribes to the north the first king was jeroboam and he established idolatry in the nation he made two golden calves one and dan to the north one in beersheba to the western and led the people to worship god at these golden calves and so when you study the old testament kings the nation of israel never had a good king it was always referred to as a bad king who did evil in the eyes of the lord this went on for hundreds of years for for decade after decade sin and idolatry reigned prophet after prophet was sent to the people of israel but they didn't listen elijah and elijah two of the old testaments and most notable prophets were sent to the northern kingdoms and jonah himself appears quickly in the book of kings for a brief moment when he pronounces a favorable prophecy concerning the wicked king jeroboam ii and that he would win a battle that would extend the northern boundaries now god allowed this because it was in that time of national distress and god came to the aid of his people despite their wickedness and so we capture a brief glimpse of jonah in the book of kings bringing good news but overall when you study the northern tribes they were a mess idolatry sin abandoning god prophet after prophet bringing warnings hundreds of years to call them back now jonah is also a contemporary of amos who is one of the minor prophets and amos prophesied that the northern tribes would be punished for their wickedness that a great and mighty nation would come and take them into exile because of their sin and idolatry and that nation would be assyria and the capital city of assyria is nineveh it begins to help us understand why jonah runs in the opposite direction nineveh was the largest city of its day it was the center of power for the gentile world and it was known for its wickedness and its violence and so god is calling his prophet to the epicenter of power to the very enemies that will eventually slaughter and punish his people for their disobedience god has called him to go and preach to his enemies and so it begs a deeper question is jonah running because he's afraid certainly he's heard of their savagery and maybe he's worried that when he brings this message of judgment they might get an early start in their punishment of israel and and take his life is he running because he's afraid of what could happen to him or is he running because he doesn't want to follow god's call to a pagan city maybe he's concerned about the unrighteousness of nineveh and doesn't want to contaminate himself among the unclean well it's neither of those we're actually provided the answer in chapter 4 verse 2. jonah details the reasons why he didn't want to go to nineveh and we're told that jonah is running away because he is afraid of god's love and compassion jonah 4 verse 2 he says this i knew that you are a gracious and compassionate god slow to anger and abounding in love a god who relents from sending calamity jonah knows that god is a god of love and mercy he's quoting moses's experience and description of god from exodus and he's a god who delights in reconciliation and redemption and he doesn't want god's mercy to be extended to his enemies jonah wants the justice of god the judgment of god for his enemies not the mercy or compassion of god to be extended he wants god to smash them and maybe jonah is struggling to reconcile the call of god with his own sense of nationalism nationalism is literally defined as this identification with one's own nation and support for its interests especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations now we know from scripture that out of all the tribes and nations on earth god had chosen the nation of israel to be the vehicle through which he would reveal himself but as you move throughout the old testament this reality of being chosen by god this election this special standing with god led to a pride in the nation's hearts they viewed themselves as the chosen the elect the special ones and started to distance themselves from the surrounding nations and struggled to understand how god was at work in the nations around them and in the other parts of the world and jonah is concerned that the call of god leads him to go to a people that will eventually smash and punish and slaughter maybe even his own family members in our modern reading of a text like this it would be like god appearing to jonah today in the nation of israel and saying i want you to go to the past palestinian people i want you to go to the leaders of hamas and bring a message to them something that would be very difficult whether it's a palestinian going to israel or in israel like going to palestine you would see the complexity and layers of god's call there now we know from scripture that god calls us to love our enemies but let's be honest that's easier said than done last week during our dna conference we heard from mike gore who works with open doors and we heard about the persecuted church and some of the torture and savagery that's being committed against christians globally but at the same time we heard of brothers and sisters in christ who are bearing up under unspeakable torture extending the love of god and the compassion of god to the people who are victimizing them i got to be honest i was deeply challenged as i listened to mike share those stories to see persecution differently but also to hear of loving your enemies differently you know maybe for us today it may not be persecution certainly in the west we we don't wrestle with that much but the first chapter of jonah raises the question for us who do you struggle to love is there a group of people that you would struggle to embrace if god called you to go to them would it make you upset if god displayed his compassion and love to them and asked you to join him in it jonah's called to be an agent of reconciliation but becomes an agent of rebellion and runs away from his calling but there's only one problem you can't run away from god there is literally no place on the planet that you can go and get away from him and jonah's about to learn that lesson look at what happens in verse 4. then the lord sent a great wind on the sea and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up all the sailors were afraid and each cried to his own god and they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship but jonah had gone below deck where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep notice the wording there in verse 4 the lord sent a violent storm he sent a great wind on the sea god is the one bringing the calamity god is the one sending the consequences into jonah's life and even the sailors on board can discern that this is from god in their lack of understanding they don't know which god it is and so they start to pray to all of them but they at least discern that this is no ordinary storm something supernatural is taking place and is behind this the whole group of sailors are suffering suffering a loss of cargo potentially the breaking up of the ship their own lives in the balance because of the disobedience of jonah his actions have put everyone at risk and everyone is afraid and are fully aware that god is behind this and where is our rebellious missionary but we're told that he's below deck fast asleep you know when there's an emergency and everyone's running around because of what's going on and they're afraid you kind of notice someone who's not joining in that action and jonah is kind of standing out from the crowd because while everybody else is trying to problem solve he's fast asleep below deck so after they've thrown the cargo overboard the captain is sent to talk to jonah look at what he says to him in verse the captain went to him and said how can you sleep get up and call on your god maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish wow think about that for a moment the person who doesn't know god is rebuking the prophet of god god is confronting jonah's stubbornness through the captain of the ship he and the other sailors are trying to get everyone to pray and the one who doesn't know god the pagan in jonah's opinion goes to the prophet of god and basically says call on your god get on your knees maybe he will take notice and save us i mean it's a pretty sad situation when the pagan needs to awaken the prophet to get him to pray you know when we are disobedient to god's calling on our lives everyone around us suffers when we run away from what god's asking us to do it brings calamity storms rage lives are at risk and even as christians we can be guilty of this god can call us to incarnate amongst a people group to serve his purposes but in our distaste for what's happening in that neighborhood or in that country or we don't want to go to that people group we can distance ourselves from his calling on our lives and that we become critical of the very spaces and neighborhoods that we've distanced ourselves from as god's people and here you have a situation where the captain of the ship comes to jonah the man of god and he says would you please pray and intercede would you would you engage in mission you know when we run from our call we put others at risk and i'm amazed at how god uses the sailors to get the prophet's attention it's almost as though in his disobedience god is using the sailors to teach jonah something about seeing others differently he's using them to teach jonah that all of humanity is searching for the truth but jonah still continues to display his reluctance to help in the situation when they ask him to pray there's no evidence that he offers a solution there's a stubbornness to him my goodness he might be the worst missionary that we encounter in the scriptures because the sailors continue to try and discern why this great calamity has come and they begin to cast lots we're told in verse 7. then the sailors said to each other come let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity they cast lots and the lot fell to jonah so they asked him tell us who is responsible for making all this trouble for us what kind of work do you do where do you come from what is your country from who what people are you jonah makes them cast lots to confirm that it's him now there was probably dozens of people on board so casting lots to determine who it was probably took some time they probably had to go through a few rounds of it and jonah every time that they're casting lots and it's narrowing down to who it is and there's only a few of them left and and he's still among the group he had every opportunity to confess what he was doing on that ship but there's a reluctance to do so it's it's like there's a stubbornness to jonah and when i read this story it reminded me of growing up one time my mother was at work and whenever my mother went to work my dad was left to cook for us and my dad didn't learn how to cook until we had left home and so i vividly remember this story that one evening she had an evening shift and we were left at the mercy of his culinary skills and he decided that it would be a good idea to make an eight-year-old and a six-year-old some cream of mushroom soup what kind of dad does that to their kids i'm sorry dad happy father's day i'll see you later today but but seriously emotional scarring cream of mushroom soup you think that kids are gonna like that and my brother and i were bound and determined that day that that soup was not going into our mouths and down our throats and so we were very tight-lipped we were stubborn we were dug in he was bound and determined to get us to eat it but we just would not do it i think of that because i think of jonah there's a stubbornness to him there's a reluctance that goes right up until the lot falls upon him but now god has provided a miraculous storm and a miraculous lot and then the interrogation begins who are you where are you from what have you done and jonah responds in verse 9. he answered i am a hebrew and i worship the lord the god of heaven who made the sea in the dry land this terrified them and they asked what have you done i am a hebrew and i worship yahweh the covenant name of god given to moses in exodus chapter 3. jonah persists to tell them he is the god of heaven who made the sea and the dry land in other words he is the god of everywhere there's no getting out of this one there's nowhere you can get away there's no getting out of this situation and this terrified the sailors they persist to interrogate him what have you done now we're told later in the text that they know he's running away from the lord it's in brackets in the text because he had already told them that so when they took him aboard they had heard that he's running from his god but being men of the sea who take travelers to different ports maybe they've heard all kinds of stories as to why people run you're running away from your god good ten others are as well come aboard maybe they just think that the lord's like any other god that they've heard when they take people aboard people go on to ships and sail for all kinds of reasons some people would be there to get away from the law they committed a crime and they need to get out of dodge other people are running away from their god other people are having a crisis of life and maybe are running away from family responsibilities others are just seeking a sense of adventure but jonah gets on board and they know he's running from the lord but what they're coming to understand is that the god of the hebrew the god yahweh is different from any other god he actually has real power he can cast up and create storms on the sea he is the god of everywhere and so what we see is that even in jonah's disobedience god is making himself known to the surrounding nations something that he's trying to get jonah's attention to jonah declares this to them and then we read in verse 11 that the sea was getting rougher and rougher so they asked him what should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us pick me up and throw me into the sea he replied and it will become calm i know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you wow jonah basically says to them kill me murder me throw me into the water i know it's my fault just toss me overboard can i just point something out there jonah doesn't offer to jump in i mean if jonah was really noble he'd say look guys this is my fault i'm not gonna make you kill me i'm just gonna cannonball over the side and then it'll grow calm but but jonah puts it in their hands you have to pick me up you have to throw me under the water something that was tattooed to murder in their opinion and something that they wrestled with because look at their response in verse 13. instead the men did their best to row back to land but they could not get there but they could not for the sea grew even wilder than before it seems that god wants the sailors to throw him into the water because no matter how hard they try to get back to shore the sea grows wild and wilder and it's like god is saying yes throw him in he needs to learn a lesson chuck them overboard i mean this points to a reality that we encounter throughout the scriptures disobedience brings consequences i mean that's true in parenting isn't it if your child disobeys there's consequences attached to their disobedience it's true in the natural laws of our society if you break a law you will be punished if you speed and there's a police officer around you're more than likely going to get a ticket you break the law you are punished and it's true with god if you run from god there are consequences can come into your life storms can grow and it can result in putting others around you at risk now in our modern sensibilities we sometimes try to domesticate god and make no mistake though there are consequences to your disobedience now there's a difference between discipline and judgment discipline is god getting you back online and training you for fruitful living judgment is when god determines that a person or a people group are beyond redemption and will not repent ever but only resist him and bring harm to everyone around them we see that in the book of exodus when god sends moses to pharaoh in egypt five times pharaoh hardens his heart and so the second five plagues god hands him over to the hardness of his heart that already existed as he pours out his judgment on pharaoh in egypt and so we know from scripture that god disciplines us for our good and jonah knows that god is hesitant to send destruction until there is no other recourse for people but here we see god bringing discipline into the life of jonah because god's the one who sends the storm he's the one who hems him in to the storm the more they resist the more it rages against them the reality is that they aren't resisting the storm they're resisting god himself now some of you are in that place today you're running away from god and the storms are raging around you the seas are growing rough in your life and the harder you try to get to shore the fiercer the storm grows no matter what you do things are getting worse not better and you know deep down that it's because you're resisting god you're not fighting against a storm or a circumstance in your life or a situation but against your creator you're resisting his call you're running in the opposite direction and you're trying to get away from him and you've tried to convince yourself that it's not him you're resisting but simply the situation or the problem in your life and you have justified yourself before him countless times you've you've told him the litany of reasons that it's not you who's the problem it's all others like nineveh and you think you have a right to hold on to your anger or your self-justification or your pride but the more you grip it the greater the storm rages you've tried everything throwing the cargo overboard rowing with all your might but like jonah you're at the end of the line the truth is you're fighting against god and like a stubborn child you're refusing to let go and he's inviting you he's calling you he's creating circumstances to hem you in and deal with the self-righteousness or the anger or to embrace his compassion but you just can't seem to let it go can i just give you one piece of encouragement today let it go you've carried that baggage for so long and it's heavy and it's weighing you down you don't have to resist him anymore trust him and he will heal your pain your anger and yes even your pride let him let him take hold of you and lead you in chapter one god disciplines we learn that god disciplines us not to destroy us but in order to rescue us from our own destructive choices and god sends discipline into the life of jonah to get him back on track not just who is calling to nineveh but also in his relationship and understanding of god the two are intertwined and as you read the rest of the chapter the sailors come to fear god and offer him sacrifices and vows something that god's trying to get jonah to see throughout the letter that the nations he may look down on aren't as wicked as he sees them they just don't know the truth of who god is we also learn that even jonah's lowest moment is used by god as a redemptive moment but what i find truly amazing is that as the sailors prayerfully send jonah overboard god who is rich in mercy provides a fish to swallow him we are told in the final verse the lord provided a great fish yahweh provides the covenant name of god his hesid his faithfulness provides a fish to swallow him god is not finished with his prophet and provides a way back to relationship even at the height of his rebellion and sin god sends hope into this situation and his despair i find that comforting that no matter how far we have run away no matter how disobedient we have been our heavenly father provides a way back to relationship now it may not be a pleasant experience i can only imagine that being in the belly of a fish wasn't a pleasant experience because disobedience has real consequences attached to it but we can rest assured that his discipline is rooted in love and that god remains faithful even when we are not and so if you're on the run from god this morning and the storms are raging in your life there is a pathway back to peace next week we will dive into a prayer meeting that takes place in the belly of a fish likely the oddest location ever recorded in history for a prayer meeting and we will observe some of the deeper lessons that discipline plays in our lives and in the life of jonah let's pray father no matter how far we run from you we can't run away from you lord forgive us for those moments in our life where we cling to our way so desperately we dig in so deeply and like stubborn children run in the opposite direction from you and lord if there's anyone watching this morning that's finds themself in that place give them eyes to see where they're at in life give them a sense to know what they're gripping so tightly and father would you in your grace and mercy meet them in that place and enable them to let it go and find your peace we thank you lord that you don't run away from runaways that you meet us even in our darkest moments and so we pray that you would have your way in our midst in our lives we ask this in jesus name amen god bless you church i would encourage you to read the book of jonah in the week ahead to prepare for next week in the coming of the rest of the series happy father's day to all you dads out there i know there will be many many burnt offerings a pleasing aroma going up to our heavenly father have a great rest of your day thanks for worshiping with us today church it's so great to learn grow and encourage one another each week as a reminder our church lobby will stay open for the next 30 minutes for a time of extended prayer and connection with our pastoral staff and church family please continue to follow us on social media and our church website for updates on the exciting ways we'll get to stay connected online as we grow in our spiritual walk and share god's love together next week we'll be back together for a time of worship and we will be taking communion together during the service so we encourage you to gather your communion elements before you join us for our online service experience thanks for being with us today as we look forward to another great time together next sunday we hope you'll continue to draw close to god throughout the week god bless you [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: The Peoples Church

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Length: 122min 4sec (7324 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 20 2021