04 Feb “Jonah’s Life Lessons” – All Locations

This Week’s Announcements (waterschurch.org/events):

Backyard Blessing:  One of our Action Groups is gearing up to bless a child with a backyard playhouse.   Please consider helping by donating something to the Give Send Go account.  They need $2000 to begin construction.  Please reference “Backyard Blessing” with your gift.

Alpha Class: If you or a group member would like to volunteer to make meals for the Alpha Class in Woonsocket or Southcoast, please visit our events page and click on Meal Prep for your perspective location waterschurch.org/events.

Financial Peace: FPU begins the week of February 3rd.  CLICK THIS LINK OR visit waterschurch.org/events for more information. If you’ve missed the first class, it’s not too late– there’s still time to join week 2!

Really Big Things 40-Week Offering: Our 40-week offering collection is. fast approaching! The Really Big Things offering is on the weekend of February 17/18th. Please keep saving and praying for God to Really Big Things through Waters Church for the spread of the Gospel and the Glory of Jesus Christ. For more information please visit: waterschurch.org/give/really-big-things

*************

Reminders:

✳ Please regularly check your Planning Center profiles for requests to join your life groups, remove members from the list that no longer attend, or add members not listed. Please ensure that you have added no-reply@churchcenter.com to your email contacts so that you do not miss an email from Planning Center and encourage your members to do so as well.  This will ensure you do not miss a member request or any emails that come from the Planning Center site. Thank you!

Discover Class: Leaders, we have updated the Discover Class (formerly Growth Track). We encourage everyone to attend this new class which is held on the 1st Sunday of the month.

Waters Class Schedule:

• 1st Sunday: Discover Waters – after 1st service
• 2nd Sunday: NO CLASSES
• 3rd Sunday: Connect Class – after 1st service
• 4th Sunday: Baptism Class – after 1st service

Waters Help: Need marriage and family care  or have a group member in need of marriage and family care?   Click here:  help resources page  or visit waterschurch.org/help

Location Text Alerts:

North Attleboro	Text “subscribe” to 508 695-1300
Norwood	Text “subscribe” to 781 762-3357
Apollo Beach	Text “subscribe” to 813 642-6979
Woonsocket	Text “subscribe” to 833 241-4837
Southcoast	Text “subscribe” to 508 809-3490

*********************

Key Verse: Jonah 1-4

Ice breaker:

Q. If you could step into the shoes of a historical figure for a day, not necessarily famous but impactful, who would it be and what aspect of their life would you want to experience?

Jonah’s Life Lessons

Jonah 1-4

Pastor Jim opened with the quote, “Wise Men Learn from Their Mistakes, But Wiser Men Learn from The Mistakes of Others.” The Bible has similar verses. In the Message version of Proverbs 21:11, it says, “Simpletons only learn the hard way, but the wise learn by listening.”

Jonah’s story is here for us to learn from. Jonah was a prophet and thought to be part of Elisha’s ministry and ministered to the most powerful kings of Israel, yet it is this story, that is recorded.

 

Backstory cliff notes:

Nineveh, the most important city in Assyria, was strategically located as a trade hub 500 miles from Israel. God saw its wickedness, involving evil plots, exploitation of the helpless, cruelty in war, idolatry, prostitution, and witchcraft. Populated by roughly 600,000 people, including 120,000 individuals untutored in moral and spiritual issues, the gentile city was considered unworthy of God’s salvation by the Jews.

In the story, God calls Jonah to deliver a message to the “enemy” city of Nineveh, but he refuses, attempts to escape by boarding a boat, and ends up in a powerful storm. Jonah then gets tossed overboard and is swallowed by a big fish. Finally, Jonah confesses his sins on the 3rd day while in the belly of the big fish. God then commands him to be vomited up on the shore. Jonah then follows God’s call to preach repentance in Nineveh, resulting in their repentance and God’s decision to withhold His destruction, leaving Jonah discontent with the outcome.

Why is this the recorded story? There is a consistent theme throughout: GRACE.

 

Jonah’s Life Lesson 1: SIN is in ALL of US.

In the book of Jonah, two people show us sin: Jonah and the people of Nineveh. Jonah represents God’s people and our inclination to sin, and the Ninevites embody those far from God and lost in sin.

Jonah 1:3 (ESV)

Running or avoiding God is a symptom.

There’s always a reason: it’s sin. The mask sin wears in each person may look different, but it’s still sin. Jonah 4:1-2 shows Jonah’s root cause for running or avoiding God. God calls Jonah to go to his enemy’s city to preach repentance, but Jonah hates his enemy and thinks them undeserving of God’s grace. He hated them so much he didn’t want to be part of their salvation.

We, too, may have run from God or attempted to avoid Him. If we are not walking with God, we are walking away from Him. The root cause of running or avoiding is identical, but the mask it wears differs. Jonah’s sin was not just disobedience but what was propelling the disobedience.

Jonah 1:2 (ESV)

Nineveh’s specific sin isn’t outlined here, but it’s referenced as “evil.” Nineveh’s sin and running or avoiding God looked different, but they were still sinning.

Romans 3:23-24 (NIV)

All have sinned. All are justified freely by the gift of grace.

Q. Jonah ran from God when called to Nineveh. In our lives, what are some common masks or excuses we use to avoid God, and how can we identify the root cause of running in our own experiences?

 

Jonah’s Life Lesson 2: GOD responds to REPENTANCE.

Repentance is in two places: Jonah and the Ninevites. Both Christians and non-Christians need to repent of their sin. It’s not negotiable.

 

Jonah 2:1-9 (ESV) shows Jonah’s repentance

What had to happen for Jonah to get in the fish? First, God sent the storm, and then God sent the great fish. Sometimes, the storm or the fish is not the punishment. Sometimes, it’s what is sent to bring you back to God– to where you have no other choice but to say, “God, I need you. I repent.”

Jonah ends his prayer with, “Salvation belongs to the Lord.”

After his repentance God commands the fish to throw him up. Then He sends Jonah to Nineveh with the message.

 

Jonah 3:5-10 (ESV) shows Nineveh’s repentance

God sent Jonah to Nineveh so they would repent. Jonah tells the city it’s all going to end in 40 days. The king then made a decree that everyone would fast, including the animals and repent. When God saw they had turned from their evil ways, He withheld His wrath.

 

Luke 5:32 (ESV)

Notice the word used is “repentance”; not live a better life.

 

Q. Jonah prays a prayer of thanksgiving in the darkest part of his life, acknowledging God’s grace. How can we apply the principle of gratitude in our prayers, especially during challenging times?

 

Jonah’s Life Lesson 3: GOD is full of GRACE and COMPASSION.

 

The two people in Jonah who receive God’s Grace and Compassion are Jonah and the Ninevites.

Repentance is sometimes the first stepping stone to receiving God’s Grace and Compassion so that you may share it with others. If you are far from God, turn from your evil, wicked ways, repent, and turn to Jesus Christ. He has abundant life in Him. The storm has been sent to your life to bring you here.

 

John 14:6 (ESV)

Do not overcomplicate it! Stop trying what you’ve been trying.

 

Jonah 4:1-2 (ESV)

Jonah 4:10-11 (ESV)

 

Jonah went outside the city to watch their destruction, and in God’s compassion, He sent a plant to shelter him from the heat. Then God sent a worm to destroy the plant, and Jonah got upset. God then tells Jonah he has no right to be angry for something he had no part in.

God uses this as an example to show how He is the Creator of all and that Jonah should be upset about the 120,000 people who have not heard about God.

Jonah’s story isn’t about him. From the beginning, God’s intention was the salvation of many Ninevites! But Jonah can’t see through the forest.
Maybe you’re like Jonah and have a grudge or hurt against God. But our God rescues. He is rich in Mercy and Grace!
Nineveh receives Grace. God could have easily destroyed them, but He cared so much about the lost that He sent Jonah with the message of repentance.

 

Romans 6:14 (ESV)

Ephesians 2:4-7 (ESV)

 

By Grace, you can be saved and rescued by God, not by your works or good thoughts. The Grace of God through Christ Jesus is the only hope you have.

 

Q. Jonah initially resisted God’s call because he wanted Nineveh to be destroyed, not forgiven. How can we align our intentions with God’s desire for the salvation of others, even those we may find difficult to love?

 

Jonah’s Life Lesson 4: JONAH points to THE PERFECT PROPHET: JESUS.

Jonah was a troubled prophet but pointed to the perfect prophet: Jesus.

Matthew 12:39-41 (ESV)

The Lord says something better than Jonah is here: Jesus.

Luke 11:29-30 (ESV)

You’ve been looking for a sign, but your sign is in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is not simply a prophet who speaks on behalf of God. He is God in the flesh. The Word of God. The One who became sin and received the punishment for our sin. Jesus lived the perfect life no one else could and is the only way to God. He was obedient to God, even to the death on the Cross. Jonah was rescued from the darkness, but Jesus conquered the darkness.

 

Q. Consider the contrast between Jonah being rescued from darkness and Jesus conquering darkness. How does Jesus’ victory over sin and death bring hope to our lives, and how can we share this hope with others still in spiritual darkness?

Turn to GOD today and put your FAITH in JESUS . He is FAITHFUL to deliver you out of the DARKNESS and into God’s GLORIOUS LIGHT!

John 8:12 (ESV)

If you want to know Jesus, open up the Bible. The Pharisees put their hope in their works, and when Jesus came, they were blind. Why? They were holding on to what they thought made them holy. Put your hope in Jesus. He is faithful to deliver you. Jesus takes us out of the darkness and hopelessness and puts us into His marvelous light

Challenge: This week identify someone in your life currently experiencing “darkness” and share the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them.