Mirroring God's Heart

Would you please stand to your feet? We're gonna join in worship together. We're gonna get started with some joy today. We're gonna sing this song. It's about the joy of the Lord. Put your hands together, come on. Yeah. We sing. ♪ This is the day you made ♪ ♪ So I'll rejoice and be glad, rejoice and be glad in it ♪ Here we go. ♪ And this is where I believe ♪ ♪ That you are more than enough, more than enough for me ♪ Remember it's faithfulness. ♪ You are faithful to your promise ♪ ♪ You are strong when I am weak ♪ ♪ When I'm standing in your presence ♪ ♪ I have everything I need, we sing. ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ We sing that together. ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ And oh my soul, oh my soul, bless his name, oh my soul ♪ ♪ All that is within me sing, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. ♪ ♪ And Jesus, come what may, you are worthy of all, worthy of all my praise. ♪ ♪ You are faithful to your promise, you are strong when I am weak. ♪ ♪ When I'm standing in your presence, I have everything I need, we sing. ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. ♪ ♪ And oh my soul, bless his name, all that is within me sing, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. ♪ Come on, put your hands together.

Woo! ♪ Holy Spirit, let it rise, let it rise up like a river. ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit, let it pour, let it pour out with no limit. ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. ♪ Come on, sing it out. ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. ♪ ♪ And oh my soul, bless his name, all that is within me sing, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. ♪ Yes it is! Amen! Oh, it's such a joy to be in the house of the Lord. So would you take this moment to meet somebody next to you, greet your neighbor, get to know them a little bit for a couple minutes. We'll be right back. Alright, well welcome you guys. My name is Caleb. I haven't got the chance to meet you yet, but I would be excited to. Um, but yeah, it's a joy to be here today, isn't it? Uh, man, I just had such a good time, uh, yesterday, unfortunately, I didn't get to watch very many fireworks and stuff because I was at home with my wife taking care of her. She wasn't feeling well. Um, but, uh, man, it's a blessing to live here, to be, uh, in a place where we can worship the Lord freely. We can worship with him, uh, in spirit and in truth without any fear of anything, uh, without any, uh, just, uh, um, I guess, practical persecution, you know? Um, so that's a blessing because that's not true everywhere else. And so we're going to continue to sing about Jesus who, who sets us free spiritually, um, and, uh, just kind of takes us from death into life and is our living hope. So let's sing this next song together. I could not climb in desperation.

I turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night. Then through the darkness, your love and kindness tore through the shadows of my soul. The work is finished, the end is written. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Who could imagine so great a mercy? What heart could fathom such boundless grace? The God of ages stepped out from glory to wear my sin and bear my shame. The cross has spoken, I am forgiven. The King of kings calls me his own. Beautiful Savior, I'm yours forevermore. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Hallelujah, please the one who set me free. Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your buried body began to breathe. And out of the silence, the roaring lion declared, Death has no claim on me. Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your buried body began to breathe. And out of the silence, the roaring lion declared, The grave has no claim on me. Jesus, yours is the victory. Jesus. And hallelujah, please the one who set me free. Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name.

Jesus Christ, my living hope. ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, and Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Praise the one who set me free Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Death has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain ♪ ♪ There's salvation in Your name Jesus Christ my living hope ♪ ♪ My living hope Jesus Christ my living hope ♪ ♪ Yes You are, oh Jesus you are, oh Jesus you are ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ The Lord is my shepherd, and He is everything I need ♪ ♪ So I will not worry, I will not fear the enemy ♪ ♪ He said that He loves me, He said that He's with me even though ♪ ♪ I'll walk through the valley of shadow and death and still I know ♪ ♪ He has good friends, He has good friends ♪ ♪ For me, surrounded heart and deserts and gardens ♪ ♪ He has good friends, He has good friends ♪ ♪ For me, and I know my Father, I know my Father has good plans ♪ ♪ He has good plans for me, good plans ♪ ♪ The Lord is my Savior, so why should I doubt my victory? ♪ ♪ Why would I question the rod and the staff that carries me? ♪ ♪ Why should I doubt my victory? Why would I question the rod and the staff that comforts me? ♪ ♪ He quiets the waters, He quiets the storm inside of me, so what could be better than walking with Him? ♪ ♪ When I believe, He has good plans, He has good plans for me ♪ ♪ Surrounded heart and deserts and gardens, He has good plans, He has good plans for me ♪ ♪ If I know my Father, I know my Father has, He has good plans, He has good plans for me ♪ ♪ Surrounded heart and deserts and gardens, He has good plans, He has good plans for me ♪ ♪ If I know my Father, I know my Father has good plans, I know He has good plans, I know He has good plans ♪ ♪ He has good plans, He has good plans for me ♪ ♪ I know my Father has, I know my Father has ♪ ♪ Surely, in goodness and mercy You'll follow after me, so fear well, not fight me, cause I'll be dwelling in the house of God ♪ ♪ Surely, in goodness and mercy You'll follow after me, so fear well, not fight me, cause I'll be dwelling in the house of God ♪

♪ Surely, in goodness and mercy You'll follow after me, so fear well, not fight me, cause I'll be dwelling in the house of God ♪ ♪ God surely, your goodness and mercy follow after me ♪ ♪ So be well, my soul, as I'll be dwelling at your door ♪ ♪ He has good plans, He has good plans for me ♪ ♪ He has good plans for me ♪ ♪ So I will take on the desert ignorance ♪ ♪ He has good plans, He has good plans for me ♪ ♪ If I know my Father, I know my Father has good plans ♪ ♪ I know He has good plans, I know He has good plans ♪ ♪ If I know my Father, I know my Father has good plans ♪ ♪ He has good plans, He has good plans for me ♪ ♪ If I know my Father, I know my Father has good plans ♪ ♪ I know He has good plans, I know He has good plans for me ♪ ♪ Oh, yes, you have good plans, God ♪ ♪ Yes, you have good plans, Lord ♪ We sing, He has good plans one more time. ♪ And He has good plans ♪ ♪ He has good plans for me ♪ ♪ So I will take all the deserts and gardens ♪ ♪ He has good plans, He has good plans for me ♪ ♪ If I know my Father, I know my Father has good plans ♪ Amen, that's true, right? He's the good shepherd that has good plans for us. So we can trust Him wherever we are, whether we're on the mountain or we're in the valley, we can trust Him and know that He's good. ♪ Oh, Lord, we love You, Lord, we love You ♪ ♪ Oh, how high would I climb mountains ♪ ♪ If the mountains were where You hide ♪ ♪ And oh, how far I'd scale the valleys ♪

♪ If You graze the other side ♪ ♪ And oh, how long have I chased rivers ♪ ♪ From lowly seas to where they rise ♪ ♪ Against the rush of grace descending ♪ ♪ From the source of its supply ♪ ♪ Cause in the highlands, in the heartache ♪ ♪ You're neither more nor less inclined ♪ ♪ Oh, I would search and stop at nothing ♪ ♪ Boy, You're just not that hard to find ♪ ♪ Oh, we sing, I will praise You on the mountain ♪ ♪ I will praise You in the mountains in my way ♪ ♪ You're the summit where my feet are ♪ ♪ So I'll praise You in the valleys all the same ♪ ♪ No less God within the shadows ♪ ♪ No less faithful when the night leads me astray ♪ ♪ You're the heaven where my heart is ♪ ♪ Oh, in highlands, in the heartache all the same ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You know how far beneath Your glory ♪ ‪ Does Your kindness extend the power ♪ ♪ From where Your feet rest on the sunrise ♪ ♪ To where You sweep the sinner's paths ♪ ♪ And oh, how fast that You come running ♪ ♪ If just to shine through the night ♪ ♪ You trace my steps through all my fear ♪ ♪ And walk me out the other side ♪ ♪ For who could dare ascend that mountain ♪ ♪ That valley of hell called Calvary ♪ ♪ But for the one I call Good Shepherd ♪ ♪ Who I can live a slave for me, amen ♪

♪ So I praise you on the mountain ♪ ♪ I will praise you when the mountain's in my way ♪ ♪ You're the summit where my feet are ♪ ♪ So I praise you when the valley's all the same ♪ ♪ No less God within the shadows ♪ ♪ No less faithful when the night leads me astray ♪ ♪ You're the heaven where my heart is ♪ ♪ In the highlands and the heartache all the same ♪ ♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa-oh ♪ ♪ Wherever I walk, everywhere wherever I am ♪ ♪ You're naked now, mountains wherever I stayed ♪ ♪ If ever I walk through the valley of death ♪ ♪ I'll sing to the shadows my soul will see ♪ ♪ Wherever I walk, everywhere wherever I am ♪ ♪ You're naked now, mountains wherever I stayed ♪ ♪ If ever I walk through the valley of death ♪ ♪ I'll sing to the shadows my soul will see ♪ ♪ My soul will see, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Yeah, my soul will see, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ From the greatest of all valleys ♪ ♪ Come the pastures we call grace ♪ ♪ A mighty river flowing upwards ♪ ♪ From a deep but empty grave, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I will praise you on the mountains, sing ♪ ♪ I will praise you in the mountains, in the rain ♪ ♪ You're the summit where my feet are pained ♪ ♪ So I'll praise you in the valleys, all the same ♪ ♪ No less God within the shadows ♪ ♪ No less faithful when the night leads me astray ♪ ♪ You're the heaven where my heart is ♪

♪ In the highlands, in the heartache, all the same ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, we surrender to you ♪ ♪ You are the shepherd of our soul, sing this together ♪ ♪ And all to Jesus I surrender ♪ ♪ All to him I freely give ♪ ♪ All to him I freely give ♪ ♪ I will ever love and trust him ♪ ♪ In his presence daily begin ♪ ♪ And all to Jesus I surrender ♪ ♪ All to him I freely give ♪ ♪ And I will ever love and trust him ♪ ♪ In his presence daily begin ♪ Sing this together with all we have, I surrender all. Here we go. We sing, I surrender all. Sing that too. I surrender all All to Thee, my blessed Savior I surrender all again And I surrender all Jesus, I surrender all All to Thee, my blessed Savior I surrender all Let that be the posture of your hearts this morning Surrender everything to Jesus Sit in His presence Sing this again, all to Jesus I surrender All to Jesus I surrender all To Him I'm free again And I will ever love and trust Him

In His presence daily And I surrender all Sing it out I surrender all All to Thee, my blessed Savior I surrender all Lord, we love You, God We thank You for everything that You've done for us, God On the cross to be our living hope, Lord We thank You that You are also a good shepherd, Lord That never leaves our side wherever we're at, God And Lord, so we just lift a praise, Lord We lift just a shout of adoration to You this morning, God And praise You for being a God that dwells with us That dwells within us through the Holy Spirit And around us, God So Lord, I just pray this morning that You would remind us, Lord Of Your presence, that You would remind us Of Your grace and truth this morning As You refine us with Your word, God So we sit here today, Lord, with open hearts to You And open minds to hear from You, Jesus We love You, in Your name we pray Amen You may be seated, thank you Thank you A movement of ignorant preachers followed these families to the border They carried only what fit in their carriages They preached in cabins, in fields, in the open air Wherever people gathered

They traveled hundreds of miles on horseback They returned weeks after the same communities And they kept returning until something took root Francie Asbury was one of them When she arrived in the United States in 1771 There were relatively few believers in the West When she died 45 years later There were many more followers of Jesus Not because she built something impressive But because Jesus was already moving towards the people in those territories And Asbury and others were willing to move with Him The churches did not start with a Sunday of launch They started with a transformed life A faithful presence and people gathering around Jesus Week after week in any space they had For 121 this matters The planting of churches is not about finding the right place It is about following Jesus to the people And trusting that where He is proclaimed faithfully The community will be formed He moves first, we follow The Eglise Siac Crece cuando el evangelio avanza. All right, good morning, everyone. You guys made it. Congratulations, you are the crew that made it after July 4th. So good, good stuff. I'm proud of you guys for being here. I made a joke with the staff earlier

that the last time I preached was after Christmas and it was the same kind of joke. So I gotta start finding a new intro joke, but we're gonna keep rolling with it as long as I preach after holidays. But I wanted to start with something I have a confession to make. I did something that I thought I would never do over the weekend. And it's kind of a interesting one, a little bit embarrassing, maybe what I would have thought, but I finally caved with all of the hype of what's going on in the world right now in Dallas, Texas. I bought a USA soccer jersey this weekend. Let's go, right? Come on. Now, never in my wildest dreams did I think at one I would have a soccer jersey, but then two, that I would be watching soccer on the 4th of July, but those two things happened. It seemed like it was kind of counterintuitive. I thought I'd be watching a different kind of football, but here we are. But it's kind of fun to think about everything that's going on in our country right now and in the world. One, soccer is such a fun sport that I've been opened up to a little bit over the last couple years since being here.

But with the World Cup being local, a thriving soccer ministry on Sundays that Yehuda runs with the neighborhood kids and a lot of the young adults will go to, I guess I just got caught up in the moment and pulled the trigger on it. And it's been really fun to watch the World Cup. And it's fun because sports has a way of uniting us together. I don't know if you guys have felt that in the past, but it seems right now like there's moments in time like the Olympics or something that'll happen where it just kind of brings together a community of people and a country, and we're proud to be American. Cue the song, right? Proud Americans in that sense. But oftentimes we think about sports bringing us together, but there's also rivalries that can come with it. One that we constantly joke about from stage and different things that come up is the A&M-Texas rivalry. I don't know, see, there you go. We already know where you guys are on that side of things. But there's a few Texas fans out there that tend to stay more silent, and that's interesting. I went to DBU. So, I mean, our rivalry was just any pagan school. So that's a different kind of like university, school thought process there. But then there's other rivalries too, right?

Like think about the American football that's coming up in the fall. Like the Dallas Cowboys, they got their rivals, right? Who are they? No, it's themselves. They are their own greatest enemy. You guys got that wrong. So we'll work on it. You guys are getting it. And then there's obviously the 1776 rivalry. This is the July 4th themed rivalry of USA versus England. We had a staff group text going and Travis Muscatel said something funny in it. He said the only thing better this 4th of July weekend would have been as if USA beat England on July 4th to win the entire World Cup. And then what we could have done is if it was in Boston Stadium, everybody in the city could have gone and just grabbed all of the tea, dumped it into the harbor. It would have been amazing. And that would have been just the capstone to the 250th year of America. But we're out of that now. We're in the 251st, congrats, you made it. And now we're looking forward. But with these rivalries, and we think about sports and all those different things that come up,

there's oftentimes intense emotions that can come around with it as well. Think about envy, jealousy. If your other team that you don't like is doing better than you or I think about just the hard times that might've come in a rivalry, those big moments where there's bitterness or anger, potentially even hatred. And as we transition from what we did earlier this year by going through the Great Commission and then the church planting at First Thessalonians, we're about to go through the book of Jonah. And Jonah would have had no bigger rivalry than the Assyrian Empire. And that is what we're going to be looking for. So just like we are proud Americans for the USA soccer team right now, Jonah would have been a proud Israelite and wanted nothing to do with the Assyrians. And there's many reasons for that. But really in his pride of that arrogance, he misses the heart of God, that God is a God of all nations, not just his people. So when we think about that, we've already seen his heart in the sense series. We already see what he's going to do here with Jonah. We know the story for most part. If you grew up in church, it's really easy to be familiar with it.

But I'll be honest, full disclosure for me, it was really tough to prep for this message for two reasons. One, if you grew up in church, you probably know the story of Jonah. You hear the. big fish that swallows Jonah. You hear about the disobedience and he's running. You have the Sunday school story version of it. And that's what we think about. But there's a second reason that was really difficult for me to go through. And it's because the book of Jonah is meant to be a mirror. It's supposed to drop in front of my face and I'm supposed to see myself in Jonah in a lot of ways. And I think oftentimes, if we're honest with ourselves, we read the book of Jonah and it's like, this guy's kind of a clown. Like he's not doing the right thing. He's running from God. He's constantly bitter. He's angry. And then he just continues to go down his own destruction. And even when he does the right thing, he does it with a terrible attitude. But oftentimes I think my heart mirrors more that of Jonah than it does of God. And one thing that we're gonna realize as we go through this book for the next couple of weeks is that oftentimes God's heart does not mirror our heart.

And if we're called to reflect him, then we're called to reflect his heart as well. So the book of Jonah is meant to expose each of us. So as I was processing and prepping through this, I realized that there are so many times that I operate more like Jonah. And if we were honest, there's so many times that we all do in this room. But one of those things that's beautiful about that is the book of Jonah is oftentimes can be a diagnostic tool for us in our hearts. We can look at it in the mirror and start to see, okay, am I actually mirroring God's heart or mirroring Jonah's? Because oftentimes I'm leaning more towards Jonah. So if I were you, I would be taking notes on just a couple of questions that I ask throughout the rest of this message. I'll ask a couple of those diagnostic questions. And then what I would challenge you guys to do is later on when you go home, if you have time with the Lord, take that time and just go through those questions and do an honest evaluation. Let the spirit work and see if it convicts you in some way. Oftentimes, I feel like we can just come right into a Sunday service and just move right past it and not actually have change. But God's grace requires change. And that's the beauty of what he offers us today.

But before we dive into the word, we're gonna go through all of Jonah one. I'm not gonna read you in one sitting. I'm gonna break it down. But I wanna pray before us that God would just open our hearts and reveal his word to us before we dive in. So Lord, we thank you. We thank you for your word, your faithfulness. We thank you for your love while we're still sinners. And Father, that you sent your son to die for us, that we would have eternal life if we believe in him. So Father, I pray that as we look through the book of Jonah, that we would be in tune to what your spirit asks. Father, if there's ways that we're running from you or acting in disobedience, that we would quickly repent and turn to you. And Father, that we would be faithful and that you'd give us courage through your Holy Spirit to do the hard things. So Father, I pray that you would open our eyes and our hearts and our ears to your word. Father, may your words rise up, may mine fall. And Father, may you be glorified in this. It's in your name we pray, amen. All right, so let's dive in. We're gonna go through Jonah one. We're gonna start with verses one and three. It says, the word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai. 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. And after paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. So the book of Jonah starts with an immediate call, an immediate anchor that sets up the rest of the book. It's the word of the Lord came to Jonah. You'll see that language throughout different prophets in the Bible, but you'll see the word of the Lord come and it's saying whatever comes after that is a command because it's God's word. But it's interesting because in the book of Jonah, he doesn't listen very well with that. So before we see him get the call and he's supposed to go to the great city of Nineveh, which is now about modern day Masul, Iraq. So if you think about it, if you're a geography person, you got Israel kind of on the Mediterranean East Coast and then you've got northeast of that is the Assyrian Empire and that's where he was called to go. And if you've heard preachers talk on Jonah before, you've probably seen a map of how far Tarshish is and all of those different things. We're not gonna talk on that today, but he goes in the complete opposite direction. But his call originally is to go and preach against Nineveh because of its wickedness. So a rational next question would be, what is the wickedness that these Assyrians were committing?

What was the thing that was coming before the Lord and was displeasing to them? And we can look at history books and we will here in a second but I think the best way to look to it is about 100 or so years after Jonah, we see the book of Nahum and it preaches against Nineveh and the destruction that's coming for Nineveh and we can kind of see a lot there. So we're gonna see four things in the Bible that we know of Assyria to be true from the book of Nahum. And the first one is that they were known for plotting evil against the Lord. In Nahum 1.11, it says, from you Nineveh has one come forth who plots evil against the Lord and devises wicked plans. The second one would be idolatry. In verse 14, it says, the Lord has given a command concerning you, Nineveh. You will have no descendants to bear your name. I will destroy the images and idols that are in your temples of your gods, and I will prepare your grave for you are vile. And then the last chapter of Nahum in chapter three, it goes to the verse one. It says, woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims. So the countries around it would have recognized this is a city of blood, of violence, of murder, of lies, of theft, plunder,

everything that we see in there, never without victims. They have no sanctity for human life. And that book closes in verse 19 with the endless cruelty that they would commit. It says, nothing can heal you, your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty? And I love that image of like the nations just clapping their hands at the fall of Nineveh, because they are so against what they are and the Assyrian empire and what they stand for because of their endless cruelty. So the next question is, is what is that cruelty? If we look at history, we would have known that the Assyrian empire is known for mass slaughters, for flayings where they'd peel the human skin off of enemies while they're alive, impalements, dismemberment, polytheism. There's plenty of more evil, but we can see that this is an evil, evil empire that is not honoring the Lord. So I wanna give this context because I think it's important for us to understand one thing. We look at Jonah as a guy who doesn't seem to have it together and isn't faithful to trust God. But if you were in this situation

and you had to go to that place, you might have a little reservation too, whether it's fear of not wanting to go because of all the things that might happen or just straight anger because of what this nation has done to your people. So it almost can give us a little bit of a sympathy. If we had to put this in kind of more modern terms, this would have been like a Messianic Jew being called to go to the 1940s Nazi regime. It would be tough, it wouldn't be easy. If we put it in American context, this would have been a 9-11 victim's family member having to go to Al-Qaeda shortly after the attacks. Jonah had good human reason for not wanting to go there. He had enough hatred in his heart that he didn't want Assyria to experience God's mercy because he knew how brutal they were. And he hated them enough that he didn't want them to experience the fruit of repentance. So if we can kind of put our minds there, we might get a little bit more of a picture of why Jonah is so reluctant on going, but it doesn't change the fact that God's heart is unchanging and he is always for the nations and that people would come and acknowledge him and that he always seeks for us to repent and know him. So verse three, we continue to see him run. It says, but Jonah ran away from the Lord

and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found ship bound after paying the fare. He went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. And I always kind of curious about this, right? Because I've read this passage before and I'm just sitting there and kind of the image that I always had was Jonah would just, word of the Lord comes to Jonah and he's like, nope, I'm gonna go this way, we'll be good. But I was kind of curious as I read through it this time and study, I never really noticed this portion of the passage. And it says, after paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. I was like, why did the spirit feel the need to put in after paying the fare? And all that came to my mind was just the image of what it's like when you know you're about to commit sin and you have that moment to stop. Be like, I can repent right now and not do it. Like Jonah at this point had already gone down to Joppa. He's thinking about fleeing to Tarshish, but he's about to take out his BC Apple wallet and he's about to tap that thing. And he's like, yeah, I'm gonna do it. I don't wanna follow God.

I don't wanna do what he's called me to. It's too hard. I don't like those people anyway. They have it coming to them, but he still goes through with it. And in the same way, I think oftentimes we have those moments of conviction where we pause, but we still go through it anyways. And in that moment, our heart is mirroring more of that of a heart of Jonah. So we see Jonah is wanting to keep God to himself and to his people, the Israelites, almost like a holy huddle. And I don't think that's too dissimilar than what we can see in a lot of churches today if we're not careful. But as we go through a series on being sent, we wanna be a people that are going to the nations, that are going to the lost because we have to first remember that we were. once there. And if we lose sight of that, pride and arrogance and boasting in ourselves and our own works comes up, and we know that that is detestable to God. We may have heard it said that a Christian should be known more about what they are for than what they are against. But God is inherently for people. They are made in his image.

He is desiring that all would come to repentance. And if we don't have the desire to go to those people, then we do not share his heart. And we can clearly see in the beginning, Jonah running away from God is not him sharing his heart. So what are ways that this plays out practically in our world today? What are some ways that this happens in DFW? I think two big major ways that I see right now is with religion and politics. I think of Islam and the growth of the Muslim faith here in DFW and Sharia law and all of these things that we can see. And we can get so outraged about all of this stuff and completely look past the person that God has created. And we have no idea what their background is, the fact that they may never have heard the gospel. And just because they look different, talk different, believe different things, we have a judgment in our mind that there's a right and a wrong and they're not following it. But we, again, forget the fact that we need to drop a mirror in front of our face and realize that we were once far from God as well. And if you want more resource on that topic, specifically, there's a great resource on August 3rd of last year of 2025, Fawud Masri came and Fawud grew up in Lebanon and he grew up hating the people groups around him because he saw so many atrocities

and he wanted nothing to do with it. He hated the people around him. He hated all those groups. And then he got to know God and it changed his heart. And then he actually started to live on mission for those same people and loving those same people. And now he's on fire for Christ. And he came and spoke here about how to bridge Islam and Christianity. And he would talk about the ways and how to engage a Muslim. The fact that 95% of people are more nominal in the Muslim faith and only 5% are in the jihadi kind of space. So if you want a resource to dive deeper into that, then you can go and look that up and how to handle that well as a Christian, how to engage a Muslim, how to love the Muslim next door. What about political? Are you loving the person that has a different leaning than you or votes in a different way? Without understanding their background, without understanding where they're coming, without understanding anything else, you might just see something, consider it wrong and give a judgment just like that. And we're so quick to do that, but we miss the fact that they're still made in God's image and that we can still step into that place with love.

So diagnostic question number one is are you sharing in God's heart or are you running from him because of a high call of going to people that you don't wanna go to? Because you know it's gonna be uncomfortable conversation. You know it's gonna be tough to understand. You know it's gonna be hard to see the person because they think different than you. But are you sharing in God's heart or running from the call because it seems like it's too high? Too much to ask. What could this look like in a church? It could look like you just not sharing Christ with the people around you. Maybe the family member that's lost or a coworker that's lost. Maybe you're not stepping into those conversations. Maybe you're running from life groups. Maybe you're in summer breaks and you have no accountability and it's just your excuse to kind of be like, yep, free for rain, free rain, free for all, let's go for it. Maybe it is avoiding the weird person in your group and newsflash, you might be a weird person. I definitely have been at some times. But you might be running from serving. You might do the once a week serve opportunity

that we have for serve week when that comes around in September or October usually. You might get fired up for that but then fall by the wayside the rest of the way. You might be running from being vulnerable and being fully known, but if you aren't fully known, then you're not giving yourself a chance to be fully loved in community. So whatever you're running from, the root question I have for you is what are you running from? The root question underneath that is what is enticing my heart to run from what God has asked and commanded of me? Is it comfort? Is it anger? Is it bitterness? Is it self-righteousness? Whatever it is, this is a good question for us to kind of explore. Nonetheless, we see Jonah keep running. So in verse four, if we continue on, it says, 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 out 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. 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 we will not perish. So this is, the whole entire book of Jonah is satire, so it's not a coincidence that when he gets on the ship and he starts going, that the wind and the waves start shaking, the boat starts to get a little uncomfortable. But for Jonah in this space, we see him snoozing. While the sailors that are the professionals are the ones that are freaking out, which means that it's pretty dire. If you are on the water as a living, you know how to handle it, but Jonah is so content in this space of his disobedience that he is resting peacefully and sleeping in his disobedience. So diagnostic question number two is, are you awake and alert to what God is doing? Or are you finding false comfort in your spiritual slumber? This is like a look back in the mirror moment. This is, drop the mirror in front of your face, Jonah. Hey, get up. Are you sleeping? Get up. Hey, we're about to die. Come on, get up.

Is there sleep in your eyes when you look in the mirror? Am I snoozing past what God's ever done or what God's doing or what he's called me to do? In the book of Ephesians, in Ephesians five, I put way too much verses up there. I got overzealous. I'm just gonna look at verse 14 through 16. It says, wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Be very careful than how you live, not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. So this is a space where you would see Jonah not being careful in how he lives. He's living as unwise, not as the wise. And he's not making the most of every opportunity because he's going the exact opposite direction that God called him to. In Romans 13, 11, it says, and do this, understanding the present time, the hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is near now than when we first believed. This is of utmost importance. And the captain in this story in Jonah is acting like a spiritual alarm clock for Jonah. Get up, get up. Are you actually doing what God's calling you to do?

Are you sleeping just continually? It's like Jonah. And this is something that we've all done. And this is the interesting part is Jonah here has been so content in his avoidance and disobedience. See, the sailors were worried about a physical death, but God put him here for a reason. It was that they would get to see who the real living God is, the God of the air, the sea, the wind, everything. He is the God of everything. And that is why Jonah's on the boat, that the sailors might see who he is. So the diagnostic question that we see coming up next, the third question is, have we become content in avoidance or disobedience? Because we see Jonah doing that. And we've referenced a devotional that we've used a couple of times here at 121. It's called Better Man. On June 30th, they had one that came out. And I thought it was really applicable to what we see Jonah doing here and what we're called to do as Christians. And it says, responsibility asks, what has God entrusted to me? That question will change your life. Stop trying to become lighter. Stop trying to escape hard things.

Stop believing the lie that an easy, weightless life is the good life. A man without weight may feel free, but he is not. He's like a kite that has been cut from its string. He's at the mercy of the wind. The good life is not the weightless life. It is the faithful life. It is learning to carry what God has placed in your hands with humility, courage, and gratitude. And this is something that we see Jonah in this space running from. He's running from the responsibility. He's running from the high call. He's running from the hard things that God had called him to do. And it seems like it might make sense. Why? Because it's uncomfortable, but it's still disobedience. And I love the analogy that he is like, that Better Man uses, is that he's like a kite that has been cut from a string. He's at the mercy of the wind. And right now we see Jonah at the mercy of the sea. So one of the other questions that I've got is are you spiritually drifting at sea like Jonah? Because the reality is, is that an inconsistent pursuit of God is a consistent drift from the mission of God. So if I am in a space where I am not pursuing what God has called me to,

or if he's revealed his will, and I know what that is, but I'm completely going in a different direction or just staying stagnant, then I am slowly drifting at the mercy of the sea or like the kite in the wind. But it doesn't stop there. It doesn't stop there. In verses seven, it goes, 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 lots fell on Jonah. So they asked him, tell us who. 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 what people are you? He answered, I am Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. This terrified them and they asked, what have you done? They knew he was running away from the Lord because he had already told them so. So first thing, I don't know a scenario. There have been plenty, countless times where I've been something completely disobedient in my life, but I don't think I've ever willingly got on something and been like, yeah, I'm running from God. Take me over here.

So it's pretty bold in the sense and honesty, but one of the things that I wanna highlight here is like the sailors, they're asking these questions, but before that, they have an opportunity. Jonah has an opportunity to repent of it. They're about to cast lots and he could take ownership. Yeah, it's me, it's my fault, but he doesn't. He's still avoidant, he's still disobedient. He's still not stepping into that next thing. And don't you love God that he's 100% gonna make it right? He's like, yeah, there's no other chance. You could tell me it's a game of odds. There's no other chance that those lots are falling on any of those sailors. It's 100% falling on Jonah every time. God's got him on that. So there's no way that's falling on it. He's still avoiding, but then we see an interesting response from Jonah. Once he's kind of had, and they're asking him these questions he answers rightfully. He says, I'm a Hebrew and I'll worship the Lord, the God of the heaven and who made the sea and the dry land. And this would rightly terrify them. And it's interesting because Jonah would have something like Psalm 139 that he would have known. And it says, where can I go from your spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise in the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there, your hand will guide me. Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you. The night will shine like day for darkness is as light to you. So there's a foolishness that Jonah has in fleeing. So he can correctly confess that he is a Hebrew that worships the Lord. But in this place, he's not really worshipful. This is more of just confession. It's not repentance. It's not actual change. It's more just an observation of what is true. And I think the next question that we could have is, well, I guess before that, it's just there's a realization that we can't run and we can't hide. We can't run and can't hide from God. And a question that goes off of that is, is that comforting to you or does that terrify you? The answer can tell you a lot about your heart. If it's something that's terrifying to you, why is it terrifying?

Is it because you haven't accepted the Lord yet? If you haven't given your life to Christ? Or is it because you have an unright view of God and understanding that even in your mess, you can run to him and he loves you. So if I'm living in the comfort of who Christ calls me, then I have the understanding that I can come to God regardless. But if I don't, then it's something that is horrifying to me. Verse 10, it says, what have you done? They knew he was running away from the Lord. And then it says, the sea was getting rougher and rougher. So if we think about this, this is continually, this is the story. Now it's like the sea's getting rougher and rougher because it's almost like Jonah has been had and he knows it now. And there's a moment where it's like, something's gotta change. Something's gotta change. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's throwing him off the ship. Maybe it's turning the ship around. I don't know. But regardless, something's gotta change. But God and his sovereignty is using this as a belief forming moment for the sailors. Because look what they asked next. So they asked him, what should we do to you

to make the sea calm down for us? So it's interesting. What do we do to you? If you're in the wrong with your God and your God is who he says he is, what do we have to do to make this right so we can live? So there's a little bit of a self-preservation So there's a little bit of a self-preservation there, but they're also starting to realize, okay, maybe this God actually is who he says he is. Maybe this God is real. And the sailors are at a loss and they're looking to Jonah now, a guy who's not an expert in the sea because they're out of options. And the next thing is Jonah's confession right after that is he says, pick me up and throw me into the sea and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you. And instead the men did their best to row back to the land, but they could not for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried out to the Lord, please Lord, do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man for you. Lord, you have done as you please. then they took Jonah and threw him overboard and the raging sea grew calm. So there's a lot happening here.

But I want us to just double click on what we see happening with the sailors in their heart. God is sovereign even in hard situations that he is using this space in Jonah's disobedience to let them know who the true and living God is. The God of Israel, the God of the nations, the God of the universe, the God who created me and you. But it's interesting as we kind of go and look at that because the men try to save Jonah still. They still have a heart to save him, but they can't. And they're at no other option. And when they finally throw him overboard, they see him satisfied. They don't see him satisfied. That's a bad way to put that. They see the sea satisfied and God calms the sea. So there's an importance to the lesson for us here because we can realize that God loves to send hard things our way for the betterment of his people and that we might truly know him. So God sent this hard storm out of Jonah's disobedience, not only just for the sailors, but also for Jonah because he was pursuing Jonah as well. Jonah didn't want to do something that he was called to do. The sailors didn't want to experience an immensely difficult trial that would eventually point to God. But God still uses that for both of their hearts. And it's important to understand that God's heart

was for these pagan sailors to know him just as it was for Jonah to come back to him as he's inviting him back in. Verse 16, it says, "'At this, the men greatly feared the Lord, "'and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord "'and made vows to him. "'Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, "'and Jonah was in the belly of the fish "'for three days and three nights.'" Two things here. One, we see the sailors repent and start to realize that God is truly who he says he is, and they fear the Lord and worship him. And then we also see the Lord provide a fish, which we might falsely think that that is judgment against Jonah, because it sounds like miserable to be trapped in a fish's belly for three days. But that's actually God's deliverance and provision for him as well. So sometimes those hard things are meant to turn something in our hearts. So something for us to consider is God's heart and provision to save Jonah is no different than his heart and provision to save sailors. It's no different than his heart and provision to save you. It's no different than his heart and provision to save your enemies.

So the question that I would have then is who is your Ninevite? Who are the people that you don't wanna go to because they're your enemies? Who are the people that feels uncomfortable? Maybe you're walking in a good space and you're truly loving the Lord well. That's awesome, praise God for that. But there is a time where we get frustrated and there is a time where we probably remember all too well where we did not operate out of love. And it's a good reminder for us that oftentimes our heart is more aligned with that of Jonah than that of God. So I wanna close with a couple of passages. And think of Exodus 33, 19. This is when Moses is about to see God and he says, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. That's what God says about himself. And I think a right question would be is, are we okay with that? Are we okay with God having mercy on our enemies? Are we okay with God having compassion on those that we want to have vengeance on that we can't because it's not ours to have? At the end of the day, if we look at Christ and his heart for us is that he came while we were still sinners and died for us.

While we were enemies of the cross, God came in the form of a man. He humbled himself, took the form of a sermon, died on a cross for me and you that we may have eternal life. So if any of us have any hatred in our heart towards anybody, it's misplaced and misguided because we have every reason to be deserving of wrath, but God still extended us grace. So why wouldn't we be able to do the same for others? If we look at Jesus in Luke 19.10, it says that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. His mission was always to come for you and me and for those that don't know him. And then in his teaching in Matthew five, in the Beatitudes, we see him just kind of flip everything that we would think of in our human minds on its head. He says, you have heard it said in verse 43, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your father in heaven. He causes his son to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even tax collectors doing that? If you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Not even pagans do that.

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. So this theme of learning to love our enemies is what Jesus has taught us in the first place. It's not to curse those who curse us, but it's to bless those who persecute us. Why? Because we should see ourselves in that person and what we used to be before Christ came and saved us. And if we truly love that person, we wanna step deeper into it and show that person that same love. So the antidote to hatred is love. That's what Jesus shows us. And the question just simply becomes is, are we willing to do the same? Are we willing to love our enemies when they don't deserve it? It's a tall task and it's not done by human strength. If you have the Holy Spirit inside of you, the good news is is that you're being transformed and renewed day by day to be more like his image. And I don't think there's a greater example of this than the story of Jim and Elizabeth Elliot. We think about that, you might know the story, but Jim Elliot went to the Ecuadorian Amazon to an unreached people group. And shortly after he got there, he was murdered along with his few people that went with him. So he's martyred for his faith and his belief. And Elizabeth Elliot, his wife with a new child

had every reason to be angry at that people and want nothing to do with them and go in the complete opposite direction. But she didn't. Within two years, she moved out to that same people group that martyred her family or her husband, and she made a living among them. She loved them, she served them, and a lot of them came to Christ. And there's not a chance she did that out of her own strength as only the Holy Spirit in her. So if you're in Christ today, you have the power to be able to love your enemies through Jesus, because he's first loved us. And if you're not in Christ today, and you're harvesting bitterness or anger or emotion, I want you to know that I understand it. Anyone should understand that in this room. And this is the safest place to be because we were all once that way, but Christ is calling you and he loves you. And if you're walking in a place where you're not quite sure, I would ask you to just go and explore it. Dive into his word, see a little bit more who he is, have a conversation with somebody on staff or someone at the church here. But don't leave today without thinking more and more about who Christ is, because there is no reason that we get to deserve to be in heaven.

But he sent his son to die on the cross for our sins, that he got nailed to the cross, shed his blood, and that blood covers us from all unrighteousness, that we get to live in right living with God. So as we close, I want us just to consider what it would look like to step into the hard places, not to avoid responsibility, not to run, to own when we do run, because we will, to take quick ownership, to repent of that and to move back towards what God's call is. So I want us to close our eyes here, I'm gonna pray. And then I wanna give a minute after that. And I want us to think through what is the next act of courage God might be calling us to do? If it's somebody that we need to talk with, then what is the next step that we can go take and actually have that conversation with somebody? If there's something I need to seek forgiveness for from somebody, how do I go about doing that? And if it's simply, I needed to go before the Lord and apologize and repent for the fact that I've been running from his call, then I would take a moment to do so because we've all been there. But God is still inviting you in, he still loves you, and he still cares for you. And he wants that relationship with you. He loved you so much that he sent his son. And that's the rest that we have today.

So Father, we love you. We thank you that you are a God who loves us, who first loved us, Lord, while we were undeserving. And Father, I pray that any forgiveness, bitterness, anger, envy, unrighteous anger, Father, that just comes out of the sinfulness of our heart, Father, that you would rip that away. And Father, through your Holy Spirit, that you would change us and mold us and sanctify us more into your image. Father, I pray that there's practical steps that we can take to love a neighbor or love somebody that might not be the first person that we wanna spend time with, Lord, that we would take the courageous step to go do so. Father, I pray that we would not be a people that just comes here on a Sunday and consumes information about your word, Father, but that we would be a people that knows your word and loves your word and lives your word in every aspect of our lives. And Father, if you call us to love our enemies and go to the places that we don't go, want to go, I pray that you would give us the courage to do so anyways, as we trust in you. Lord, we love you. It's in your name we pray, amen. So take a minute, time with the Lord, and just reflect and pray on what God might be doing in your heart.

Thanks for watching!