Tag: Compassion

Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy
Part 6: Sign of Jonah

This is a summary of my notes for a 6-part Sunday School lesson I recently led. It is an adaptation of my previous posts on Jonah along with some points based on the book, The Prodigal Prophet by Time Keller.

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When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation…The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. Luke 11:29-30, 32 (ESV)

In our final lesson this Sunday, I want to take some time to reflect on this Son of Man. I want us to think about how Jesus is greater than Jonah by looking at three passages from the New Testament and letting them speak into how we not only read and understand Jonah but how we better understand Jesus himself through the Book of Jonah. There are a lot of passages I could have chosen to look at, but I wanted to focus on three that fit with our theme of why we studied the Book of Jonah. Namely, how our heart sees others, how our heart sees God, and how our heart is drawn to Jesus. To do this, we will have one person for each point come up and share a little bit about what they have learned this quarter in relation to the theme assigned to them before I speak on the passage. I am really looking forward to this time of sharing and pray that the Lord will use it to speak to each of us individually.

Continue reading “Sign of Jonah” →

Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy
Part 5: Lesson on Compassion

This is a summary of my notes for a 6-part Sunday School lesson I recently led. It is an adaptation of my previous posts on Jonah along with some points based on the book, The Prodigal Prophet by Time Keller.

View the Series

Having just obeyed the command of God to preach the message of destruction and seen the people respond with repentance, Jonah remembers and rekindles his displeasure at the mercy of God being lavishly given to the city of Nineveh. All those old feelings of hurt, anger, injustice were that were never dealt with in the first place are bubbling up to surface and are about to explode. It is time for Jonah’s final lesson on compassion and mercy from his loving and compassionate God.

Continue reading “Lesson on Compassion” →

Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy
Part 4: Mercy Not Destruction

This is a summary of my notes for a 6-part Sunday School lesson I recently led. It is an adaptation of my previous posts on Jonah along with some points based on the book, The Prodigal Prophet by Time Keller.

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“Fresh from his detour in the belly of the fish and with a heart full of repentance for his wayward decisions, Jonah begins the journey that started with his original calling. He receives the call once again from God to arise and go to Nineveh. This time, Jonah does indeed arise and go to Nineveh. As we will see, there is obedience in his actions but there is still lingering doubts and feelings of injustice deep within his heart that will need to be dealt with at some point.

Continue reading “Mercy Not Destruction” →

Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy
Part 3: Waiting in Sheol

This is a summary of my notes for a 6-part Sunday School lesson I recently led. It is an adaptation of my previous posts on Jonah along with some points based on the book, The Prodigal Prophet by Time Keller.

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We have reached a point in Jonah’s journey where he is now confronted with the severe mercy of God. The Lord meets Jonah in this moment of crisis and brings his amazing grace and mercy to bear on the situation. The funny thing about being hurled off a ship into the raging sea is that you sink. And Jonah did that very thing. He sank down to the bottom of the sea. This is where God met Jonah and rescued him. The prayer of Jonah that we are about to talk and think through together will recount his journey downward and God’s appointed rescue.

When I read this part of the story and picture it in my mind, I always imagine Jonah bobbing up and down on top of the water with the sailors watching as a giant fish appears and swallows Jonah. But we will see as we go through the passage, that this is not how Jonah relays the story. His account has him sinking to the bottom of the sea before God’s appointed fish comes and rescues him. There are two points of interest to think about.

Continue reading “Waiting in Sheol” →

Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy
Part 2: Consequences of Sin

This is a summary of my notes for a 6-part Sunday School lesson I recently led. It is an adaptation of my previous posts on Jonah along with some points based on the book, The Prodigal Prophet by Time Keller.

View the Series

Begin at the Beginning

Welcome back to the life story of Jonah. I know it’s probably been a hectic week for everyone. So, I want to take a minute or so to briefly review last week’s lesson.

Before we move forward to this next passage, let’s remind ourselves where we last left Jonah.

• Jonah received a personal call from God to go to the hated city of Nineveh and preach a message of warning and repentance.
• Jonah decided to do the complete opposite of what God was commanding him.

One point I didn’t bring up last week when speaking on Jonah’s actions being set as opposites is the words he chose to depict his choices.

You can see in 1:1-3 that God called Jonah to “Arise” and he kind of sort of obeyed as he “rose” to flee. From that point forward his journey was on a continual journey downward. This theme will continue through the rest of Chapter 1 and into Chapter 2.

Continue reading “Consequences of Sin” →

Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy
Part 1: Running from God

This is a summary of my notes for a 6-part Sunday School lesson I recently led. It is an adaptation of my previous posts on Jonah along with some points based on the book, The Prodigal Prophet by Time Keller.

View the Series

Why study the Book of Jonah?

Jonah is one of those books of the Bible which seems all too familiar. We all know that Jonah runs from God and is swallowed by a great fish after being cast into the sea. But there is so much more depth to this short book. Jonah tells his story in this book to share deep life lessons of faith and compassion.

I want us to consider and engage with the life of Jonah as we compare it to our own experiences. Over the past couple of years, God has been using this story to engage my heart on a deeper more intimate level and my hope is that he will do the same for you.

There are three important areas where I have seen God using the life of Jonah to reveal himself to me and I want you to keep these at the forefront of your mind as we go along.

Continue reading “Running from God” →