Tag: Sin

Waiting in Sheol

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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.

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Consequences of Sin

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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.

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Running from God

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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.

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Discovering God’s Will

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Sunday School Class // March 17, 2024
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This is a lesson I prepared for a Sunday School class and is based on the video series “The Basics of the Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson | Ligonier Ministries” (Lesson 9)

Colossians 1:9 (ESV)
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

At some point in their life (probably multiple points in their life), all believers will ask questions revolving around how they can best discover the will of God for their lives. Most often this comes from a place of desired obedience to be faithful to what Christ would have them do in a certain situation. Discovering the will of God is an important step in faithfully following after Jesus in our daily walk and the Lord has given us precepts and principles in His Word to guide us. This prayer of Paul for the Colossians is true for us as well. We too can be filled with knowledge of the will of God. We too can know His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. In this talk, Sinclair Ferguson leads us through three points to consider as we seek to discover God’s will for us.

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Incapable of Innocence

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I have spurned your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?

Hosea 8:5 (ESV)

The Lord has spurned the idols of the people. He has rejected their false worship given to worthless man-made objects. He has spurned the depraved inclination of their heart’s intention and asks a rhetorical question to bring to mind the state of their soul. By asking aloud about the duration of this incapability of innocence, the Lord is bringing into full focus the utter depravity of the people. They are incapable of innocence. Not that they fail to be innocent or have neglected to be innocent, but that they are completely incapable of innocence. Apart from Christ, this is true of me as well.

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Idols of Hypocrisy

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To me they cry, “My God, we—Israel—know you.”

Hosea 8:2 (ESV)

Chapter 8 of Hosea is an indictment against the hypocritical nature of Israel during this time. The people of Israel verbally acknowledged and confirmed that God was their God and even claimed to know God on a personal level. Hosea brings evidence to them in this chapter to refute this claim and demonstrate to the people the hypocritical ways their actions portray something entirely different than their words. They were honoring God with their lips but pursuing idols and self-righteousness in their daily lives. This is true of me as well. I find myself speaking the truth of God’s Word and proclaiming the goodness of God to others, yet my actions are often at odds with the words I speak. My mind knows the truth of God’s Word but my heart wanders off to pursue idols of my own making. Idols that I set up in place of God to give me a false sense of security and trust.

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Facing the Enemy

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Sunday School Class // March 3, 2024
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This is a lesson I prepared for a Sunday School class and is based on the video series “The Basics of the Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson | Ligonier Ministries” (Lesson 8)

Ephesians 6:10–11 (ESV)
Finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

The Kingdom of God is being built on enemy territory and we are a people that have an enemy. Our enemy is not a flesh-and-blood adversary that will come at us with strategies and weapons based on this material world. Our battle is a supernatural fight against an adversary who is set against God and whose aim is to utterly destroy and kill the people of God. Even though our enemy is still raging against us in this battle, we can have full assurance that the war has already been decisively won. Jesus Christ has brought a definitive victory over sin, death, and the devil through his shed blood on the cross. In this talk, Dr. Ferguson shares about three important aspects that we must all remember as we face this enemy.

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Return Again

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Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.

Hosea 6:1 (ESV)

I sometimes feel as though God is so very distant from me. As though there is this great chasm between us that keeps us separated. When these times are present in my life I tend to ask God why he has abandoned me or why he has drawn away from me. The promise of the Bible is that God will never leave me nor forsake me. He has not only given me his Spirit as a guarantee, but his Spirit is my companion and has taken up residence in my heart. He abides with me at all times. So why do I feel as though There is a great distance in our communion and fellowship? Hosea 6:1 tells me, “return to the Lord.” The truth is that the Lord has in no way abandoned me but I on the other hand have abandoned him. I have wandered. I have hidden. I have even tried to flee the presence of the Lord. Yet, just like Jonah, I am learning that I can no more flee the presence of the Lord than I can stop the earth from spinning on its axis. No, I need to heed the call of Hosea and return to the Lord.

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Means of Grace: Lord’s Supper

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Sunday School Class // February 25, 2024
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This is a lesson I prepared for a Sunday School class and is based on the video series “The Basics of the Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson | Ligonier Ministries” (Lesson 7)

1 Corinthians 11:26 (ESV)
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

The Lord’s Supper is a familiar part of church life and as such it can easily become something of a tradition with its purpose and meaning lost in the familiarity of the ritual. As a means of grace that God uses to draw us into a closer relationship with him, we must refamiliarize ourselves with the purpose and meaning of the Lord’s Supper. The expectation from Jesus is that we will do this often in remembrance of Him. So, let’s familiarize ourselves with this blessing and gift He has given us and look anew with fresh eyes upon this special means of grace. Dr. Ferguson summarizes eight descriptive words to help us in our search for understanding.

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Means of Grace: Baptism

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Sunday School Class // February 18, 2024
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This is a lesson I prepared for a Sunday School class and is based on the video series “The Basics of the Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson | Ligonier Ministries” (Lesson 6)

Romans 6:3 (ESV)
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

These “Means of Grace” are not instruments we use to obtain grace. They are instruments that God uses in order to bring us into fellowship with Himself and to know him. In this lesson, we will look at the foundational truths of the sign of baptism, the importance of the baptism of Jesus, and how baptism shapes our identity. This lesson is not about the controversies that people tend to focus on in a discussion about baptism. We want to think about the sign of baptism itself and better understand why God gave us this sign and how it relates to our day-to-day lives.

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