Running In The Wrong Direction

Well, perhaps you've already heard what happened to Adrian

Simonicus on my birthday, February 8th, 2025, while I was

eating cake and hanging out with family.

He was in the Magellan Straight kayaking with his father named

Dell. And if you haven't seen the

video, here it is just kayaking along and Oh yeah, your lunch.

According to the AP News, if you listen to the footage captured,

his father is saying after the whale spit him out of his mouth.

Stay calm. Stay calm.

Like, hey, dad, shut up. I just got eight.

You might think that this was a one off event.

I mean, how often do people get eaten by a whale?

Well, in 2021, a lobster diver named Michael Packard was

trapped in the mouth of a humpback whale for 40 seconds.

When he got out, they were super excited because he only had soft

tissue damage, which I don't know what that is, but I bet

that hurt. And he's just like, hey, you're

fine, brush it off. I mean.

Then in 2019, a wildlife photographer named Rainier Skimp

was scooped up into a Brutus whale's mouth while

photographing. This is a weird sentence, a

sardine run, which is why I don't run.

OK. Now today we are beginning a

brand new series on. And for those of you who are

Bible people, you already know where I'm going on the book of

Jonah. Now I want to welcome all of you

joining from all of our different locations, those of

you watching online, those of you who are part of the crossing

inside. I also want to welcome those of

you who are new here, whether it's your first time or your

first time in a long time, or maybe you've been here for a

while, but you've never kind of raised your hand and said, hey,

I'm actually coming here. We would love a chance to meet

you. And I want to invite all three

of you. First time, first time in a long

time or been around for a while and never actually said, hey, I

actually come here. We would love for you to swing

by the new here booth in all of our lobbies.

And to those of you who are watching online, I want to

encourage you to participate in the online platform,

specifically in the chat. I had a great opportunity to

talk to some of the people that are a part of our online family

this week. And I just want, you know, we're

trying our best to pastor you and love you and walk with you.

So don't just be somebody who spectates.

We'd love for you to engage in the chat.

We have an incredible group of people that serve in that

ministry area. Now, before we jump into the

sermon, I got to lay some groundwork.

One, I'm going to actually take you through this verse by verse.

So some of the questions you're going to have from chapter 1 are

not going to get answered until chapter 4.

And some of you just went, OK, so this is a four week series,

so if I don't like this, I got to wait three weeks.

That's exactly right. OK, when we get done with this

series, we will be on Easter weekend.

So start thinking about the people that you're going to be

inviting on Easter weekend. And I think that this sermon

series is going to be a great way for us to get ready for

Easter. So if you're the kind of person

that likes to open your Bible, you can turn to Jonah chapter 1.

Jonah 1 · chapter mention

If you're a person who uses your phone for your Bible, you can

hop on that. If you're the kind of person who

pretends to use your phone for the Bible and want to check your

Facebook or the March Madness scores, God is watching you.

But we're glad you're here. Ready, Jonah, chapter one, verse

one, the word of the Lord came to.

Jonah, son of a Mitai, How many of you wish that you got a word

from the Lord? Like you just wish God would

speak to you, make it super clear how you're supposed to

live, what you're supposed to do.

The word of the Lord came to Jonah.

I got good news for you. God is always speaking, always

revealing His word. His will is not hard to find.

Jesus is the one who says He who seeks finds, the one who knocks.

The door will be opened. And the three primary ways

through which God speaks to you and I His people, is through His

Word, through His Spirit, and through His people.

Second Timothy chapter 3 tells us that God's Word, the Bible,

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

is God. Breathe.

And it is useful for you and I to not only become who He has

called us to become, but to accomplish what He has called us

to do. Many of us are in a desperate

need for a word from the Lord, but we are not spending any time

in His Word. We want a word from the Lord,

but we are not sensitive to His Spirit.

We want a word from the Lord, but we are not interacting with

God's spiritual people to guide us.

God is not silent, we just don't like to listen.

Jonah chapter one, verse 2. You guys are going, how many

verses are here? OK, here we go.

Go. This is what God says to him.

Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because

it's wickedness has come up before me.

Jonah was not expecting this word.

For those of you who raised your hand at all of our locations

going, I wish God would give me a word.

Jonah gets a word and he's like, I didn't want that word.

Can I get a different one? Not, not Nineveh, not the

Ninevites. You see, Nineveh was a major

city in the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrian Empire, for those

of you who want to know, it occupies what would be modern

day Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran.

Here it is. This is geography class with

Clayton. Everybody touch your put your

finger on your nose. This is how I would do it if I

was in 7th grade. Pay attention, everybody paying

attention. OK, here we go.

This right here is the big continent of Africa.

Here we got Spain. I think this is Portugal.

Over here you got Italy because that's the one with the boot.

You come all the way over to here, right?

There is Israel. That's the one that's in the

news. This is the Arabian Peninsula.

This big orange part is the Assyrian Empire.

OK. And Jonah hears that, hey, this

is where I'm supposed to go. And he's like, I don't want to

have anything to do with the Ninevites.

They are the worst people ever. He's not wrong.

Nineveh was a place known for its savage dealings with people.

Let me just kind of walk you through the highlight reel of

the Ninevites When they captured a city.

They would kill all the children, abuse all the women.

They would pile the skulls next to the city gates in a pillar.

They would take people and filet them alive and put their skin as

decoration on the city walls. One ruler bragged about taking a

foreign king and passing his dagger through his jawbone,

running a rope through it and put running him around like he

was a dog and made him live in a dog kennel.

The word of the Lord came to Jonah.

Go to the Ninevites if you're a Bible reader and you were to go

to the book of Nahum. In Nahum chapter 3, it calls

Nahum 3 · chapter mention

Nineveh the city of blood, and it calls them a city known for

their cruelty. I got a question for you.

What do you do when God calls you to do something you don't

want to do? That's what Jonah's feeling.

He got a word from the Lord and he didn't want that word.

What do you do when God calls you to be obedient in the area

of baptism? What do you do when God calls

you to serve and you don't want to serve?

What do you do when God calls you to give and you don't want

to give? What do you do when God calls

you to lead and you don't want to lead?

Invite and you don't want to invite.

Forgive, and you don't want to forgive.

Love your enemy and you don't want to love them.

What you do when God calls you to do something you don't want

to do reveals an awful lot about you.

If I were for the sake of the sermon to kind of give you 2

anchor points real quick to define your spiritual maturity,

I would say there's two ways to kind of get a quick barometer or

a quick light on your dashboard on your spiritual maturity.

It would be how long does it take you to do the thing that

God has called you to do? Is it immediate obedience?

That would be a sign of maturity.

Is it delayed obedience? That would be a sign of

immaturity. So how fast do I respond to the

promptings of the Holy Spirit would be a sign of your

maturity. The faster you respond, the more

mature you are in your faith. The other barometer that I would

give you is what do you do when God tells you to do something

that you don't want to do? Do you do it anyway?

That would also be a sign of your maturity.

So some of us might be struggling right now with an

immature faith because we know what we're supposed to do.

We just are going to take our time getting around to it.

I'll get serious about Jesus after.

I'll get serious about Jesus after high school.

I'll get serious with Jesus after college.

I'll get serious about Jesus after I get married.

I'll get serious about Jesus after I land the job, after I

get the promotion, after I have kids, after the kids get done

with sports. I'll get serious about God

after. When we createspace between

God's word and our obedience, that is a sign of us being

immature. And if the only time we want to

do stuff in the Bible is when it's the stuff we already want

to do, that is not a mature faith.

Because if the only time you have to be obedient to God is

when you want to do the things that he's called you to do, what

you are innocent saying is God only in the areas where you

agree with me while I follow you.

But in that case, you're not actually following God.

You're following you. And if God is so much higher

than our ways that I'm guessing there's some things that he's

going to point out in your life, in my life that are probably a

long way from how we like to operate now.

You find out real quick how your priorities stack up when God

calls you to do something you don't want to do.

You find out if you're a fan of Jesus or you're an actual

follower of Jesus. What you do when God calls you

to do something you don't want to do reveals what you really

believe about God. Do you believe that God's way is

the best way, even if it hurts? At the beginning of the year we

talked about faith and obedience and how they're connected that

your faith will never go faster than your obedience and your

obedience will never outrun your faith.

They move at the same speed. Last week we talked about how

there's two groups of people, people who hear the Word of God

and do not obey it, and people who hear the word of God and

they obey it. For those of you who don't know

the answer to all the questions in the test today, what do you

think Jonah did this prophet of God, this mouthpiece of God,

when he heard the word, go to the Ninevites?

Jonah chapter one, verse 3. But Jonah what?

Ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarsus.

He went down to Joppa where he found a ship bound for that

port. After paying the fare, he went

aboard and sailed for Tarsus to flee from the Lord.

God calls Jonah, who lives in Gath Heifer, to go to Nineveh,

500 miles to the northeast. Instead of making a 500 mile

journey to the northeast, he goes 60 miles southwest and set

sail for Tarshish, 2500 miles to the West.

How many of you are going? I got a little Jonah in me.

God's like, hey, I want you to go here.

And you're like, you know what? I appreciate that.

I'm so thankful. And I'm he calls him to go 500

miles this way and he goes 2500 miles that way.

Can I just tell you something? The path of disobedience is the

easiest path to find. Have you ever had to like

purposefully screw stuff up? No, you could do that without a

whole lot of effort. Jesus says wide is the road that

leads to destruction, but narrow is the road that leads to

eternal life. How hard is a wide road to find?

Not hard at all. How hard is a narrow Rd. to

find? You got to look for it if you

want to run from God. It is really stinking easy.

And last week we talked about that the decisions that we make

end up making us. And what you're going to see

lived out in the book of Jonah, in the life of Jonah, is that

Jonah's decisions end up making him.

He goes from being God's prophet, God's mouthpiece, to

being on the run from God. Rough question.

Take a deep breath. Where is the area of

disobedience in your life that knocked you off who you used to

be in Christ? I encounter a lot of used TOS.

Everybody say used to turn to your neighbors say used to.

That's like a redneck word. It's just one word.

I used to or used to could, right?

I used to could can you dunk? Used to could you still?

I hear a lot of used to testimonies.

I used to serve. I used to share my faith.

I used to attend, I used to give.

I used to lead. I used to be committed to the

mission. As a staff, we deal daily with

the pain caused by people in used to land.

Jonah knew what God wanted, but Jonah did what Jonah wanted.

And the sad truth is many of us have had that testimony or are

living that testimony. Some of you, you can think of

people who used to sit next to you, who used to be chasing God

with you, who used to serve the mission with you.

Now brace yourself because we're about to enter a really

challenging part of the story. 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.

Sometimes God calms the storm. He did it twice with Jesus.

Sometimes God allows the storm that the devil causes.

He does so with Job. Sometimes it just storms.

Sometimes we cause the storm, and sometimes God causes the

storm. You cannot expect God's blessing

in an area of disobedience. We love to blame the devil.

You do something stupid. Devil made me do it.

We love to blame others. Well, I was doing but then they

I was going to be sweet, but she I was going to be kind.

But they that's how exes talk. It's never them.

It's always if they weren't divorced, who would they blame?

There's always somebody else. But where rarely do we own the

fact that we are in a storm because of the decisions that we

made. And an even tougher reality is

this is a storm that God sent to get my attention.

Now listen, please, crossing family, do not paint God with a

wide brush on this. But I want you to keep an eye on

the fact that sometimes God sends the storm to get your

attention, but sometimes you are in a storm because you chose it.

And no matter how many people warned you, you didn't listen.

You were smarter, you were wiser, you knew better.

If I can say this gently as your pastor, the easiest place where

I can point to that is like a perfect illustration of this is

I see couples dating somebody that they should never end up

marrying because they are not following Jesus.

And they think that somehow magically it will change.

And then they end up marrying that person whose heart is not

given to Jesus. And they find themselves in the

storm of a marriage, parenting kids, and they're unequally

yoked. And that is a painful price to

pay. Jonah one verse 5, I'm going to

get you guys out of here 6-7 hours, OK?

All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own God

and they threw cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

Notice now how Jonas Sin is impacting the people around him.

The storm is so severe that all the sailors are trying out their

own gods. They're like, hey, God that we

believe in. Get this to stop.

Help, help. They start throwing all the

provisions for the journey they got 2500 miles ahead of them.

Like get rid of it. We don't need it.

We just got to make it through this storm.

They're doing everything they can do to survive.

I hear people say this sometimes.

It's my life. I can do what I want.

I'm not hurting anyone. Wrong.

Your sin always impacts other people.

If we had time, I could pass the microphone through our this Gen.

ministry and let the kids in our church tell the story about how

Mom's affair blew up the family. How Dad never come into grips

with his addiction and the pain that it caused day in and day

out because he refused to acknowledge it.

Our sin has an impact. Can I give a little devo to the,

you know, teenagers and whatever in the room for just a second?

No one. You got to make me a promise.

I'm going to tell you one story about me, maybe 2, depending on

the time. You are not allowed to use this

story against your parents. Like, look, I can take all the

stupid pills in the cabinet and I might turn out like Clayton.

That is not that is not what I'm telling you.

Let me let me just say this. Do you want to know why your

parents are super involved in using your friend group?

Do you want to know why they're very cautious about the

sleepovers that you're getting ready to go to?

Do you want to know why they try to get you in certain classes

with certain kids from certain families?

It's because they don't want the wrong people in your boat.

I don't want to talk about how old I am, but I was around when

the Internet became a thing and I was a sophomore in high school

when the came out that whatever that noise was and like the

stuff would load on the screen line by line.

And back in those days, if you had a friend that had an

Internet connection, it was the wild, Wild West.

How wild. We ordered the plans and the

supplies to make pipe bombs and had it delivered to his house

because you know, 16 year old us was like that sounds fun.

We'll just Chuck some pipe bombs off the Cliff and let them blow

up in the Mississippi. So we ordered all the parts and

they were like, you know what would be really fun?

We should take these 8 inch pipe bombs and we should put them in

people's mailboxes. So kid you not, we made a bunch

of pipe bombs, put them in the glove compartment of the Grand

Prix, and started driving through the country.

We got to our first house, open up the glove compartment, pull

out one of the pipe bombs, stick it in the mailbox and drive off

and then stop just waiting for it to.

And about that time, a guy came flying out in his vehicle, got

us came up, knocked on the door, pretty on the window of the car

pretty hard. I asked my buddy for his, his

like ID and he since he was driving, he had it.

We all pretended like we didn't have I DS like, yeah, he's the

driver. OK, now, just I, I it didn't

even cross my mind. What if somebody had gone out to

there? And I mean, none, none of those

things went through this head. None of those.

But we sweet talk and we do our best and we kind of think, hey,

we got past this. The guy didn't call the cops on

us favor of the Lord. You know what I mean?

I think this thing is way behind me now.

That guy was hot ticked. I mean, you have to think he had

to go back, reach his hand into the thing that didn't go off

yet. And I mean, we made it wrong is

what happened. We can't we don't read

directions. I think I'm out Scott free.

I'm like, dude, parents will never know.

This is perfect. I drive home a couple weeks,

like less than a week later and I show up to my parents house

after a practice of some court. I've got my backpack on, just

walking into my house and this guy is on his hands and knees

installing the trim in my parents house.

And he looks at me and I look at him and I did.

Mom, Dad, I don't know if I told you that story, but yeah, the

guy who did the trim work in our house, we blew up as well.

We tried to. It didn't go off because Chris

didn't read the directions. Do you want to know why parents

care kids about who's in your life?

Because you get some of the wrong people in the boat with

you and your life is going to be in a storm.

And hear me, I'm not blaming all the people that were in the car

or the boat as if they were the bad dude.

I'm saying I was the Jonah causing storms.

You got to be so careful who you put in your boat.

Jonah 1 verses 5 and 6. But Jonah had gone below deck

Jonah 1:5

where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

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. Notice what's happening on the

boat. They've tried all of their gods

and nothing, nothing's changing. So they start like they're doing

their whole worship service. Nothing's working out.

So like, well, we should go talk to the guy who's asleep in the

bottom of the boat and have him do a worship service.

They find him, they wake him up and they go, hey, what's going

on here? For those of you who have never

really followed God, can you kind of just put on the sailor

hat for a second? How's that working for you?

If you're crying out to a false God, that false God will never

save you. If your false God is money,

you'll never make enough. If you're If you're God that

you're trying to chase and serve is sex, you'll never have enough

of it. If your God is your spouse, they

will never measure up. If your God is your kids, they

will only disappoint you. If your God is you, you will

never be satisfied. There's only one real, true,

trustworthy God. Unfortunately the only person in

the boat who knows him is the one running from him.

How many of your Co workers can't find their way to the one

true God because you're not following him?

You've heard me say this before. There are no undercover

Incognito Christians. The Bible says we are to be a

city on a hill, a lamp on a stand, light of the world, and

there are people crying out and following a false God because

they can't find the true God because you're choosing a path

of disobedience. Verse 7 and 8, This is where it

gets fun. Then the sailors said to each

other, come, let us cast lots. Imagine them just throwing a

dice and trying to figure out who is responsible for this

calamity. They cast lots, and the lot fell

to Jonah. So they asked him, tell us who's

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?

They're going, hey, there's a reason why we're going through

this storm. They are perceptive that

something is not right. They've tried all their gods

they're talking to. They're going, hey, who's in

charge of this? And they're like, OK, if it's

just, if it comes up a six, it's you.

Jonah 6 rolling in. If it's a 5, it's you.

Jonah 5, tell us what are you doing?

We're about to die. I love this.

Jonah doesn't come out and say, hey guys, it's me.

I'm the problem. Here he goes, no, you're going

to have to roll for it. You're going to keep rolling.

Then he's the 1 causing it. He doesn't own it.

Watch what happens next. I love this Jonah chapter one,

verse 9 through 11. He answered.

Listen to how bold he is now. I'm a 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 already running away from the Lord because he'd

already told them so the sea was getting rougher and rougher.

So they asked him, what should we do to make the sea calm down

for us? I love this part of the text.

All of a sudden Jonah gets really bold about his

relationship with the Lord. But pay attention to what he

says. I serve the God of heaven that's

causing the wind to blow. I serve the God of the sea

that's causing it to rage. And I'm I'm my God is the God of

the dry land, which we are desperate for.

He's literally saying all the things that are causing his

problems. That's my God.

They knew he was running. They just didn't believe that

his God was real. But now that Jonah has given his

God credit for his power over the heaven, the sea and the land

God, I'm gonna make the sea a little rougher just so they know

he was telling the truth. They're like, hey, hey, hey,

He's got everybody's attention now.

Verse 12, pick me up and throw me into the sea, he replied.

And it'll become calm. I know that it is my fault that

this great storm has come upon you.

How bad is Jonah? He doesn't say, hey guys, I'm

going to jump overboard, guys, it's my bad.

I'm jumping in. It'll calm down.

He says, here guys, here's what you're going to have to do.

You're going to have to pick me up and you're going to have to

throw me overboard because I have 0 intention of being

helpful. Like the words are coming out of

his mouth, but he's refusing to even participate in it.

He's like, like, it's I see it. This is probably not in the

Scripture. When we get to heaven, you can

all ask him, like, how far off was Clayton?

But I can see Jonah, like his mouth is moving and he's trying

to stop it. You're going to have to pick me

up and throw me over boards because what would a normal

person do? Hey, it's me.

Like, that's what you would think, that a normal, like,

guys, this is all my fault. But he just goes, yeah, you're

going to have to pick me up because I'm going to sit down.

OK, now once this is all over, you're going to, you're just

going to pick me up, throw me overboard.

Verses 13 through 16. You guys should read your Bible.

This is fun, isn't it? Instead, the men did their best

to row back to land, but they could not for the seeker even

Wilder than before. Then they cried out to the Lord.

Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man's life, and

do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man.

For you, Lord, have done as you pleased.

Then they took Jonah, threw him overboard, and the raging sea

grew calm. At this the men greatly feared

the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made

bows to him. Watch this.

Now the men who were just like Jonah, who wasn't doing the word

that they got from the Lord, Now these men are not doing the word

that they got from the Lord, and instead of throwing them

overboard, they start working harder.

We got to get this. We got to get this boat to sea

so that. And then when they can't do

that, they go, all right, I guess we're going to be obedient

to God. He because God turns up the

storm while they're trying to row against him.

So much so the storm gets so bad that the Pagan guys who used to

not believe in the one true God now believe in the one true God

and start praying to him. Hey God, we didn't believe in

you a couple of moments ago, but now we are full blown believers

and this is our first prayer. So we apologize for getting it

wrong, but we want you to know we believe and we want to be

obedient to you because we've already seen what happens when

we try to do what the opposite of what you told us to do.

Jonah hasn't learned this lesson yet, but Lord we have and we are

so thankful for sending this really disobedient prophet to

give us a word from you. But I just want to make sure you

hear us clearly. Your first command is for us to

throw your man overboard. And I just want to be super

clear because it's my first prayer to you.

God, we do not want to be held accountable for this guy dying.

And so they throw him into the water like mid prayer.

They're like, and Jesus won. We just want to like how, how

does it? Oh my goodness.

And so like they're like, please forgive us now.

As soon as this happens, the sea goes calm.

Can you imagine being a sailor like this boat is?

You're praying, all right? God, we're so sorry.

We're about to throw this guy in 123.

And what's to say they immediately made sacrifices and

vows to him? They're like, OK, so everything

we have is yours now. That's like they go from

worshipping false gods to believing in God, hearing about

God, to disobeying God, to believing in God, to throwing a

man overboard in response to God, to offering vows and

commitments. And can I just say this?

When people realize who God is, sacrifice and commitments are

the natural response. He's God.

I'm not, I belong to him now. Verse 17.

Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah and Joni

was in the belly of the fish 3 days and three nights.

That is the end of chapter 1. God, in his mercy, does not

allow Jonah to die. Instead, he saves him with a

great fish. Jonah, on the run from God,

cannot outrun God's grace and mercy to him.

While Jonah did not want to extend God's grace to the

Ninevites, God extended grace to Jonah.

And so God sends a storm. He sends a sailor to wake him

up, a fish to swallow him, all in an effort to bring Jonah back

to the heart of God. I got a question for you,

crossing family. What is the thing that God has

called you to do that you are not doing?

Or if you don't like that question, I'll give you a

tougher one. What is the storm that others

are suffering in because of your disobedience?

The good news is that even when we run, God comes running after

us. I just want to know when will we

finally stop running from Him and start running after Him?

We're moving to a time of decision.

If you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, I got great

news for you. You can start 1 today.

Maybe like the sailors, you will stop following the ways of this

world and you'll start following the Maker of this world.

Today you could be like the sailor and go, You know what?

It is time for me to give my life to you.

It's time for me to start worshiping you, following you,

trusting you, obeying you. I've been running my own play

long enough. And if you've never started an

intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ, there is

testimony after testimony after testimony in this room of people

who would just tell you that it was the best decision that they

ever made. And their biggest regret is that

they didn't do it sooner. And in just a few moments, the

people around you are going to stand and sing, and some of them

are going to go to the steps and pray.

I would encourage you to walk right over there underneath that

screen next to the baptistry, and talk to somebody about how

to start your relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you do have a relationship with Jesus Christ, I want to

encourage you to use these steps, to use these steps to get

your heart and your life right with God.

Maybe you're going to come to the steps and you're just going

to do battle over the thing that you know that God has called you

to do that you are not doing. Maybe it's he's been calling you

to serve and you won't serve, lead and He won't lead.

Give and you won't give. Forgive and you won't forgive.

There's a thing. Oh my goodness, every person has

a thing. How do I know that?

Because we're not perfect. He is and until we've been

perfected in Christ in heaven, there is always a thing that his

Spirit will be calling us to surrender to him.

So there's the thing question is, what are you going to do

with the thing? You're going to keep pushing it

back, keep running from it, or are you going to trust that God

has something good for you in it?

Others of you? This is, I mean this, this is

the tougher 1. What is the storm that the

people you love are having to go through because of your

disobedience? Maybe you come to the steps and

you just own your part. Maybe because you won't forgive

somebody, there's no trust in your home.

Because you won't forgive and you're getting bitter.

Your home has no peace. Maybe because you won't get

help, your family has no joy. Maybe because you won't

surrender your life to him, your family has no clear purpose and

direction. I know this.

I know many of us want to be the very best husbands and mothers

and wives and daughters and sons that we can possibly be, but I

also know that we want to somehow define what that is and

choose our path to get there. And how's that working?

So maybe today you don't go to the steps for you, but you go to

the steps for the people that are in your storm, and you get

right with God. You own your part.

You ask for forgiveness, so that way you can give them what God

wants to give them through you. Would you stand with me?

Heavenly Father, I'm asking you to do a mighty work in US.

I'm asking you to show us the consequences, the weight of our

disobedience, and show us the purpose and the direction and

the joy and the peace of obedience and help us to make

the right choice. You hear my pray.

Amen.