Scandalous Mercy Part 2 | Are You Running From God? with Chris Schlotterbeck

Hey guys, this is Tracy. If at any time you'd

like to connect with HCV, go to hcv .church forward

slash connect. If you feel called to give, go

to hcv .church forward slash give. And if at

any time you feel called to make a change in

your life, text change me to 970 -00. Enjoy the

message. Many of you know that we celebrate communion

as a community of faith every first Sunday of

the month. Last Sunday, of course, was Easter,

and we knew there was going to be a plethora

of people gather with us. So we pushed it to

this week. So for those of you that may be joining

us for the first time, we do communion here 12

times a year, the first Sunday of every month.

If you need an element. and you didn't get one

on your way in, put one hand up, and our top

banana will be around to give you an element.

If you need gluten -free, excuse me, put two

hands up, and don't make sure you get your element.

They're on their way now. So if you could all

focus in here. At HTV, we believe that communion

is not just something we do as a church. Jesus

actually told us to do it. In other words, It's

a command that he said, hey, church, do this

after I am gone. And he said that because when

we remember him and we reflect on what he did

for us as we celebrated last week, this is an

opportunity for you to encounter a living God.

So whatever you brought into this place, it could

be a sin. It could be a habit. It could be an

addiction. It could be a broken marriage. It

could be a healing that you need. This is an

opportunity for you to lay down any sin, anything

that's keeping you apart from God. This is an

opportunity for you to put a request before him

and say, hey, God, I need a miracle. And it's

in this instant that God could show himself to

be true. So Holy Spirit come, search our hearts,

God. You know us, you know what's there. Make

us be real and honest before you as we come before

you and ask. that you meet us in this place.

On the night before he died, Jesus took bread.

He broke it. He gave it to his disciples and

said, take, eat, this is my body, which is broken

for you, and do it in remembrance of me. Let's

eat. Likewise, he took the cup of wine. He said,

this is my blood, which is shed for you and for

many. For the forgiveness of sins, drink it often.

And when you do, do it in remembrance of me.

Let's drink. Holy Spirit, come. God, open our

hearts, our minds, our ears to receive your truth

today, God. May we be transformed. May we be

changed. May we leave this place different. And

may we reflect the very image of your son. In

Jesus' name, amen. All right, I want to begin

today by asking those of you that are followers

of Jesus, by show of hands, how many of you want

to hear from God? Wow, great response. You desire

God's will for your life. Great news. But I also

have to warn you, give you a yield sign, if you

will. Whenever God speaks to you, he's often

going to ask you to do something that you don't

want to do. Today, we are kicking off a three

-week series in the Old Testament book of Jonah.

We're going to be discussing God's scandalous

love for the next three weeks. And I was reading.

Just this past week about a boy in fifth grade

who attended a Sunday gathering and heard the

story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale. He

was excited about the story, went to school the

next day and began to tell his friends all about

it. His teacher overheard his excitement and

said, calm down, son. That isn't true. A whale

cannot swallow a human being. The boy responded,

yes, it is true. And the teacher quickly retorted,

no, it's not. The boy again responded, yes, it

is true. It's a true story. And the teacher again

said, no, it's not. The boy responded a third

time by saying, yes, it is true. When I get to

heaven, I'm going to ask Jonah what it was like

inside that well. To which the teacher responded,

what if Jonah is not in heaven? What if he's

in hell? The little boy said, well, then you

can ask him. That's a little tool for your tool

belt there. Now, Jonah is one of those stories

that many people have heard, have read, maybe

even believe that they understand the book. But

in reality, there's so much more to the story

than a prophet who ran and was swallowed by a

big fish. For example, another question to ponder,

who is the main character in the book of Jonah?

The answer is not Jonah. It's what most people

would guess, but it's actually not. Jonah is

actually the only name mentioned anywhere in

the book. There's no king. There's no captain.

He is the only name, but he's not the main character.

Someone would then point to the big fish. But

oddly enough, there's only three verses in the

entire book that talk about the big fish. So

if it's not Jonah and it's not the fish, who's

the main character in the book? Of course, the

answer is God. God is the main character of the

book of Jonah, a God who never gives up on his

people, even when they give up on him. See, the

whole book begins this way, Jonah 1 .1, the Lord

gave this message to Jonah, the son of Amittai.

See, we follow a God who speaks. How do we know

this? Well, the Bible tells us, in the beginning

was the Word, and the Word was with God. The

Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt

among us. In the beginning was the Word. See,

our God is a God who speaks to us, just like

he spoke to Jonah. And I believe that God is

going to speak to us throughout this series.

He's going to challenge us. He's going to challenge

us to grow and change to become more like Jesus.

And I believe that if you come in here expecting

over the next three weeks you will be different

by the time May rolls around. But again, it's

a choice. It's a choice to open our ears, our

minds, and our hearts to receive God's truth

and allow that to form us to become who we are.

All of that leads us to our first thought. If

we run from God, the enemy will help us go a

little further. See, Jonah chapter 1, verses

Jonah 1:1–3

1 through 3 reads, The Lord gave this message

to Jonah, the son of Amittai, Get up and go to

the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment

against it, because I have seen how wicked its

people are. Jonah, of course, was a prophet.

We first read about Jonah in the book of 2 Kings,

2 Kings 14:25

chapter 14, verse 25, that says that Jonah was

a man that God chose to speak on his behalf To

the Jewish people. So we open this book by seeing

that Jonah was given an assignment by God. And

let's see how he responds. But Jonah got up and

went in the opposite direction to get away from

the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa where

he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought

a ticket, went on board, hoping to escape from

the Lord by selling to Tarshish. So scripture

says that he ran from God. In fact, if you take

a look at this map. you'll see that Jonah actually

ran really, really far. He went to great lengths

to get away from God and ran as far as you possibly

could. As you see, Joppa is in the lower right

-hand corner. He was asked to go to Nineveh,

which was 550 miles away. Not a large journey.

He chose to hop on a boat and go to Tarsus, direction.

Tarshish at this time was actually the last known

civilization on the planet. So what did Jonah

do? He disobeyed God. God gave him an assignment,

and he said, no, I'm not going to do that. Now

why? Why did he run from God? Well, the reason

is because God wanted him to go and preach to

the Ninevites, and Jonah despised the Ninevites.

Just to give you a little context, Jonah was,

of course, a Jewish Hebrew from Israel, and Nineveh

was the capital of Assyria. The Assyrians hated

the Israelites. The Israelites hated the Assyrians.

It was kind of like a Star Wars, Luke Skywalker

versus Darth Vader type of hatred. You know,

good versus evil attitude. He despised these

people, and it was for a very, very good reason.

The Assyrians were a brutal and horrible group

of people. You can read accounts of Assyrian

kings that would quote how they conquered different

civilizations. They would conquer a city. They

would abuse the women. They would kill the children.

They would take survivors. They would skin them

alive, bury them in the sand, drive a stake through

their tongue, and allow them to die a brutal.

Take it a step further, any army that came before

them, when they were defeated, they would cut

off all their heads and stack them outside of

their cities to make a statement about what they

do to people. But see, this isn't why Jonah didn't

want to go. He was not afraid of the people.

It's because he knew God's character. And he

didn't want God to show favor and grace and actually

forgive his enemies. So Jonah ran away from God

and rationalized his disobedience. Well, they

don't deserve God's mercy. Now, I know none of

us do that in our world that we're living in

today. But if we're honest, if we run from God,

many of us know that the enemy will help us go

a little bit further. And this is not just in

the book of Jonah. This is in our choices as

well. We read this. about a son in Luke chapter

Luke 15 · chapter mention

15. A few days later, this younger son packed

all his belongings and moved to a distant land.

And there he wasted all his money in wild living.

About the time the money ran out, a great famine

swept over the land and he began to starve. Notice

how he's going down, down, down. He persuaded

a local farmer to hire him and the man sent him

into the fields to feed the pigs. The young man

became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding

the pigs looked good to him, but no one gave

him anything. Church, we have to realize that

when we choose disobedience, our enemy is waiting

to lead us away from God. And those choices and

that sin doesn't just impact us, which leads

us to our second thought. See, rationalizing

sin affects ourselves and others. And what does

it mean to rationalize sin? Well, Jonah probably

thought something like, hey, these people, they're

so evil. They're so wicked. They don't deserve

God's grace. So I'm not doing it. He rationalized

his sin. And church, we do that when we hold

unforgiveness in our heart. You realize that?

When we hold someone to unforgiveness, basically

we're saying they don't deserve God's grace.

They don't deserve God's mercy. And it's not

about the evil that they did. Maybe they just

offended us. Maybe they look different. Maybe

they sound different or speak different. And

suddenly when we hold unforgiveness in our hearts

towards others, we're no better than Jonah. Rationalizing

sin is when our mind makes an excuse for what

our spirit knows it's wrong. It's when our mind

makes an excuse for something that the Bible

says, no, this is not God's best for you. And

we know it in our spirits that it's wrong, but

we choose to rationalize that sin and say, I'm

doing it anyway. Maybe God asks you to no longer

be in a relationship with that person. You know

they're bad for you. You know their relationship

with Jesus and your heart is suffering, but you're

choosing their physical appearance over God's

best. Or to take it a little step further, you

rationalize, well, I need to move in with them

to test the waters. to see if it's okay that

I marry them. Maybe God has been asking you to

be honest about that secret sin on your phone

or in your computer. Maybe God has been challenging

you to check your spending, to stop buying what

you want, and to make a budget living on what

you need. Maybe God has been highlighting a few

friends in your life that are struggling. He

wants you to reach out and share Jesus with them,

but your response is always, I'm not ready yet.

This isn't the best time, God. You know, I don't

really feel like it. I'll get to it later. See,

sin is going in the opposite direction of what

God wants you to do. And we see that in Jonah's

life. Jonah ended up a long way from God. But

please understand this sin doesn't just impact

us. Let's continue in the story. Jonah won four

through eight, but the Lord hurled a powerful

wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that

threatened to break the ship apart. Freeing for

their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to

their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard

to lighten the ship. So notice the men on the

boat didn't even believe in God. They had different

idols they were worshiping, but all this time,

Jonah, where was Jonah? Sound asleep down in

the hold. So the captain quickly went down after

him. How can he sleep at a time like this, he

shouted. get up and pray to your God. Maybe he

will pay attention to us and spare our lives.

And the crew cast lots to see which of them had

offended the gods and caused a terrible storm.

When they did this, of course, the lots identified

Jonah as the culprit. Why has this awful storm

come down on us, they demanded. Who are you?

What is your line of work? What country are you

from? What is your nationality? Now I want you

to notice, these sailors, They were innocent.

They hadn't done anything wrong yet. They're

in the middle of a storm that God sent because

of Jonah and his choice to compromise. The sailors

were suffering because of a rebellious guy on

the boat. And some of you might be struggling

right now because you got the wrong person in

your boat. You're lusting. You're not in love.

Some of you are struggling today because you're

following influencers that take you away from

God. Anytime that consistent voice is in your

life distracting you from God, you need to get

that voice out of your boat. Here we have these

sailors, and they're in the middle of a storm

that they didn't cause. Their boat's falling

apart, and what's Jonah doing? He's sleeping.

Jonah is running from God because he's rationalizing

his sin, and now he's so comfortable in disobeying

God that he's sleeping through it. Notice what

Hebrews chapter 3 reminds us. Be careful then,

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your

own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning

you away from the living God. You must warn each

other every day, while it is still today, that

none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened

against God. As a community of faith, I want

to challenge you. If you see a friend that is

struggling in sin, lovingly challenge them to

change today. Don't wait till tomorrow. Because

if we wait and we put it off, they can continue

to drift and get further from God. We don't want

to be a community of people that are comfortable

in our sin. What does this look like? Well, verse

8, the sailor asked, Why has this awful storm

come down on us, they demanded. Who are you?

What is your line of work? What country are you

from? What is your nationality? Listen to Jonah's

response. Jonah answered, I am a Hebrew, and

I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made

the sea and the land. If you fast forward to

today, Jonah is literally quoting what we now

know as the Nicene Creed, which begins, I believe

in one God, the Father Almighty. Creator of heaven

and earth. And many people in the church today

can quote those words. Unfortunately, there are

many people in the church today that have become

comfortable in their compromise. They can talk

about Jesus. They can go to church. Yet they

live a life of compromise. Maybe you've created

a habit. You gather on Sunday. You worship. You

are challenged by a teaching. but you're not

reading the Bible or praying during the week.

Maybe you say you are following Jesus, but your

social media feed is full of negativity, judgment,

and hate. Maybe you say you love Jesus, but you

haven't served in the church for years and are

still talking about your experiences 20 years

ago. Maybe you believe in God, but you find yourself

making excuses of why you shouldn't give to God's

kingdom. Oh, the church just wants my money.

Or you're simply giving a tip rather than a tithe.

See, we have to realize Jonah is a direct reflection

of our lives today. It's a mirror that stands

in front of us, if you will, for us to look into

and say, okay, God, speak to me. Highlight areas

of my life that I'm struggling with. And as he

does that, it leads us to our next thought. Church,

we cannot outrun the grace of God. He is going

to follow you and pursue you. Jonah 1, 10 through

12. The sailors were terrified when they heard

this, for he had already told them he was running

away from the Lord. What did you do? They groaned.

And since the storm was getting worse all the

time, they asked him, what should we do to you

to stop this storm? Throw me into the sea, Jonah

said. And it will become calm again. I know this

terrible storm is all my fault. And this is a

devastating point in the story. Sad, if you will.

It's as if we can feel his sadness. His heart

is broken. And he desires for it to end. He's

depressed. He's overwhelmed with life. He knows

he made a mistake and he's beating himself up.

Jonah was God's chosen prophet. He is now at

a point in his life where he's so far from God,

so depressed, so overwhelmed, he doesn't care

if he lives or he dies. He says, it's my fault.

Just throw me overboard. And this is heartbreaking

because God chose Jonah. God called Jonah. And

Jonah ran from God as far away as possible from

that once important relationship. And I believe

there's many gathered here today. Maybe you're

watching online. You've said yes to God. You've

trusted him with your life. You made Jesus Lord

of your life, but today you've been running from

him. You've been doing your own thing. God called

you. Now you're running from God in the opposite

direction, and you find yourself stuck in a storm.

See, we get there when we ignore God, and we

end up in a place that we never, ever wanted

to be. Depressed. hopeless, seeing no way out.

Then our immediate reaction, our human responsibility

is to blame someone else. It's their fault. It's

the captain's fault. It's the sailor's fault.

So is the Syrian. It's Nineveh. When in reality,

it was his own fault. Jonah became comfortable

in his compromise. He loses all hope. He says,

throw me in. And the guys on the boat, who don't

even believe in God, they wanted to do the right

thing, which is kind of strange. Let's continue

in the story, verses 13 to 16. Instead, the sailors

rowed even harder to get the ship to the land.

But the stormy sea was too violent for them,

and they couldn't make it. Then they cried out

to the Lord, Jonah's God. Notice how their hearts

changed. Oh, Lord, they pleaded, don't make us

die for this man's sin. Don't hold us responsible

for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm

upon him for your own good reasons. Then the

sailors picked Jonah up, threw him into the raging

sea, and the storm stopped at once. The sailors

were awestruck by the Lord's great power, and

they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve

him. I mean, these men who did not believe in

God, now we see them making a commitment to follow

him because they saw his mighty power at work

over the sea. This is what is so amazing about

God and his mercy. Jonah can disobey and run

from God, endangering the lives of others around

him, yet God can still use him to ignite a spiritual

revival on a boat full of unbelievers. Friends,

we cannot outrun God's mercy. We can run, but

sin will not hinder God's plan to reach people

with the good news. He can use people that are

not okay to transform the lives of others. Now,

I am in no way justifying sin. I am in no way

justifying you running from God. I am simply

challenging you to examine your life and see

if there's any area that God wants you to change

so you don't have to walk through a storm. And

if you know you're walking through a storm today,

be encouraged. Because God always provides a

way out. We read this in Jonah 1 .17. Now the

Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow

Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three

days and three nights. Now I get it. When hearing

this verse, so many people immediately think,

okay, Chris, see, it's just the story. There's

no way that can happen. It's just a story. Or

is it? Let's watch this news clip. Now for the

mother of all whale tales. I mean, this is pretty

amazing, and you've got to see it to believe

it. Fortunately, there's video. Yes, there is.

A young man swallowed by a humpback whale and

quickly spit out, thankfully. So here he is on

the kayak. This is on the Strait of Magellan

in Chile. All right? 24 years old, kayaking with

his dad when this happened. His father was recording

the video. The wave comes up, takes a big gulp

with the sun, just for a few moments, and then

releases him. The sun said he thought he was

going to die. It was his life vest, he believes,

that pulled him up, kept him buoyant enough.

He asked if he'd kayak again. They said, of course.

Of course we would. Wow. Yeah. That's pretty

amazing. That's crazy, huh? Of course we would!

Why would I? not kayak again. I just got swallowed

by a whale. See, friends, the story of Jonah

is written in the Bible as a historical account

to teach us a lesson today so that we can reflect

on and see our own heart, and God can then challenge

us to change, which leads us to our fourth thought.

See, prayer should be our priority, not a last

resort. Moving to Jonah chapter 2. Then Jonah

Jonah 2 · chapter mention

prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish.

He said, I cried out to the Lord in my great

trouble and he answered me. I called to you from

the land of the dead and Lord you heard me. You

threw me into the ocean depths and I sank down

to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed

me. I was buried beneath your wild and stormy

waves. What did Jonah do when he was in trouble?

He prayed. But please notice. Jonah didn't pray

when God called him to go to Nineveh. Jonah doesn't

pray when he boards a ship. Jonah didn't pray

when a storm hit. Jonah didn't even pray when

he was thrown overboard. Jonah didn't pray when

he was sinking to the bottom of the sea. He didn't

even pray when he was swallowed. It's after three

days and three nights that Jonah begins to pray.

And what do we learn? A lot for us to pray. And

why? Why is it so difficult for us to pray? Well,

think about it. When trouble comes our way, we

talk about it. We think about it. We worry about

it. We analyze it. We try to figure it out ourselves.

We try to do it in our own strength. And then

God finally gets our attention. And then we're

like, oh, yeah. Pray about it. I want to challenge

you. Prayer needs to be your priority. Not just

in times of trouble, but every single day. In

good times, in bad times, we are called to pray.

And notice how Jonah was praying in verse 2.

I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble.

Jonah was crying out to God. This is the same

root word in the Greek. as a woman crying out

in pain during labor. In other words, Jonah was

hurting, and he cried out to God. But why does

it seem like every time we gather as a community

of faith, when we're going to church, people

become so conservative? It's as if we're afraid

to be open and honest with our feelings and our

emotions. We don't sing out in praise like we

can. We want to cover our emotions. We don't

want to cry. We want to look at the ground. We're

fearful to lift our hands. Someone may be watching

me. We get all quiet and conservative. It's as

if we're singing kumbaya around a campfire. Why?

Why? Because examine your life. In any other

relationship, our lives involve real emotion.

You know, your favorite sports teams win. You

go nuts. I mean, you paint your face. You wear

cheese on your heads. You do crazy stuff. Okay.

So you don't like sports. You get in a disagreement

with your spouse. Dude. If I was Alexa looking

at your conversations, I'm going to see real

emotion. Now, you're not going to tell me that.

Oh, yeah, we're real calm when we argue. You're

right. You're not. You're not calm. You're intense.

You're open about your feelings and emotions.

And that's how we need to be in church. Because

we have a relationship with the living God. He

already knows our heart. Why are we trying to

hide it from him? Let's be open and honest because

he hears us. Psalm 116 verses one through two.

I love the Lord because he hears my voice and

my prayer for mercy because he bends down to

listen. I will pray as long as I breathe. Now

listen to verse three of Jonah's prayer. You

threw me into the ocean depths. I sank down to

the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed

me. I was buried beneath your wild and stormy

waves. See, Jonah is aware that his shortcomings,

his choices, led to his current situation. His

choices led him to literally being in the belly

of a whale. And you may be here today, and you're

saying, Chris, my marriage is in trouble. Someone

else might be saying, have you seen these food

prices? My paycheck isn't enough for me to live

financially. Others of you are struggling with

your health. Still some of you are struggling

with your kids. No matter what you might find

yourself troubling you or struggling with today,

it very well might not be your fault. But no

matter what's going on, the Bible says this in

James 5, 13. Are any of you suffering hardships?

You should pray. And any of you are happy, you

should sing praises. See, and this is a challenge

for us, and it leads to our fifth and final fault.

While we wait in prayer, God is still working.

While we wait in prayer, God is still working.

Jonah 2 .9, but I will offer sacrifices to you

with songs of praise and I will fulfill all my

vows for my salvation comes from the Lord alone.

By show of hands, how many of you have ever been

around someone and when they pray, it's like,

man, they sound spiritual, like they're connected

to God. Have you ever been around anyone like

that? You know, you're hanging around Rick Vance

and it's like, oh my gosh, he's in heaven. It's

like when they pray, you listen to their prayer

and it's like, oh man, God is hearing that prayer.

I need to touch them. You know, it's just so

nice to listen to. Yet when sometimes I feel

like I'm praying, God help! Right? God save me!

God help me! Change this situation! Right? It's

as if we just can't stay focused and pray a prayer

that God's going to hear. When in reality, some

people that pray and they sound eloquent, do

you know why they sound eloquent when they pray?

Because they're simply praying the Bible. The

most effective way that we can pray is to actually

pray the Bible. And you say, Chris, well, why

would we pray the Bible? Well, because the Bible

tells us that the Bible is living, active, powerful,

stronger than any two -edged sword. The Bible

tells us that the words written in it are never

going to return void. And one of the most powerful

things that we could ever pray is to pray the

Bible out loud. And that's exactly what Jonah

is doing. In Jonah chapter 2, Jonah was praying.

Jonah 2 · chapter mention

And what do you think he was praying? Jonah was

praying the Psalms. Check this out. Check this

out. Jonah 2 .2. I called to the Lord and he

answered me. Psalm 3 .4. I call out to the Lord.

And he answers me. Jonah 2 .2, deep in the realm

of the dead, I called for help. Psalm 16, you

will not abandon me to the realm of the dead.

Jonah 2 .4, I've been banished from your sight.

Psalm 31, I am cut off from your sight. Jonah

2 .5, the waters closed over me. Psalm 69, the

waters have come up to my neck. Jonah 2 .8, those

who cling to worthless idols. Psalm 31 .6, I

ate those who, oh. I hate, sorry. You don't eat

idols. Typo. I hate those who cling to worthless

idols. That's funny. That's funny. Jonah 2 .9.

What I have vowed I will make good. Psalm 116.

I will fulfill my vows to the Lord. So let's

say you're here today and you're struggling with

fear, anxiety, depression, sometimes mental struggle

that you can't seem to overcome. I'm going to

challenge you. Do a quick Google search or open

your Bible app and search how you're feeling.

Type in depression scriptures. Then just start

praying what you read. God, I'm feeling anxious.

Therefore, I cast my cares on you, God, because

you care for me. You might pray, God, help me

not be anxious. The Bible tells me to be anxious

about nothing, but with everything, my prayer

and petition, I submit my quest to you. God,

I thank you that your promise to me is peace,

that your peace will guard my heart, my mind,

my soul through my relationship with Jesus. God,

the Bible says you have not given me a spirit

of fear or timidity, but a spirit of power, love,

and self -discipline. You see, I'm praying truth.

I'm believing truth. Why? Because God already

wrote it. Jonah cried out to God, and he listened

to his cry. Jonah prayed, and what did he pray?

He prayed the Psalms. But please notice that

Jonah prayed, and he said, God heard me. But

if you look carefully, nothing happened immediately

when he prayed. And this is encouraging to me.

You say, why is that encouraging to you? Because

it's not about our timing. It's God's timing.

But yet we want everything to be about our timing.

God, I need healing right now. God, I need restoration

right now. But it doesn't always work that way.

God knows what is best for us. Jonah prayed.

And it took 10 verses before his prayer was offered.

But notice verse 9. Verse 9 of Jonah says, I

will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise.

In other words, I'm shouting to you, God. I'm

worshiping you. I can't contain it. I'm letting

it out. It's grateful praise that I will sacrifice

to you. And what's powerful about this verse

is Jonah praised before the miracle happened.

And it's real easy, right? We all know it's real

easy to praise God after the miracle. But what

does it look like to praise God before the miracle?

Because see, when we praise God before the miracle,

it lifts our spirits, it raises our attitudes,

and it allows for us to experience freedom. But

you have to choose to do it. You have to choose

to praise before the miracle happens. And you

praise with a means of just letting it out, which

leads us to our one action step. Stop making

excuses. Church, stop making excuses and receive

a supernatural second chance. Notice Jonah 2

.10. Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah

out on the beach. Now, in studying Jonah this

week, I learned that many scholars believe this

beach was on the shores of Joppa. That Jonah,

in choosing to run from God 2 ,500 miles in the

opposite direction, ends up in the belly of a

whale for three days. And three nights. And through

his prayer and through his praise, ends up getting

spit back out on the shores of Joppa where he

was originally called to speak and challenge

the people there. Now, how many days was he in

the belly of the fish? Three. Three days and

three nights. Now, does that sound familiar?

We may have celebrated that last Sunday. And

it's interesting, Jonah lived somewhere around

785 to 800 years before the birth of Jesus. And

here we see the Old Testament foreshadowing what

Jesus talked about in the New Testament in Matthew

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12. But Jesus replied, only an evil and

adulterous generation would demand a miraculous

sign. But the only sign I will give them is the

sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in

the belly of the great fish for three days and

three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the

heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

See, church, God is speaking to us and showing

us and revealing to us. We have to stop rationalizing

our sin. We have to stop allowing ourselves to

compromise with culture. We have to be a people

that even though we're walking through trouble,

what Jesus told us we would, He promised we would

go through trouble in this life. We have to choose

to pray and praise. And as we pray and praise,

we are reminded that Jesus spent three days and

three nights separated from his father to the

point where when he rose again, we celebrate

it every single year. Why? Because that's our

connection with the living God. The living God

that empowers us to be difference makers from

this day forward. Will you stand with me? Now,

as I was praying for this gathering just a few

minutes ago, just being honest with you, I felt

like God spoke to me that many of you brought

trouble into this place. And it may not be of

your own doing. It could be a friend, a family

member. And it's overwhelming you mentally. You

feel depressed. You feel anxiety. And it feels

like you're literally sinking. But I want to

challenge you. Renew your faith. And God highlighted

for me Peter. Peter got out of the boat. Jesus

invited him. Get out of the boat. He's the only

human being to ever walk on water. because he

had the faith to step out of the boat. But even

as he stepped out of the boat and walked on water,

the storm caused him to sink. But did Jesus let

him go under? No, he picked him back up, restored

him, and put him back in the boat. Jesus is never

going to let you sink to the point where you're

underwater and not able to come back. He's going

to bring you back, and he's going to allow for

you to be restored, and your relationship with

Jesus will grow closer and stronger than you

ever have before. But it's a choice. It's a choice

to acknowledge what is happening around you,

and it's a choice to lay it all down and to give

it to him. You know, for me, I've been struggling

the last couple weeks because there's not anything

with me. I'm physically great. I feel good. I'm

pastoring a church I love. I'm doing what I'm

called to do. But my kids are struggling. And

when your kids are struggling, it tears you down.

It doesn't feel like I'm in a storm. It feels

like I'm in a hurricane. But yet I got to choose

to focus on and to rely on him. I gotta choose

to give my kids to him, believing that he's gonna

make a way, that he's gonna heal, that he's gonna

set free, that he's gonna restore, that he's

gonna do what needs to happen, not in Chris's

timing, but in his timing so that he can be glorified.

So I'm in it with you, friends. I get it. But

it's a choice to choose to pray and to praise.

And may this be a reminder that whatever you

brought in here, You can lay down right now.

So Holy Spirit, come. God, whatever it is, each

and every person brought into this place, I pray,

God, that they're able to choose to lay it down

at your feet. That they're able to choose to

pray and to praise what you're going to do through

this trouble, through this storm, through this

anguish, God. And that you're going to make a

way for peace and calm to come. May this be a

day, God, that people mark as the day where freedom

reigns, where freedom comes. And as that freedom

comes, you release them to be a people of light.

That their pain can be used for purpose. That

their pain can be used to lead others into a

relationship with you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Now, I'm going to pray a simple prayer. And listen,

if you walked away from God, you're distant,

you're far from him. You never started a journey.

We pray this prayer every Sunday. And we do it

because we believe God brings people in our midst

that have walked away just like Jonah. You may

be questioning your faith or you may never started.

You may be like those sailors. But God is inviting

you home today. Let's pray. Jesus, I'm broken.

I'm full of doubt, shame, regret. Sin, change

me. Forgive me. I believe you're God's son. I

believe you died for me. Make me new. Set me

free. Fill me with your spirit. In Jesus' name,

amen. Now, if you prayed that prayer, see me,

text me, hug me, see Rudy, do something. There

were several words of knowledge. They were very

specific that I want to share for you. so that

you can get prayer and experience freedom today.

You heard Rick on the announcements. We've had

many testimonies of healings in this place. Don't

leave here if this is you. You have sharp pain

in the fingers of your left hand. You have muscle

pain in the right arm and running down into your

leg. You have right hip pain. You have a herniated

disc in your lower back. You have a growth on

your skin in the lower part of your back, and

you have pain in your tailbone that's making

it difficult to sit. So if that's you or if you

have any other prayer requests, our prayer team

will be on my left and my right. Please make

your way up here and receive some prayer. Why

are you all leaving? Like, seriously. I didn't

say goodbye yet. Joyce, you better get your guys.

That's unacceptable. Come on now. So listen,

we're going to continue with Jonah for the next

two or three weeks. This is going to be a great

series of reflection and challenge you to grow

and change. God bless you guys. I look forward

to celebrating all that God's going to do throughout

the entire month of April. Thank you for joining

us online. life for mine either one turn water

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