as we wrap up the series this today is jonah chapter four and we're going to be starting two new things that i wanted to highlight one of them is an outreach it's been a theme in the book of jonah and it's a real god outreach it's something we hope everyone participates in thousand and six lot of training and insights into what's going to be happening but through social media and internet is just a lot of different aspects to it so real god is the outreach and it's going to be kicking off real soon second i want to highlight that our next series is going to go into the book of proverbs and we haven't done this before as a church but we're going have a wisdom challenge what does that mean we all want to grow in wisdom right who doesn't want with them well that's another question  proverbs july thirty one days proverbs thirty one chapters in the book so i'm encouraging everyone to read a chapter a day and since our next service isn't going to be in in two you know we're going to be in july already this is the heads up that when july first kicks in just go to proverbs chapter one and as we all read proverbs together during the month of july we're going to encourage each other share different verses that stood out to you and just soaked up god's wisdom gained god's wisdom together it's just laid out in that book a rich book so we look for that in the next series let's go ahead and pray now as we turn to jonah and the book of jonah chapter four let's pray father god we so often are warned and you're not and that you have hope and healing in there and you give us your perspective and you renew us and you lift up our heads and we thank you that redemption wins and that we thank you that your compassion builds up in our hearts as you change us in jesus we want to trust you and honor you today we commit this to you in your name amen honoring god it sounds good but it's kind of general what are the specifics how do you really honor god in jonah chapter four is so helpful and so practical because it covers those specifics now here's the irony as we approach jonah chapter four you know what just happened in this book we had the city of nineveh turn to god in honor  the entire city can you imagine none of us have ever had that experience when tired city has turned to god even the king who is on his throne in nineveh realizes that it's time to honor god and he wants god on the throne of his life have you made that decision where every part of your life it would be god on the throne not self centered i mean that's the crux of honoring god so all this is happening in the book of jonah and we get to jonah for the whole city wants to honor god and the prophet who brought the message isn't so sure if he wants to honor god isn't it ironic that the one who just brought the message of one hundred twenty thousand have turned the one who brought the message the prophet isn't sure if he wants to really honor god so that's the inner wrestling that all of us can relate to and we're going to start by thinking through our next steps when it comes to honoring god so let's turn to jonah chapter four and we'll start in verse one but jonah was greatly displeased and he became angry he prayed to the lord oh lord is this not what i said when i was still at home that is why i was so quick to tarshish i knew that you are a gracious and compassionate god you're slow to anger your abounding in love you are a god who relents from sending calamity now old lord take away my life for it is better for me to die than to live but the lord replied jonah have you any rights to be angry what is seen a quick summary of the book if you're just joining us this week chapter one jonah ran away in rebellion rebelling against god ran the opposite direction where god wanted to send him then chapter two he returned to god in the belly of a fish he returned to god chapter three he went to the place where god wanted to go and he shared god's word and there was a revival in chapter three in some ways you kind of think it might be nice if the book just ended after chapter three it would have been a great ending happily ever after type of ending but if you ever notice the bible's very realistic the bible doesn't just you know embellished the bible's truth the bible presents god as he is as awesome as he is presents us as we are it's with truth it's realistic and that's why we have jonah chapter four because the story did continue in there is another chapter in so we read there was a revival in jonah's angry jonah's displeased what still smoke coming out of his ears and and you could just hear him say i knew it god i knew this was going to happen this is why i didn't want to bring your word because all these people have turned to you and i knew it your gracious and what's interesting is that jonah quotes exit is to after thirty four it's god's own description of himself as moses was seeking god and god starts to talk about how he is gracious and compassionate and he's slow to anger and he's of bounding in with a really good doctrine and a sick heart what a combination and so out of his words on the spiritual task he has all the right answers and he's quoting scripture but notice he is so unlike the description of god at this time as he's going god you are compassionate and you are so gracious and again the irony is and i am so not in so that's the the interesting part is he reads that so here's the first to honoring god letting go of resentment letting go of resentment when you meet someone you don't know right away are they a person who has some resentment stored in their heart and they harbor that you can't always tell right away but you can usually tell you know what surprises me is i get to know different people in life it surprises me how many parents have some resentment stored up for their kids and it could be that their lives change that more sacrifice is needed you know it could be that the kids have made some bad decisions and there's resentment towards kids you know also it could be pastors ever resent when i get to hang out pastors a lot in pastors can build up some resentment towards people in their church who don't get the vision who speak up against them who you know are just a pain in the neck and pastors start to build up more and more resentment in pastors hearts people sometimes who in their fifty's sixty's seventy's eighty's have harbored resentment have been alongside of people on their deathbed and their soul is still not healthy because they are holding on to resentment towards somebody and they're doing it all the way to the grave they're trying to hold on to that resentment instead of cries for gave us we forgive others fully in the freedom that that brings so are you harboring any resentment yes it's true that you know maybe the contemporaries of joan and just before amos and hosea other prophets they had talked about a syria they talked about nineveh had attacked him being cruel to israel and they were going to attack again and so maybe jonah has this on his mind in isn't it interesting with resentment how we can always rationalize resentment i have resentment but it's because those assyrians what they have done and what they were this is why it's ok i have resentments and there's the rationalization that happens with resentment and god wants to set us free of the resentment and the bogus rationalizations and fusions chapter four says it so clearly don't let the sun go down while you're still angry in your anger don't sin but take care of it today get rid of your resentment before the sun comes down because if you don't the bible says you give the enemy the devil a foothold into your life in so jonah has a divided heart whenever you have resentment and praise resentment in jesus you've got a divided heart and that's what's going on with joan and so if you're going to honor god it's going to get rid of the resentment when network ation for us today here's a second thing with jonah finding something better than pouting it does honor god when we find something better than putting is there something better than pouting i think there is i think there is he says i just feel like i want to die i just feel like i want to die jonah chapter two verse two didn't you just cry oh to god saying god i'm in the belly of the fish and i feel like i want to live i feel like i want to be set free please let me live oh please let me die please let me live oh please let me just die in there is jonah can we relate the roller coaster of emotions and god ask jonah do you have any right to be like this god brings attitude accountability and we worship god we love god isn't it tricky with attitude sometimes with actions we can say we were supposed to do this you did that attitudes are just so much more vague and ambiguous but you know when you're around a really fall attitude but you don't know how to address it and what do you say and is there any accountability for attitudes are good people just carry around bad attitudes all the time in god brings attitude accountability and so he brings that to jonah in jonah's reason you know you just for gave one hundred twenty thousand of my enemies hundred twenty thousand people who oppose me and you just for gave him god god that is so absurd and the question is is jonah saying god that is so absurd who's really absurd in this scene right here but he is letting god know he thinks it's absurd so he's going to keep putting no response to god fine god if that's what you're going to do i'm just going to give you the silent treatment god cold shoulder how do you like it god us me a question i'm not answering your question i'm not talking god i'm just going to give you the silent treatment  d you ever done that one for a year or a couple of years decade never try that with other people i don't like what's happening here so i'm just going to give you the silent treatment in the cold shoulder and pout in so that's  so clear so we go back to jonah and job down to verse five jonah went out and he sat down at a place east of the city there he made himself a shelter he sat in it shade he waited to see what would happen to the city  then the lord god provided a vine and he made it grow up over jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort in jonah was very happy about the vine but it dawned the next day god then provided a worm which to  so that it withered and when the sun rose god provided a scorching east wind and the sun blazed on jonah's head so that he grew faint he wanted to die again and he said it would be better for me to die than to live but god said to jonah do you have a right to be angry about the vine jonah said i do and i am angry enough to die humph marches out east of the city leaving nineveh not happy with god's plan and sits down to watch the city  like july fourth some people gather together sit down to watch the fireworks and to watch the show jonas sits down to watch what he wants to be the show and the wrath in jonah he so he's watching he's hoping that god won't be merciful and compassionate but instead god will bring vengeance and so here's the next prince with honor and god is becoming flexible instead of ridiculous stubborn and defensive no one ever thinks the ridiculously stubborn defense of john excuse me you being ridiculously stubborn and offensive no holo no not at all but how do we stay flexible let me ask it this way has god ever done something that you didn't want like or expect yeah yeah sure so then how did you respond did you dig your heels in did you say god going to show you who's in charge and how did that turn out how did that work see god's really trying to do is help jonah grow help jonah grow through this situation he's all about jonah's growth and on the other hand you think about joan and where he's stuck god is mad mad about god's grace that it's so good it's so widespread it's so deep have you ever been mad about grace it sounds kind of funny doesn't it this is what happens i like to say it's rare but it's actually quite common i call it spiritual amnesia in the way it works is this we just totally forget that god has forgiven our sins that god has been so patient for so long he's been so forgiving in so merciful and through jesus he's paid it all in we walk in eternal life and in forgiveness them oh that's a totally different ball game that is so different if it's me for a given i am so happy but if we're talking about forgiving her her forgiven him that is so different no no that's the crux of what's happening to jonah jonah is completely forgetting how merciful how god saved his life and he's turning around without that on his mind and looking at other people like the n out of grace because in fact mad that god would be gracious to people like that i've seen people get divorced and it's ok if i'm forgiven my sins are very little and god forgives me but oh i won't god  person double standard we do that in a lot of areas sometimes it's our boss our coworkers and so that's spiritual amnesia is what's happening here and joan is right in the middle of it in god says ok here's a tender less on jonah you say what this is a tender lesson yes it is the first lesson jonah had was a storm was thrown into the ocean was in the belly of a fish was three days and nights was vomited on to dry ground that's that's not as tender of a lesson a tender lesson is this here comes what appears to be a bean plant or they grow rapidly they're about twelve feet high they have huge leaves they bring shade and if something happens to the stock the whole plant can we have there if a worm comes along and starts to bother the stock the whole plant can with or so jonah has his shade he has his being plant now he has no shade the worm took it away it's a gentle reminder so what's god helping with god is helping jonah realize what is petty and then to discover a healthy perspective don't has inner conflict because he doesn't realize what's petty and he doesn't realize god's perspective that conflict is this the vine or the city jonah which is more important the vine that gives you shade or the city with one hundred twenty thousand people in jonah goes oh this is close this is like a photo finish wait a second it's actually not close the vine quins the vine clearly wins the vine is dominant in gods like so the vines more important than the city the thing of little value is of vine some shade being plant come on and and yeah do we ever get teddy thanks for watching our program today and i want to let you know about our web site activate life dot org you can send us your prayer requests we are honored to pray for you we also have daily devotions and other resources you can sign up for and if you want to support us financially you can do that through the web site now we'll get back to the teaching as we get into god's word together so we celebrate god's building it here here's really the shift for don't god think jonah i want you to shift from the vine to the city jonah the vine is fleeting jonah the vine doesn't count for eternity jonah the vine comes and goes john of the vine is just about you and your physical comforts and your preferences that's the vine jonah would you shift over here into the city and do people who are eternal and they last forever and i want them all to be with me forever jonah would you let go of that vine so you could be part of what i'm doing in the and that's the decision that just sits in my mind each day the vine or the city the vine or the city jonas religious sham is that he is so sound doctrinally and he knows this bible so well and he has so little willingness reach compassion step out of the comfort zone in god's looking at this saying grow up jonah i'm not looking for the right answers i'm not just looking for dr only impressive i'm not looking for who can just quote exit is chapter thirty four i'm looking at who's experienced my compassion and who will know it say it know it doctor and yes you think in through that divine the city the vine the city one thing that stands out in this book is how consistent god is god is consistent with the sailors with jonah and with the he's so consistent so merciful he god is searching in reaching out in love he couldn't love more to those who are wayward to those who go astray and he just reaches out in love and patience and love and reminders and sometimes storms to bring people back to him and that's what god's doing that's what he's doing today he's the same god in the book of jonah as he is today and one thing i would say about the ninevites is that they're more ready to receive god's grace than jonah is to share it and i would say that about our country you know people can say all spiritually it's going down morally it's going down what i've seen in my experience is that people individually are often times more ready then you've got the greater nineveh area so some people say up to three hundred thousand or six hundred thousand even in the greater nineveh area we know the number in king and pierce county is the people who say they don't follow jesus and that's one point eight six million and that's a big number that's bigger than in a but we serve a big god who loves every single one of them so i want to close this with a twist and compassion you know that all sounds good oh honoring god compassionate sounds good i just want to say had  jesus talked to the woman at the well the samaritan where they say jews don't associate with samaritans don't talk to her she's been with so many men jesus get away from her disciple study was crazy jesus said to the children come to me come to me in the culture said no the children are second rate and it was controversial jesus went around to be able who had demons any any healed them and again it's like what do you do when talking to that person he's a friend of sinners do people say that you're a friend of sinners and you just leave sinners to god all the time we're all sinners we've all sinned who are we reaching out to jesus was a friend of sinners jesus winter people who are violent and persecuted acts chapter nine paul wanted christians killed folks this is not a compassion this is just you know the religious leaders they were tent there's going to be people who oppose a real compassion they're going to say oh don't spend money on those people they don't even go to our church oh i'm like that's that's too much love that's too much good you're seeing your faith too much you're too excited about reaching people you think you know i've heard it you can invite them and they don't have their act together how could you even invite them in i heard i've been a ministry twenty plus years if the religious people who want to put a box on compassion say these are the rules for compassion and if you go beyond that that's controversy and that spirit continues and then there's some who just filled with the holy spirit and they don't care you know i like these welcome desserts i get to meet new people in that one person to welcome dessert just kind of came up to me afterwards and said is there a dress code here at the church  and i just said no dress coat thanks mom you just come as you are you just going to go in what i heard underneath that is i've been judged churches i might be really tween the lines but i've seen it happen i've been judged a lot on my appearances at churches in i'm just wondering if i don't have the right outfit here in my going to be judged here rules about compassion oh we're compassionate is long as you have a good over it on but if you're willing then oh no no compa for you see the temptation so it is it's a battle what is really going on with compassion in so the vine in the city the vine in the city and you know possibly know someone i appreciate a lot he just said you  of sum it up in these three words following jesus honoring god you kind of sum it up in these three words anything anywhere anytime it honors god if you ever said that to god said god anything anywhere anytime jesus anything anywhere anytime go to nineveh go to the middle east anyone my neighbor my coworker anything by him launch any time forgive any time well the sun's still up any time in so honoring god we're where do we want to be where do you want your life to be when it comes to honoring god here's here's the last one real honoring god it unleashes god's powerful in widespread compassion jonah the fact that he wrote down chapter four gives us a pretty good clue that he is learning that he is growing that he is moving forward that he is changing in the is passing on his story this is god's word through jonah to us and i think as we wrap up the book just that phrase the city not the vine the city not the vine anything anywhere anytime really honoring god moving past lip service the city not divine let's pray father god thank you for your words thank you god for this powerful story and that you shared it with us and that you are the same god who is gracious and compassionate abounding and love god we pray if anyone here has not yet put their trust in you jesus what a great day to start an eternal relationship with you through your grace and your forgiveness and your sacrifice on the cross taking our place and we thank  for that great work in father as we think through the vine in the city help us to be healthy healthy heart filled with your compassion anywhere any time anything if that's where you are today would you just say that prayer to god anything anytime anywhere i want to honor you want to honor you thanks for watching today and i want to let you know about our web site activate life that org there are so many free resources to help you grow in your faith and if you've been blessed during the teaching please send us an e mail if you want to learn more about jesus we'd love to hear from you again our web site is active a life that org and we'll see you next week