well good morning and we're starting a new series as we head into this summer we have some summer weather today and feels good so turn in your bibles to book a jonah who is a prophet in the old testament  past psalms if you get to matthew mark and luke you've gone too far to refer to as a minor prophet it's not because he's less important but it's because the book's a little smaller so little hard to find table of contents is a great way to get there you're not less spiritual if you use  table of contents to find the book all right let's pray together father thank you for this time thank you god for different seasons in our life and god we pray as we look at jonas journey that you would speak to us that you would direct our steps that we would walk in with them and we will walk in your freedom in jesus we would come back to you fully we pray this in your name a man so as we start the book of jonah there's four chapters we're going to go through it in four weeks lord willing now with that i want to encourage you and challenge you to read the book several times during this series i was meeting with some at a coffee shop this week and the person said the guy said i want to get a bible so i want to start reading the bible in my suggestion to him it is exciting you went out and bought one is that you start with one book and it could be jonah could be john it could be mark but start with one book and really get a hold of that book that's how we had it in seminary as well so it's true if it's the first time you're reading the bible it's true if you've been reading the bible for a long time dive in deep grab hold of that one book more importantly let that one book get inside of you there's so much in a single book of the bible or sixty six books but this book of jonah is short and it really speaks to us it's so practical and relevant and as we look at chapter one the topic is trying to run away from god and if i had a show of hands how many people have tried to run away from god it one way or another we would all have to get honest and lift up some hands but it's also an every day reminder because every day there is part of us that wants to run away from god on so many levels in so many areas it's called the flesh in the bible in so this is a very practical book in as we start here's some checkpoints as it relates helpful checkpoints so that we won't run away from god but we will run to god that's the goal of chapter one so let's start out in chapter one in verse one the word of the lord came to jonah son of amitai go to the great city of against it because it's wickedness has come up before me but jonah ran away from the lord and headed for tarshish he went down to jobs where he found a ship bound for that port after paying the fare he aboard and sailed for tarshish to flee from the lord whenever you open up a book in the bible always important to get the background in the context so we have jonah and his name literally means doug of jonah wants to fly away he doesn't want to go in god's direction he wants to go his way in so the prophet is going to try to run away from god the setting is about seven hundred eighty years before christ we read about jonah back in second kings fourteen so the king at that time dearborn the second who is in the northern area israel the twelve tribes were not together at that point but ten in the north divided israel two in the south judah there's many reasons jonah doesn't want to go there and we'll get into that but what you need to know about nineveh is that it's a cruel place there's another book in the bible called in a home another profit in a home talks about nineveh and nineveh was a very big city  one of the largest in assyria but it was a city with a lot of rebellion they were against god in many ways they were cruel in war they took advantage exploited people that were helpless there was prostitution there was witchcraft there was a whole bunch of a terrible stuff happening there but it would become the capital of assyria eighty years later and seven hundred b c and then in six twelve the city will fall it was first built by name rot and that goes back in genesis so there's a little history of the context and then we've got jonah the only prophet in the old testament who literally tries to run away from god and we kind of laugh at that on the one hand and then we can kind of relate to that in the other and i think you might arrive today feeling like well i'm not in full rebellion mode no you're probably not you're it turns on a really nice day you're probably not in full rebellion road mode but it is a helpful book to stop and think in my running towards god or a way from god in all the different areas of my life and there's going to be some surprises here so before we get into denial about running away from god here's the first principle there's three angles running away from god includes distance from him it also includes running away from your assignment and running away from outreach so running away from god that's the personal relational side of things but then running away from an assignment has god ever asked you to do something or go somewhere or say something and you thought no thanks and then what about outreach are you really bringing god's love to many people who don't know him and will we like to run away from that too so joan is accomplishing all three at the same time it's not simply just running away from god in the relationship it's also the task the role of the assignment the mission the outreach and it all comes together that's what joan is doing now god is very clear in these verses go to nineveh and preach go to  share my word very very clear there's a lot of things in the bible that are very clear in fact in jesus's last remaining moments on earth he kept saying the same things again and again and we read at the end of matthew mark luke and john it's the same emphasis and listen tell me if this is clear matthew sixteen fifteen jesus said to them go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation that's what he keeps saying over that's your assignment that's your mission go into all this world and share the good news with the entire world is very very clear it's not fuzzier vaguer you know it's not like we were discussing will that adam and eve were they born with belly buttons now no they they might be belly bones in pro belly buttons born with not to what do you think belly buttons belly buttons have you ever gotten there was good discussions that we're never going to fully know from the bible but you just goes on and on belly buttons i don't believe buttons bellybuttons inducing goal reach the world and bring the good news very very clear repeated often again in throughout the bible but jonah feels like you know there's some ifs there's some yes in we come up with some yes well if it's convenient if it feels good if it's natural you know if the person likes me if i like them if they're similar to me if  we add all that to what the bible says is clear to go do so jonah says no i don't want to i don't feel like doing that those are my enemies those are people who hate my people those are the last people i want to go serve on this earth i don't want to him besides it's a long ways away travelling would be over a month and i don't feel compassion towards them i don't want to help them i want to take them out and you ask me to go share with them and love them so jonah has this wrestling with god or you involve me wrestling with god these days on different topics this is right in the middle of the wrestling in jonah just concludes i'm out almost sneak away he got look over the and he's out i remember when i told my parents i'm out i'm running away they said you're running away where are you going to go you know i'm just a little kid no taller than this podium i'm outta here i've got better options in life where are you going to go i'm going up to the eighth street market that was two blocks from our apartment and what are you going to do them i hang out with the guys i know steve i know the guy how are you going to make some money i'm going to stack pop bottles really got food up there i got candy i got caught i am so sad you know i'm out here in my parents are trying to keep a straight face because part of it was so ridiculous in part of it i'm really serious i am i'm out here in so jonah it's kind of ridiculous he's going to sneak away from god but he's kind of serious too and so it's both at the same time and we think about this we process this can anyone run away from god and psalm one thirty nine david says it this way because david knows about trying to run away from god and he concludes with this verse seven where can i go from your spirit where can i flee from your presence if i go up to the heavens will you're there if i make my bed in the depths you are there if i rise on the wings of the dawn if i settle on the far side of the sea jonah if i run away to the far side of the sea even there your hand will guide me your right hand will hold me fast strong truth nowhere to run from god so let's take a closer look at this truth and this is the second principle stubborn rebellion in casual drifting can lead you to the same place the same person that says you know i'm going to just defy god can end up in the same place in a different part of life is not saying that but is just drifting with the cults or further away from god so the one who drifts and the one who stubbornly rebels ends up in the same place what was that for jonah jonah was told to go east five hundred miles tarshish twenty five hundred miles present day spain it's going to take a lot more effort to run from god than to just agree with god and there's these two phrases he was fleeing from the presence of the lord it repeats it twice he's fleeing from the lord and the second phrase in this section is that he had to pay a fair to get on the boat call rebellion there was a fair to pay and there's always a cost to pay when we rebel against god jonah was pay is own money to rebel to get away he's going to be paying his time it's going to affect the other people on the boat when i rebel it effects people around me but then it also affects the people we've not reaching the hundred twenty thousand in need of a god's word would change their lives and he's not bringing that to them so it's affecting a lot of people there's a great price to pay paying the fair are you on the wrong ship do you have that restlessness that uneasy that unsettled peace that that feeling that you just know deep down maybe other people don't know but you're on the wrong ship in one area of your life and you're going the wrong direction in it's time to stop paying that fare but to return to the lord you know throughout the years as a pastor one of the times where people tend to drift is during the summer in a can start out with some great the cations which are awesome but it can use lead to this complacent attitude spiritually and i want to challenge us this summer what would it look like to grow this summer spiritually have you cast that vision does your family have that vision as you look forward to the summer as a staff we start to brainstorm this week about different things this summer that could happen you could go in do a service project in this area you could go on a missions trip we're going to in the month of july go through the book of proverbs it wisdom challenge and you can read one proverb every day for the month of july thirty one days in july thirty one proverbs we're going have a reading book maybe it's a time to really read and go deeper in your faith intellectually some apologetics learning why you believe what you believe sharing your faith inviting people to church we have daily grace videos basically as a staff our role we want to set you up for success this summer but also would you owned that would you own this summer as a summer of growth spiritually maybe doing some things you don't normally do during the routine of the school year because there's more freedom this summer maybe building some relationships reaching some people who don't know jesus this summer in sit down together as a family or friends and say how are we going to grow this summer let's pray about this let's be intentional let's have a plan because if we don't have a plan it's probably not going to happen in so this summer what an opportunity when a lot of people are drifting to really grow and grab hold of that vision now let's go back to the text look at verse four then the lord sent a great wind on the sea and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up all the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god and they threw the cargo into the lighten the ship but jonah had gone below deck 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 and we will not perish then the sailor said to each other come let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity well then they cast the lots and the lot fell on jonah here's the principle god will sandstorms to wake you up and turn you around our god will send storms you think well why is god giving us this book of jonah and it's so we will learn from jonah storm so that we won't have to go through similar storms god is revealing much in this book so that it becomes less appealing for us to repeat what jonah is doing right here and we can learn from that because the truth about rebellion as we look at jonah where is jonah in the ship down below jonah is drained jonah is exhaust you know it's exhausting is rebellion it's really exhausting you know it also it is it's isolating everyone else is up there jonah is isolated in the ship rebellion leads to isolation oh yeah they'll be a few people cheering you on you know take a little more do a little more do a little more but are they really there are they really your friends and then you end up in this isolated place draining isolated in the depths he's down in the depths of the boat it'll take you places you never thought you would go he's in the the boat and there he is in rebellion trying to numb it maybe i'll just sleep it off maybe i'll do a sleeve and sleeve and sleeve in the bottom of the boat you ever try to numb the realities numb the effects of the decision so there he is in it says god brings a wind it's literally god throws a wind felix hernandez fastball throws the wind except god doesn't need a wind up god just is and there's the wind and there's the storm no wind of needed god just says oh don't and here comes the storm and the storm is rolling and in that day smaller boats huge storm not expecting it this is not late autumn this is a storm out of season when there's a storm out of season and you get to pay attention say all right to god sin this storm by the way when god sends a storm it's to wake us up turn us around restore us not every storm in trials from god there's also an enemy devil wants to steal kill and destroy so we have to be careful what's coming from the devil don't say it's from god but it's important when god brings that storm is to turn us around restore us wake us up but when the devil does it it's a different intention so here comes a storm and they cast lots we don't know if the sticks is that pebbles but they throw the sticks and every think points to jo i can almost picture them well let's do it again you know maybe it was just well let's try that again sticks they all pointed let's get out the pebbles all right pebbles pebbles who is the cause doubles when you like a magnet you know the perfect arrow right to  is again it's like yeah i think it's you don't know and the irony is the captain who's not you know church going doesn't know the real god doesn't follow the true god not a choir boy here comes a rugged old captain stepping up he says jonah get up jonah pray isn't it ironic that the prophet who's supposed to be in touch with god is asleep trying to numb the pain you know not caring about the people and here comes the vulgar most captain saying get up pray do something connect with god cry take a look at the still the captain's concerned about the people jonah is wrapped up in him self  nineveh not clued into the storm god will use some people you never expected to come alongside to you in say something and help you get back on the right path with the lord that's what's happening to the captain now what happens next look at verse eight here comes verse eight says this so they so they asked him to tell us who's responsible for making all this trouble for us what do you do where do you come from what's your country from what people are you in jonah answered them i am a hebrew and i worship the lord the god of heaven who made the sea and the land the sea and the land this terrified them and they asked what have you done they knew he was running away from the lord because he had already told them so the sea was getting rougher and rougher so they asked him what should we do to make the sea call him down for us in jonah said just pick me up throw me into the sea he replied in it will be come call i know that it is my fault it is a great storm has come upon you and the principle is you can have the right answers worship the true god and yet be really off track is that computer you'd think you know jonah has solid doctrine orthodox correct the all a g d knows scripts are right there he's saying it my god is the maker is the creator is the sustainer is the provider that smug i gone wow sounds really good jonah congratulations you just passed every sunday school class we offer at grace he congratulations and here's your diploma and then he goes further it's not just facts he also says and i worship he probably does he worships god he has all the information about god and yet he misses the miss he misses the mission but he's got all the right answers so before we're too hard on jonah look at what he said is the first step in the right direction is the first step in the right direction for all of us he takes responsibility he says it is my fault for words that our pride will not let us easily say and own it is  fault things are tense between husband wife is it time to say it is my fault family relationships been askew for a long time to so many just say it's my fault some happened at work of point a finger to say it's my fault he takes responsibility the healing starts you know he can say the god of heaven land but when he says the god of the sea ever on the boat goes the god of this sea that has the storm and they're all tuned in and it's kind of embarrassing for jonah because he has all the right the ology and he is heading in the wrong direction so a little bit embarrassing but he is sharing it in god is breaking down his pride god is breaking down our pride god is breaking down the walls of pride in chuck swindoll says this god first breaks a man before he uses him greatly god first breaks a woman and her pride before he uses her greatly powerful what's happening to jonah look at verse thirteen instead the men did their best to row back to the land but they could not for the see even wilder than before then they cried to the lord oh lord please do not let us die for taking this man's life do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man for you a lowered have done as you pleased then they took jonah they threw him overboard in the raging sea grew calm at this the men greatly feared the lord and they offered a sacrifice to the lord in made to him and here's the encouraging here's the application god's heart and initiative are to reach every type of runaway there's so many different types of runaways god wants to reach all of them so in this chapter right here in this book there is not just one run away is there for the sailors are runaways it says that there are rowing faster that word literally means to dig if you've been rowing before and you want to go faster you dig deeper in sometimes that's the message people tell you if you just dig deeper in row harder in life you can fix and control everything dig deeper in the rue deeper in harder and faster in they can't fix the storm and they call on their false gods in their false gods can't fix the storm in so these runaway sailors god is showing them you can't fix it with your own effort you can't call on the false gods you need the real true god the god of the bible who's the god of the land who's the god of your life and the god of the sea they thanks for watching our program today and i want to let you know about our website activate life died or 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 can do that through the website now will get back to the teaching as we get into god's word together him here is to take on god's kindness and provision are far greater than what you deserve or even realize we had a speaker yesterday at the men's golf event speaker almost didn't make it because the night before he was hit by a drunk driver going one hundred miles an hour crushed his vehicle and then hit him a second time in the vehicle tumbled over and over again and the people who watched this expected that there be a dead body inside the car he walked with no broken bones and no broken spirit you say why our god's incredible miraculous protection but what he challenged us with is not just to be audit god's miracle of what god did to preserve him in any shared the message but to pray for the driver to pray for the driver because maybe for that driver he was on the ship to tarshish and maybe for that driver this will be the wake up call to say now it's time and he said he's praying that he's going to get an opportunity to talk face to face with the driver because he just wants to share jesus with the driver runaways return in his runaways return they go reach more runaways who return to god we don't always fully see what god's doing at the time and that's ok but we realize later that god is at work in our hearts towards a new direction in a better direction and the saving of many lives let's pray father god we think you that as we read the story of jonah and we think about our own rebellion we don't have to keep runnin in paying the price for the rebellion god but you and your grace and mercy far beyond what we deserve and sometimes we even realize that the time you bring us back in so many ways and we thank you that we run to you and to your grace and mercy today in father may we not just think about ourselves but also those who are running away drunk drivers going to hundred miles an hour on a path to kill someone god we pray for that man we pray for others to return to you one million eight hundred sixty thousand we pray for them today in god we pray if anyone here doesn't know yet jesus that this would be the day to decide to follow you for the first time to put trust in you receive your gift of eternal life in the forgiveness of sins make that decision today is between you and the lord but what an invitation what an opportunity to follow jesus the king of kings the lord of lords put your trust in him today we pray in your name amen thank so i think 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 activate life dot org and we'll see you next week