Sunday Messages

God comes the second time because he is the God of the second look. God doesn’t hold grudges. This is the way that God works.

In an unforgiving world, many a relationship, many a career has been terminated by just one mistake. Even if someone gets a second chance, it is usually probationary and with less responsibility. Not so with Thomas A. Edison.

Thomas A. Edison was working on a crazy contraption called a "light bulb" and it took a whole team of men 24 straight hours to put just one together. The story goes that when Edison was finished with one light bulb, he gave it to a young boy helper, who nervously carried it up the stairs. Step by step he cautiously watched his hands and his step, obviously frightened of dropping such a priceless piece of work. You've probably guessed what happened by now; the poor young boy stumbled and dropped the bulb at the top of the stairs. It took the entire team of men 24 more hours to make another bulb. Finally, tired and ready for a break, Edison was ready to have his bulb carried up the stairs. He gave it to the same young boy who dropped the first one. That's true forgiveness.

‘Forgiveness’ writes Thomas Manton…

Invites us to return to God, obliges us to return to God…inclines us to return to God, and encourages us to live in a state of amity (harmony) and holy friendship with God, pleasing him and serving him in righteousness all our days.

We are now clearly in the second half of the book of Jonah. In many ways this is the more interesting half. We are more engaged to the second half of Jonah than to the first. The second half of Jonah is also more painful for us because it exposes the motives of this reluctant messenger—the intentions of the human heart in sharper focus.

Let’s ‘recap’ for a moment and see how God has been pursuing Jonah. [video clip] Jonah gets a call from God to arise and go to Nineveh and cry out against the city. He boards a ship going in the opposite direction to Tarshish. But God sends a wind and puts fear into the sailors. God even uses the casting of lots by the sailors to bring about Jonah’s exposure. The only choice was to throw Jonah overboard. But God prepares a fish. Then Jonah prays. Jonah learns some lessons. God ejects, actually has Jonah vomited from the fish and saves his life.

So we come to a high watermark in the book of Jonah. We see one of the magnificent phrases in all the scriptures and which puts in bold relief the profoundest principles that underlie God’s dealing with people.

Let’s look at Jonah 3:1…

Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time.

This passage illustrates so perfectly and so tenderly and so clearly the way God deals with us. God always comes the second time. Our God is the God of the second look. God doesn’t hold grudges. God came to Jonah ‘a second time.’ We must thank God he comes again and again. This is the way God works. God knows how to deal with his own—how to guide us. God knows our emotional make-up. God knows everything about us and he knows what it takes to secure the needed response in every person.

But why did God choose to forgive Jonah and come to him a second time? Why—for what purpose—does God forgive our sins? Why is God ‘reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them’? (2 Corinthians 5:19).

Paul’s answer is that ‘God made him that had no sin (Jesus Christ) to be sin for us, so in him we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Do we get it? We are saved in order to serve. And so it is with Jonah. He is restored to God’s service. He gets a second chance.

Let’s look at the full account from Jonah 3:1-4…

1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." 3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day's journey into the city, proclaiming, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown."

Although Jonah failed when first called by God to go to Nineveh, Jonah was both reinstated as God’s prophet and given the same calling to preach to the Ninevites. This was, in itself, a privilege. But Jonah, conceivably, might have regarded it as no better than the original obligation of an unbearable burden—like the student who is told to rewrite a paper and ‘do it properly, this time’!

These verses remind us of a most important aspect of our calling from God—namely, that what God calls us to do for him, not only is to be done, but can be done by us because he provides the enabling strength with the calling.

Square One Learning

Jonah had to go back to ‘square one’ and be obedient to his calling. Like Jonah, there are some lessons for us to learn. We have already seen some personal lessons Jonah learned. But the focus is now largely on the church. For we too have lessons to learn as a church from this story as to the way in which God came to Jonah the second time.

Lesson #1: God’s orders remain the same.

“Go to the great city Nineveh” (1:2)… Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Go to the great city of Nineveh” (3:1).

God’s orders to the church remain the same today. The first time that God came to Jonah he said, ‘Go Jonah Go.’ Jonah said: ‘No God No.’ Jonah had other thoughts. Now, Jonah may have thought that by taking a vacation on a Mediterranean cruise God would forget about those orders. Jonah may have thought that if God had a little time to think about it, God would forget about those orders. Jonah may have thought that if God had a little time to think about it, he would change his mind. And so Jonah said: ‘No’—and he boarded a ship going to Tarshish.

Some of us as Jesus-followers like to think that God outgrows his Word. There is a theory known as ‘process theology’.

Process Theology =

God grows; God is enriched by his creation;

God learns from us; God has made us co-creators with him.

This theology claims that God speaks in different ways at different times, even if it comes to rejecting what he may have done once before. And so this theology would suggest that what God was doing in the time of Jonah is different today. God is growing and we grow with him and he grows with us: thus God today is saying different things than before. How absurd to think that God needs to grow and learn from us. The truth is that God comes to our generation today and we can be sure that he will bring us back to the same message. How wonderful! God says, “Let’s go at it again Jonah.” God’s orders which he gives to the church remain the same!

Lesson #2: God’s message remains the same

“…preach against it” (1:2)… Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “proclaim to it the message I give you”… Jonah began by going a day's journey into the city, proclaiming, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown." (3:1, 2, 4).

We might wish that there was another way God would save people. We might wish God worked through a different method. We might even wish that God had chose to save people by wisdom, by reason, by signs, by proofs, by demonstrations, by gimmicks, by cleverness, by organization, by flashy personalities, entertainment, high-level seminars and conferences. We might wish God would use things like this. Paul seems to suggest in 1 Corinthians 1:21 that God considered other options. For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. God has decreed that lost people are to be saved by preaching. Sometimes it is foolish preaching. But that is not what God really wants. God works through the foolishness of preaching. The method is the same. This is painful for us. We may like to think there could be another way.

There is also urgency in preaching this message. The first time that God came to Jonah he was called to cry out against the wickedness of Nineveh. The second time he was called to proclaim the destruction of Nineveh in forty days. This time lapse between the first and second call may imply that Nineveh had increased in its wickedness and waywardness from God. Jonah’s initial delay—his lack of obedience to the call—may have caused a greater condemnation upon the city of Nineveh. This understanding is important for people today to act immediately upon God’s call to obedience. Delay may cause a greater destruction if Jesus-followers shrink back from obeying God and his call.

Perhaps we might say, “Well, I witness with my life. Hey, we need more people to ‘walk their talk.’” God could have sent Jonah to Nineveh and told him to ‘walk godly’ before them all. But God said, ‘Go to Nineveh proclaiming, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown."’ One message. We should be particularly interested in Jonah’s message. After all, when God went to such pains to see that it was delivered, we should eagerly want to see what the message represents. These words to the people of Nineveh were of immense importance to the most high God. We are to give the Word. God can use our lives as living testimonies. We must be so equipped that we are able to talk to those closest to us about Jesus. We ought to know the Gospel so well that we can share it with those at home, at church, at work, at school. We don’t all need to be public speakers. We don’t have to be articulate. We don’t need a university degree. God’s message that he gives to the church remains the same.

Lesson #3: God’s people are made for the times

3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.

Jonah was a man for the times. He was made for the times. When Jonah obeyed and went to Nineveh, he acted upon God’s Word in simple faith. He took hold of his renewed opportunity to be the prophet of God to heathen Nineveh. Jonah was convicted of sin and experienced forgiveness. Jonah knew what it was to pray and to be heard by God. Jonah grew in grace through the afflictions with which the Lord disciplined him. Because Jonah was made for the times, he had a new beginning.

God selected him to do a work nobody else could do. God has something for each of us to do that nobody else can do. If we are God’s children he will help us to do it. We may be miserable, however, until we have learned the lesson well. We do not need to be afraid when God says, ‘Go Believer Go.’

Some would say that people are made by the times, but God’s people are made for the times. Most people are made by the times, few, very few, are made for the times. The problem is that we as a church have been swallowed up by the spirit of the age. We are not setting any trend. Instead of following Jesus we follow the trend. We are generally going along with the trend of the times. As a church, we give evidence that we have been made by the times. God’s people are made for the times.

There are countless examples from the Old Testament and New Testament concerning second chance opportunities. One that comes to mind is Jesus’ encounter with Peter after his resurrection when he reinstates Peter. Jesus gives Peter a second chance after his denial of his Lord in John 21:15-17…

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

16 Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."

17 The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.

Jesus faces Peter again with the issue of total and supreme commitment. Jesus did not put Peter on probation because he denied him the first time. Jesus did not give him less responsibility because he betrayed him. Jesus did not even belabor Peter because he could not measure up to the name Jesus had given him—“the Rock.” He loved Peter as he was, willingly accepted his lesser loyalty and called him to feed his sheep; that is, to minister to and nurture the church. No probation. No lesser responsibility. But a new call instituted—a new beginning inaugurated.

Jesus sets an example for us to take the initiative of affirming love when approaching others. While we set before them the highest of goals, we are not to pressure people, manipulate people, forcing them into our molds, urging them to live up to our standards. Rather let us accept such loyalty and obedience as people are ready to give, and generate in them a sense of purpose to minister and serve among God’s people. God uses through a second chance what we offer him.

In light of these three lessons we can learn from Jonah’s second chance opportunity, let’s get personal. Let’s consider three questions:

What is an experience where you felt you had been given a second chance in a relationship or in life?

How has God’s grace been poured out on you, even when you felt you did not deserve a second chance because of your actions or attitudes?

How will you be able to give people in your life who have frustrated you, offended you, or made you angry a second chance?

In closing, let’s also consider the following ultimate story of a second and last chance.

On the morning of September 11th, there was a gentleman seated in a front row of a first-class flight. The flight attendant was having trouble chipping the ice for drinks. Recognizing her difficulty, the man joined her at her side. “Can I help you get that ice chipped apart?” he asked. She replied, “Thank you.” So he started working with the ice and chatting. She said, “You’re so kind. I appreciate this. What do you do?” “I’m the pastor of a church, “he replied. She asked, “What do you think about Jesus? He answered, “Jesus is the Son of God who came to Earth for no other reason than to draw us to him, forgive us of our sin, and offer us eternal life so that when we die, we are immediately in the presence of him in heaven. And while I’m on earth, he walks my walk with me.” She stared at him wordlessly for a moment and then she said, “I have gone a lifetime and have had the chance to accept Jesus personally into my life. However, I have never given my life over to Jesus. But this week, every single day, someone talked to me about Jesus. I think that’s odd.” The pastor said, “Maybe that’s God. Would you like to know him personally through the person of Jesus?” “Yes,” she replied. They prayed together, and she received Jesus at that very moment. Later that day, her plane crashed into the twin towers.

For Jonah, the second chance opportunity came none too soon. But it was soon enough. God knows how much we can bear. God knows how much we can take. God is aware of all the foolish things we have done. God knows the things we have done that nobody else knows about; but we know. God knows these things and we don’t like to think about them because when we do we feel worse. But God comes a second time.

God is coming to us now, the second time, with a second chance opportunity. We who have been rebellious, disobedient. We have been in hiding. God has come again. It is none too soon, but it is soon enough. God’s second best is good enough. ‘God works all things together for good’ (Romans 8:28). And ‘good’ is good enough: and the second time, soon enough. God comes now!

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Sooner or later we're going to realize that there is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. And the choice is ours.

We begin a new series on the book of Jonah with this introductory message. Maybe we're familiar with this story or maybe we're not. But, we will all find it not only fascinating but also life-changing in its content and message. We've spoken often at Christ First about the power of telling our story.

John Eldredge wrote in the Sacred Romance, "Our lives our lived in story and our unique lives our inserted in to the Story of Christ." It's much easier to see our lives as a story in retrospect. As we look back on past events we see seasons of life unfold like a story. The real power comes when we can see our story unfolding in the present moment and participate with God as its happening.

Stories in Scripture -- like the one about Jonah -- are powerful because they show us how God and people just like us intersect with God. Those stories help us live our own lives more faithfully. So, what we'll discover over the next seven weeks is first, Jonah will help us appreciate our own story. Secondly, Jonah will remind us that who we are and what we do matters.

When I was kid, like most kids, I drove everywhere with my parents. And often as we drove, I'd spot a truck carrying cars to a dealer. You know the trucks I'm talking about. I'd think to myself, "Gee, couldn't they just spare one of those cars? I mean who would miss one?" When we think of how many people there are in the world and how small we really are, it's easy to start thinking about people like I use to think about the cars on the truck. "I mean, what's ONE person? Does one person really matter?" Of course we know that every person is unique and every one has a unique story. Jonah will teach us that each life and the hearts and actions behind each life really matter.

Dallas Willard put it this way. "Human beings cringe at the idea that they are just another one of those." We long to be unique. And Jonah reveals how God works in unique ways with each of us.

Third, Jonah will help us locate ourselves in the drama. Though we all have unique lives, we do share commonalities. These are cycles and patterns and rhythms we all experience. These would include things like suffering and grief, joy and difficulty, depletion and renewal. So, when we can see these themes in another person's story, it helps us locate what season we’re in at the time. We’re able to insert our lives into theirs and it helps us understand and appreciate our own lives.

A Reluctant Messenger

The book of Jonah is one of the most relevant books for the present time. It not only helps us locate ourselves, but it is also analogous to the modern church. It presents a story that ominously parallels the situation which now exists in our culture. Like Jonah, the church is in flight. Instead of advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ it is retreating.

The church has an inferiority complex, and like Jonah, who ran toward Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, has determined to run from God and go in another direction.

The opening words of our story are found in Jonah 1:1-3…

1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 "Go to the great city Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." 3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.

God is going to disclose to us from the story of Jonah that individuals, congregations, denominations and churches are keeping their own possessive concept about God and spirituality. God told the prophet to go to Nineveh and preach to the people there. But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship, which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. The prophet Jonah had his own concept of the Lord and his mission. He considered God as the Lord of Israelites and that of only Israelites. The concept of his God is simply that God is not supposed to do any good to the non-Israelites. The inhabitants of Nineveh were non-Israelites and Jonah could not conceive the concept of God redeeming them or safeguarding them. He himself was determined that he would not preach to non-Jews even if it is the command from God. Ninevites were not worshippers of God and so they should not be saved. They should not receive the message of the Gospel. According to Jonah they should be punished and destroyed. No mercy should be showered upon them. The Lord wanted to teach the lesson to Jonah against his concepts. “You are not the only one of mine. These people also belong to me.”

So in this message, let's just set the table for this series, looking at Jonah’s story by centering upon two things: the characters in the story and the core message of the story.

Who are the characters in the story of Jonah?

There are three major characters in Jonah and a few sailors who play a cameo role. The first main character is God. The second is Jonah. And, the third character is the people of Nineveh.

1. God—the pursuer

We see God and God's character come out in the story. Here are a few characteristics.

First, God is active. God is alive in the world and in Jonah's life. God, as we'll see, pursues Jonah. God is also pursuing us in our stories. Here's a question we'll wrestle with in the days ahead: When we think about our daily lives, how might God be pursuing us?

Second, God is impartial. The book of Jonah reveals that God loves all people and wants to know all people. We'll also see that God seems more interested in our heart than in beliefs floating around in our head.

Third, God is compassionate. There are several times in Jonah where we'll see God withholding judgment. God is longsuffering and that is a wonderful gift God gives us. The book of Jonah will reveal God's great compassion that leads us to real and lasting change. Now that's good news.

2. Jonah—the prodigal prophet

Jonah in this story is a prophet. Prophets often played the role of a mirror in the community. The prophet reflected God to the people by the way they lived. The message they would send the community is, "see God reflected in me." In fact, that's a great prayer for us to pray. Prophets reflected the community back on itself. This message was, "see yourself." The prophet showed the community both its value and corruption points that needed reformation. Jonah was called to do this kind of reflection. He was an advocate.

Now Jonah is the only book in the Old Testament where the story is mainly about the prophet. Most of the time the stories are mainly about the community and God's message with occasional peeks into the life of the prophet. It's just the opposite with Jonah.

Because of this, Jonah shows us that obedience matters. And, he also shows us that there is hope for blockheads. Jonah is definitely a blockhead. He's slow to listen and act and at times downright rebellious. But God still loves and uses him. The reality is we're all blockheads in the boat with Jonah. The story of the Prodigal son in Luke 15 affirms the truth that God loves and uses us even with our flaws and frailties, even in the midst of our willful disobedience. God uses weak vessels. This is also good news.

3. Nineveh—the perverse people

Nineveh will teach us that non-covenant people matter to God. People who don't know God are still loved by God and pursued by God. There is no "in-crowd" with God. The message Nineveh gives to Jonah, the more you know God, the more easily you can fall prey to exclusivity and legalism -- until it's just we four and no more. And pretty soon the “in-crowd” communicates that God loves ONLY people who look and act just like them.

Chuck Swindoll puts it this way in his book entitled The Grace Awakening…

"There are killers on the loose today. The problem is that you can't tell by looking. They don't wear little buttons that give away their identity. They don't carry little signs warning everybody to stay away. On the contrary a lot of them carry Bibles and appear to be clean living, nice looking law abiding citizens. Most of them spend a lot of time in churches and a lot of them in religious leadership.

They are so respected in the community their neighbors would never suspect they're living next to a killer. They kill freedom, spontaneity and creativity. They kill joy as well as productivity. They kill with their words and their pens and their looks. They kill with their attitudes far more than with their behavior. There is hardly a place where this danger does not lurk. The amazing thing is that they get away with it day in and day out without being confronted or exposed. The bondage that results would be criminal if it were not so subtle and wrapped in such spiritual sounding garb. They are grace killers."

Nineveh will teach Jonah and us how easy it is to fall in the trap of grace killing. In the New Testament we find this concept in 2 Corinthians 3:6: "The letter of the law kills, but the spirit of the law gives life." What we'll discover over these weeks is a legalistic heart bent on condemning Nineveh—a perverse city, and God's work in that heart that begins to change it. This is more good news.

What is the core message in the story of Jonah?

The core message of Jonah is radical change. When Jesus encountered a group of people or an individual with the words, "follow me" he was offering people a choice between kingdom service and self-service. The heart of the gospel is to follow Jesus in such a way that it radically changes our everyday lives. Jesus never promised that his disciples would have a made-to-order life with roses coming up everywhere. More often than not, to follow Jesus turns the culture of this life upside down. However, along with that upside down life comes an abundance that we're all hungry for receiving.

The invitation of life change is the invitation of the gospel. It means, as Jesus put it, we take up our cross and follow him into the adventure of the unknown. This is exactly what God called Jonah to do. And Jonah's response isn't atypical. We all tend to (initially) bemoan the prospect of real life and true change. Why? Real life and true change require us to wake up -- and that's not easy. Both Jonah and Nineveh will have to decide if they want to change through repentance. And we too have to make the same decision -- again and again.

Let’s look at the circle of change (diagram) upon which the core message of Jonah’s story is built.

Let’s focus on the New American Standard Bible translation for the rendering of Jonah 1:2…

2 "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” (NASB)

1. Arise—Get Up

The first step in change is to “arise.” To arise is to “wake up and pay attention” to life and God. It's so easy for us to fall asleep in life and miss the life God has for us. That's a travesty. Repentance invites us to move from a sleepy life to an enlivened one, where we participate in God-stuff.

2. Go—Get Out

Then God says, "go." This is the second part of change. God invites Jonah to wake up and then go. Implicit in this invitation to go is a turnaround from the sleepy life to the God-filled life. It's from that place of God-intoxication that we can find what it is we're here to do. To go is to “move onto a different path.” And again, this is what Jesus meant by the words, "Follow me." He invited people to choose a different road, a different path of meaning, purpose and action. First, we arise. After we arise, we have some place to go.

3. Do—Get On

The final word is "do." Now for Jonah the "do" was to preach or to cry against. Who knows what the "do" will be for us. But, we must make no mistake that once we've decided to awaken and to go; we will be called to do things with and for God. The core message of the story is that radical change is a call to see life in a new way, to walk a different path and then to deposit life into the hearts of those around us.

This is the circle of change. The key to the circle is the point where we give away what God has given us. This is the part Jonah didn't want to do. He didn't want to share what God had freely given him.

Let’s note the concluding words of our passage in Jonah 1:3…

3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.

Jonah intentionally knew the direction in which he was running from God. Jonah ran in the opposite direction of God’s calling, paying the fare and sailing for Tarshish. (map) Nineveh is east. We might guess where Tarshish is? West, far west. It is as far as our money and a boat would travel during this time. It was in Southern Spain, the end of the world for Jonah.

We are “in flight” as well regarding so many areas of our walk with Jesus. Like Jonah, we pay the fare to the place of our disobedience—the end of the world for us, and wonder why God doesn’t bless us. Yet, real repentance implies that the gift of life is passed to those around us through an act of obedience to God’s call. That idea is central to Jonah and to the gospel.

In his recent book entitled “They like Jesus But Not the Church,” Dan Kimball shares about a younger generation today (ages 18-35) who find Jesus attractive but don’t care for organized religion. His insights help us to respond truthfully, caringly, and engagingly to concerns of the emerging church. He shares a pattern of what happens to many Jesus-followers. It’s the transformation from excited missionary into citizen of the bubble. He describes this transformation in four phases.

Excited missionary to citizen of the bubble:

Phase 1: We become Christians. New believers place their faith in Jesus, understand the grace of God, and experience the excitement and joy of learning new things from the Bible. They tell approximately twenty people from among their family and friends about Jesus in the first year of becoming a Jesus-follower.

Phase 2: We become part of church life. We, as new believers, get involved in church life, we make Christian friends and participate in church activities with them. We tend to slowly lose touch with non-Christian friends and become more immersed in Christian activity with our new Christian friends.

Phase 3: We become part of the Christian bubble. We, as believers, slowly withdraw from ongoing relationships with those outside the church. Instead of spending time with people and talking with them about Jesus, we transform into citizens of the bubble—like sport teams that are in the final qualifying position but could be replaced by a lower-ranked team.

Phase 4: We become Jonah

After citizens of the bubble, we begin to complain and point out terrible things happening in the culture. Like Jonah, we don’t want anything to do with those who aren’t following God as we are. We get into a retreat mentality in which we think of the church as a protection-from-the-world social club. We lose our touch upon lost people.

A good question to ask ourselves is: “What percentage of our time each week do we spend out among people who aren’t part of our church, listening to them, observing them, and talking with them?

City Harvest

Each week we will be challenged as Jesus-followers at Christ First to reach out to our “Nineveh.” There is a harvest waiting for us to cultivate and reap in the Covina Valley and beyond. It would be good for us to connect with unbelieving neighbors, coworkers or fellow students. We can support one another at Christ First in our age-group settings, classes, and small groups. Since lost people matter to God; they also matter to us.

Week 1—On Common Ground

Our assignment for the first week can start as simply as finding and sharing common experiences with unbelieving neighbors, coworkers or fellow students. As we search for common ground, we take the spotlight off ourselves and shine it on others to discover what makes them tick. We get to know their likes and dislikes, dreams, struggles, spiritual experiences, and what they’re excited about. Here is an exercise to help us begin. [This exercise is available at the exits to our worship center or in the church office.]

“On Common Ground” Guidelines:

Make a list. List one to three nonChristians you want to build common ground and know better in the weeks during this series on Jonah.

Create a plan to cultivate a relationship with each person on your list. Pray for specific opportunities to talk to them. Then start thinking about your common interests (such as hobbies, music, sports, etc.). What questions could you ask to find a connection?

Take a Look. Be observant when you visit your neighbor’s house or a coworker’s office or fellow student’s turf. Observe what magazines and books he or she reads. Check out the type of music he or she listens to. Look at the photos and plaques on the walls. Items like these tell you about a person’s interests and priorities. Ask a question about a specific item (such as “Where was the photo taken?”), and start a conversation based on your common interests and experiences.

Assess the results. What happened when you took an interest in your nonbelieving neighbor, coworker or fellow student? Where did you find common ground? What was most challenging about the experience? What surprised you most? Where did the conversation lead?

In conclusion, the book of Jonah comes down to one message – “Sooner or later we're going to realize that there is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path." Change is about walking the path. And the choice is ours.

When Jonah—a reluctant messenger—rose up in flight from the presence of the Lord that might have been the end. When Jonah paid the fare to go to Tarshish that could have been the end. We might not have known that there was any more to the story; that when we have disobeyed, when we have rebelled, when God has said one thing and we have done another; that could have been the end. But that was not the end of the story of Jonah. God stayed with him.

The church in many respects is like a reluctant messenger, Jonah, who paid the fare to sail on a ship going in the opposite direction from what God demanded. The world asks many questions—the church offers few answers. However, no matter how far the church has run from God, he is not finished with us. God stays with Jonah, and he will also stay with us the church in proclaiming the gospel to our “Nineveh”—the Covina Valley and beyond.

We have found that God is not finished with us personally and as a church. We have gone our way but we have been miserable and we have been making it miserable for everybody else and we have been accusing others and blaming others. As the next message in our series will affirm, let us learn to accuse ourselves and thank God, in his mercy, that he sends out the great wind and he begins to bring us back from “in flight”! Amen.

Communion Focus: God is so loyal that he sacrificed his only Son on the cross of Calvary. It is the best thing God ever did for us.

He first showed up in the 1930s. And, no, I do not remember it firsthand! They're still making movies about him in the 21st Century. He's one of America's most enduring superheroes. Here’s a clue from the 50s TV show about him, "Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s ... Superman!" The Superman story begins with the meltdown of the planet Krypton and the decision by one of its leaders to save his son by launching him in a small rocket he has built. Destination: Earth. In the latest movie about the guy in the red cape and the blue suit with the big letter "S," his father sees that the people of Earth need some help, and he says these words: "I'm sending them my only son."

Superman is just a story. However, there is a Father who sent his only son to do for us what we could never do for ourselves, and that is not a story. It's history. What God did actually has the power to change our personal destiny. Because God looked down and saw our need, and he said, "I'm sending them My only Son."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the book of Romans. Let’s listen to Paul’s words from Romans 8:32…

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

There is a magnificent reference which would stand out to Jews anywhere who knew their Old Testament well. Paul says in effect: “God for us did not spare his own Son; surely that is the final guarantee that he loves us enough to supply all our needs.” The words Paul uses of God are the very words God used of Abraham when he proved his utter loyalty by being willing to sacrifice his son Isaac at God’s command. God said to Abraham in Genesis 22:12…

"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Paul seems to say: “Think of the greatest human example in the world of a person’s loyalty to God; God’s loyalty to you is like that.” Just as Abraham was so loyal to God that he was prepared to sacrifice his dearest, most precious possession, God is so loyal to us that he is prepared to sacrifice his only Son. Surely we can trust a loyalty like that for anything. God gave up his Son for us - for us.

I remember as our son-in-law Robert held our first grandchild in his arms for the first time. He said, "This is my son; my only son." The thought of giving up Caleb was unthinkable. Why would God bid goodbye to his only Son and send him from the glories of heaven to die with spikes in his hands and feet, suspended on a cross?

The Bible answers that question. It says in 1 John 4:10…

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

God gave up his Son because he loves us. God loves us that much. God sent Jesus to be the only sacrifice that could pay for all the things we have done against God; every dishonest thing, every dirty thing, every hurting thing, or every selfish thing. We've kept the God we were made by to the margins of our life and we've hijacked from him the life he gave us. That's punishable by separation from God, forever. But God said, "They can only be saved if their eternal death penalty is paid. And someone has to die for that." And so, his one and only Son poured out his life in exchange for our lives. That's why what we do with Jesus is so critical. It literally decides where we will spend our eternity.

Some years ago, a noted photographer spent months taking pictures of people as they came and went from the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. One morning, before anyone else was there, he noticed a new remembrance at the wall. There was a picture of a soldier, a medal, a picture of Jesus, and a simple, three-word inscription. As he was focusing his lens on the scene, an elderly man came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Excuse me," he said, "but do you like it?" The photographer told him how impressed he was with it. The man replied, "I'm glad. I put it there." Suddenly, that little three-word inscription came to life for that photographer. It said, "Only one son."

God brings us to a cross where his "only one Son" gave his life for us, and God is asking each of us, "What do you think?" Jesus' death for us is our only hope. Jesus is the rescuer we either embrace and hold onto with total trust, or the rescuer we ignore or push away.

Let’s get personal for a moment. You may have known about Jesus' death on the cross for a long time. You may have commemorated his death at church many times. But you've never made what Jesus did on the cross personal for you. Has there ever been a time when you said, "Jesus, I'm yours ... totally yours." If not, then you're living under the death penalty for your sins; the penalty Jesus already paid for you.

Believing in Christ is hanging on to Jesus like a drowning person grabbing a lifeguard and saying, “Lord, I ‘m fixing all my hopes of forgiveness and rescue on you.” When you give yourself to the Savior, the sin-gap is gone forever, and at last you have a personal relationship with the Person you were made by and made for! The “missing person” is missing no more!

This relationship can be yours for life…and forever! Be willing to pray this prayer:

"Lord, I have been running my own life - but I resign as of today. I've been living for me. I'm sorry for my sin. Please forgive me. But I believe your Son Jesus Christ paid my death penalty when he died on the cross. Right now I am turning from a life of ‘my way’ and I am putting all my trust in Jesus Christ to erase my sin from your book, to give me a relationship with you, and to get me to heaven. Lord, from today on, I am yours."

If you really meant what you just prayed you have begun life's most important relationship!

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17…

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

When our little time on earth ends, and only God knows when that is, there's really only one thing that will matter. What did we do with God's Son? As we go to the table of the Lord and partake of Communion, let’s remember that the cross of Calvary is “the best thing God ever did for us!” Amen.