Embracing God's Call: The Journey of Jonah

1) "Have you ever considered, though, or when was the last time that you considered that God chose you? The Bible says this. In fact, Jesus, these words are in red. He said this. He's speaking to his disciples, those who have surrendered their lives to him. They're following him in John 15, verse 16. He says, you didn't choose me. See, some of us thought this was just our big idea to follow Jesus. But he said, you didn't choose me. I chose you. And then he goes on to say, I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit so that the Father will give you whatever you ask using my name. It's a big deal. It's good news to know if you're a follower of Jesus that God chose you, that he called your name." [22:28] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "God's calling for you is both who and what. Turn to your neighbor at all of our campuses and say, it's who and what. God's calling. Calling for you is both who and what. What do I mean by that? Well, the first part of God's calling, it's not necessarily first. It's all together. But one aspect of his calling is his calling into relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. That's the who. He wants to adopt you, to bring you into his family, to be a son or a daughter. Who you are when you trust Christ as son or daughter. That calling is first and foremost who. And then that invitation. To be a son or a daughter is into a lifelong journey with him in which you will, as we read in scripture, produce lasting fruit." [25:28] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "How many know that your focus determines your decisions? And your decisions determine your behavior. And those behaviors determine your life so often. And Jonah lived up to that. So let's go to the book of Jonah. We're going to stay there for the rest of the day. I want you to, if you have your Bibles open, then I'm up to Jonah. It's in the Old Testament. If you have a device, you can go to the YouVersion Bible app. Click on events, find new life. You'll get all of these scriptures. But I want you to save these notes. Click save because there's some things that are going to help you this week." [28:30] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "Has God ever asked you to do something difficult? Something that, I mean, you just really didn't want to do. Something that maybe would cause a sacrifice that needed to be made in your life. That would be inconvenient for your life. So in this case, God wants to rescue broken people. And he wants Jonah to be the messenger. The warning of God's judgment, for sure. But God's heart was broken. He wants to rescue them. And do you know he's still doing that today? I'm thankful that God is still doing that today. I'm thankful that he did that for me in probably 1980 when I was five or six years old at a service. And I came again, once again, to an altar and surrendered my life to Jesus." [34:25] (55 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "But if you are running, you know it, your storm may be God's offer of a second chance. you're running from full surrender to God or from his calling upon your life, his assignment, you may not see this crisis of circumstance as God's offer of a second chance. You might even be mad at God. Say, this can't be my second chance. But let me tell you, that's exactly what it is. If you are flailing, if you are sinking, if life is messed up and you can trace it back to the fact that you are running. Let me just encourage you, this situation is a setup for the God of the second chance to reveal the on, the off ramp, the roundabout, the U-turn, but it requires humility. It requires humbling yourself and taking God up on his offer." [49:27] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "A second chance means that God hasn't given up on you. If it's stormy, if you feel like you've blown it, you've run from God and you sense the offer of a second chance, take that as encouragement. That means that God hasn't given up on you. God may not ask you to go to Nineveh or to be a pastor or a missionary, but if you're his kid, son. He has a purpose and plan for your life. He created you. If you're a follower of Jesus, he created you in Christ Jesus for good works. He has something for you. And the question is, are you listening? How do you listen? You get in his word and you learn the language of God's spirit to your spirit. Are you waiting on God? Are you tuned into his frequency so that you can hear and you can listen and obey?" [52:38] (61 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)