2 Corinthians 1:9-11 and Jonah 2:1-10

As we progress through the sermon series in Jonah, we have gained an understanding of grace. Understanding grace informs us in how to pray within God’s plan. Prayer connects us with God’s plan. Jonah’s time spent inside the fish teaches us something about the Lord to whom we pray. This message will lead us to know that the Lord hears, because he is the Lord who helps, since he is the Lord who holds us and all things together for his purposes. Prayer that trusts these truths about the Lord results in deliverance from the lowest of circumstances through the most unimaginable of events, i.e. a fish’s vomit.    

The Lord’s plan and the Christian’s prayer work together. Praying is essential to the Christian’s walk through life. Praying that is informed by the word of God, leads us to knowing God, knowing our world, our place in it, and God’s plan for our deliverance through it all.  A plan for deliverance that is demonstrated in the Table of our Lord. The Table reminds us that according to God’s plan, Christ died for us, was buried for us, and that the grave, likened to Jonah and the fish, spit him out alive for us. 

Now, if God does all of this for our deliverance then there is not a place so low that one can sink in which the Lord will not descend from his heights to help lift us and hold us by his grace. 

Romans 3:20-25a and Jonah 2:1-10
We continue following Tim Keller in our sermon series on the Book of Jonah, and today we come to the prayer of Jonah in the belly of the fish. Jonah has been called by God to go and preach to Nineveh but Jonah has run away, boarded a ship to Tarshish, the farthest point away in the then known world.  God orchestrates an intervention, a violent storm at sea, in order to teach Jonah what His grace is all about.  Jonah is thrown overboard “But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.” In our text today we hear Jonah’s prayer in the belly of the fish, in which he finally “gets” the grace of God, whereupon “… the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” And so today we look at Jonah’s prayer and there find the depths of God’s grace.  Grace is, says Keller, “favor given to an undeserving person by an unobligated giver.” This is what Paul makes so clear in Romans 3 where we are reminded that we cannot attain righteousness by observing the law, yet there is "a righteousness from God, apart from law … a righteousness from God” that “comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” This grace of God can be received by unbeliever and believer alike, and it brings about a humility that recognizes God’s grace is for all.

I Peter 4:17-19 and Jonah 1:4-16
Jonah is on the run, a fugitive from grace, but he finds that there is grace in the storm. Grace that changes him deeply. In the storm he is confronted, corrected, makes confession, then makes his life an instrument for calming. That is transformation! The transformation is so deep that the people whom he didn’t want to see saved, he now offers himself as the sacrifice for their salvation. It is Jonah’s life for the sailor’s lives. The mouthpiece’s heart has become aligned with the message! 

Jonah’s life is a picture of the nation of Israel, God’s people, who are reluctant to be what God has called them to be for the nations. They were called to be priests who stand in the gap, mediating between the nations and the Lord. His life is to be a rebuke to the nation. However, God will turn them around, just as he did his prophet. Jonah’s confession about who he is, a Hebrew, and who the Lord is, "the God of heaven, maker of land and sea", became for him a truth worth dying for to bring the grace of God to others. Jonah becomes prophet and priest. This is why Jonah’s story is the perfect picture of Jesus' death and resurrection.

The risen Lord calls his Church, the Israel of God, and “kingdom of priests”, to participate in his sufferings, in order to bring salvation to the nations. That’s the "hard for the righteous to be saved” thing that Peter mentions. (I Pet. 4:18a) The Church, like her Savior, pursues reconciling others to God as she contemplates “what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (I Pet. 4:18b) Christ’s sufferings were the sacrifice that brought about the calming of God’s anger toward our sin. Through the sufferings of Christ we find the source of our transformation, the power to commit to a faithful Creator and the strength to continue to do good. (I Pet. 4:19) The truth, Christ died for us that we might live, is the truth worth dying for to bring others to life. In all the striving for peace these days, it is a powerful lesson to learn that sacrifice brings calm to our stormy seas.

Jonah sought to give his life to save the sailors. Jesus gave his life to save his people. May this grace of our Lord’s, enable us to give our lives to save others. 

Romans 8:28 and Jonah 1:1-17
We continue following Tim Keller in our sermon series on the Book of Jonah, and today we see Jonah coming to grips with his sin, repenting, and finding God’s grace in the storm.  The storm that comes upon Jonah, as he runs from God, is an intervention by which God prepares Jonah to understand repentance and grace as he has never understood it before.  And so it is with us.  God brings storms into our lives, sometime outward ones, sometimes inward ones, whereby God brings us face to face with our own failures to embrace his grace.  When those storms come, how will we respond?   Will we continue to run, or will we stop and acknowledge our sin, cast ourselves upon God, there to find grace in the storm?

Mark 4:35-41 and Jonah 1:1-10 

This week we begin a series of sermons from the Book of Jonah. We will be using Tim Keller’s series of sermons from Jonah as a resource. Jonah is a book that shows us what God expects us to do with his grace. Jonah is someone we can all relate to since we all struggle with knowing what to do with this grace that God has given. The grace of God appears to us as odd. Because we see that God warns the wicked of coming judgement and tells them how to escape that judgement. It also uses the storm to direct God’s servant to fulfill the Lord’s purpose. This undeserved kindness goes against our nature. Nevertheless, this grace warns us and provides the way of escape from judgement that is to come. But, like Jonah, we like it when it comes to us, but we don’t want it for some people. Yet God knows how to lovingly bring us around to serving his purposes. This is a powerful message for individuals, communities, and nations. 

This sermon reminds us that as God’s people there is no where to run, no where to hide from the Lord’s calling, his presence and his grace. There is great comfort in this ever-present, stubborn love of God that comes after us even though we try to run!  

The stubbornness of God’s love for us is what saves us from ourselves, calls us to service, causes us to stay in his presence, and shields us from pending harm, even though the storms are raging. Jonah, the disciples, and Jesus experienced storms that came from the Lord.

The storm is God’s way of getting our attention. The storm is not to cause us to perish, but to point to God’s grace in our calling and his purposes in salvation. Herein is the baffling aspect of the good news of the gospel. God uses the storm to show us his love and the power of his salvation! And all those whose faith is in Christ are safe from the storm because the one who controls the winds and the storms is present with us. And since Jesus is with us, he ensures that we will fulfill our calling and stand in God's presence by the power of his grace. 

Matthew 25:14-30 and Psalm 16:11 
We continue our summer study of the Parables of Jesus, and today we conclude this series looking at the Parable of the Talents.  In this parable Jesus addresses the responsibility and glorious outcome of diligent stewardship of the assets God has given us to manage.  In this parable, the imagery of a master and three slaves is employed to drive home the truth that the responsibility of a slave is to increase the assets of his master.  The master goes on a journey, but before going he entrusts very large sums of money, in varying amounts, to his slaves - to each according to his ability.  Then, after a long time, the master returns and settles accounts with them.  The Kingdom of God, says Jesus, is like this.  Jesus is the master who has gone away, but will return.  We, his slaves, have been entrusted with assets which, as stewards, we are to use with the goal of increasing and presenting them to him upon his return.  The day of accounting will come, and thus the question we must ask ourselves is this: “Am I eagerly using what Christ has entrusted to me to advance his kingdom?”  “Is it my great desire to come to the end of this life and hear Jesus say to me, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!’  This is the heart of those who have been purchased by the blood of Christ.  He has loved them and given himself for them that they may be brought into the glorious Kingdom of God, and into the resurrection life of the new heaven and earth, where they will be entrusted with truly great responsibilities, and where they will forever be filled with joy in his presence, and with eternal pleasures at his right hand (Psalm 16.11).

Matthew 25:1-13 and Psalm 45:6-15
This week we come to a story Jesus tells about 5 wise women and 5 foolish women who are anticipating the arrival of someone honored. But it comes at an unexpected time.  How one prepares for the unexpected time is what makes some wise and others foolish. 

The wise take the time to be prepared while the foolish are just getting by. Until the cry comes: The bridegroom! The cry reveals the character of the women. The bridegroom is the one for whom both wise and foolish should be prepared to greet. Not knowing who the bridegroom is results in failure to prepare and failure to honor him. This failure results in being shut out of the fellowship with the bridegroom. 

Psalm 45 reveals the bridegroom and why he is to be celebrated. He is anointed by God because he loves righteousness and rules with justice. He is celebrated because he is enthralled with the bride he has made beautiful. This is none other than Jesus Christ whose love for righteousness is seen in his dying for the sins of his people in order to bring them to God. Therefore God, has set him above his companions by anointing him with the oil of joy. It is this beauty of the Lord’s righteousness that adorns his people and fuels their preparation as they wait for his return. Hearing the cry at midnight is the continual announcement of the gospel. 

 

Reports from Junior High Missions Prep Trip, Senior High St. Louis Missions Team, and Young Adults Belize Missions Team, and message by Rick Barr, Associate Pastor.

This Sunday we look into the parable of the Good Samaritan. This is probably one of Jesus’ best known stories. the story is so famous that laws have been named after this story.  It is a story that comes on the heels of a test from a man who wants to justify himself before the Lord. Although he doesn’t realize it, his arrogance and self-justification is his albatross. It is the burden we all bear. 

This self-justification and individualistic concern about inheriting eternal life becomes the backdrop for the story of the Good Samaritan. 

The story is one of a violent commute that ends with the most culturally unacceptable person becoming the hero in dispensing mercy to the victim. Then the real sting, the law expert is told to follow this man’s example. What a slap in the face! 

This sermon’s focus is on our need for a Good Samaritan as we make a violent commute through this world. He is one who sees us bloody and wounded. He comes to us and takes pity on us. He binds up our wounds. And out of his own purse, pays for our convalescence in a safe place. Then we are commanded to, “Go and do likewise.” 

Who is this Samaritan? He is like Jesus who relieves us from the suffering inflicted upon us by the law during our commute from Jerusalem to Jericho. When the indifference of the law wouldn’t save us, the mixed blood Son of God does. In saving us he does it at the cost of his life. Through his sacrifice, we are empowered to go on the mission of mercy, doing for other travelers what was done for us. In order to have this merciful experience, we need to follow the direction of Hosea the prophet to return to the Lord. He has torn us, but he will heal us. He has injured us, but he will bind our wounds. He will restore us, that we may live in his presence. So come, let us press on to acknowledge the Lord. 

Matthew 18.15-35 and Psalm 103.8-12
We continue our summer study of the Parables of Jesus, and today we come to the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant. In this parable, Jesus addresses a question asked by Peter. Jesus has just instructed his disciples about how to respond when a brother sins against them, and as Peter turns this over in him mind, a question begins to trouble him. He begins to wonder, “What if my brother keeps sinning against me, how often must I forgive him?” So Peter asks of Jesus, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” No doubt Peter thinks this to be very generous. But Jesus replies with a stunning answer, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Jesus is not saying Peter should count up to seventy-seven times, then on the seventy-eighth time say, “That’s it! You’ve run out of chances." Rather, Jesus is disposing of the notion of calculating a limit on forgiveness and grace. To drive this home, Jesus tells this parable of the Unmerciful Servant. In the parable Jesus speaks of receiving and granting forgiveness by portraying the immensity of the forgiveness we receive from God, and how we should therefore be ready to forgive the sins of others against us which, by comparison, are trivial. The lesson is simple, yet profound. The way to dispense forgiveness to others is by realizing the enormity of God’s mercy and grace to us in Jesus Christ who, on the cross, has paid our debt in full.