Redemption Hill Church

This Sunday we close our series with Jonah 4. We left off at the most unlikely of responses – the people of Nineveh, even the King himself, repented, turned from their wickedness and violence, and pleaded with God to relent. God did relent. He didn’t bring disaster on Nineveh, showing His mercy and kindness to them all. Any prophet would be thrilled to see a whole capital city turn to God in repentance, right? Well, no prophet except for Jonah. 

The final chapter of this short story frames the rest of the story for us. Now we see Jonah’s heart and motivations on full display. Now God addresses Jonah directly. And as God’s voice closes the story, we will see the only book in the entire Bible that ends with a question. It’s a question that ought to hit us, cutting deep into our hearts. 

God’s Word came to Jonah a second time. Just like the first time, God told Jonah to arise, go to Nineveh, and call out. Would Jonah obey with a second chance given? How will the Ninevites respond to him? As we explore the story this Sunday we will see what it looks like to truly hear and respond to God’s Word.

This is probably the part of the story that jumps to mind first when we hear Jonah’s name. When we left off last Sunday, Jonah ran from God and ended up being thrown into the sea. In Jonah 1:17-2:10 our man is swallowed by a great fish. As Jonah continued his descent to the roots of the mountains he prayed. We learn a lot about Jonah through his prayer. Read it carefully, all may not be what it seems to be.

This week we begin with Jonah 1:1-16. This story wastes no time before jumping right into it. In this passage we will see three commands that came to Jonah from God: get up, go to Nineveh, and call out. Jonah didn’t really want to go to Nineveh because he didn’t like the people in Nineveh. So, he took off in the other direction and tried to outrun God. For real. On Sunday we will work to get underneath the story to understand what it has to teach us about who God is. I think we’ll all see that we have more Jonah in our own hearts than we want to admit.

At the end of last Sunday's sermon, we explored some of the implications of Jesus' resurrection. One of which, was that because Jesus is risen, we can walk in newness of life. "Newness of life" speaks of a living with new allegiance as a people made new by God's grace in Christ. This new allegiance is not to self or sin, but to the word & ways of Jesus, and the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The expectation of God, of Scripture, is that we would move on to spiritual maturity in our walks of faith. Not content with a steady diet of milk-only, but learning to eat solid food: what Scripture refers to as meat. If milk is the basic teachings of Scripture, then meat is the more complete, deeper doctrines of Scripture.

As people who have been made new because of Christ's death & resurrection, we should be actively pursuing spiritual maturity. This is God's good design for His people. Join us in Hebrews 5-6 as we learn how we live into the fullness of life that God has given us in Jesus.

In Christ, every Sunday is Easter Sunday. He is still risen! This week, we'll be in chapter 24 of Luke's gospel looking at the resurrection story. It's a narrative woven around 3 women, 2 angels, and 1 question. The question asked is one that has reverberated for centuries since it was first uttered: Why do you seek the living among the dead? This is a question that remains relevant for our time, our culture, our very lives. Where are we seeking to find life, fulfillment, value? How are those pursuits really going?

The hope for every soul is found in the words immediately following that question: "He is not here. He is risen." The resurrection of Jesus puts our pursuits into proper perspective. Join us Sunday as we learn to identify where we might be seeking life among death and how to get our eyes onto Jesus, in whom true life is found.

This Sunday we finish the Gospel of John with chapter 21. This chapter brings the third time that Jesus appeared to His disciples. This time, though, they were up in Galilee and had gone out fishing. In the gray twilight of dawn, as they were coming in to the shore, Jesus came. As the scene unfolded, Jesus helped gave them a miraculous catch of fish, but also had a small charcoal fire with fish laid out on it for breakfast as they came in. After breakfast, Jesus turned to Peter and lovingly brought him close, restoring him in his calling and closeness.

We will continue in John this Sunday with John 20:19-31. This passage picks up on Sunday evening, the same day that Jesus called Mary by name and sent her to tell the disciples that she had seen Him. Poor Thomas wasn’t with the disciples when Jesus came to them that Easter evening. We have no idea where he was. He could have been out on a walk, or getting a bite to eat. All we do know is that he wasn’t there. When the other 10 disciples told him that they had seen Jesus, he said that he wouldn’t believe it until he had the same chance they had to see him. Thomas wanted to see and touch Jesus, the places where the nails had gone through His hands.

This passage has given Thomas the nickname “Doubting Thomas.” I don’t think that’s quite fair, but there’s no changing it at this point. If nothing else, this passage shows us that there is no shame in having doubts. It’s not dangerous or wrong to ask questions. Christianity is not a leap of blind faith. It is a belief in real events that have been attested to by eye witnesses. This Sunday is for the skeptic, for those who want clear facts and realities in order to believe. After all, as an old professor of mine would say, “The heart cannot rejoice in that which the mind rejects as false.”

We will continue in John this Sunday with John 20:1-18 – the resurrection! We get to see the very initial discovery of the open tomb, a foot race to go see it, and a faithful woman who lingers, looking for Jesus, only to be commissioned as the very first person on earth to tell others that He is risen. We are going to dig into this passage to see what God’s Word calls us to

Palm Sunday is the day that commemorates the coronation of King Jesus. It’s a story recorded in all four gospels where Jesus rides into the city of Jerusalem as symbolic annunciation that He is Israel’s Promised and Rightful King, the Son of David, the Anointed Redeemer of Humanity.

In addition to the prophecy-fulfilling announcement of His kingship, Jesus’ arrival establishes the unambiguous ethos of His kingdom; a kingdom of righteousness, justice, healing and peace.

Pastor Eric will walk us through Matthew 21:1-17 and walk through the variety of responses from everyone He encounters in this story. The account is written by Matthew’ in such a way that will elicit a response from every reader who encounters King Jesus for themselves.