There is no doubt that God designed marriage. Genesis 2 shows God creating a helper and completer for Adam because it was "not good" for man to be alone. In all of his creation, this was the first thing that God declared was not good. So he created Eve, and the Bible states in Genesis 2:24, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." God designed marriage from the beginning, and God does not design anything without purpose.

It's probably a safe bet to say that every Christian, at some point in their life, has asked what God's will for them was. Since we look to him as the Creator and master over all things, it makes sense to consider what he would have us do, where he would have us go, and how he would have us live. Recognizing this aspect of God's lordship is not a stretch for most Christians. But there are two big aspects to God's will that become a concern for us. The first concern orbits around how we go about determining God's will for us. Is it by reading the Bible? Praying? Talking to godly friends? Elders? Going to the pastor? Reading extra-biblical material? Looking for certain circumstances to align? The second concern is closely related to the first, and that is what God's will actually is. Basically, how do we truly know that whatever conclusion we've arrived at is indeed his will for us? Is there ever a way to reconcile these things?

What sometimes gets lost in this story, as we focus on how bad Jonah was, is how evil Nineveh was. They weren't the poor, innocent neighbors who just needed to hear about Jesus. Assyrians hated Israel. They eventually would help undo the entire nation. Eventually, the northern ten tribes of Israel, because of the actions of the Assyrians, would never be heard from again. Jonah had good reason to hate Nineveh. At least he had good human reasons to hate Nineveh. When Jonah was finally obedient, he would only offer an eight word sermon. It is almost as if he thought about it five minutes before he began. Even after the great storm, the great waves, the great fish, Jonah still didn't put much effort into his sermon when he saw the great walls of Nineveh. Who knows? Maybe he just whispered it gently and tried to walk away before anyone started asking questions. Jonah was obedient and only did what was required. Jonah 3 demonstrates what happens when God's people are obedient and love their enemies. It's easy to pick apart other people's belief systems and to shove doctrine down their throats. But are we willing to love those who do harm to us? Are we willing to go where others don't want to go? Is our mission an incarnational mission? The Church must be willing to do what no one else will do. Jonah once again demonstrates how great Jesus is. Jonah was obedient—but begrudgingly so. Philippians tells us that Jesus did all that was required and more. He humbled himself to the worst possible death. He went where no one else could go in order to save his enemies. That's right. We were the enemies of God and yet he loves us so much to send Jesus to die in our place. Jesus didn't preach eight word sermons. He healed, he loved, he wept, he taught, he died and he rose again. Jesus was no Pinto.

Jonah 1:17 through all of chapter 2 tell us the story about Jonah's spiritual and physical death. So far, the entire book of Jonah has taken us on a downward journey to Hell itself. There has been no little debate about whether or not Jonah was actually in the belly of a fish for three days. It would be hard to remain dogmatic about certain interpretations. The focus of these verses is that Jonah, the disobedient prophet, from the time Yahweh spoke to him up unto this point, continued to spiral downward until the point of death. The message here is that Jonah was a dead man in need of rescue. God, in his patience and love, appoints a great fish to rescue his disobedient servant. Jonah, suffering a horrible ordeal, is transformed. Many teachers have taught that the great fish was God's way of punishing Jonah. We focus on the smell, or the pain and suffering. But the fish is meant to show us salvation through the death of ourselves. When we come to the end of ourselves, there is either darkness or there is light. There is either eternal hell, or there is everlasting salvation. In the belly of the fish, Jonah was confronted with his sin and misery, and he responded with repentance. We have to come to the end of ourselves and rest in the work of Christ alone for salvation. Jonah suffered for his sin, but Jesus suffered for our sin. Jonah was in the belly of a sea beast for a time. Jesus died and was buried in the earth for a time. Jonah repented, but Jesus bestows repentance as a gift to us.

In Jonah 1:4-16, we continue to learn a lot about the man Jonah, about ourselves, and about Jesus. We'll get to the Jesus part in just a moment. But first let's talk about us. Just like Jonah, we try to thwart God. We have gone astray. Psalm 51 tells us we were sinful from the time we were conceived. We didn't have a shot at being perfect. For some reason, we continually try to thwart God. Paul explains this best when he talks about our flesh (sin loving part of us) continuing to win some battles in this life (see Romans 7). Even though the Christian has been saved from sin and desires to do what is right, we often still do what we know is wrong. In these sinful episodes, we find ourselves trying to thwart God. For some reason, whether out of ignorance, defiance, or plain stupidity, we think we can outrun, out-maneuver, and out think God. We do this by trying to make God's commandments friendly so that we can be comfortable with our hypocrisy and disobedience. Jonah, like us, was a sinner who needs to be saved. Thankfully, Jesus, the sinless Savior, became sin and rescued us out of our misery. This week, let's take a look at how Jonah tried to thwart God and how God saved him anyway. We cannot thwart God, because he pursues His people in His infinite grace.

Like Jonah, we are prone to disobey, despite the clarity of God's call on our lives. Our rebellion is often based in fear, self-righteousness, a wrong understanding of God's character, or some combination of the three. Whatever the case, we can see in Jonah that God's plans will be accomplished despite our disobedience. God's sovereignty, patience, and desire to save all people will not be swayed by our desire to flee, our resistance to being on mission, or our selfishness in thinking that God's blessings are somehow reserved only for us.

The main message of Jonah is often missed because of much debate around whether or not the story is historical or a fable. We have already devoted much time to discussing the nature of Jonah. Let's look into the message. Jonah reveals much to us about God's character. We learn through this amazing story that God is a universal God, He desires to bless us rather than blow us sky high, and that He is patient with us even though we are selfish and imperfect. Before we begin to take a look at ourselves, we should begin with who God is and how He loves His people. As we begin to understand this overarching message, the rest of Jonah will make more sense to us. Ask yourself what you believe about God's character. Compare your understanding of God's nature and character with what the book of Jonah reveals.

The Gospel of Luke has often been likened to a manual on true discipleship. Luke 9-19 explores the journey to Jerusalem that Jesus took with His disciples. Jesus knew He was heading to the cross. It would be a burden of unspeakable pain and misery. And yet, Jesus was to fulfill the will of the Father. On the road, Jesus teaches His disciples what it means to be a disciple of the Savior. Luke records several instances when people express initial interest in Jesus, but, upon learning about what it takes to follow Him, decide to head back to their homes or their ordinary lives. In this passage we find that Jesus wants His disciples to leave possessions for experience. Jesus wants a trader to "live dangerously" so they can see God work in and through them.

Every church has a mission statement. Well, at least they are told they are supposed to have a mission statement. You will notice that the mission statements of Bible-believing churches look very similar to each other. That is because Jesus gave the church its mission statement in Matthew 28. It is Christ's desire that His church should proclaim his name, baptize His people, and teach them all that Jesus taught. The Church's purpose is to "get, gather and glorify." Our mission statement at Stone's Throw is to participate fully in God's mission and purpose as we introduce people to Jesus and mobilize them to change the world. This involves introducing new people into situations where they can hear about the Good News of Jesus, being purposeful in gathering the whole church together for kingdom building and discipleship, and glorifying God through worship that is of the Spirit and in truth.

There are many churches popping up all over Middletown. One question we will have to ask ourselves is whether or not we are valuable to the community. What makes a church valuable? Our value is in how much of Jesus people see when they see us. Are we leading people to the Savior? Our motto says that we want people to "come as they are." When people come, they will want to know if we really mean what we say. Are we willing to demonstrate to people that we practice what we preach? Will we come as we are? Our value will be measured by how transparent we are. Because when we are transparent, open, and honest about what we have been saved from, people will see Jesus rather than us.