"I Once Was Found, But Now I'm Lost" | Epic Conference 2020 | Tullian Tchividjian

This is Part 6 of a series on Jonah entitled “Surprised by Grace.”

In this sermon from 2:1-10–"Negotiating with God"—we look at Jonah’s prayer from the belly of a fish. He’s in a desperate situation and, like most desperate people, he begins to pray. But there are signs in this prayer that Jonah still doesn’t get it. He still thinks that this world is divided into two types of people—good people and bad people—and that he’s one of the good guys. And because he’s one of the good guys, he thinks God owes it to him to save him from this dire situation that he’s in and to give him the life he thinks he’s earned.

Once again, Jonah is running from God. But this time he’s doing it from a stationary place in the dark belly of a fish. And once again God shows that it is impossible to outrun his pursuing affection and that he is a God of great expenditure who spares no expense to rescue fugitives of grace.

Tullian Tchividjian, speaking at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis on Thursday, March 19, 2015, part of Concordia's Reformation 500 annual lecture series.

Surprised by Grace, Part 5 | "Grace Robbing Idols" | Tullian Tchividjian

Jonah 1:17-2:1-10 

Wheaton College, January 20, 2012

This is part 4 of a sermon series on Jonah entitled “Surprised by Grace.”

In this sermon—“The Ultimate Price of Rescue”—we see that Jonah’s self centered flight from God generates an act of divine intervention which produces a momentary act of selflessness on Jonah’s part. It would seem he is getting better, that he’s learned his lesson. But the rest of the book shows Jonah slipping back into self-centeredness.

This pattern mirrors our own lives. One moment we’re doing something selfless and the next moment we are acting despicably selfish. One moment we are giving and the next moment we are taking. As Paul says in Romans 7: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

What we see in this message is that no matter how often you run or to what dark places your roaming may take you, God NEVER stops coming for you with infinite amounts of gritty grace, muscular mercy, and ferocious forgiveness.

"Jesus + Nothing = Everything", Part 2 | Tullian Tchividjian

Wheaton College, January 19, 2012

This is part 3 of a sermon series on Jonah entitled “Surprised by Grace.”

In this sermon—“Divine Intervention”—we see God go after Jonah in a storm. It seems at first that this storm is divine punishment fueled by God’s anger toward Jonah for running away. But it’s actually divine intervention fueled by God’s affection for Jonah.

When we run, God will send storms—usually in the form of consequences. But each storm God sends is a merciful intrusion designed to wake us up and set us free.

God is in the business of relentlessly pursuing rebels like us and he comes after us not to angrily strip away our freedom, but to affectionately strip away our slavery to self so that we might become truly free.

Jonah 1:4-10

"Jesus + Nothing = Everything", Part 1 | Tullian Tchividjian

Wheaton College, January 18, 2012

This is part 2 of a sermon series on Jonah entitled “Surprised by Grace.”

In this sermon—“Flight From God"—we see that Jonah’s runaway posture is our runaway posture. We runaway from God as quickly as Jonah did—and it always leads us to dark places.

The good news is that God spares no expense in coming after fugitives like us. This is a story that shows how quick we are to run away from God AND how quick God is to run after us. And he does so, not because he needs us, but because we need him.