Before we get into the sermon notes, I just wanted to share these verses with some pictures from my evening walk today. I sat a long time on the dock and listened for the voice of the Lord upon the waters...and He met me there and encouraged me to get back to the job at hand...sharing God's message with any who will listen...
Genesis 1:2
"The earth was without form and void;
and darkness was on the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."
Psalm 29:1-3
"Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones,
Give unto the Lord glory and strength.
Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name;
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
The God of glory thunders;
The Lord is over many waters."
Thank You, Lord, for meeting me here.
Our message was taken from the book of Jonah...you most likely know the story already...but just in case you aren't familiar, please read the story of Jonah...chapters 1-4. It's not a very long book...but filled with an amazing picture of human nature...perhaps you will even catch a glimpse of yourself here...I did...
So, now that you've read the story, here's the message for us:
As Christians we've been given a burden to carry...but are we carrying it? Jonah hopped into a boat and ran away from what God had given him to carry. He tried to get as far away possible.
But you can't get away from the Lord. He will find you.
How often do we as Christians decide to head in the opposite direction from what God has called us to do?
"I'm retired...I'm not going to do anything..."
Sometimes we want to run from God. He may send us someplace out of the way...to someplace like "Interlachen".
God will not send us to what He has not prepared us to do...
Jonah was running from the Lord. A storm came up...and he told the ship's crew to throw him overboard.
Can you imagine what they were thinking? (see Jonah 1:12-16)
But when they threw him overboard, a "great fish" came and swallowed Jonah. For three days and nights Jonah was in the belly of that great fish. (vs. 17)
Finally Jonah prayed (2:1) to God from the fish's belly. How hard headed do you have to be to wait three days to pray??
So now we come to chapter 3:1-2, and God gave Jonah a clear message:
"Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you."So Jonah obeyed God, but not very enthusiastically. He did not want to go to Nineveh..they were enemies of his people. He was trying to avoid God's will...
Are we so set in our ways that we think they shouldn't be saved???
Do we want to pick and choose who should come into the Kingdom of God?
God is concerned about ALL people...not just "the Israelites"...(or people like us...)
In Jonah's mind the Ninevites were terrorists...He really didn't want God to save them...
But Jonah heard God's call once again.
And here is the sermon he preached...eight words only...
"Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4)Hey, don't say you can't preach a sermon of 8 words!!! But these words caused the people to stop what they were doing, from the King all the way down to the beasts of the field...
The essence of this message was this: (for Jonah as well as the Ninevites, and for you and me today)
1. Repent...Change direction...change your priorities
2. Believe...Trust in the hand of God. Take a leap of faith...no turning back
God is with us to the very end...Are you answering the call of Christ on your life?
Jonah was angry with God. (Read chapter 4) But look at what God told Jonah in verse 11:
"And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left...and much livestock?"Jesus has given us a mission and a "burden" to carry the gospel message to the world. See what He told His disciples in Matthew 28:19-20
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
Just as Jesus called His disciples from what they were doing...fishing, tax collectors, ordinary people, He is calling us and giving us a mission and a message to give to the nations. But He promised to be with us to the very end of the ages...He will never leave us nor forsake us.
The power of the Gospel changes people. We have a tendency to resist change.
Jesus promised in Revelation 21:5 "Behold, I make all things new."
So the question to us today...what are we doing with the "burden" we've been given to spread the Gospel to a lost and dying world? Where is our "Nineveh"? And where is our heart?
Some things to think about. I know this certainly made me reevaluate where I am and what I'm doing...I've been about ready to give up on ever going anywhere or doing anything else...but God has revived my heart and made me want to get back into action...What about you?
Sermon Notes: FUMC, Interlachen, FL, Pastor A.C. Myers, 5/5/2019
Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given. I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously. Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said. Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear... That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts. So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.
