Sermon Date: Sun, 10/23/2011
Key Passage: The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish. – Jonah 1:1-3 (NLT)
But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. – JONAH 1:4 (NLT)
****GOOD PEOPLE MAKE BAD CHOICES
****JONAH MADE A DESCISION BASED ON “PRESSURE” RATHER THAN “PRINCIPLE”
2. JONAH GOT OTHERS INVLOVED IN HIS MESS
The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned. 11 And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?”12 “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”13 Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! – JONAH 1:10-15 (NLT)
3. THE STORM THAT THREW HIM OVERBOARD HELPED HIM FIND HIS GRACE PLACE
Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. – JONAH 1:17 (NKJ)
So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. – JONAH 2:10 (NKJ)
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. – JONAH 3:1-3 (NKJ)
