1 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:08,200 Thank you for listening to Riverbend Churches Podcast. 2 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:11,560 To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church, 3 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:14,920 connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live. 4 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:22,960 We started a brand new series last week called God's Mercy in 5 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:24,920 My Mess. If we're, we're actually 6 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:29,040 exploring the book of Jonah, exploring the book of Jonah. 7 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,560 And one of the things I want to just tell you just so that we're 8 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:36,360 all on the same page, just so that we can all dive in together 9 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,920 this morning is it's really interesting how a book of the 10 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:44,880 Bible and how an event or a narrative is mostly known and 11 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:48,800 remembered as a, as a man being swallowed by a fish, right? 12 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:51,680 But one of the things that we're going to find out, we started 13 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:54,200 finding out last week and we're going to find out throughout 14 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,840 this series, is this really, this book is not really about a 15 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:00,080 fish. It's really about freedom. 16 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:04,360 It's really about a freedom that God offers to, to you and I, But 17 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:09,080 in order to actually step into that freedom and to live out 18 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:13,720 that freedom, then we've got to embrace a, a, a main point or 19 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:17,360 what we call the, the big idea of this entire series. 20 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,840 So if you're taking notes with us, I'd encourage you just jot 21 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,080 this down. The main idea of this entire 22 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,360 series is God's mercy is bigger than my mess. 23 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:30,240 God's mercy is is greater than my mess. 24 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:32,800 It doesn't matter. Like I said last week, and I'll 25 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,480 keep coming back and reminding us of this, that that promise 26 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,840 right there, that truth right there, it, it does not have an 27 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,720 exception clause. There's no fine print to that. 28 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,680 So you may be in here for the very first time or you may be 29 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:51,200 joining us for the very first time and you've walked a lot of 30 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,720 dead end streets. You may have made a lot of 31 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:57,280 mistakes along your way. Welcome. 32 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:00,120 God's mercy is greater than your mess. 33 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,520 And you may be here with us this morning to where you grew up in 34 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,880 church and you know that you're not perfect, but you've, but, 35 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:11,000 but for the most part, you've tried to walk in accordance 36 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:14,960 with, with, with God's word. And you tried to be virtuous and 37 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:18,040 you tried to be moral. But you know, one of the things 38 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,840 that, that kind of haunts all of us are our past mistakes. 39 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:24,720 The, the, the sins that we, that, that we, that we commit. 40 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,840 It's either the, the things that we did that God tells us not to 41 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:32,200 do or the things that we didn't do that God tells us to do. 42 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,080 And those kind of linger. And we're, we're sitting there 43 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,040 thinking, we keep holding on to those, whether those happened 44 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:42,240 last night or last year or last decade. 45 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,840 Here's the, here's the, the hope that Jonah is going to teach us 46 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:49,400 is God's mercy is always greater than my mess. 47 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,520 God's mercy is always greater than my mess. 48 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:58,960 But for us to really like again, step into that and kind of 49 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,800 understand that I think one of the things that really fights 50 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,760 that we end up fighting against when we want to believe this, 51 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,200 but we just have a hard time believing that one of the things 52 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,880 that we end up fighting against are, are holding on to some lies 53 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:18,600 that we commonly believe in this series. 54 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:22,160 We're going to be starting last week and on into today and on 55 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:24,440 into the weeks to come. We're going to be looking at 56 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:27,680 some lies that we commonly believe that we need to like, 57 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:33,280 expose as lies and set down so that we can really examine the 58 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:37,760 truths that God has for us and pick those truths up. 59 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:42,360 One of the greatest lies and one of the greatest misconceptions 60 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,120 and one of the greatest points of confusion, I think when it 61 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,680 comes to our personal walk with Jesus, Our, our, our spiritual 62 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:55,160 walk is how God communicates to us how, how God, how God gets 63 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:58,800 our attention or does God want to get our attention? 64 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:02,120 And you know, if you're with us in the room or with us online, 65 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,520 we're used to things like always trying to get our attention, 66 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:08,120 right. So if you're a young mom, like 67 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:12,240 you are probably so sick and tired of hearing mom, mom, mom, 68 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,520 mom and like that little that, that, that tap right? 69 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:20,040 Or, or if you're, if you're an employee and you're your 70 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,200 employer and you're responsible for, for a big team, you're 71 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,840 probably tired of, of the notifications going off on your 72 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:29,920 phone and the various questions and texts that you get just 73 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,800 demanding answers. Or if you're a driver, we're, 74 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:37,560 we're all aware of that progression of, of our car or 75 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,760 truck or van trying to get our attention that that starts with 76 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:42,400 a dash light. We're like, hmm, that's 77 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:44,080 interesting. I probably should look into that 78 00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:48,920 to I think I'll just turn my radio up a little bit to then 79 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:52,160 that light on the dash turns into a weird sound that your 80 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:54,680 car, truck or van makes and you're like, that sounds not 81 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:56,480 good. I think I'll just turn my radio 82 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,520 up louder. And then the next progression is 83 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,200 you find yourself strand stranded on the side of the road 84 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:06,040 broken down and you're getting towed to, to, to my buddy shot 85 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,480 Jeremy Sexton just over here beside Riverbend Church at 86 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,440 Sexton Automotive because your car, your truck or your van 87 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,360 broke down, right. And all the while you can look 88 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,040 back in hindsight and you can see where the warning signs were 89 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,520 there. You can see how your automobile 90 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:21,800 was trying to get your attention. 91 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:23,120 And there there was a diagnostic. 92 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:25,520 There was something that was, that was kind of pinging saying, 93 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:28,120 Hey, something's not right. You need to get, you need to 94 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:30,080 look at this. And, and the longer you put that 95 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:34,000 off, the, the, the more those warning signs become evident. 96 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,760 Have you ever thought that God getting our attention works kind 97 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:40,840 of the same way? You ever thought that God 98 00:05:40,840 --> 00:05:42,600 getting our attention kind of works the same way? 99 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:45,800 Let me show you something. If you're taking notes with us 100 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:47,680 and this will kind of pave the way for where we're going this 101 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:52,520 morning back in Jonah chapter 1. I think that God really goes for 102 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,640 our attention, tries to get our attention in one of three ways, 103 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:57,840 broad categories. If you're taking notes with us, 104 00:05:57,840 --> 00:05:59,800 here's the first one. I think it usually starts with a 105 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:02,040 whisper. I think it usually starts with a 106 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:04,200 whisper. And when I say like God 107 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:08,520 whispering, I don't necessarily mean like that audible voice. 108 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:11,680 Like, first of all, I think number one, that would be a lot 109 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,480 easier to heed, right #2 that probably scared the daylights 110 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:16,960 out of us. Like in the still of night, you 111 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,400 just hear a whisper, right? I, I don't mean that like 112 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,200 audible whisper. What, what I mean is it's just 113 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,400 kind of that, that internal tug, that pull. 114 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:28,920 You ever sat in a you ever sat in a service? 115 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,000 Have you ever been at home like you ever you ever been reading 116 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:34,960 your Bible or spending time in prayer and there's just kind of 117 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:38,840 a tug on your heart. Some people would call it a Holy 118 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:42,960 Spirit nudge to where like if you've surrendered your life to 119 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:46,360 Jesus and you have the Holy Spirit living in you, it's that 120 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:51,320 Holy Spirit that is is kind of nudging your heart in a 121 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:53,560 direction. It's almost that like still 122 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:55,400 small voice. It's almost that whisper. 123 00:06:56,080 --> 00:07:00,280 It's that whisper that, that, that, that seemingly speaks to 124 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:02,080 the to the innermost part of you. 125 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,880 That's like, man, what are you doing when you're, when you're 126 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:08,840 right there and you're about to click on a, on a site that you 127 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:11,360 know you have no business clicking on? 128 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,040 Or is that is that whisper is that still small voice that 129 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:19,120 seemingly whispers to your soul, to your heart, to your mind, 130 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:24,440 Hey, you know, you need to go apologize right after you. 131 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,040 You've lost your cool or you spoke to somebody in anger or 132 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:32,920 out of frustration or, or or maybe it's that that still small 133 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:37,880 voice of whisper that says, hey, why don't you pray for him? 134 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:40,680 Why don't you pray for her? Why, why don't you pray for, 135 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,920 for, for them when you're woken up in the middle of the night 136 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:48,720 and you're just really wrestling and grappling with some, with 137 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:51,880 some anger and some hurt and some unforgiveness and some 138 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:56,320 bitterness against somebody who legitimately but deeply wounded 139 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,600 you? Or, or how about that? 140 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:01,760 How about this? How about that, that, that nudge 141 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,040 of like, hey, you need to go talk to him. 142 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,480 You go talk to her. Now here, here's the thing about 143 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:11,720 a Holy Spirit whisper and a Holy Spirit nudge. 144 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:18,400 For me at least, they're a lot easier to heed and to listen to 145 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,640 when God is warning me not to do something. 146 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:26,240 But in a lot of times there, it's harder for me to accept 147 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,720 when I feel that God is, is calling me to do something. 148 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:34,039 I'll give you, I'll give you an example several weeks ago, 149 00:08:34,039 --> 00:08:37,039 probably a couple months ago, actually a couple months ago, I 150 00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:40,600 was, I was visiting somebody in, in the hospital and I came, I 151 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:43,039 came out in the waiting area. There was a woman, she was just 152 00:08:43,039 --> 00:08:47,720 double over crying. So, you know, the godly pastor I 153 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:53,040 am, I, I looked at her and I just kept walking and thought, 154 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:54,760 hope somebody comes and prays with her. 155 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:57,920 And then I've got really convicted. 156 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:03,560 And I just felt that like Holy Spirit, like nudge, like, hey, 157 00:09:03,560 --> 00:09:05,960 you need to go, like talk to her. 158 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:11,720 And I thought, this is going to make an awesome sermon story 159 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:14,200 because this woman is going to get saved. 160 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:17,240 She's going to come to church. She's probably an incredible 161 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:20,440 vocalist. You know, this is going to be 162 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:26,560 the start of something awesome. So I go over and I said, hey, 163 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:28,240 ma'am. And she looks up at me. 164 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:30,560 I said, hey, can I pray with you? 165 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:35,320 And she said sure. So I just, I just pray with her. 166 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:40,440 And I said, is there anything that I can do to help you? 167 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:44,400 And I'm expecting her to just kind of pour out her life story 168 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,400 to me. And instead, she looks at me and 169 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:54,320 she says no. And I go, all right. 170 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:59,040 And I get on the elevator. Now, here's the thing. 171 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:01,520 I tell that story and you may sit there and go, why are you 172 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:04,440 telling me that? Like, that doesn't really sound 173 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,320 like a win. Here's what I would tell you if 174 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:09,120 you're in the room or with us online. 175 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:12,400 I don't know what God did with that. 176 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:17,400 I just knew that I was obedient to doing what God told me to do. 177 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:20,880 And listen, it was that one time that I was obedient. 178 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:24,080 I'm not telling you about the eight times that I just kept 179 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:28,120 walking and got on the elevator. You ever felt that whisper or 180 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:32,320 that Holy Spirit nudge or heard that that gentle whisper from 181 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:36,680 God? Here's the thing about whispers 182 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:39,560 or nudges. You've got to be close enough to 183 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:45,400 hear them, right? Because like all whispers or 184 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:50,680 nudges, they're very easy to ignore or to explain away. 185 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:54,760 So it is possible for us to ignore or to explain away a Holy 186 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:58,360 Spirit whisper. And when we do, God is faithful. 187 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:02,160 He, he doesn't give up on us. But here's here's who we become 188 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,680 in those moments when we just blow past those Holy Spirit 189 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:08,360 whispers. We become the fool like Solomon 190 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:13,080 writes about in Proverbs 12. He says the fool, the way of a 191 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:17,000 fool is right in his own eyes. But a wise man listens to advice 192 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:21,800 when I sit there and go, God, this doesn't make sense to me. 193 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:25,400 I'm afraid I'm going to like an idiot or I try to justify my 194 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:29,640 temptations or my sins. Then I'm being wise in my own 195 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,680 sight and and Solomon through through through the Holy Spirit. 196 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:37,200 Solomon writes and God's word tells me that when that happens, 197 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:40,080 I'm a fool. And listen. 198 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:44,400 Even though we can really play the part of a fool so often 199 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:47,240 ignore the whisper, God is always still faithful. 200 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,280 He doesn't give up trying to get our attention, but he does move 201 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:53,520 from a whisper to the second way that he tries to get our 202 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:55,200 attention. He moves to what I would call a 203 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:58,880 sense of weightiness. It's a sense of weightiness. 204 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:06,240 It's it's when when we blow past, when we blow past the the 205 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:11,840 whisper, then the Holy Spirit has a way of like weighing 206 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:17,960 really heavy on our lives. It's that, it's that deep pull 207 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:23,920 to where, you know, it's almost the voice of God saying, you 208 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:25,640 know, that you shouldn't be here. 209 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:29,000 It's that deep sense of conviction. 210 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:33,480 It's that deep pull to where you can almost sense God telling 211 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:37,240 you, hey, why are you going back to what I set you free from? 212 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:44,880 It's that deep pull of, hey, why, why are you getting into 213 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:49,000 that relationship? It's that deep sense of 214 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:51,920 conviction. There is that weightiness. 215 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:56,640 And here's where I would tell you is if the whisper of God is 216 00:12:56,640 --> 00:13:00,760 almost like a stop sign, the weightiness of God that he lays 217 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:04,600 on our hearts and and on our spirit is almost like a flashing 218 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:09,120 Rd. sign. But just like we can blow right 219 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:13,000 past a stop sign, we can also blow right past a flashing Rd. 220 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,040 sign too, can't we? When that happens again, I'm 221 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:19,400 reminded of what Solomon tells us in Proverbs 27. 222 00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:22,760 He says the prudent or other translations say the wise sees 223 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:24,720 danger and hides himself. But the simple other 224 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,320 translations say the fool. Fool goes on and suffers for it. 225 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:32,480 You know, God will allow us to blow past the the stop sign and 226 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,800 the flashing Rd. sign. But all the while we're we're, 227 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,920 we're being foolish. But he's still trying to get our 228 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:40,920 attention. And even after doing that, 229 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:43,920 blowing past the whisper, blowing past the weightiness, 230 00:13:44,680 --> 00:13:48,200 God still pursues us. God's still trying to chase us 231 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:52,640 down and getting our attention. And this time he does it with 232 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:57,280 what I call a wake up call. It's a wake up call. 233 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:04,600 A wake up call is an undeniable is an undeniable thing that God 234 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:08,240 allows to happen to us that either puts us on our back or 235 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:13,080 drives us to our knees that He is trying desperately to get our 236 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,360 attention. A wake up call can can come in 237 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:21,880 the form of of a mental or an emotional breakdown. 238 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:27,440 A wake up call can come in the form of of a of a family or a 239 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:33,560 marital or or some type of a friendship crisis. 240 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:39,760 A wake up call can come in the form of of of of really a 241 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:45,040 financial crisis or vocational crisis. 242 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,000 A wake up call. We'll we'll call a wake up call. 243 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:53,200 We'll call them storms. God will send storms into our 244 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:56,520 lives to try to get our attention. 245 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:00,440 And as we're going to see in just a moment in Jonah chapter 246 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:07,120 1, he did it in the 8th century BC with Jonah, and he still does 247 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:11,520 it in 2026 here with us now. And we're going to see the 248 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:14,120 motivation behind why God does it. 249 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:22,480 But we need to understand that there is a lie that is so easy 250 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:26,160 for us to accept that we've got to reject. 251 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,320 We've got to drag it into the light, we've got to expose it, 252 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:33,000 and we've got to say this is not a truth from God. 253 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:38,480 Here's the law that so often our culture either says out loud or 254 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,960 lives, and maybe you've thought this yourself. 255 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:43,640 Here it is. God loves me too much to allow 256 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:49,000 anything bad to happen to me. God loves me too much to allow 257 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:56,240 anything bad to happen to me. And what we're about to do going 258 00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:00,480 through Jonah chapter 1 is we're going to expose that lie. 259 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:03,760 And we're going to see not only why that is a lie, but we're 260 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:07,640 also going to see the truth that God wants us to know, a truth 261 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:10,040 that can actually set us free this morning. 262 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:12,800 So if you have a Bible with you, I invite you to find Jonah 263 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:16,040 chapter one with me, Jonah chapter 1. 264 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,200 And we're going to be picking it up in verse 4. 265 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,280 And as you're making your way there, Jonah chapter one, verse 266 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:23,600 four, let me kind of give you some context, especially if 267 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:27,680 you're new to the series. Jonah was a prophet, was a, was 268 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:29,920 a prophet of God. A prophet in the Old Testament 269 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:33,440 means that he was God's chosen mouthpiece, that God would tell 270 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:38,000 Jonah what to tell the people. And Jonah was faithful in his 271 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:41,680 job in his office as the as the prophet of God. 272 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:46,000 He served God faithfully in the 8th century BC. 273 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:47,960 And we're able to first introduce to this guy by the 274 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:53,040 name of Jonah back in the book of Second Kings chapter 18 or 275 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:55,880 chapter 14, Second Kings chapter 14. 276 00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:59,040 And we see God or Jonah faithfully serving God. 277 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:03,000 But when we get to the book of Jonah, we see that God actually 278 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:09,119 gives Jonah a call. Jonah, I want you to travel to 279 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:13,200 Nineveh, which is modern day Mosul, Iraq. 280 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:16,839 But more importantly to Jonah, it was the capital city of the 281 00:17:16,839 --> 00:17:20,000 Assyrian Empire. And if you weren't with us last 282 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:21,640 week, I would encourage you to go back. 283 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:25,160 Listen to where we where we talked about the Assyrian Empire 284 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:28,600 last weekend and just how cruel and how just absolutely 285 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:33,360 disgusting they were and how brutal this people called the 286 00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:37,400 Assyrians were. Jonah did not want to go to 287 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:41,160 Nineveh, partly out of nationalism, partly out of 288 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:45,200 racism, but I think mostly out of the fact that he could not 289 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,920 fathom that God could ever show grace or mercy to such an 290 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,120 undeserving and such an evil people. 291 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:59,840 So Jonah, instead of travelling 500 miles east to Nineveh, went 292 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:04,240 down to the seaport, A seaport called Joppa, hopped on a ship 293 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:09,760 heading towards 2500 miles West to a city called or to a land 294 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:13,320 called Tarshish, which is modern day Spain. 295 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:17,760 And it's while Jonah is on the ship, they've already set out 296 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:20,400 from the harbor. He's already told God. 297 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:23,240 God, I'm not going. I don't want to go. 298 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,520 I'm going to get on a ship. I want to go beyond your reach. 299 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:31,640 This is where we pick it up in Jonah chapter one, verse 4, it 300 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:35,040 says, But the Lord, while they were on the sea, the Lord hurled 301 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:38,160 a great wind upon the sea and there was a mighty Tempest on 302 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:40,960 the sea so that the ship threatened to break up. 303 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,600 Then the Mariners, something really important for you to know 304 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:47,080 is these weren't just casual boaters. 305 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,200 These weren't the guys that like had sweaters tied around their 306 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:53,080 necks and they had wives named Muffy, all right? 307 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:56,720 These were like hardened fishermen that they had been in 308 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,920 the midst of storms before. That's important for us to know 309 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:03,240 because when they get panicked, you know, it's a huge storm. 310 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:07,440 All right, So there was a mighty Tempest on the sea so that the 311 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:10,280 ship threatened to break up. Then the Mariners were afraid 312 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:13,720 and each cried out to his God and they hurled the cargo that 313 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,640 was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. 314 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,880 But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had 315 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:24,000 lain down and was fast asleep. For this reason, I don't have 316 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,960 historical evidence, but based off of this verse, I think that 317 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:31,080 Jonah's last name was Wallace because Wallace's or the plural 318 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:32,520 is Walla. We can. 319 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,400 We can sleep anywhere. It's a gift from God. 320 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,920 But Jonah, he'd gone down, he'd gone to sleep. 321 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:41,880 The captain of the ship came and said to him, what do you mean? 322 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:43,720 You sleeper, arise, call out to your God. 323 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,520 Perhaps the God will give a thought to us that we may not 324 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:48,320 perish. And they said to one another, 325 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,840 come, let us cast lots, or basically draw straws that we 326 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:54,040 may know on whose account this evil has come upon us. 327 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:57,360 So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 328 00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:00,800 Then they said to Jonah, Tell us on whose account this evil has 329 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:03,200 come upon us. What's your occupation and where 330 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,240 do you come from? What's your country? 331 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:09,200 And if what people argue and he said to them, notice like the 332 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:11,120 question, we're not going to spend a whole lot of time here. 333 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,920 Notice the first question they asked, what's your occupation? 334 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,240 What does he answer? He answers his race, his 335 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:20,240 ethnicity. Not going to spend a lot of time 336 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:23,120 there. But we see here the first, the 337 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:26,840 first vestiges of Jonah's nationalism and racism against 338 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:29,480 these Mariners that were not a part of his ethnicity or 339 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,000 nationality. What is your country and what 340 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,480 people are you? And he said, I'm a Hebrew, and I 341 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:36,760 fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the 342 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:39,200 dry land. Therefore the men were 343 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:43,200 exceedingly afraid and said to him, What is this that you have 344 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:44,840 done? For the men knew that he was 345 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:48,160 fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 346 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,000 And then they said to him, What shall we do to you, that the sea 347 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,040 may quiet down for us? For the sea grew more and more 348 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:58,760 tempestuous. Jonah said to them, pick me up 349 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:02,320 and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will quiet down for 350 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:04,920 you. For I know it is because of me 351 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,080 that this great Tempest has come upon you. 352 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:11,920 Verse 13, there's a lot between verse 13, verse 12 and 13, it 353 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:14,280 goes something like this. The Mariners are looking at each 354 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:17,640 other and go, hey, if it's this dude that's causing this storm 355 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:22,000 to come on us and his God is that mad at us, at him and mad 356 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:26,120 at us, how much more mad is he going to be at us for throwing 357 00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:30,520 this guy overboard, right? So as a resort, as a result, as 358 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:36,480 a result, result, as a result, I can say tempestuous, but not 359 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:38,000 result. Verse 13. 360 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:42,720 Nevertheless, the men rode hard to get back to dry land, but 361 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:45,680 they could not for the sea grew more and more tempestuous 362 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:48,200 against them. In other words, like, uh, uh, we 363 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:49,440 ain't throwing this guy overboard. 364 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:52,640 Therefore, finally, they called out to the Lord. 365 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,960 O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on 366 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,640 US innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased 367 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:02,000 you. In other words, God, we're going 368 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,200 to throw them overboard. Don't hold us responsible. 369 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:07,000 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the 370 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:11,800 sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord 371 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:15,560 exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made 372 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:18,960 vows. Verse 17, probably the most well 373 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,520 known passage or verse in Jonah. And the Lord appointed a great 374 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,800 fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the 375 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:29,440 fish 3 days and three nights. Next week, we're going to pick 376 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:32,600 up right there at verse 17, and we're going to talk a little bit 377 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:36,360 more about that and really the overall grace of rock bottom. 378 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:39,920 But this morning, even though there's so much that we could 379 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:43,920 that we could lean into in this passage that we just read, I 380 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:45,920 think there's just several things that we should know. 381 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:48,680 Just overarching it. It's not in your notes, but I 382 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:52,800 think it's very clear to us just by reading a little bit of of 383 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:57,920 the book of Jonah together that because Jonah ignored the voice 384 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:02,120 of God on the shore, God got Jonah's attention on the sea. 385 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,000 And even though there's so much that we can unpack from this, 386 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:09,240 from this one passage and we could spend like 3 weeks on this 387 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:12,160 one passage, which we're not going to do, I want to kind of 388 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:16,880 dive into probably what the mindset of Jonah was when he got 389 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:21,440 on that ship to begin with. You see, I think that Jonah, 390 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:24,280 Jonah was he, he wasn't green, he wasn't raw. 391 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:26,360 He wasn't new to this whole prophet thing. 392 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:29,480 As a matter of fact, Jonah had been faithfully serving God for 393 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,480 years, been the faithful mouthpiece of God leading, 394 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,440 helping lead the people of God for years. 395 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,320 And, and I think it was that track record that kind of 396 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:42,840 entered into Jonah's mind thinking, hey, God, I think I've 397 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:48,720 earned the right to cash in some some prophetic equity here. 398 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:54,240 I think I've earned the right to kind of say, yeah, I don't want 399 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:57,880 to do that. I think that Jonah, after 400 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:01,520 serving God faithfully for years, he probably made the 401 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:05,120 excuse of God. I've gone everywhere in Israel 402 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:07,800 and I've told you, I've told the people exactly what you wanted 403 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:10,680 me to tell them. Got to know that you're calling 404 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:14,000 me to go to Nineveh and preach this message against them. 405 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:19,320 I just, I just don't want to. And God, honestly, in the, in 406 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:22,760 the grand scheme of things, is it really that big of a deal? 407 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:27,720 And I think that Jonah probably thought, hey, God, God will 408 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,760 probably just let this slide. For as many times as I've been 409 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:34,360 faithful to God, I think he'll probably just let this slide. 410 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:43,240 I wonder how many times maybe we haven't said that out loud, but 411 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,480 we've thought that when we've really sensed that God's calling 412 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,240 us to, to step into action in a certain way. 413 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:51,960 Maybe it's a whisper, maybe it's a weightiness, maybe it's a wake 414 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,800 up call. We thought, hey, God, we don't 415 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,200 say it like this because we feel guilty, but hey, God, I, I've 416 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,560 done so much for you. I've really been faithful. 417 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:04,800 I attend church regularly. I bring people with me. 418 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:12,640 I give, I serve God. I just can you just let it 419 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:16,920 slide. I don't want to go have that 420 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:21,680 awkward conversation. I don't, I don't want to. 421 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:27,240 If you're in a, if you're in a situation that you want so badly 422 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:32,440 to leave, maybe that work situation, but God's calling you 423 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:37,440 to stay like God, I don't, I don't want to stay God, I'm 424 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:39,800 going to, I'm going to leave and, and hopefully you'll bless 425 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,160 that and hopefully you'll just let it slide. 426 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,120 Or you know that maybe you and your family, you, you've gotten, 427 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:50,120 you've gotten really comfortable where you are and God's calling 428 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:52,840 you into a, into a new season, or maybe God's calling you to 429 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:56,200 take a new step of obedience and you're sitting there going God, 430 00:25:56,200 --> 00:26:00,440 I don't, I don't want to. Hopefully God will just let this 431 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:05,920 slide a little bit and in the back of our minds is that lie 432 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:07,440 kind of reverberating in our heads. 433 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,480 Hey, God loves me way too much to allow anything bad to happen 434 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:15,160 to me. I think that Jonah probably 435 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:18,520 thought that too. I think that Jonah probably went 436 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,840 to sleep in the in the bottom of the ship thinking that. 437 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:25,640 So if the lie is God loves me too much to allow anything to 438 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:29,040 happen to me, what's the truth? Here's the truth. 439 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:30,640 I want to get you a jot down this morning. 440 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:34,440 God knows that I will find an experience, real and lasting 441 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,320 fulfillment only when my life is lined up with His will. 442 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:43,200 Think about this. God knows you, God created you. 443 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:49,280 He knows what makes you tick. Listen, God didn't send that 444 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:55,560 storm because He hated Jonah. God sent that storm to get 445 00:26:55,560 --> 00:27:00,920 Jonah's attention because Jonah had already blown past the, the 446 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,800 whispers and the, and the weightiness and, and Jonah 447 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:07,800 needed a wake up call. God, God didn't send the storm 448 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,440 because he hated Jonah. God didn't send the storm 449 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,320 because he was frustrated with Jonah and thought that he had 450 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,920 something to prove like God's sitting in heaven going, I'll 451 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:19,240 show him, I'll show Jonah he wasn't doing that. 452 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:22,360 God sent that storm because check this out. 453 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,320 God knew Jonah better than Jonah knew Jonah. 454 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:29,080 That means that God knew what would. 455 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:34,160 The only thing that would lead to lasting fulfillment, real and 456 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:37,800 lasting fulfillment in Jonah's life is for Jonah to line his 457 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,520 life up in accordance and in a direct alignment with God's 458 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:42,920 will. God also knew. 459 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:45,120 Check this out. God also knew, as we'll discover 460 00:27:45,120 --> 00:27:47,800 later on in weeks to come, there's still a lot of work to 461 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,200 be done in the heart and the mind and the soul of Jonah. 462 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:54,320 And by the way, that work to be done, it would not be done on a 463 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:57,240 beach in Tarshish. It had to be done and it would 464 00:27:57,240 --> 00:27:59,680 be done on a hillside outside of Nineveh. 465 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:05,640 So God did not throw that storm at Jonah because He hated Jonah. 466 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,440 He threw the storm at Jonah because He loved Jonah. 467 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:13,640 It was a way to get Jonah back in alignment with God's will for 468 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:15,600 Jonah. The same thing is true for us. 469 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,960 The storms that He allows into our lives, those wake up calls 470 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:21,400 that He allows, He doesn't bring them into our lives because He 471 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:23,360 hates us. He doesn't bring them into our 472 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:25,040 lives because He doesn't like us. 473 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,440 He doesn't bring them into our lives because God feels that He 474 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:31,680 has something to prove to us. He brings them into our lives as 475 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:34,280 a wake up call. Because God knows you better 476 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:37,040 than you know you, and God knows me better than I know me. 477 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:38,920 And here's what the here's what God knows. 478 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:43,200 God knows that the only way that you and I will ever experience 479 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:47,440 and find real and lasting fulfillment is to be in 480 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:52,760 alignment with His will. Real fulfillment as in not 481 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:57,440 having the hooks of guilt, shame, or inauthenticity or 482 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:02,120 regret attached to it. Lasting fulfilment as in it 483 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:05,040 won't fade. Let me kind of summarize 484 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:09,320 everything that I just said. The life that you have always 485 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:13,880 been looking for can only be found in a life that is in 486 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:17,280 alignment and lives in accordance with God's will, His 487 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:22,040 words, and His way for you. He doesn't bring these wake up 488 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,480 calls in our lives because He hates us. 489 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:26,960 He brings them because He loves us. 490 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:29,080 He brings them because He loves us. 491 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:32,520 I think that sometimes many of us, we can probably look back 492 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:34,120 over the course of our lives and we can go. 493 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,880 I can now see that that's true. I can now see that that's true. 494 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,520 My guess is some some of us are online or in the room with us 495 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:43,920 that you sit there and go. I know exactly what you're 496 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:46,760 talking about. God had to rock my world to get 497 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,200 my attention, to drive me back to Him. 498 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,080 And it wasn't because I thought that at the moment, it's because 499 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:55,080 he didn't like me. I now know it's because he loved 500 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:57,480 me. And we can, we can praise God 501 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,080 for that. But if that's your story, if you 502 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:03,160 have examples of that in your life, I think that we could 503 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:07,400 probably all sit there and go, here's the thing, God worked all 504 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:10,480 that for the good. But if Ben, if I'm being really, 505 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:15,720 really honest, those storms are really unnecessary. 506 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:19,760 Those storms were really unnecessary in, in, In other 507 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:24,200 words, if I just, if I could have just heeded the whisper of 508 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:28,960 God, if I could have just given in and surrendered to that sense 509 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:32,480 of weightiness that the Holy Spirit laid on me, it wouldn't 510 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:36,280 have been necessary for God to issue the wake up call in my 511 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:38,600 life. You see, there's some lessons 512 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:42,280 and many lessons, I think, that we only learn clearly by 513 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,960 hindsight, right? So here's the question for us. 514 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:50,520 How do we live in such a way that we can avoid unnecessary 515 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,880 storms in our lives? Another way of saying that, how 516 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:59,760 can we practically reject the lie and embrace the truth? 517 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:04,280 I think there's three steps that you and I have to commit to #1 518 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:07,600 again, taking notes with us. I have to carry the weight of 519 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:11,720 knowing that my actions and inactions will always affect the 520 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:16,560 people around me. I have to carry that weight just 521 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:21,240 like Jonah's actions and inactions most definitely 522 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:26,720 affected the lives of every sailor on that ship. 523 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:34,760 Mom, dad, grandparent, parent, figure, leader. 524 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,760 Your actions or inactions will have a direct effect on the 525 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:43,760 people in your home, just like Jonah's actions and in actions 526 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,760 had an effect on the people on that boat threatened their very 527 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:52,240 lives. Our our actions and in actions, 528 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:56,240 what we do with the promptings of God will always have an 529 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:58,560 effect on the people that we work with and the people that 530 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:00,880 we're closest to. Think of it this way, the 531 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,400 greater your sphere of influence, the more people that 532 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:08,000 you know and the more people that count on you, the greater 533 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:12,560 the fallout. That's heavy, isn't it? 534 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:15,680 And I think that we live in a day and an age to where when we 535 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:19,040 start to send something, get really heavy, we always look to 536 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:21,960 immediately try to offload it and to lighten it. 537 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:26,040 I don't think that God wants us to offload it or lighten it just 538 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:30,000 yet, because I think that God wants us to carry that weight 539 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:33,200 and to carry that heaviness, knowing that it will drive us to 540 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:37,320 do one of three things. It will drive us to either adopt 541 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:41,240 an overall spirit of passivity to where we choose just not to 542 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:46,320 care, or adopt A spirit of paralysis to where we're scared 543 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,840 to death of making a choice because we're afraid that we're 544 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,240 going to make the wrong choice. Or carrying that weight and 545 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:56,400 responsibility will drive us to our knees in prayer going, God, 546 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:58,960 this is way too big for me. This is way too heavy for me. 547 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:05,160 God, I need your guidance. But we've got to carry that 548 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:08,520 weight. What you do and what I do, what 549 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:13,080 I don't do and what you don't do, it will affect the people 550 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:16,280 around us. Whether we adopt A spirit of 551 00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:19,920 passivity, paralysis or prayer. Make no mistake about it, the 552 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:23,200 people closest to us and in our circles and spheres of 553 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:26,520 influence, they will be affected by that decision. 554 00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:30,040 Second way that we reject the line and embrace the truth is 555 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:32,720 understanding that my main priority has to be pursuing and 556 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:35,200 walking in God's will for my life. 557 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:40,560 My main priority. You want to know what a a word 558 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:42,720 that I think is a weird word in the English language? 559 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:49,760 Priorities. Priorities like the plural of 560 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:52,920 priority. It's almost like we've forgotten 561 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:57,400 what a priority is. You see, many of us, we, we, we 562 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:02,600 carry multiple responsibilities, but we can only have one main 563 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:05,720 priority at any given moment in time. 564 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:12,440 Here's what I would tell you. Our main priority has to be in 565 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:15,800 alignment with God. Listen, I, I, I tell people this 566 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:19,679 all the time. First and foremost, if I'm good 567 00:34:19,679 --> 00:34:26,360 with God and I'm good with my wife and I'm good with the with 568 00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:29,960 the authority that God has placed around me and over me, 569 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:37,600 I'm good in that order. If I'm good with God, it's got 570 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,320 to start with God. I'm good with my wife and I'm 571 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:41,480 good. With the authority that God has 572 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:44,840 placed around me, I'm good. You can have multiple 573 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:47,639 responsibilities all at once. You can only have one main 574 00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:51,239 priority at one time. That main priority has to be an 575 00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:53,840 all out pursuit. God, I want to make sure that 576 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:56,560 I'm good with you. I want to make sure that my life 577 00:34:56,560 --> 00:35:01,000 lines up with what You have for me, that I'm walking in 578 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:04,840 obedience in accordance with Your will and Your Word and Your 579 00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:06,800 ways. For my life. 580 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:12,280 It's got to be the main thing, and for that reason is when my 581 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:17,000 life is in alignment with God, all other areas of life have a 582 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:22,600 way of falling into order. When anything is over that 583 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:26,240 priority with God, all other life will be chaotic. 584 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:31,200 For that reason, it has to be God's will over my way every day 585 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:34,360 of the week. God's will over my way every day 586 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:37,440 of the week. The third way that we reject the 587 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:42,360 law and embrace the truth is I need to regularly thank God for 588 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:44,400 loving me too much to leave me alone. 589 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:48,560 Some of some of us are sitting here this morning in the room 590 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:52,280 and online and there may be a deep sense of conviction there 591 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:55,600 there, there may be that whisper that's starting to morph into a 592 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:57,440 weightiness. Or maybe you've ignored that 593 00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:00,200 weightiness and it's it's morphed into a wake up call and 594 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:03,200 you're like, I wish God would just leave me alone. 595 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:07,480 Listen, you need to thank God for loving you too much to leave 596 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:10,360 you alone. You need to thank God for loving 597 00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:12,320 you too much for to leave you alone. 598 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:16,000 When is the last time that we have just simply thanked God for 599 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,320 loving us? Not as the preamble to a prayer, 600 00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:24,640 not as the precursor for asking God to do something for us, but 601 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:29,440 God, thank you so much for loving me that you choose not 602 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:31,280 just to leave me the way that you found me. 603 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:37,200 God, thank you. You see, I believe that every 604 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:40,320 single one of us in the room, every single one of us outside 605 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:43,960 this room, every single one of us online, every single person 606 00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:46,360 listening to this message now, every single person that will be 607 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:48,040 listening to this message 2 years from now. 608 00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:52,480 I believe God is speaking either in the way of a, of a whisper or 609 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:56,000 wait or wake up call. But the ball's in our court. 610 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:58,240 Like here's the question, what are you going to do with that? 611 00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:01,720 What are you going to do with God's whisper or the wait or the 612 00:37:01,720 --> 00:37:05,840 wake up call? One question before we come to a 613 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:09,840 close this morning. This is a question, a private 614 00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:14,280 question for you. How is God pursuing you right 615 00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:18,600 now? How's God pursuing you right 616 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:21,960 now? Can I ask you a question? 617 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:24,840 Like is there that gentle whisper? 618 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:30,320 Maybe maybe you heard it yesterday or last night or this 619 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,160 morning. Maybe there's that like gentle 620 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:36,040 whisper to your, to your heart, to your soul, to your mind this 621 00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:40,560 morning to where you know God's calling you to some step of 622 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:45,080 obedience. Maybe that gentle whisper you, 623 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:47,480 you've blown past that. You realize that you've blown 624 00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:49,440 past it. There's just that tug. 625 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:53,720 I can't tell you how many church services I sat in and I knew 626 00:37:53,720 --> 00:37:56,560 that there was a wait and I've shared this story multiple times 627 00:37:56,800 --> 00:38:00,600 that wait for me for so long, for so many years was I needed 628 00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:04,000 to be obedient and following Jesus in baptism, believers 629 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:07,560 baptism. There there's a there's an 630 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:12,640 there's an old church adage or or phrase called like I'm just 631 00:38:12,640 --> 00:38:15,960 going to white knuckle it. Back when a lot of churches had 632 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:18,760 pews, you'd stand up, you'd put your hand on the back of the 633 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:21,200 Pew, your knuckles turn white and you're like, I I ain't I 634 00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:25,160 ain't letting go. It was that, wait, I wonder if 635 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:28,520 there's some of us in here this morning that there's that deep 636 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:30,880 weight, there's that deep sense of conviction. 637 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:34,160 It's not a hey, man, what are you doing? 638 00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:39,520 It's more of a hey, you know that you shouldn't be going 639 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,040 there. You know that you shouldn't be 640 00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:45,120 getting in that relationship. Or maybe this morning you find 641 00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:51,320 yourself in a in a storm and you realize that storm's a wake up 642 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:52,520 call. It's not because God hates you. 643 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:54,840 It's actually because God loves you and he's trying to draw you 644 00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:58,560 back to him. As we talked about last week, 645 00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:04,280 not all storms are the result of sin at all, but every every sin 646 00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:09,080 has a storm attached to it. So I'm wondering what step of 647 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:10,960 obedience you need to take this morning. 648 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:14,400 I'm also wondering, is there anything that you need to 649 00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:18,040 confess before God, anything that you just need to let go and 650 00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:20,520 say, Hey, God, I blew past the whisper. 651 00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:24,120 I blew past the weight. God, the the the storm that I am 652 00:39:24,120 --> 00:39:26,560 in right now. It is of my own doing. 653 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:29,160 It is of my is a consequence of my own sin. 654 00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:33,920 God, would you forgive me of that sin and would you deliver 655 00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:36,720 me? And the Bible is very, very 656 00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:39,840 clear that He is faithful and just to forgive us when we ask 657 00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:44,120 him, but you've got to ask him. So a question for you to ponder 658 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:46,600 this morning as we go into a time of response. 659 00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:50,760 How is God speaking to me? What is God directing my heart 660 00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:53,080 to do? What step of action is He 661 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:55,360 directing me to take? This morning? 662 00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:57,840 In just a moment, I'm going to pray over us. 663 00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:00,520 We'll stay and be able to worship God again through song. 664 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:03,640 But really, this time that we're about to step into is really an 665 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:07,280 invitation for you to respond, to respond either to that 666 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:10,240 whisper, that sense of weightiness, or that wake up 667 00:40:10,240 --> 00:40:13,240 call. Listen, God brought you here 668 00:40:13,240 --> 00:40:16,200 this morning. It's not by coincidence or 669 00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:18,320 happenstance that we're talking about this. 670 00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:21,240 God brought you here this morning because He loves you and 671 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:25,160 because he desires good for you and he has great plans for you. 672 00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:31,640 If you find yourself this morning running from God, stop 673 00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:33,720 running. Turn back to him. 674 00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:35,800 You're not going to find judgement. 675 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:37,240 You're going to find welcome arm. 676 00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:41,440 Welcome to ARMS. So whatever God's calling you to do, be 677 00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:47,880 faithful to do that. God, we love you and God, we ask 678 00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:50,760 that you would search the depths of us this morning. 679 00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:58,680 God, for some of us, the fact that you have been trying to get 680 00:40:58,680 --> 00:41:01,240 our attention. God, for some of us that's a 681 00:41:01,240 --> 00:41:03,200 foreign concept. For some of us, that's a very 682 00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:05,760 familiar concept. For some of us, that's a 683 00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:08,200 frightening thought. For others, that's a comforting 684 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:11,240 thought. God, whatever that spectrum may 685 00:41:11,240 --> 00:41:16,480 be in this room and online. God, I pray that you would 686 00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:19,400 remind us that it is all out of your love for us. 687 00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:27,600 God would you just provide freedom in our lives and provide 688 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:31,640 a sense of surrender in our hearts to where we would give 689 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:36,000 you full out permission to go to the very depths of us to search 690 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:41,640 us and to know us? God, would you reveal to us if 691 00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:45,720 we do not truly have a relationship with you, God, 692 00:41:45,720 --> 00:41:47,280 would you make that very known to us? 693 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:51,520 God would that be would you send your Holy Spirit to to 694 00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:55,720 absolutely tug at our hearts this morning to the point to 695 00:41:55,720 --> 00:41:59,360 where we're faithful and we're obedient to stepping forward and 696 00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:02,040 surrendering our lives to you, God. 697 00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:06,080 If there's any sin in our lives, God, by us giving you 698 00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:08,360 permission, your Holy Spirit, permission to go into the deep 699 00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:12,760 parts of us, God, would you expose that sin in our lives, 700 00:42:13,720 --> 00:42:17,240 not to condemn us, but to cause it to rise to the surface so 701 00:42:17,240 --> 00:42:20,360 that we can hand it over to you and acknowledge it as sin and 702 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:28,600 ask for your forgiveness? God, for some of us, would you? 703 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:34,680 We reawaken within us a sensitivity to hear your 704 00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:40,760 whisper, God, a courage and a boldness to heed your 705 00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:45,080 weightiness, God. And if we've been running from 706 00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:47,720 you in the wake up call that you've brought on our lives, 707 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:51,360 God, that we would stop running and turn towards you, God. 708 00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:54,400 Whatever you want to do in and through us this morning in our 709 00:42:54,400 --> 00:43:01,520 lives, God, we always know that it is for the best, but we have 710 00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:06,000 a responsibility to respond in obedience and boldness. 711 00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:09,240 So God, I pray that you would grant that freedom for us. 712 00:43:09,240 --> 00:43:12,800 Break down any walls of hesitation, fear or pride. 713 00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:18,840 God, our main desire and goal is to be good with you this 714 00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:20,880 morning. And it's in Jesus name that we 715 00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:22,160 pray. Amen. 716 00:43:25,520 --> 00:43:27,920 Thank you for listening to the Riverbend Church Podcast. 717 00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:31,040 Learn more about who we are as a church and how to connect, you 718 00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:32,320 can head over to our website.