1 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:04,920 What up Crossing Nation, I'm so excited to be able to spend 2 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:07,880 today with you and I want to welcome those of you joining at 3 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:11,440 all of our different locations, those of you watching online and 4 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:14,840 those of you who are part of our crossing inside family. 5 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,600 I also want to welcome all of you who are new here. 6 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:23,960 Now when I say new here, I'm thinking of three groups of 7 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,560 people. There are some of you who this 8 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:29,960 is your first time at the crossing and we are so excited 9 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,040 that you are here. There are some of you who this 10 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:37,600 is your first time in a long time and we are so glad that you 11 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:39,920 are back. And then the third group are 12 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:42,320 those of you who you've been here for a while, but you have 13 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:44,280 not let us know that you are here. 14 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:47,320 You come in late, you leave early, you sneak around, you 15 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:49,080 haven't said hi, you avoid us in the lobby. 16 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,640 And we want you to know we are so glad that you are here as 17 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:54,120 well. And we would love to invite all 18 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:58,200 three groups to swing by the New Here booth at the end of our 19 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:00,760 service. The new Here booth in all of our 20 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:08,240 lobbies is a great next step for you to discover what God has for 21 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:10,240 you. And as a church, we want to come 22 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:14,720 around you and celebrate and encourage every step you take. 23 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:17,760 So would you take some time today to swing by the New Here 24 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:19,520 booth? And while you guys are thinking 25 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,680 about that, I want to let make sure all of you are aware about 26 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,720 what is going to be happening next weekend as a church. 27 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,120 Actually, the whole world who loves Jesus will be doing this. 28 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:33,520 But next weekend we will be celebrating Easter as a church. 29 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:38,400 And every year at Easter, we have an incredible privilege and 30 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:42,320 incredible responsibility because they're going to be lots 31 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:47,160 and lots of people who will be coming to our church and giving 32 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:52,640 God a second chance, Jesus a second chance, church a second 33 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:57,320 chance. And our hope and our prayer is 34 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:03,080 that every person that shows up will take at least one step to 35 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:07,240 beginning an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 36 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,880 And if you're one of the people who want to join us in making 37 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:14,120 this region the hardest place on planet earth to get to hell 38 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:17,680 from, there are a couple of things that you can do next 39 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,960 weekend as we celebrate Easter. The first thing that I'm asking 40 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,720 you guys to do is to do the best thing you can do, which is pray. 41 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:28,440 There have been some of you who've been a part of the 3:00 42 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,840 PM club praying for our Weaver location to reach 300 people 43 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:36,760 regularly on a weekend. I would like for the next week 44 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:42,040 you to add an additional prayer at the 3:00 PM slot and would 45 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:48,480 you be praying for 15,000 people to join us in person at one of 46 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:52,840 our physical locations? Since 3:00 PM is 1500 military 47 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:57,920 time, we are praying for 300 people and Weaver at 315,000 48 00:02:57,920 --> 00:03:02,720 people at 1500 and I would love to have you join us in those 49 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:05,040 prayers. The second thing you guys can do 50 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:10,760 is you can come early. When you come early, you give 51 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,840 other people a chance and plenty of time to get their kids 52 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,520 checked in to get connected in the lobby. 53 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:21,040 It also helps if you show up early, if you sit towards the 54 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,000 front so that the people who are coming for the first time or 55 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,320 people who are coming late don't have to do the walk of shame all 56 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,000 the way to the front. Do you guys want to make that 57 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:31,480 walk? Nobody wants to make that walk. 58 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:34,920 So how about you come early, sit towards the front so that way 59 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:39,040 people who show up late have an opportunity to get a great seat 60 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:41,840 in the back without being a distraction or feeling a bunch 61 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:45,560 of people looking at them. In order for you to come early, 62 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:48,560 you're going to need to know our service times. 63 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,880 And if you go on our website, if you look at the QR code or if 64 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:55,560 you listen to your campus pastor, whoever's doing the 65 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,560 dismissal at all of our different locations, at the end 66 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:02,200 of the service, you will hear your service times. 67 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:06,080 We're going to be having 42 in person services with an 68 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:12,640 additional 6 online services for a grand total of 48 services on 69 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,440 Easter weekend. And if you want to be super 70 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:20,160 spiritual, like you get a sun room in heaven when you get 71 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:23,320 there, like you get an extra room, here's what I want you to 72 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:25,560 do as long as it doesn't get in the way of you inviting 73 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:28,960 somebody. Would you prioritize any of the 74 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:34,800 services that are not the last two services at your location if 75 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,240 your location has more than four services? 76 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:42,160 So if you take the two last two service times, those are 77 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:45,400 typically the number one attended spots for people who 78 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:47,920 are giving God a chance or church a chance. 79 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:50,960 And if you're sitting there, it might be difficult for them to 80 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:53,080 sit there because they don't want to sit on your lap and you 81 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:54,800 don't want them to sit on their on your lap. 82 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:59,000 So if you can, do your best to prioritize the other services as 83 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,960 long as it doesn't interfere with you inviting somebody. 84 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:09,120 Third thing you can do, would you please park far away? 85 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,080 By parking far away, you're giving people who show up for 86 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,280 the first time and people who show up late the best possible 87 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:16,840 experience. I have a rule. 88 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,400 I don't want anybody to show up at our church for the first time 89 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:24,160 and have a longer walk to the church than I do. 90 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:28,640 This is one of the ways that we are others focused. 91 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,560 This is one of the ways that we love our neighbor. 92 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:34,120 So many of you guys did this for Super Bowl weekend. 93 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:35,560 And I was so incredibly proud of you. 94 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,440 And I'm asking you to consider doing it again. 95 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:42,160 And #4 and this is like the second most important thing. 96 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:44,960 If number one is prayer. The most second most important 97 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:47,000 thing is would you bring somebody? 98 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:51,080 Would you think right now who are some people that are close 99 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,280 to me that are far from God? Would you think there's some 100 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:58,160 people that you love, that you no need Jesus, that maybe might 101 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:02,760 be going through a difficult season and you have no idea what 102 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:08,960 God can do with a simple invite? Too many times we say no for 103 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:13,600 people instead of giving them a chance to say yes. 104 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,280 Who are two groups of people? Maybe it's two family members. 105 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:18,800 Maybe it's some brothers and sisters. 106 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,640 Who are two people that you can reach out with this simple 107 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,120 invite? Would you come and sit with me? 108 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:29,080 If you've been reading your Bible, you know that God can do 109 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:31,920 an awful lot with just a little bit of faith. 110 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:37,160 So who are you going to invite in faith? 111 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:40,480 Let me pray for us, Heavenly Father, I'm asking that you 112 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:44,280 would do a mighty work in our church and helping to make this 113 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:46,480 region the hardest place on planet earth to get the hell 114 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,760 from on Easter weekend. God, we want to lift you up. 115 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,320 We want to glorify your name. We want to thank you for all 116 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:55,240 that you've done and all that you're doing, but we also want 117 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:57,520 to be about your mission. So would you go before us? 118 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,240 Give us clarity about who you want us to invite, who you want 119 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,080 us to bring, and the courage to step, step into those moments. 120 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:05,240 And your name I pray. Amen. 121 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:11,560 Well, today we are wrapping up our series called Jonah with the 122 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:16,440 tagline The Unusual Path of Grace. 123 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,520 And if you've missed any of the series or you're wanting to 124 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:21,920 catch up, or maybe there's a friend that you know that could 125 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:25,720 really appreciate one of the particular messages, you can hop 126 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,680 on one Crossing and all of those different platforms and it will 127 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:33,080 give you access to the messages. Now let's just kind of recap the 128 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:36,120 story because it takes a lot of twists and turns. 129 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:40,080 It begins with God telling Jonah to go and preach to the people 130 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:43,520 in Nineveh. This was a major problem for 131 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:47,160 Jonah because Jonah was a Jew. He was a part of the people of 132 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:53,040 God and the Ninevites were not. They were other than they were 133 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:57,080 different than in fact, the people of Nineveh were horrible 134 00:07:57,080 --> 00:07:59,680 people. They were known for their cruel 135 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:05,000 and savage dealings with people, particularly the Israelite 136 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,920 people, the people of God. So what does Jonah do? 137 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:10,200 What is the man of God, the prophet of God, the preacher of 138 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:12,960 his day do? Instead of going 500 miles in 139 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:15,800 the direction that God called him, he hops on a boat and set 140 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:21,120 sail for 2500 miles in the opposite direction of where God 141 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:23,840 told him to go. So what does God do? 142 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,560 God sends a storm and it affects the boat, and it messes with the 143 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,880 boat so bad that the sailors who are on the boat go from not 144 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:33,240 believing in God to believing in him. 145 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,000 And they beg for the storm to stop. 146 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:39,559 And Jonah says, hey, the only way for this storm to stop is if 147 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,120 you pick me up and throw me overboard. 148 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:44,440 Jonah doesn't volunteer to jump overboard. 149 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:45,720 He says, you're going to pick me up. 150 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:49,680 You're going to have to 1/2 throw me over. 151 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:51,520 And they go, we don't want to do it. 152 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:53,520 We don't want to do it. We just became believers in God. 153 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:55,400 The first thing we want to do is not kill a guy. 154 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:58,520 But they eventually are. Do exactly what they're told and 155 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:05,480 they throw Jonah into the sea. As soon as they do, the storm 156 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:12,360 stops, the waters become calm, and then Jonah sinks to the 157 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:17,320 bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. And before he takes his last 158 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:23,960 breath, God provides a huge fish to swallow him and keeps Jonah, 159 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:29,360 the prophet of God, in his belly for three days and three nights. 160 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:33,280 While Jonah is in the belly of the fish, he realizes that he 161 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:37,600 has officially hit rock bottom. And he goes, you know what? 162 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,040 I'm actually going to do what God told me to do. 163 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:46,080 So God gives Jonah a second chance and the fish vomits Jonah 164 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:50,840 up on to dry land. So then Jonah makes the 500 mile 165 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:55,480 journey to Nineveh and he preaches that if you don't turn 166 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:58,720 to God in 40 days you will be destroyed. 167 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:03,840 The people hear this message and they repent. 168 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:12,400 Everyone repented from the least to the greatest, from the common 169 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:18,040 servant all the way to the king. Everyone repented. 170 00:10:18,680 --> 00:10:22,480 And chapter 3 ends with these words. 171 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:29,880 Jonah chapter 3, verse 10. When God saw what they did and 172 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:37,880 how they turned from their evil ways, He relented and did not 173 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:43,480 bring on them the destruction He had threatened. 174 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:49,880 Can I tell you something? God loves repentance. 175 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:53,920 God loves it when people recognize their own 176 00:10:53,920 --> 00:11:00,040 shortcomings, failures, and sins caused by selfishness, pride, 177 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:04,600 and a rebellious spirit. Psalm 51 verse 17 states that 178 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:12,000 the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and 179 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:17,280 contrite heart. Oh God, you will not despise. 180 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:22,160 God loves repentant people. If you want to make some noise 181 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:24,280 in heaven, you know all you have to do. 182 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:27,280 You just have to repent. Look what it says in Luke 183 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:32,200 chapter 15 verse 7. I tell you, in the same way 184 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:39,560 there will be more rejoicing in heaven over 1 Sinner who 185 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:46,120 repents, then over 99 persons who do not need to repent. 186 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,920 When you and I, when we acknowledge our sins, guess what 187 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:52,320 the angels in heaven do? The angels start the wave. 188 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:56,800 When you and I, when we humble ourselves, recognize our need 189 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:00,160 for a Savior, repent of our ways, the angels start like 190 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,000 painting their chest. They get fired up. 191 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:06,640 Heaven loves it when people turn to God. 192 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:10,560 When people realize that God's way is the best way, the pep 193 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:14,040 band starts to roar. Heaven loves it. 194 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:20,520 God loves it when people repent of their sins and turn to Him. 195 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:24,840 Real quick question, Minnie Devo, when was the last time you 196 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:28,200 started a party in heaven with your repentance? 197 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,720 It happens to us. We get so used to just doing 198 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:36,040 ourselves and doing things the way we like to do it and seeing 199 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:37,680 all the problems in other people. 200 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:40,400 When was the last time you opened up your Bible, looked at 201 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:42,840 it and said, you know what? This is something I need to 202 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:48,520 change God. I'm sorry, God, I need to change 203 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:51,680 God. I don't want to be like this 204 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:55,040 anymore. When you find yourself in that 205 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:56,480 spot, I want you to know two things. 206 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:00,080 God loves it and heaven celebrates it. 207 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:05,880 Jonah chapter 4 verses one through 4 as we begin the end of 208 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:11,640 the book. But to Jonah this seemed very 209 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:17,000 wrong and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord. 210 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:20,280 Isn't this what I said? Lord, when I was still at home? 211 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:24,240 That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarsus. 212 00:13:24,560 --> 00:13:31,160 I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to 213 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:38,800 anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending 214 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:45,320 calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, 215 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:50,000 for it is better for me to die than to live. 216 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:56,400 But the Lord replied, Is it right for you to be angry? 217 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,800 Like I said, this story is full of surprises. 218 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,440 It's one twist that leads to another twist. 219 00:14:03,680 --> 00:14:05,800 You have God going after the evil people. 220 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:07,480 You have the man of God running from God. 221 00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:10,080 You have the sailors choosing to follow God and caring for the 222 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,760 safety of the prophet of God, while the prophet of God does 223 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:15,320 not care about what God cares about or about the salvation of 224 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:17,440 the sailors or about the salvation of the people in 225 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:19,840 Nineveh. Then you have a fish swallowing 226 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:21,520 the prophet, and the storm becomes calm. 227 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,040 Then the prophet gets a second chance and goes and preaches the 228 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:25,920 sermon. Then you get the next surprise, 229 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,200 the bad people realize how bad they are and they surprise 230 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:33,000 everybody and they turn to God. And now to our surprise, the 231 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:37,320 preacher of God is mad that the people listened to his sermon 232 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:41,120 and were spared. This thing just doesn't stop 233 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,720 giving. It's just one liner after a 234 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:44,960 next. As soon as you feel like you 235 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:47,840 figure out the story, it takes a hard right turn. 236 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:50,560 Now I'll at least want to like this is like a pet peeve of 237 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:52,480 mine. So I'm going to just, you know, 238 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:53,800 if you want to tune me out, tune me out. 239 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:57,120 But I, I've mentioned this a couple times and this is a great 240 00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:58,760 illustration to mention it again. 241 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:03,000 I sometimes hear critics of Christianity and critics of the 242 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,480 Bible talk about how do we reconcile the God of the Old 243 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:08,400 Testament with the God of the New Testament? 244 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:12,840 They make claims that like, the God of the Old Testament is full 245 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:16,760 of wrath and the God of the New Testament is just full of grace. 246 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:20,040 It's almost as if God has some kind of personality disorder and 247 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:23,280 he gets professional help. Between Malachi and Matthew, 248 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:26,960 however, that does not seem to be how the people of the Old 249 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:31,160 Testament viewed God. It's worth noting that 250 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:36,880 compassion shows up 68 times in the Old Testament and only 14 in 251 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,360 the New Testament. Mercy. 252 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:44,960 Well, it shows up 71 times in the Old Testament and 55 times 253 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:47,480 in the New Testament. Gracious. 254 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:55,880 Well, it shows up 40 times in the Old Testament, five times in 255 00:15:55,880 --> 00:16:01,360 the New Testament. Jonah, he actually lived in the 256 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:06,160 Old Testament and he did not want to go preach to his enemies 257 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:11,760 because he had a fundamental belief that God was in his own 258 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:15,120 words. I knew that you are a gracious 259 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:23,000 and compassionate God. Slow to anger, abounding in 260 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:29,080 love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 261 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:35,280 Before you allow some critic living in 2000s to make claims 262 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:40,720 about a God from the 700 BCS, maybe we should let the people 263 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:45,640 who lived in 700 BC tell us about what God was like in 700 264 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,600 BC. Jonah knew something. 265 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:53,520 Jonah knew that God had a heart for people to be saved and to 266 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:58,240 experience life with him. And you can't read this story 267 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:05,079 and wonder what was so wrong in Jonah's heart that made him so 268 00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:12,160 upset at the grace of God. And before you throw stones, we 269 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,280 may have more in common with Jonah than we want to admit. 270 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:20,960 You see, Jonah knew that God was a God of grace. 271 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:26,359 He just wanted it for him and not for his enemies. 272 00:17:27,599 --> 00:17:31,960 You and I, if we were honest, we have a hard time being others 273 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:34,560 focused. Let me explain. 274 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:37,880 Oh, we don't have a problem with people making good money as long 275 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:39,200 as they don't make more than you. 276 00:17:40,120 --> 00:17:42,360 We don't have a problem with somebody getting a nice car as 277 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:45,320 long as they're a nice car is not nicer than your car. 278 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:47,880 We don't have a problem with people going on a nice vacation 279 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,800 as long as their nice vacation is not as nice as your nice 280 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:53,360 vacation. We don't have a problem with 281 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:56,200 somebody having a good marriage as long as our marriage is 282 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:57,840 better. We don't have a problem with 283 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:02,000 having with you having a baby as long as we get pregnant first. 284 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:05,320 We don't have a problem with there being a church for 285 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:08,880 everyone, as long as the everyone's are only the someones 286 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:12,680 that we agree with, the someones we've prayed for, the someones 287 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:15,640 that we have invited. But what happens when your 288 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:20,000 prayers collide with somebody else's prayers, and that someone 289 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:24,080 that they're praying for, that God answers their prayer, just 290 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:30,960 so happens to be your enemy? Who is the person in your life 291 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:33,880 that you don't want to experience God's grace? 292 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:40,840 Who's your Nineveh? Who's Is it your boss? 293 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,480 Is it your employee? Is it your ex? 294 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:49,320 Is it your bully? Is it your abuser? 295 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:55,040 Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see that person 296 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,280 through the prayers of their mother? 297 00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:03,360 Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see them 298 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:05,560 through the prayers of their Father? 299 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:13,760 Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see them with 300 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,480 God's heart beating in your chest? 301 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:23,360 We serve a God who is others focused. 302 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:27,040 Now I'm going to unpack some like old school stuff from the 303 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:29,320 Old Testament and try and make it make sense in the New 304 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,800 Testament and then try and make it sense make sense in your 305 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:35,080 day-to-day living today. So hang with me. 306 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:37,800 God always has cared about the others. 307 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:41,000 Now, the New Testament view of other has always been 308 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,240 complicated. On the one hand, you've heard me 309 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:46,280 talk about this, about being uncommon, that Christians are 310 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:50,040 supposed to be a city on a hill, a lamp on a stand, light of the 311 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:51,640 world. We're supposed to be different. 312 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:53,320 We're not supposed to be Incognito. 313 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:55,400 We're supposed to be on full display. 314 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:57,880 Well, this goes all the way back to the Old Testament, when 315 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:00,720 you're reading weird things in the Old Testament about what to 316 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,720 wear and not and what not to wear, what to eat and what not 317 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:06,000 to eat. All of this was designed to 318 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:10,760 create a distinction between the people of God and the people who 319 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:12,960 were not the people. Of God. 320 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:16,880 That's why Leviticus goes out of its way and says, hey, like 321 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,840 don't eat different kinds of or don't wear different kinds of 322 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:21,680 material that's woven together with different clothes. 323 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:26,320 There's a Israelite, a Jewish, a people of God, a way to dress, 324 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:30,040 and there's a people who are not the people of God, who are not 325 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:32,720 following God way to dress. And they're supposed to be a 326 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:35,840 different when it comes to animals, there's clean and 327 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,800 unclean animals. The reason why there's clean 328 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:42,000 animals is because the clean animals, they walk right and 329 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:47,360 they eat right like a good Jew, like a good person of God would. 330 00:20:47,360 --> 00:20:51,880 And then there's unclean animals who don't walk right, who don't 331 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:54,800 eat right, who are not the people of God. 332 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:57,760 That's why when you Fast forward from the Old Testament, 333 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:01,440 Leviticus all the way to Acts chapter 10, where Peter has the 334 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:05,120 vision telling him to eat unclean animals, he immediately 335 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:08,760 understands that this has something to do with the Jew 336 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:13,120 Gentile distinction with the people of God and the people who 337 00:21:13,120 --> 00:21:15,880 are not the people of God yet distinction. 338 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:19,200 And so while the Old Testament goes out of its way 339 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:23,800 distinguishing between Israelite and non Israelite, it refuses to 340 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:30,280 dehumanize the other. It goes out of its way to say 341 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:34,480 that the foreigner residing among you must be treated as 342 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,800 native born. It says love them as you love 343 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:43,520 yourself because you were once a foreigner in Egypt. 344 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:48,160 It is this paradox that the Torah says make sure that you 345 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:53,560 look different, but remember you're the same. 346 00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:58,360 And the worst atrocities that have ever happened in human 347 00:21:58,360 --> 00:22:03,800 history and in your life happen when you stop seeing as when you 348 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:10,880 stop seeing the other person as the same as you, when you see 349 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:15,880 them as other, but you don't realize that they are the same. 350 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:20,640 For example, Jonah's attitude toward the Ninevites. 351 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:27,160 He saw them as other, but he did not see them as the same. 352 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:33,800 He is on a warpath hoping to watch his enemies burn, Sodom 353 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:38,160 and Gomorrah style. It's because they checked all of 354 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:42,720 the boxes to be seen as an enemy other. 355 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:47,360 When you're reading the story of Jonah, who do you have the most 356 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:53,360 in common with? The Ninevites or Jonah? 357 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:57,520 This is not about you showing allegiance to some kind of home 358 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,880 team, but do you have a humble and teachable heart? 359 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:06,120 When you think through the last four chapters, which group of 360 00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:08,840 people had the humble, teachable heart? 361 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:17,880 It was never Jonah. The sailors, the others, Yeah, 362 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:21,200 they turned to God. The Ninevites, the horrible, 363 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:23,320 rotten, despicable people. Guess what they did? 364 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:29,720 They turn to God. In this story, Jesus is showing, 365 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:34,440 hey, people who have nothing in common with me can be saved by 366 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:37,040 me with a humble and teachable heart. 367 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:43,440 And people who know plenty about me and have been following me 368 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:51,360 can miss out on what I'm trying to do, can be the enemy of what 369 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:56,760 I'm trying to do. This happens with Jesus. 370 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:02,560 You remember Jesus, he shows up in the New Testament, and he's 371 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:04,920 dealing with the religious leaders of his day. 372 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:08,760 And guess who the religious leaders are like the religious 373 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:13,680 leaders are like Jonah. And you know what these guys 374 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:15,640 ended up doing? These religious elites, these 375 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:17,680 religious leaders, Yeah, you remember? 376 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:23,160 They were the ones who plotted to kill him and at the same time 377 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,960 all the down and outers of 1st century Palestine. 378 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,240 Guess what they did? They got it. 379 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:36,280 They had a humble and teachable heart. 380 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:38,720 That's why Jesus has these words to say. 381 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,960 He traces his ministry all the way back to the story of Jonah. 382 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:47,000 Jonah, when he says this, the men of Nineveh will stand up at 383 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,640 the judgement with this generation, this 1st century 384 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:56,280 generation, and condemn it. For they repented at the 385 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,840 preaching of Jonah. And now something greater than 386 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:05,440 Jonah is here. Jesus is showing up and he goes, 387 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:12,080 look man, all the people who are supposed to get it don't, and 388 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:16,000 all the people that you think don't deserve it get it. 389 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:21,240 What do you do with the other? So what does Jonah do? 390 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:24,640 He throws a grade A temper tantrum. 391 00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:31,040 Look at verses 5 through 9. Jonah had gone out, sat down at 392 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:36,120 a place east of the city where he made himself a shelter, sat 393 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:41,720 in its shade, and waited to see what would happen to the city. 394 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:47,520 Then the Lord God provided A leafy plant and made it grow up 395 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:52,160 over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort. 396 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:57,360 And Jonah was very happy about the plant. 397 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:03,600 But at dawn the next day, God provided a worm which chewed the 398 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:10,800 plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided 399 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:16,400 A scorching E wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that 400 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:21,120 he grew faint. He wanted to die, and he and 401 00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:27,280 said it would be better for me to die than to live. 402 00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:33,280 But God said to Jonah, is it right for you to be angry about 403 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:37,080 the plant? It is, Jonah said. 404 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:43,440 I am so angry. I wish I were dead. 405 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:49,640 Jonah has entered like the two year old 3 year old temper 406 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:55,120 tantrum phase. He gets so mad at the plant and 407 00:26:55,120 --> 00:26:58,560 the fact that it is dead and that the worm has eaten it that 408 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:03,440 he wants to die. His enemies have repented. 409 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:07,840 His plant is dead. I don't want to live anymore. 410 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:10,160 Do you know what God's doing now? 411 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:13,440 God, if you read the story of Jonah all over again, you'll see 412 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:17,000 all of this provision, provision, provision, provision, 413 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,320 provision. God provides a fish. 414 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:23,560 God provides a storm. God provides a a a a plant. 415 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:28,200 God provides a worm. God provides A scorching E wind 416 00:27:28,360 --> 00:27:29,880 and heat. What's God doing? 417 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,480 He keeps providing a way for Jonah to turn to him. 418 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:38,600 He's trying to get Jonah to have his heart for people. 419 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:44,320 And then God uses the illustration that he had created 420 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:48,440 himself with the plant to teach something to Jonah about his 421 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:51,360 heart. Verses 10 and 11 But the Lord 422 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:56,360 said you have been concerned about this plant, though you did 423 00:27:56,360 --> 00:28:03,400 not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died 424 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:07,360 overnight. And should I not have concern 425 00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:11,560 for the great city of Nineveh in which there are more than 426 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:20,320 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left 427 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:27,920 and also many animals? God is looking at Jonah and said 428 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:32,320 if only you cared for my people the way you care for this plant. 429 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,600 You see, Jonah did not preach to Nineveh because he had God's 430 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:41,880 heart. He preached to Nineveh out of 431 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:47,280 strict obedience. I'm going to do what you told me 432 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:51,320 to do. But God wants something more 433 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:54,840 than that. He doesn't just want blind 434 00:28:54,880 --> 00:29:00,480 obedience, begrudging obedience. He wants obedience that comes 435 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:05,720 from the overflow of our heart. That was the central beef that 436 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:07,520 Jesus had with the religious elite. 437 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:09,040 You know, we already talked about this. 438 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:12,840 The ones who killed him, they would go out of their way to 439 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:18,440 obey the letter of the law, but they never once got God's love 440 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:24,680 for himself or God's people. That was actual the point of the 441 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,600 law in the Old Testament. It was not you better do what I 442 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:31,240 tell you to do or else. It was an invitation to allow 443 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:36,080 God's heart to change our heart. Every command in the Old 444 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:39,320 Testament flows out of a principle, and every principle 445 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:43,360 ultimately traces its way back to the character of God. 446 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:48,640 Watch this Murder is wrong because God is life. 447 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:53,480 Lying is wrong because God is truth. 448 00:29:53,760 --> 00:30:01,160 Be holy because God is holy. God gave the Israelites the law 449 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:04,200 because he wanted them to become like him. 450 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:11,440 And God wants us to care about the things that he cares about 451 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:14,440 and love the things that he loves. 452 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:18,960 And one of the things that God loves our people made in his 453 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:26,480 image, people who have messed up, people who have done a bad 454 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:32,120 thing, people who have done a series of bad things, people 455 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:40,240 like me and you. And if we're not careful, we can 456 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:44,760 end up like Jonah in this story when we're OK talking about the 457 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:49,240 Me's and use of the world. But what about the others? 458 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:54,640 What about the Ninevites? What about our enemies? 459 00:30:56,120 --> 00:31:01,000 The crossing, it has 12 physical locations that serve a service 460 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:05,560 area of 10,000 square miles. And in our region there are 461 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:10,000 450,000 people who do not have an intimate personal 462 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:14,680 relationship with Jesus Christ. And some of those people, they 463 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:17,400 look like you, vote like you, make what you make, like what 464 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:20,120 you like, and some of them don't. 465 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:24,840 Some of them are against all of the things that you stand for. 466 00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:28,080 Some are the people. Some of them are people that you 467 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:30,560 don't like. Some of them are the people who 468 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:35,920 have hurt you. They're your Nineveh, but while 469 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:38,440 they're your Nineveh, there's somebody else's dad. 470 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:42,480 They might be your Nineveh, but there's somebody else's son. 471 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:46,400 They're your Nineveh, but there's somebody else's mom and 472 00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:49,320 somebody else's daughter. And if our hearts are being 473 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:54,960 transformed into our Father's heart, you and I have to do 474 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,920 something about it. And the good news is that if the 475 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:02,320 Ninevites can change, anybody can change. 476 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:05,880 If God cares about the Ninevites, he cares about them 477 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:08,440 too. And if he cares about them, we 478 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:11,360 have to care about them. And what a glorious mission that 479 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:14,840 you and I, What a beautiful message that you and I get to 480 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:19,280 share in that. For God so loved the world, and 481 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:23,480 in doing so, God loved his enemies. 482 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:29,320 And who are his enemies? Me and you. 483 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:36,240 God came after me and you, just like he went after Nineveh. 484 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:43,920 Which means that if God's love changed me, and if God's love 485 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:48,840 changed you, it means they can change the very people that you 486 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:54,920 have written off. And if that's true, you and I 487 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:59,560 must do everything in our power to make this region the hardest 488 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:02,560 place on earth to get to hell from. 489 00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:05,440 Would you join me in that? We're moving to a time of 490 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:05,920 decision.