When Jonah made the decision to flee from God’s call, God did not choose to send someone else. Instead He sends the perfect storm; He employs the wind to bring order out of Jonah’s chaos. By interrupting Jonah’s plans to flee, God is saving him. Like Jonah who slept during the storm in the inner most recesses of the ship, we sometimes need to be awakened from our spiritual slumber. When the storm hit, the crew of the ship knew it wasn’t just an ordinary storm; the strength and suddenness of it was something they had not experienced before. They knew that something or someone had caused this storm to happen. And Jonah knew it too. God saw his repentant heart and He provided an extraordinary rescue.
Saved In The Storm
March 17, 2019 • Mark Rowland
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Jonah
What Difference Does Easter Make
April 21, 2019 • Mark Rowland
Holy Week is the most important week in the Church year. It is a time when we celebrate in a special way the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We remember His actions, reflect on His messages, and recommit to living as His disciples in the world today. We will use the readings from Luke this week as we prepare for Easter.
The Sign of Jonah
April 14, 2019 • Mark Putman
When asked by the Pharisees for miraculous proof that He was indeed the Messiah, Jesus answered them by saying that none would be given except the “sign of Jonah.” Jesus recognized the religious leaders’ hardness of heart and refused to give them further proof of His identity. It wasn’t long after this encounter that Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The leadership turned up the fire on Jesus and was successful in ending His ministry—and His life. But the “sign of Jonah” would turn out to be Jesus’ greatest miracle of all. His resurrection from the dead would be God’s primary sign that Jesus was Israel’s long-awaited Messiah and would establish Christ’s claims of deity. Even after this, many in leadership still did not believe in Jesus as the Christ and prevented others from doing so. We need to help others overcome anything that would hinder them from putting their faith in Jesus.
Jonah's Anger God's Compassion
April 7, 2019 • Mark Rowland
Jonah had experienced God’s grace in several ways through the storm—the captain, the sailors and finally the fish. We saw God’s grace capturing Jonah through his prayer and in giving him another chance. But when Jonah saw God’s grace poured out and lavished upon the Ninevites, he was angry. Jonah knew when God had called him the first time to go to Nineveh that there was the possibility that they might repent and he didn’t want anything to do with that. One of the most important commands Jesus gave to us is to love everyone as he has loved us. God wants none to perish; He wants all to come to a saving faith in His Son, and He uses us to help others see how loving and compassionate He is. We all need to have a heart for the lost as He does.