This sermon is about exploring the identity of Jonah as a venue for discovering our own identity and relationship with God. It is said that most problems within Christendom can be traced back to spiritually shallow Christian identity. Not only will understanding his motives help make sense of the entire story, but it'll cause us to unearth our deepest motives in our move toward God.

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This is the first lesson in a series of 8 exploring the Book of Jonah:

1. Who is Jonah?

2. See Jonah Run

3. Holy Envy

4. Whale Spit Monologues

5. Art of Repentance

6. “Who Knows?”

7. Jonah and the Worm

8. Who is God?

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Scripture: Jonah 1

(Additional Reading: 2 Kings 14.23-27; Amos 6.13-14; Deuteronomy 24.18; Ecclesiastes 7.16; John 10.14-18).

Who is Jonah?

An Historical Perspective

Who are you?

A Literary Perspective

“Any god who is mine but not yours, who’s concerned with me but not you is an idol.”

- Abraham Joshua Heschel –

“Almost all readers of this book have within them something of the evil inclination of Jonah son of Amittai.”

- Uriel Simon -