WEBVTT 01:12.728 --> 01:20.514 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, as you know, this week we had an incredible time in the island and sea kind of design for our church. 01:20.534 --> 01:24.858 [SPEAKER_00]: The whole church was transformed to look like this all for this Jonah series. 01:25.278 --> 01:30.582 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much, kid connection volunteers for getting us ready for this because you knew what we were going to go through. 01:30.622 --> 01:37.407 [SPEAKER_00]: And I would just like to say, if we could have this forever sermon series from now on, where we just have these epic set pieces, that would be amazing. 01:37.748 --> 01:39.209 [SPEAKER_00]: We'll see what we can do about that. 01:39.629 --> 01:41.211 [SPEAKER_00]: How many of you know the story of Jonah? 01:41.832 --> 01:43.273 [SPEAKER_00]: Already, okay, you can take off. 01:43.333 --> 01:43.754 [SPEAKER_00]: You're good? 01:44.374 --> 01:47.077 [SPEAKER_00]: No, this series is going to introduce you to some stuff. 01:47.097 --> 01:50.241 [SPEAKER_00]: You've probably never heard before about Jonah. 01:50.601 --> 01:52.784 [SPEAKER_00]: Today, of course, it's a worship together service. 01:52.804 --> 01:54.085 [SPEAKER_00]: We've got all the kids in here. 01:54.405 --> 01:57.949 [SPEAKER_00]: And we're going to try to keep things pretty light and fun and interesting and engaging. 01:58.330 --> 02:00.893 [SPEAKER_00]: We're actually only going to tackle three verses today. 02:01.213 --> 02:16.525 [SPEAKER_00]: But as we go through the rest of this series, you're going to experience some really cool stuff, some history, some archaeology, some facts that you probably never knew before that will make the story of Jonah come alive, like you have never experienced it. 02:17.552 --> 02:28.114 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to do this morning, what I want to do is open up just the story of Jonah talk about the setting, get it going for us, and introduce you to this guy, Jonah, and the first challenge that he faced. 02:28.154 --> 02:32.415 [SPEAKER_00]: And we're going to do that by turning to Jonah chapter one, verses one through three. 02:32.475 --> 02:34.495 [SPEAKER_00]: Jonah is a prophet of God. 02:34.535 --> 02:36.156 [SPEAKER_00]: He receives messages from God. 02:36.176 --> 02:44.457 [SPEAKER_00]: And so this is not an unusual thing for him to get a message from the Lord, but one day, God gave Jonah a message that he did not expect. 02:47.215 --> 02:47.675 [SPEAKER_00]: Here we go. 02:47.795 --> 02:52.738 [SPEAKER_00]: Jonah, chapter one, verse one, says the Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amatai. 02:53.418 --> 02:54.639 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, and here's what I want you to do. 02:54.679 --> 02:56.160 [SPEAKER_00]: As we go through this, would you do something for me? 02:57.100 --> 03:00.262 [SPEAKER_00]: Every time you see a word that's underlined, I want you to read that word. 03:00.602 --> 03:01.323 [SPEAKER_00]: Can you do that for me? 03:01.883 --> 03:02.964 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so let me start over. 03:03.264 --> 03:05.925 [SPEAKER_00]: The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amatai. 03:05.965 --> 03:06.205 [SPEAKER_00]: Get. 03:07.486 --> 03:08.507 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, wow, that was really good. 03:08.947 --> 03:09.247 [SPEAKER_00]: Nice. 03:09.287 --> 03:10.668 [SPEAKER_00]: Guys, that's impressive. 03:10.688 --> 03:11.368 [SPEAKER_00]: You put the earlier 03:17.642 --> 03:21.705 [SPEAKER_00]: Awesome, and now it's my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are. 03:22.066 --> 03:25.809 [SPEAKER_00]: But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. 03:25.869 --> 03:38.279 [SPEAKER_00]: He went to the port of Japa where he found a ship leaving for, he bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarsus. 03:38.319 --> 03:42.182 [SPEAKER_00]: Now I had you read four words, there's anybody to remember what those four words were. 03:42.202 --> 03:43.103 [SPEAKER_00]: What were the words you had to read? 03:45.601 --> 03:48.382 [SPEAKER_00]: and Nineveh and down and Tarshish very good. 03:48.582 --> 03:57.324 [SPEAKER_00]: The reason why I wanted you to have those four words is because I want to play a little game, a little game that's going to involve those four words, and it's a game called Simon Says. 03:57.504 --> 03:58.524 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, Simon Says, right? 03:58.544 --> 04:00.145 [SPEAKER_00]: Everybody knows how to play Simon Says. 04:00.365 --> 04:01.925 [SPEAKER_00]: So to do this, I'm going to do everybody's stand up. 04:02.765 --> 04:03.405 [SPEAKER_00]: Go ahead and stand up. 04:05.186 --> 04:07.166 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't say Simon Says. 04:09.027 --> 04:11.867 [SPEAKER_00]: Simon Says, stand up, Simon Says, stand up, go ahead. 04:13.108 --> 04:14.188 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, here's how this is going to work. 04:16.341 --> 04:20.763 [SPEAKER_00]: When I say Simon says up, I need everybody to do a little jump. 04:20.883 --> 04:24.825 [SPEAKER_00]: Just a little jump, doesn't have to be a big one to hurt your knees, but just a little jump, okay? 04:24.865 --> 04:28.667 [SPEAKER_00]: So when I say Simon says up, Simon says up, everybody's a little jump, okay? 04:29.048 --> 04:35.311 [SPEAKER_00]: When I say Simon says, Nineva, we are going to point to the right. 04:35.591 --> 04:38.032 [SPEAKER_00]: Now what makes this tricky is that my right is your left. 04:38.152 --> 04:40.073 [SPEAKER_00]: So you are going to point to your right. 04:40.434 --> 04:42.014 [SPEAKER_00]: Nineva is to the right. 04:42.315 --> 04:44.716 [SPEAKER_00]: So Simon says Nineva, we point to the right. 04:45.343 --> 04:49.924 [SPEAKER_00]: When Simon says down, Simon says down, we're gonna look at our feet. 04:50.024 --> 04:51.865 [SPEAKER_00]: So Simon says down, look at your feet. 04:52.505 --> 04:54.326 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, in the last one, this is a really simple game. 04:54.526 --> 04:55.386 [SPEAKER_00]: He's not complicated at all. 04:55.426 --> 04:56.266 [SPEAKER_00]: Just four things to remember. 04:57.266 --> 05:00.607 [SPEAKER_00]: When Simon says, Tarshish, we're gonna point to your left. 05:01.307 --> 05:03.708 [SPEAKER_00]: So Tarshish is left, okay? 05:03.748 --> 05:04.929 [SPEAKER_00]: So Simon says Tarshish is point to left. 05:04.949 --> 05:05.589 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, you got it? 05:05.989 --> 05:06.669 [SPEAKER_00]: We got this figured out. 05:07.049 --> 05:09.910 [SPEAKER_00]: This is where I am going to need a high level of integrity. 05:11.580 --> 05:15.821 [SPEAKER_00]: Because when you mess up, I need you to sit down and stop participating, okay? 05:15.881 --> 05:18.782 [SPEAKER_00]: We want to see who is left at the end, all right? 05:18.922 --> 05:21.323 [SPEAKER_00]: So we're a high integrity church that should be easy for us. 05:22.283 --> 05:22.523 [SPEAKER_00]: All right. 05:23.423 --> 05:24.144 [SPEAKER_00]: Simon says up. 05:25.764 --> 05:28.525 [SPEAKER_00]: Everybody that jumped a good job, you can sit down. 05:28.585 --> 05:29.405 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you just wanted to get out. 05:30.285 --> 05:33.346 [SPEAKER_00]: Simon says, Ninova, we're pointing to the right. 05:33.366 --> 05:33.867 [SPEAKER_00]: Very good. 05:33.967 --> 05:36.667 [SPEAKER_00]: Simon says, Tarshish, we're pointing to the left, okay, good. 05:36.707 --> 05:38.748 [SPEAKER_00]: Ninova, if you pointed, you're out. 05:40.875 --> 05:43.136 [SPEAKER_00]: No matter where you're pointed, if you pointed you're out, Simon didn't say. 05:44.777 --> 05:57.782 [SPEAKER_00]: Simon says down, we're looking down, if you didn't look down, or if you pointed you're out, okay, Simon says up, jump, good, okay, Tarshish, if you pointed you're out, Simon didn't say. 05:59.142 --> 06:03.784 [SPEAKER_00]: Simon says Tarshish, remember Tarshish is over there, if you pointed that way you're out, Simon says Nidava. 06:05.005 --> 06:08.886 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, good, Tarshish, if you pointed you, oh, I heard it, I heard it. 06:10.893 --> 06:24.420 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, up, I only saw a couple of jumps, a couple of jumps, down, Simon says down, Simon says up, Simon says nidiva, Simon says tar-shish, nidiva. 06:26.061 --> 06:27.802 [SPEAKER_00]: Ooh, I don't think I caught anybody on that one. 06:27.822 --> 06:28.923 [SPEAKER_00]: That was pretty good, okay. 06:29.223 --> 06:38.868 [SPEAKER_00]: So now, because you are all pros at this, we are going to turn this into a biblical lesson and you are going to do what Jonah did, which is the opposite of what I say. 06:41.581 --> 06:44.062 [SPEAKER_00]: So if I say Simon says up, you're going to look at your feet. 06:44.082 --> 06:45.622 [SPEAKER_00]: If I say Simon says down, you're going to jump. 06:45.642 --> 06:47.582 [SPEAKER_00]: If I say Simon says Nineveh, you're going to point to the left. 06:47.602 --> 06:49.503 [SPEAKER_00]: If I say Simon says Tarsh, you're going to point to the right. 06:49.523 --> 06:49.863 [SPEAKER_00]: Got that? 06:52.823 --> 06:53.744 [SPEAKER_00]: Simon says up. 06:55.424 --> 06:55.984 [SPEAKER_00]: Nice. 06:56.064 --> 06:56.724 [SPEAKER_00]: Impressive. 06:56.744 --> 06:57.444 [SPEAKER_00]: You do got that. 06:57.484 --> 06:58.285 [SPEAKER_00]: Simon says Nineveh? 07:00.205 --> 07:00.525 [SPEAKER_00]: Good. 07:00.545 --> 07:01.585 [SPEAKER_00]: If you pointed that way, you're out. 07:03.126 --> 07:03.926 [SPEAKER_00]: Simon says Tarsh. 07:05.246 --> 07:05.586 [SPEAKER_00]: Excellent. 07:05.606 --> 07:05.866 [SPEAKER_00]: Down. 07:07.747 --> 07:09.307 [SPEAKER_00]: If you jumped or looked down, you're out. 07:13.703 --> 07:17.664 [SPEAKER_00]: Simon says, Nendava, good, we're pointing to the left. 07:17.724 --> 07:20.065 [SPEAKER_00]: Simon says, Tarshish, Simon says down. 07:21.345 --> 07:22.185 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, got a jump. 07:22.525 --> 07:23.665 [SPEAKER_00]: If you look down, you're out. 07:25.966 --> 07:39.969 [SPEAKER_00]: Simon says down, Simon says up, Simon says, Tarshish, Simon says, Nendava, Tarshish, Simon says, Jump, there is no jump command. 07:45.163 --> 07:46.565 [SPEAKER_00]: Simon says down, Simon says up. 07:47.206 --> 07:48.087 [SPEAKER_00]: Simon says tar-shish. 07:49.248 --> 07:51.391 [SPEAKER_00]: Some of you have just driven up, you're like, I'm done. 07:51.832 --> 07:52.673 [SPEAKER_00]: You're good, take a seat. 07:52.833 --> 07:53.734 [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, well done. 07:54.175 --> 07:56.338 [SPEAKER_00]: I think our two winner, three winners right here. 07:56.618 --> 07:57.159 [SPEAKER_00]: Good job. 07:57.399 --> 07:59.783 [SPEAKER_00]: The Esther's family representing David. 07:59.803 --> 08:00.784 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so proud of you. 08:01.285 --> 08:02.066 [SPEAKER_00]: I'll think of a prize. 08:03.452 --> 08:04.392 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, why did we do that? 08:05.193 --> 08:06.133 [SPEAKER_00]: I have no idea. 08:06.333 --> 08:07.754 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's get back to the Jonah story. 08:08.094 --> 08:11.055 [SPEAKER_00]: No, now you know the core directions that we're gonna talk about today. 08:11.095 --> 08:15.156 [SPEAKER_00]: You know the geography and what will explain that a little bit more as we go. 08:15.417 --> 08:20.418 [SPEAKER_00]: I wanna talk about why God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh in the first place. 08:20.478 --> 08:23.660 [SPEAKER_00]: In verse two, he says, get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. 08:23.700 --> 08:25.120 [SPEAKER_00]: Announce my judgment against it. 08:25.400 --> 08:29.562 [SPEAKER_00]: Because I have seen how wicked its people are. 08:30.911 --> 08:32.192 [SPEAKER_00]: I've seen how wicked it's people. 08:32.212 --> 08:34.273 [SPEAKER_00]: I want you to go announce judgment against it. 08:34.293 --> 08:37.235 [SPEAKER_00]: In other words, he's given them a doomsday message. 08:37.275 --> 08:39.597 [SPEAKER_00]: And Jonah was not used to getting messages like this. 08:39.977 --> 08:41.838 [SPEAKER_00]: He was used to getting messages for his people. 08:42.839 --> 08:45.301 [SPEAKER_00]: But the people in Nineveh, they were a part of an empire. 08:45.321 --> 08:47.102 [SPEAKER_00]: Anybody know what empire Nineveh was a part of? 08:48.369 --> 08:49.070 [SPEAKER_00]: Assyria. 08:49.390 --> 08:51.431 [SPEAKER_00]: They were part of the Assyrian Empire. 08:51.631 --> 08:55.774 [SPEAKER_00]: And the Assyrian Empire, they terrorized the people of Israel. 08:56.015 --> 08:58.817 [SPEAKER_00]: Jonah really, really, really did not like them. 08:59.537 --> 09:02.860 [SPEAKER_00]: So why would God send Jonah all the way over? 09:03.520 --> 09:09.948 [SPEAKER_00]: to the far east, to a Syria, and to Nineveh, their enemies, to pronounce judgment on them. 09:09.968 --> 09:12.691 [SPEAKER_00]: And you would think that if you're Jonah, it's like, oh, wow, pronounce judgment on them. 09:12.711 --> 09:13.251 [SPEAKER_00]: That's a good thing. 09:13.271 --> 09:14.072 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't like these people. 09:14.092 --> 09:17.276 [SPEAKER_00]: I get to go tell them that they were wrong, and they're going to be judged awesome. 09:17.636 --> 09:19.258 [SPEAKER_00]: But that wasn't the case. 09:19.899 --> 09:20.680 [SPEAKER_00]: and Jonah knew it. 09:21.220 --> 09:24.322 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't really get the full picture until later on in the books. 09:24.362 --> 09:34.049 [SPEAKER_00]: We're gonna just skip ahead a bit in the book just to make sure you understand what's going on here because in Jonah four two, Jonah explains what God was really up to and he knew it. 09:34.530 --> 09:39.233 [SPEAKER_00]: He says in verse two of chapter four, did I say he's crying out to the Lord here? 09:39.794 --> 09:42.175 [SPEAKER_00]: Did I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? 09:43.216 --> 09:45.818 [SPEAKER_00]: This is why I ran away to Tarshish. 09:45.838 --> 09:47.960 [SPEAKER_00]: I knew that you were a merciful. 09:48.742 --> 09:53.646 [SPEAKER_00]: and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 09:53.666 --> 09:54.327 [SPEAKER_00]: You know what I'm saying? 09:55.028 --> 09:56.429 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want that for those people. 09:57.330 --> 09:59.291 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want those people to experience your love. 09:59.611 --> 10:01.093 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want them to experience your forgiveness. 10:01.333 --> 10:04.035 [SPEAKER_00]: I want them to get all the judgment and all the justice they deserve. 10:04.236 --> 10:12.062 [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't want them to have a warning where they could turn around and experience your love and forgiveness. 10:13.022 --> 10:17.804 [SPEAKER_00]: God sent Jonah so they could repent so they could turn away from their sins. 10:17.864 --> 10:27.108 [SPEAKER_00]: And Jonah said, I don't want to go, not just because I'm afraid, but because I don't want them to experience that forgiveness if they hear this message and should turn around. 10:27.128 --> 10:28.209 [SPEAKER_00]: So what does Jonah do instead? 10:28.469 --> 10:33.371 [SPEAKER_00]: He goes down to Japa, Japa, a city on the coast where he can board a ship. 10:33.391 --> 10:37.793 [SPEAKER_00]: I want you to kind of see the geography here so that you can get a sense of what we're talking about. 10:37.813 --> 10:39.654 [SPEAKER_00]: It's what we went through earlier in the game. 10:39.694 --> 10:40.975 [SPEAKER_00]: If you look at the map, 10:41.495 --> 10:43.015 [SPEAKER_00]: of Jonah's world. 10:43.315 --> 10:47.336 [SPEAKER_00]: He lived in a town called Gaff Heffer in the north middle of Israel. 10:47.716 --> 10:51.777 [SPEAKER_00]: God hold him to go to Nineveh, which is part of Assyria. 10:52.377 --> 10:55.278 [SPEAKER_00]: It's way over there to East, which is why I had you point to the right. 10:55.578 --> 11:02.760 [SPEAKER_00]: But instead, he went down to Japa on the coast where he bought a ticket to a place called Tarshish, which is way over in the west. 11:03.080 --> 11:05.380 [SPEAKER_00]: That's why I had you point over to the left. 11:06.020 --> 11:08.061 [SPEAKER_00]: And I want you to see all of this. 11:08.901 --> 11:12.084 [SPEAKER_00]: Because I want you to understand, we're talking about real places. 11:12.805 --> 11:18.271 [SPEAKER_00]: We're talking about places you can go visit the archaeological excavations of Nineva today. 11:18.991 --> 11:21.674 [SPEAKER_00]: These are real places and real people. 11:21.854 --> 11:26.279 [SPEAKER_00]: And right off the bat, I just want you to know that this story, this is a true story. 11:26.299 --> 11:28.921 [SPEAKER_00]: These are out of about events that really happen. 11:29.762 --> 11:35.466 [SPEAKER_00]: There's all sorts of evidence, even outside the Bible that lines up with what happens in the story of Jonah. 11:35.486 --> 11:39.449 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, we don't have anybody from a Syria that says, this guy showed up and he smelled like fish. 11:39.929 --> 11:40.490 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't have that. 11:41.190 --> 11:49.636 [SPEAKER_00]: But we do have evidence from Quneiform tablets in a Syria talking about things that coincide really, really well with this story. 11:49.656 --> 11:54.760 [SPEAKER_00]: If you know the story of Jonah that Jonah's going to show up in the end of a, and he's going to preach, and the people are actually going to 11:55.000 --> 12:00.123 [SPEAKER_00]: decide to give up their evil ways, and even the king of Ninev is going to turn from his evil ways and they're going to follow God. 12:00.443 --> 12:01.964 [SPEAKER_00]: And you might think, wow, that's crazy. 12:01.984 --> 12:05.946 [SPEAKER_00]: How could that happen after this guy just shows up smelling like fish and given this message? 12:05.986 --> 12:11.649 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, we know from the Assyrian records that they had multiple plagues and revolts. 12:11.929 --> 12:16.571 [SPEAKER_00]: And there was a total solar eclipse that occurred, which was always interpreted as a message from the gods. 12:16.932 --> 12:19.653 [SPEAKER_00]: This all happened leading up to the time when Jonah would have been there. 12:19.933 --> 12:21.635 [SPEAKER_00]: So the people were primed for this message. 12:21.895 --> 12:28.962 [SPEAKER_00]: We know that there was a period of peace where they stopped their military conquests for a while, right after this would have happened. 12:29.462 --> 12:45.257 [SPEAKER_00]: And so there's all sorts of evidence even outside the Bible that there really was something crazy that happened in the Empire of Assyria that stopped them behaving so badly in the world for a while after they went through a series of extraordinary and miraculous events. 12:45.777 --> 12:51.883 [SPEAKER_00]: And so, while their records don't record it, we think it matches up very well with the Bible says about Jonah showing up there. 12:51.903 --> 12:55.547 [SPEAKER_00]: And we're going to look more into those details later on in this series. 12:55.587 --> 13:01.353 [SPEAKER_00]: I just want you to know that I believe this story is absolutely real and true, but even more important than that. 13:01.994 --> 13:07.359 [SPEAKER_00]: Even more important than the historical accuracy of this book, which I think is incredible. 13:08.275 --> 13:11.859 [SPEAKER_00]: are the lessons that it teaches us, because that's why it's written down for us. 13:12.239 --> 13:27.235 [SPEAKER_00]: It's recorded and passed on through the generation so that we would know today not just what happened, but how God wants us to live, because He's trying to teach us something through this book and I want to understand it and I want you to understand it so we can learn from it. 13:27.736 --> 13:29.617 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, we're just going to cover three verses today. 13:30.198 --> 13:35.002 [SPEAKER_00]: So what can we learn from the first three verses that we already read in Jonah? 13:35.022 --> 13:36.324 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the setup to the story. 13:36.384 --> 13:40.167 [SPEAKER_00]: It's God have a lesson for us to learn from the setup to this story. 13:40.187 --> 13:41.949 [SPEAKER_00]: And I believe that He does. 13:42.609 --> 13:45.332 [SPEAKER_00]: Now it's probably not that God wants you to go to Nineveh. 13:45.987 --> 13:51.612 [SPEAKER_00]: to preach a message to them about their judgment, and they're coming sins because today no one lives in Nineveh, it's an archeological site. 13:52.172 --> 13:54.094 [SPEAKER_00]: But does God want you to do certain things? 13:54.714 --> 13:57.957 [SPEAKER_00]: Has God told you to do certain things, especially through his word, the Bible? 13:58.558 --> 14:01.020 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, he's given you all sorts of things that you need to do. 14:01.060 --> 14:04.743 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm gonna try to make this application relevant to all the different ages. 14:04.763 --> 14:08.066 [SPEAKER_00]: And hopefully you'll find some things in here that apply to your life today. 14:08.746 --> 14:11.249 [SPEAKER_00]: But God has told us to do things like, oh, Bay in our parents. 14:12.137 --> 14:13.498 [SPEAKER_00]: He's told us to be kind to others. 14:13.518 --> 14:15.679 [SPEAKER_00]: He's told us to forgive other people. 14:15.739 --> 14:17.861 [SPEAKER_00]: He tells us to share with others. 14:17.881 --> 14:19.542 [SPEAKER_00]: He tells us to pray for others. 14:20.502 --> 14:24.105 [SPEAKER_00]: And do we ever run from the things God tells us to do? 14:25.005 --> 14:26.266 [SPEAKER_00]: Do we ever run from those things? 14:27.167 --> 14:28.027 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely. 14:28.768 --> 14:31.590 [SPEAKER_00]: All the time, the things God wants us to do. 14:31.950 --> 14:35.112 [SPEAKER_00]: The way God wants us to live, we run from those things all the time. 14:35.847 --> 14:43.230 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, maybe not by getting on a wooden ship and sailing away toward Tarshish, but we run in other ways and on different ships. 14:43.250 --> 14:44.370 [SPEAKER_00]: Let me give you some examples. 14:45.150 --> 14:50.652 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's say that a parent, this is for the kids, a parent tells you that you need to clean your room. 14:51.272 --> 14:53.633 [SPEAKER_00]: But you don't want to clean your room. 14:54.193 --> 14:54.874 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, here's the thing. 14:55.614 --> 15:04.077 [SPEAKER_00]: God says in Ephesians 6-1, children obey your parents because you belong to the Lord for this is the right thing to do. 15:04.837 --> 15:07.379 [SPEAKER_00]: So there's God telling the kids, obey your parents. 15:07.399 --> 15:14.023 [SPEAKER_00]: Now that's assuming that the parents are not saying something that violates God's other instructions, but God is saying to children, you need to obey your parents. 15:14.723 --> 15:19.686 [SPEAKER_00]: But then a kid, here's the need to clean their room and things, I really don't want to do that. 15:20.427 --> 15:21.728 [SPEAKER_00]: And so they board a ship. 15:22.488 --> 15:25.331 [SPEAKER_00]: a different kind of ship, maybe it's a ship of excuses. 15:26.112 --> 15:31.597 [SPEAKER_00]: They get on the ship of excuses, and they say things like, I'm too tired, it's too boring. 15:32.177 --> 15:33.619 [SPEAKER_00]: I can't do it by myself. 15:33.659 --> 15:36.261 [SPEAKER_00]: I need someone to do it with me, and they come with all sorts of excuses. 15:36.281 --> 15:36.922 [SPEAKER_00]: What are they really doing? 15:37.522 --> 15:42.727 [SPEAKER_00]: They are running from the thing not just their parent, but God has told them to do. 15:43.637 --> 15:44.798 [SPEAKER_00]: God has given them instructions. 15:44.838 --> 15:51.322 [SPEAKER_00]: Their parents have given them instructions, which God says to honor, and sometimes we run the other way on the ship of excuses. 15:51.782 --> 15:53.363 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes it's the ship of distraction. 15:54.083 --> 15:56.845 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's say a parent says, you need to finish your homework by the time I get back. 15:57.385 --> 15:58.006 [SPEAKER_00]: But you know what? 15:58.846 --> 16:09.673 [SPEAKER_00]: Video games look really appealing, or maybe it's drawing, or it could be toys, or it could be all sorts of different things, but we get distracted by lots of other things, and so we choose the ship of distraction, 16:13.702 --> 16:14.743 [SPEAKER_00]: Let me give you some more examples. 16:15.303 --> 16:21.088 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's say that someone has been very annoying to you, or maybe that'd been mean to you in the past. 16:21.108 --> 16:29.995 [SPEAKER_00]: And now you see that they're lonely and no one is spending time with them and they look very sad and digested and you kind of get the sense of, wow, somebody ought to be there, friends. 16:30.035 --> 16:31.096 [SPEAKER_00]: Somebody ought to reach out to them. 16:31.116 --> 16:32.137 [SPEAKER_00]: Somebody ought to be kind to them. 16:32.157 --> 16:32.637 [SPEAKER_00]: And you know what? 16:33.038 --> 16:34.659 [SPEAKER_00]: That's a good thought to have. 16:35.239 --> 16:38.122 [SPEAKER_00]: God says in the Bible in Ephesians 4, be kind to each other. 16:38.682 --> 16:43.864 [SPEAKER_00]: tender hearted for giving one another, just as God through Christ is forgiven you. 16:44.665 --> 16:50.407 [SPEAKER_00]: But sometimes we get that feeling, we know we're supposed to be nice to that person, and we get on a ship going the other way. 16:50.427 --> 16:51.848 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's the ship of selfishness. 16:52.608 --> 16:54.249 [SPEAKER_00]: We think I don't want to go spend time with them. 16:54.269 --> 16:55.549 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to spend time with my friends. 16:55.569 --> 16:56.930 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to do the things I want to do. 16:57.230 --> 16:59.731 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to go see what's wrong in their life right now. 16:59.771 --> 17:01.052 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to go talk to them. 17:01.912 --> 17:03.473 [SPEAKER_00]: So we get on that ship of selfishness. 17:03.911 --> 17:08.233 [SPEAKER_00]: Or maybe we get on the ship of popularity, and we think, well, I don't want to be seeing with that person over there. 17:08.473 --> 17:19.557 [SPEAKER_00]: Nobody is hanging out with them for a reason, and if I go hang out with them, if I go say hi, if I go try to be a friend of them, then maybe my friends won't want to be a friend with me, and so the ship of popularity is what we get on, and we run away on. 17:20.578 --> 17:21.578 [SPEAKER_00]: And we give you another example. 17:22.339 --> 17:25.520 [SPEAKER_00]: What if your brother, your sister broke your favorite toy? 17:25.980 --> 17:26.980 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's go for the adults, too. 17:27.561 --> 17:28.321 [SPEAKER_00]: Your favorite toy. 17:29.750 --> 17:33.133 [SPEAKER_00]: Somebody breaks something that matters to you for us dads. 17:33.173 --> 17:35.855 [SPEAKER_00]: It's like the tool that we love more than anything else. 17:35.916 --> 17:38.958 [SPEAKER_00]: It's like got all the power and gets left out in the rain and gets broken. 17:39.839 --> 17:42.161 [SPEAKER_00]: But somebody breaks your favorite toy. 17:42.882 --> 17:45.764 [SPEAKER_00]: Or says something really hurtful to you behind your back. 17:46.765 --> 17:49.768 [SPEAKER_00]: What are the ships that we want to run away on then? 17:49.788 --> 17:54.092 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, God tells us in Clashions 3, make allowance for each other's faults. 17:55.326 --> 17:58.549 [SPEAKER_00]: Make allowance for each other's faults and forgive anyone who offends you. 17:58.589 --> 17:59.770 [SPEAKER_00]: Remember the Lord forgave you. 17:59.810 --> 18:00.711 [SPEAKER_00]: So you must forgive others. 18:00.751 --> 18:05.415 [SPEAKER_00]: Here is God saying, look, I have forgiven you of so much of all of your sin. 18:05.515 --> 18:08.838 [SPEAKER_00]: I paid for it all and you can't forgive them for doing that thing to you. 18:10.359 --> 18:13.001 [SPEAKER_00]: But we try to run away from that forgiveness. 18:13.061 --> 18:13.702 [SPEAKER_00]: We try to run away. 18:13.722 --> 18:15.063 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't wanna forgive that person. 18:15.083 --> 18:15.564 [SPEAKER_00]: So what do we do? 18:15.584 --> 18:16.825 [SPEAKER_00]: We run away on the ship bitterness. 18:18.020 --> 18:22.302 [SPEAKER_00]: We get on that ship of bitterness, and so I'm just gonna hold this grudge against that person because what they did to me. 18:22.663 --> 18:26.084 [SPEAKER_00]: They may not even know what you think they did to you, but we still hold on to that. 18:26.725 --> 18:29.466 [SPEAKER_00]: Instead of doing what God has clearly told us to do. 18:30.047 --> 18:32.048 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes we get on the ship of revenge. 18:33.149 --> 18:55.343 [SPEAKER_00]: And now we saw I'm going to get him back now if you're a kid the ship of revenge often looks different than the ship of revenge for adults right the ship of revenge for kids looks like now I'm going to break your toy I'm going to hit you I'm going to do whatever back to you If you're an adult ship of revenge might look like The silent treatment or avoid us or maybe there are other ways we think of to try to get back to people we spread spread things around about them because of what they did us 18:56.720 --> 19:03.643 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we run from what God has told us to do, and we get on these other ships, the ship of bitterness, the ship of revenge. 19:03.683 --> 19:06.144 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you hear about some of that's going through a really difficult time. 19:06.945 --> 19:09.086 [SPEAKER_00]: And they're really sad because they've lost a loved one. 19:09.106 --> 19:13.908 [SPEAKER_00]: They've lost a parent, maybe they've lost a friend, or they've gotten really sick. 19:14.388 --> 19:17.410 [SPEAKER_00]: Something bad has happened in their life, and you think, man, somebody ought to pray for them. 19:18.650 --> 19:20.551 [SPEAKER_00]: And the Bible tells us we should pray for each other. 19:20.571 --> 19:21.712 [SPEAKER_00]: And James chapter five, 19:22.640 --> 19:31.094 [SPEAKER_00]: God says pray for each other so that you may be healed, the earnest prayer of a righteous person is great power and produces wonderful results, so we are supposed to be praying for each other. 19:31.315 --> 19:35.782 [SPEAKER_00]: God tells us to do it and yet a lot of times we get on the ship of business. 19:37.167 --> 19:38.087 [SPEAKER_00]: I've got too much to do. 19:38.308 --> 19:39.508 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't have time to stop a new that. 19:39.528 --> 19:40.949 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you realize how much work I have to get done? 19:41.169 --> 19:42.270 [SPEAKER_00]: How much homework I have to get done? 19:42.470 --> 19:43.450 [SPEAKER_00]: I have to get to practice. 19:44.151 --> 19:46.592 [SPEAKER_00]: I have to do all the things that the tourism's supposed to do around the house. 19:46.772 --> 19:48.253 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm too busy to stop and pray. 19:48.273 --> 19:50.754 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we get on the ship of busyness. 19:50.794 --> 19:56.377 [SPEAKER_00]: And I know a lot of these examples are kind of geared towards the kids in the room, but adults, I hope you're not sleeping on this. 19:57.366 --> 19:59.650 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't these ships sound very familiar to you, too? 20:00.252 --> 20:01.855 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you recognize the ship of excuses? 20:02.536 --> 20:05.963 [SPEAKER_00]: The ship of business, the ship of bitterness, the ship of revenge? 20:06.664 --> 20:08.948 [SPEAKER_00]: These are all things that we all struggle with, too. 20:10.248 --> 20:15.452 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes when I'm studying for a message, I'll go down in my office in the basement, and a kid will come down. 20:15.492 --> 20:16.653 [SPEAKER_00]: One of my children will come down. 20:16.693 --> 20:18.054 [SPEAKER_00]: Not just any random kid, one of my kids. 20:18.334 --> 20:20.196 [SPEAKER_00]: We'll come down and hang out with me. 20:20.856 --> 20:21.837 [SPEAKER_00]: And they'll sit on a chair. 20:21.857 --> 20:24.399 [SPEAKER_00]: And they might read or they might talk for a little while. 20:24.439 --> 20:25.780 [SPEAKER_00]: They might watch me work on the message. 20:25.800 --> 20:27.161 [SPEAKER_00]: They might ask questions about it. 20:27.201 --> 20:30.284 [SPEAKER_00]: And as I'm studying and writing things down, we'll kind of talk about the message. 20:30.324 --> 20:32.786 [SPEAKER_00]: And this week, one of my kids said, Jonah was really dumb. 20:34.443 --> 20:39.687 [SPEAKER_00]: He was really dumb to think that he could just run away from God like that, that thought, yeah, that's true. 20:40.587 --> 20:52.475 [SPEAKER_00]: The whole point of this whole message is that we're just like him, that we think we could escape from what God wants us to do, that he's not going to find out, but he's not going to know, and that it's not going to affect us. 20:53.756 --> 20:59.280 [SPEAKER_00]: So here's the thing, when Jonah bought that ticket, on that ship to Tarshish, it cost him. 21:00.195 --> 21:02.897 [SPEAKER_00]: It cost him some money, hit a pay for that ticket. 21:03.298 --> 21:08.642 [SPEAKER_00]: It cost him some time, it cost him some closeness with friends and family who was gonna leave for a while. 21:08.682 --> 21:17.210 [SPEAKER_00]: It cost him some comfort because he would have to, I don't know if you're familiar with this, but sailing at that time on the sea was not a luxury experience. 21:17.770 --> 21:22.134 [SPEAKER_00]: It was not gonna be a pleasant voyage all the way across the Mediterranean Sea over to Tarshish. 21:22.635 --> 21:27.018 [SPEAKER_00]: And so he was willing for it to cost him to run away from God wanted him to do. 21:27.859 --> 21:33.664 [SPEAKER_00]: but it cost him in bigger ways than that too because it cost him his closeness with God. 21:34.925 --> 21:40.389 [SPEAKER_00]: He was willing to sacrifice his closeness with God to run away from what God wanted to do. 21:40.669 --> 21:42.831 [SPEAKER_00]: It cost him his peace. 21:43.912 --> 21:45.493 [SPEAKER_00]: It cost him his joy. 21:46.385 --> 21:50.646 [SPEAKER_00]: The same exact thing happens to us when we run from God. 21:50.666 --> 21:57.627 [SPEAKER_00]: It costs us our closeness with God as that fades away as we move further from what God wants us to do. 21:57.947 --> 22:00.648 [SPEAKER_00]: Our peace turns into worry and anxiety. 22:00.868 --> 22:02.908 [SPEAKER_00]: Our joy turns into a critical spirit. 22:02.928 --> 22:12.610 [SPEAKER_00]: And you know, you can kind of usually tell when someone has a closer walk with God by whether or not they exhibit joy and peace in their life. 22:13.949 --> 22:16.971 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to introduce you to one other ship that I think is really relevant here. 22:17.831 --> 22:22.414 [SPEAKER_00]: Because there are a lot of times where you think, wow, that person is an amazing, godly person. 22:23.294 --> 22:25.295 [SPEAKER_00]: But boy, sometimes they have a really critical spirit. 22:26.216 --> 22:27.817 [SPEAKER_00]: And you go, how do those two things work out? 22:28.757 --> 22:35.901 [SPEAKER_00]: There is a ship that seems counterintuitive, but I think oftentimes we, as adults in particular, get on to run away from what God really wants us to do. 22:36.582 --> 22:37.702 [SPEAKER_00]: It's the ship of good works. 22:38.943 --> 22:41.665 [SPEAKER_00]: The ship of good works is that when we buy a ticket 22:42.940 --> 22:58.544 [SPEAKER_00]: When we say, I know God wants me to work on loving and being kind and forgiving and gracious and generous and serving, I know God wants me to work on all of those things, but I do so much for him. 23:00.244 --> 23:02.905 [SPEAKER_00]: I serve, I give over here, 23:03.970 --> 23:14.857 [SPEAKER_00]: I do good in this setting, I'm involved in this ministry, and sometimes the ship of good works is the most attractive temptation to keep us from building the character God wants us to have in our lives. 23:15.938 --> 23:20.221 [SPEAKER_00]: God has told us that we are to show the fruit of the spirit in our lives. 23:20.982 --> 23:28.487 [SPEAKER_00]: And yet, sometimes we run away from what God wants us to do, and we do it by getting a ticket on the ship of good works. 23:29.427 --> 23:30.188 [SPEAKER_00]: So what are we doing, Steph? 23:31.901 --> 23:33.343 [SPEAKER_00]: How do we stop that process? 23:33.363 --> 23:37.550 [SPEAKER_00]: How do we stop that cycle of getting on those ships that keep us from doing what God wants to do? 23:37.791 --> 23:40.595 [SPEAKER_00]: How can we not be dumb like Jonah? 23:41.283 --> 23:42.683 [SPEAKER_00]: to put it as my kid, put it this week. 23:43.363 --> 23:47.144 [SPEAKER_00]: There is a lesson we can learn, and it's gonna be really simple to remember. 23:47.164 --> 23:50.125 [SPEAKER_00]: It's gonna seem so simple that you're gonna go, I'll come on Adam, that's obvious. 23:50.505 --> 23:53.225 [SPEAKER_00]: Of course we know to do that, but let's be clear here. 23:53.545 --> 23:56.406 [SPEAKER_00]: Haven't you recognized some of those ships in your life already? 23:56.866 --> 24:04.428 [SPEAKER_00]: Haven't you seen that there are areas in your life for every month, every week, every day, you struggle with some of these things, running from what God wants you to do. 24:04.668 --> 24:05.908 [SPEAKER_00]: I certainly see that in my own life. 24:06.588 --> 24:09.070 [SPEAKER_00]: So sometimes we need these simple reminders. 24:09.090 --> 24:10.210 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm going to give you three words. 24:10.230 --> 24:12.632 [SPEAKER_00]: They all start with the same letter because that's a good pastor thing to do. 24:13.533 --> 24:23.579 [SPEAKER_00]: Three words that you can remember that tomorrow, forget tomorrow, today, this afternoon, are going to help you not to board the ships that keep you from doing the things God wants you to do. 24:24.280 --> 24:25.581 [SPEAKER_00]: And they all come right from God's word. 24:26.221 --> 24:30.164 [SPEAKER_00]: These three words are stop, say, and step. 24:31.084 --> 24:31.425 [SPEAKER_00]: Stop. 24:32.383 --> 24:33.064 [SPEAKER_00]: say and step. 24:33.104 --> 24:34.004 [SPEAKER_00]: Everybody say that with me. 24:34.104 --> 24:36.646 [SPEAKER_00]: Stop, say and step. 24:36.986 --> 24:37.266 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay. 24:37.406 --> 24:38.127 [SPEAKER_00]: What do I mean by that? 24:39.067 --> 24:39.688 [SPEAKER_00]: We got to stop. 24:40.988 --> 24:53.376 [SPEAKER_00]: When you feel the urge to run from what you know God has called you to do, when you catch yourself buying that ticket and getting on that ship to run away and escape from from what God has for you. 24:53.936 --> 24:54.737 [SPEAKER_00]: You have to pause. 24:55.577 --> 24:59.660 [SPEAKER_00]: You have to just stop and remember who is in charge. 25:00.508 --> 25:01.549 [SPEAKER_00]: Who is in authority? 25:02.149 --> 25:07.174 [SPEAKER_00]: Psalm 46, 10 says, be still and know that I am God. 25:07.214 --> 25:11.177 [SPEAKER_00]: Be still, stop, just stop and know that I am God. 25:11.197 --> 25:16.001 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the first thing you needed to just pause and say, God, I know you are in charge and I am not. 25:16.441 --> 25:20.705 [SPEAKER_00]: Because when we're trying to buy that ticket on that ship we're trying to run away from what God wants us to do. 25:20.905 --> 25:23.107 [SPEAKER_00]: What we're really doing is saying, I wanna be in charge. 25:23.807 --> 25:28.791 [SPEAKER_00]: What Jonah was doing was saying, I wanna be in charge, God, you told me to go there, I'm gonna go there, I wanna be in charge. 25:29.705 --> 25:32.406 [SPEAKER_00]: And the first thing you have to do is just stop and say, I know I'm not in charge. 25:33.006 --> 25:33.826 [SPEAKER_00]: I know God isn't charged. 25:33.986 --> 25:41.448 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not saying in this moment that you have to suddenly feel better about everything, that you have to embrace whatever it is that God wants you to do, that you don't want to do. 25:41.828 --> 25:42.328 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying that. 25:42.348 --> 25:44.089 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just saying the first thing you need to do is stop. 25:44.889 --> 25:47.770 [SPEAKER_00]: And be still and know that He is God. 25:47.910 --> 25:49.950 [SPEAKER_00]: He is the authority in your life. 25:49.970 --> 25:51.231 [SPEAKER_00]: And the next thing you need to do is say. 25:52.111 --> 25:53.111 [SPEAKER_00]: The next thing we do is say. 25:53.411 --> 25:55.392 [SPEAKER_00]: We say to God what we're feeling. 25:56.564 --> 25:58.685 [SPEAKER_00]: What we're thinking, what we're struggling with. 25:59.285 --> 26:01.385 [SPEAKER_00]: The reason we don't want to do what he's called us to do. 26:02.145 --> 26:05.826 [SPEAKER_00]: The ship that we're tempted to board to take us away from what he has for us. 26:06.066 --> 26:08.087 [SPEAKER_00]: Philippians 4-6 says, don't worry about anything. 26:08.687 --> 26:10.328 [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, pray about everything. 26:10.568 --> 26:13.949 [SPEAKER_00]: Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. 26:13.969 --> 26:17.550 [SPEAKER_00]: You see, we get so worried and anxious about the things God wants us to do. 26:17.890 --> 26:19.010 [SPEAKER_00]: The things we read is word. 26:20.873 --> 26:28.317 [SPEAKER_00]: The habits and the routines that we settle into, instead of growing in our walk with Christ, and learning to be more like Him, and treating other people like He wants us to treat them. 26:29.098 --> 26:39.084 [SPEAKER_00]: We get so caught into those routines and those rhythms, that when God convicts us and prompts us and draws us and shows us something in His Word, and we realize, oh, I need to do that. 26:39.704 --> 26:40.425 [SPEAKER_00]: It makes us worried. 26:40.445 --> 26:41.085 [SPEAKER_00]: It makes us scared. 26:41.105 --> 26:42.066 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, talk to me about it. 26:43.472 --> 26:45.232 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to have a conversation with you. 26:45.252 --> 26:46.413 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to have a dialogue with you. 26:46.453 --> 26:47.273 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I know everything. 26:47.293 --> 26:47.893 [SPEAKER_00]: I know your thoughts. 26:48.173 --> 26:50.134 [SPEAKER_00]: I know your emotions, but I want you to talk to me. 26:50.154 --> 26:51.174 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, don't worry about anything. 26:51.194 --> 26:52.134 [SPEAKER_00]: Just pray about everything. 26:52.534 --> 26:54.034 [SPEAKER_00]: Tell God what you need. 26:54.975 --> 26:56.555 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank Him for what He has done. 26:56.575 --> 26:58.976 [SPEAKER_00]: God wants to have a conversation with you. 26:59.996 --> 27:01.276 [SPEAKER_00]: What scares you about this? 27:01.536 --> 27:02.676 [SPEAKER_00]: What bothers you about this? 27:02.996 --> 27:04.017 [SPEAKER_00]: Why don't you want to do it? 27:04.197 --> 27:05.577 [SPEAKER_00]: Have that conversation with God. 27:05.657 --> 27:06.637 [SPEAKER_00]: He can handle it. 27:07.617 --> 27:09.478 [SPEAKER_00]: So we stop and recognize who's in charge. 27:10.179 --> 27:12.501 [SPEAKER_00]: And we say to God, I think that we are struggling with. 27:12.821 --> 27:14.422 [SPEAKER_00]: And finally, there's step. 27:15.402 --> 27:18.444 [SPEAKER_00]: Take the right next step. 27:19.285 --> 27:26.269 [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of times, we don't know how to do what God wants us to do, and it feels overwhelming to us. 27:27.150 --> 27:29.371 [SPEAKER_00]: We have some sense for, I know this is what God wants. 27:30.372 --> 27:31.533 [SPEAKER_00]: But man, that's a lot. 27:32.693 --> 27:33.174 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a lot. 27:33.354 --> 27:36.336 [SPEAKER_00]: Being kind to someone who's been mean to us, feels really overwhelming. 27:37.210 --> 27:39.832 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes obeying our parents feels really overwhelming. 27:39.872 --> 27:41.794 [SPEAKER_00]: How could I even do the thing they're asking me to do? 27:42.735 --> 27:45.637 [SPEAKER_00]: Carrying for someone who is sick feels overwhelming. 27:45.917 --> 27:48.780 [SPEAKER_00]: For giving someone who has hurt us feels overwhelming. 27:49.548 --> 27:56.215 [SPEAKER_00]: And we don't always know how to do the whole thing, but there's always a small step we can take in the right direction. 27:56.576 --> 27:58.498 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to have the whole thing figured out. 27:59.179 --> 28:02.162 [SPEAKER_00]: You just have to take the right next step. 28:02.863 --> 28:08.809 [SPEAKER_00]: Jonah took a step in the wrong direction, but he wasn't supposed to sit around and do nothing either. 28:09.731 --> 28:12.032 [SPEAKER_00]: Can you imagine if Jonah had followed these steps? 28:12.612 --> 28:21.233 [SPEAKER_00]: Can you imagine, if when he got this from the Lord, his first reaction was to stop and say, wow, I really, really do not like this message. 28:21.474 --> 28:22.754 [SPEAKER_00]: And I really don't like those people. 28:22.954 --> 28:24.154 [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't want to deliver it to him. 28:24.754 --> 28:25.614 [SPEAKER_00]: But God's in charge. 28:26.595 --> 28:27.775 [SPEAKER_00]: God's the authority not me. 28:28.475 --> 28:30.495 [SPEAKER_00]: I am not going to try to force my own way on this. 28:30.896 --> 28:33.116 [SPEAKER_00]: He's the one that gets to decide what happens. 28:33.156 --> 28:33.696 [SPEAKER_00]: It's up to him. 28:33.916 --> 28:34.916 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the stop portion. 28:34.956 --> 28:36.317 [SPEAKER_00]: Be still and know that I am God. 28:36.897 --> 28:37.237 [SPEAKER_00]: Not you. 28:38.378 --> 28:42.279 [SPEAKER_00]: And then what if he spent some time talking with God about his struggles? 28:42.959 --> 28:45.000 [SPEAKER_00]: But we know he says he said to God is complaints. 28:45.460 --> 28:47.761 [SPEAKER_00]: But what if he continued talking and just sharing? 28:47.781 --> 28:49.461 [SPEAKER_00]: Lord, I don't want to do that because I don't like those people. 28:49.802 --> 28:51.802 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm actually prejudice against those assurances. 28:52.002 --> 28:53.543 [SPEAKER_00]: And I want them to be judged for this. 28:53.723 --> 28:55.923 [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't want you to show your love to them. 28:55.963 --> 28:57.224 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want you to show mercy to them. 28:57.404 --> 28:59.364 [SPEAKER_00]: What if he had that whole conversation with God? 28:59.565 --> 29:05.726 [SPEAKER_00]: And then at the end of that, if he stopped and recognized God's authority, and he shared all those things with God about how he's feeling, what he's thinking about in his struggles. 29:06.066 --> 29:07.507 [SPEAKER_00]: And then he took that right next step. 29:08.753 --> 29:13.094 [SPEAKER_00]: That right next step was just for him to get going on the journey to Nineveh. 29:13.795 --> 29:14.855 [SPEAKER_00]: He wasn't going to get there in a day. 29:14.875 --> 29:16.536 [SPEAKER_00]: He was going to take a while. 29:16.916 --> 29:18.116 [SPEAKER_00]: But you know what I think would have happened? 29:18.676 --> 29:31.301 [SPEAKER_00]: If he had taken the right next step, if he stopped and said, and then took that step on that journey, I think along the way, as he went step after step, after step, his heart would have been transformed on the way. 29:32.281 --> 29:34.922 [SPEAKER_00]: I will bet that by the time he got to Nineveh, 29:35.800 --> 29:37.121 [SPEAKER_00]: His heart would have been softened. 29:37.381 --> 29:44.447 [SPEAKER_00]: He would realize that this is worth doing, that God has a reason for him going there, that it's actually a good thing if people can be saved by this message. 29:44.707 --> 29:46.869 [SPEAKER_00]: And by the time he showed up, here's what he would have experienced. 29:47.089 --> 29:52.873 [SPEAKER_00]: He would have walked into a city that had just experienced so much chaos and turmoil, they were actually ready to hear the message. 29:53.914 --> 30:00.800 [SPEAKER_00]: They were actually ready because of the eclipse and the revolts and the plagues that they had been through and the government challenges, that they were in at the moment. 30:01.040 --> 30:03.522 [SPEAKER_00]: They would have been ready to hear the message, you would go, okay, I get it, God. 30:04.282 --> 30:05.983 [SPEAKER_00]: I see why you brought me here, but that's not what he did. 30:07.003 --> 30:11.065 [SPEAKER_00]: He went in the wrong direction, but God didn't want him to just sit around either. 30:12.006 --> 30:19.689 [SPEAKER_00]: There's this amazing story in the Bible and Exodus about the Israelites when they're being attacked by the Egyptians, by the Red Sea. 30:20.310 --> 30:21.510 [SPEAKER_00]: And they don't know what to do. 30:21.770 --> 30:23.551 [SPEAKER_00]: This is totally overwhelming for them. 30:23.771 --> 30:26.973 [SPEAKER_00]: They start to blame Moses, they're very frustrated. 30:26.993 --> 30:27.893 [SPEAKER_00]: They think they're all gonna die. 30:27.913 --> 30:30.775 [SPEAKER_00]: It seems like they have nowhere to go, but Moses, he has faith. 30:31.658 --> 30:35.101 [SPEAKER_00]: and Moses steps into the locker room and gives this great coaches speech. 30:35.121 --> 30:35.742 [SPEAKER_00]: You're gonna love this. 30:35.762 --> 30:38.465 [SPEAKER_00]: He says next to his 14, he says, don't be afraid. 30:39.325 --> 30:43.709 [SPEAKER_00]: Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. 30:44.170 --> 30:47.393 [SPEAKER_00]: The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. 30:47.653 --> 30:51.617 [SPEAKER_00]: The Lord himself will fight for you just to stay calm. 30:51.637 --> 30:52.318 [SPEAKER_00]: Isn't that awesome? 30:53.243 --> 30:54.184 [SPEAKER_00]: Isn't that a great message? 30:54.865 --> 30:59.330 [SPEAKER_00]: It's like, be still and know that I am God and God's gonna take care of all of it for you. 30:59.731 --> 31:01.112 [SPEAKER_00]: Just stand still and watch us. 31:01.152 --> 31:03.315 [SPEAKER_00]: He comes in and rescues you. 31:03.335 --> 31:04.136 [SPEAKER_00]: One small problem. 31:04.596 --> 31:06.138 [SPEAKER_00]: God did not authorize that speech. 31:07.319 --> 31:08.341 [SPEAKER_00]: Because here's what God says. 31:08.561 --> 31:12.085 [SPEAKER_00]: In the very next verse, then the Lord said to Moses, why are you crying out to me? 31:12.305 --> 31:13.467 [SPEAKER_00]: Tell the people to get moving? 31:16.737 --> 31:25.640 [SPEAKER_00]: Moses just said, be still, stay calm, don't move a muscle, don't lift a finger, God's gonna take care of everything, and God says, what are you talking about, get moving? 31:26.760 --> 31:28.140 [SPEAKER_00]: I've got stuff for you to do. 31:29.001 --> 31:43.465 [SPEAKER_00]: Take the right next step, sometimes that is a step of faith, to say, I don't know how you're gonna do this God, but I know you want me involved in this, I know I'm a part of this, and so I'm gonna do the right next thing I know to do, even if it doesn't solve the whole problem, God doesn't want you to just sit around. 31:44.266 --> 31:47.108 [SPEAKER_00]: Be still and know does not mean don't take the next step. 31:47.829 --> 31:51.872 [SPEAKER_00]: It means stop, acknowledge who's in charge, who is the authority. 31:52.472 --> 31:59.878 [SPEAKER_00]: Talk to God about what you're struggling with, have a conversation with Him with your God who loves you very much, and then take the right next step. 32:00.599 --> 32:07.164 [SPEAKER_00]: And watch as God works through that and does things that you could never do, but he wants you to be a part of the process. 32:07.184 --> 32:09.786 [SPEAKER_00]: He wants you to take the next step. 32:10.987 --> 32:12.228 [SPEAKER_00]: As I was thinking about it this morning, 32:13.352 --> 32:18.473 [SPEAKER_00]: I realized that Jesus modeled this for us perfectly. 32:19.534 --> 32:19.974 [SPEAKER_00]: Think about it. 32:20.814 --> 32:26.356 [SPEAKER_00]: As Jesus is about to go to the cross, you know, Jesus was fully God and fully man. 32:26.396 --> 32:29.857 [SPEAKER_00]: It's one of those mysteries called the hypostatic union, the hard for us to understand. 32:30.957 --> 32:40.800 [SPEAKER_00]: But he is bugling, I think in his humanity, with the reality of what he is about to go through and experience, it's gonna be a terrible thing that he goes through. 32:41.523 --> 32:42.723 [SPEAKER_00]: And what does he do? 32:43.423 --> 32:43.964 [SPEAKER_00]: He stops. 32:45.244 --> 32:48.664 [SPEAKER_00]: He stops and he acknowledges the authority of God the Father. 32:48.684 --> 32:50.645 [SPEAKER_00]: This is still God, this is God the Son. 32:52.325 --> 32:55.506 [SPEAKER_00]: And he acknowledges the authority of God the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. 32:56.446 --> 32:58.126 [SPEAKER_00]: And he talks and he has a conversation. 32:59.327 --> 33:05.888 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, if it's possible for this cup to be taken from me, but then he says, but not my will, but your will be done. 33:06.691 --> 33:08.852 [SPEAKER_00]: And so he acknowledges the authority of God the Father. 33:09.293 --> 33:11.314 [SPEAKER_00]: And he shares the struggle that he's experiencing. 33:12.155 --> 33:15.097 [SPEAKER_00]: And then we know he took the steps after that. 33:15.777 --> 33:30.387 [SPEAKER_00]: Those steps with the cross on his back is he headed to Golgotha, a place where he'd be lifted up on a cross and crucified to pay for your sins and for my sins and for the sins of everybody so that if we trust in his work on the cross, our sins can get wiped out. 33:31.483 --> 33:33.965 [SPEAKER_00]: Because every single one of us, we've already messed up. 33:34.606 --> 33:37.128 [SPEAKER_00]: We've gotten out on the wrong ships many, many times. 33:38.248 --> 33:38.749 [SPEAKER_00]: We've done that. 33:39.710 --> 33:41.931 [SPEAKER_00]: We've gone against the desires God has for us. 33:41.951 --> 33:44.674 [SPEAKER_00]: The commands God has given us, just like we've all done it. 33:45.154 --> 33:50.759 [SPEAKER_00]: In our words, in our thoughts, in our actions, and in Jesus, He paid the price for all of that. 33:50.799 --> 33:54.101 [SPEAKER_00]: And in doing that, He actually modeled for us these exact steps. 33:54.982 --> 33:56.523 [SPEAKER_00]: Stop and recognize who's in charge. 33:57.344 --> 33:59.606 [SPEAKER_00]: Say your struggles, your needs, your worries, 34:01.791 --> 34:05.752 [SPEAKER_00]: and then take the right next step and let God work through that along the way. 34:06.092 --> 34:13.094 [SPEAKER_00]: For some of you today, the message you need to take away is stop, say step, stop, say step. 34:13.154 --> 34:16.415 [SPEAKER_00]: That's gonna live, rent free in your mind for the next week or two. 34:16.975 --> 34:20.896 [SPEAKER_00]: Whenever that ship comes along and you're tempted to board it, you're gonna, oh, all right, I guess I better stop. 34:21.796 --> 34:23.317 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm gonna say, I'm gonna step. 34:23.357 --> 34:23.877 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what you need. 34:24.057 --> 34:27.958 [SPEAKER_00]: For some of you today, maybe you need to start that relationship with Jesus. 34:28.805 --> 34:33.748 [SPEAKER_00]: because you've never trusted in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross to pay for your sins. 34:33.768 --> 34:35.089 [SPEAKER_00]: You've been trying to do the good things. 34:35.269 --> 34:39.152 [SPEAKER_00]: You've gotten on the ship of good works, thinking, well, that's what God wants for me to have a relationship with Him. 34:39.352 --> 34:40.813 [SPEAKER_00]: What He wants for me to made right with Him. 34:41.013 --> 34:48.638 [SPEAKER_00]: If I do enough good on that ship, maybe it's gonna outweigh my bad and yet the Bible says, it's not by the works of righteousness, which we have done, but it's just His mercy. 34:48.658 --> 34:49.838 [SPEAKER_00]: It's according to His mercy. 34:50.439 --> 34:51.599 [SPEAKER_00]: He saved us. 34:52.740 --> 34:54.581 [SPEAKER_00]: It's by grace that we are saved through faith. 34:55.222 --> 34:56.643 [SPEAKER_00]: Not of ourselves, nothing we can do. 34:57.483 --> 35:10.149 [SPEAKER_00]: is only because of what He did for us on the cross and when we accept that gift of His, we become a part of His family and He comes and lives inside of us and He makes us in a new people and He gives us hope of eternity with Him in heaven. 35:11.289 --> 35:17.352 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we know that none of those ships that tempt us could be possibly better than what He has in store for us. 35:18.660 --> 35:23.266 [SPEAKER_00]: And so for some of you here today, maybe you need to start that relationship with Jesus today. 35:23.306 --> 35:24.848 [SPEAKER_00]: You need to confess your sins to God. 35:25.208 --> 35:32.797 [SPEAKER_00]: Let him know that you recognize that you are a sinner, that you need his salvation in your life, and you want to be part of his family, and believe in what he did for you on the cross. 35:33.398 --> 35:36.081 [SPEAKER_00]: If you have questions about that today, here's what I want you to do. 35:36.948 --> 35:41.310 [SPEAKER_00]: After the service, there would be people up front here I prayer to you who would love to talk with you. 35:41.390 --> 35:42.291 [SPEAKER_00]: I would love to talk with you. 35:42.691 --> 35:44.992 [SPEAKER_00]: You'll see people around the church with land your ex on. 35:45.312 --> 35:46.073 [SPEAKER_00]: There are volunteers. 35:46.093 --> 35:47.033 [SPEAKER_00]: They would love to talk with you. 35:47.353 --> 35:48.514 [SPEAKER_00]: Answer questions that you have. 35:48.974 --> 35:57.899 [SPEAKER_00]: But what it means to follow Jesus, what it looks like to have a relationship with him and then help walk with you on that journey so that you can grow closer and closer to him. 35:58.379 --> 36:00.020 [SPEAKER_00]: I wonder if you'd all bow your heads with me right now. 36:00.060 --> 36:01.581 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's pray that God will help us to do this. 36:01.641 --> 36:02.241 [SPEAKER_00]: Heavenly Father. 36:03.760 --> 36:05.922 [SPEAKER_00]: What an awesome book, Jonah is. 36:06.382 --> 36:11.647 [SPEAKER_00]: And it is just packed with amazing lessons that teach us about you and teaches how you want us to live. 36:12.127 --> 36:19.673 [SPEAKER_00]: And of course, the rest of the Bible is just filled with principles that speak into this and help us to learn what to do and what not to do. 36:19.693 --> 36:23.937 [SPEAKER_00]: And in this case, Lord, we look at Jonah and we think, wow, how could he think he could run for you? 36:24.317 --> 36:25.879 [SPEAKER_00]: And yet that's what we do in our lives. 36:26.439 --> 36:29.340 [SPEAKER_00]: So God, I pray that you would help us this week to remember those three words. 36:29.880 --> 36:32.580 [SPEAKER_00]: To remember to stop and acknowledge that you are in control. 36:33.080 --> 36:33.841 [SPEAKER_00]: You are in charge. 36:34.501 --> 36:37.001 [SPEAKER_00]: To have that conversation with you about how we're struggling. 36:37.501 --> 36:40.082 [SPEAKER_00]: But we don't want to do or attempted to do instead. 36:41.062 --> 36:48.584 [SPEAKER_00]: And then to take the right next step or not thinking we have to have it all figured out trusting you with the plan for where we go from there. 36:49.444 --> 36:51.844 [SPEAKER_00]: And Lord, I pray that if there's anybody here who does not have that 36:55.525 --> 37:05.807 [SPEAKER_00]: as someone who loves them and cares for them God, I pray that you would show them how real you are today, how much you want them to be a part of your family, and that they would make the decision today to trust in you. 37:06.514 --> 37:09.735 [SPEAKER_00]: We want to give you every aspect of our lives God. 37:10.316 --> 37:11.396 [SPEAKER_00]: That is a hard thing to do. 37:12.296 --> 37:16.058 [SPEAKER_00]: It is challenging for all these ships keep coming by pulling us in different directions. 37:16.338 --> 37:29.743 [SPEAKER_00]: Distraction, bitterness, revendation, frustration, selfishness, excuses, even good works Lord, tempt us to distract us from you, but we want you to have your way in every aspect of our lives God. 37:30.584 --> 37:33.545 [SPEAKER_00]: So now as we close by singing a song of praise to you, 37:34.652 --> 37:36.854 [SPEAKER_00]: We want every word of this to mean something. 37:37.835 --> 37:48.203 [SPEAKER_00]: We want to sing this out to you, not just as a praise song, but as our prayer, as our prayer that you would have your way in our lives and everything we do in a Jesus name, we pray.