OTHERS: ONE
The Lord gave
this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of
Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its
people are.” But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away
from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship
leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape
from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.
But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a
violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to
their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down
in the hold. JONAH 1:1-5 NLT
Jonah
answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who
made the sea and the land.” The sailors were terrified when they heard this,
for he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. JONAH
1:9-10 NLT
One creator:
God
So God created human beings
in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he
created them. GENESIS 1:27 NLT
So
the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he
shouted. “Get up and pray to your god!” JONAH 1:6 NLT
“Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become
calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.” Instead, the
sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was
too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it. Then the sailors picked Jonah
up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! The
sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great
power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him. Now the Lord had
arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for
three days and three nights. JONAH 1:12-17 NLT
One enemy:
Sin
Then
Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish… “As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord…I
will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from
the Lord alone.” Then
the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach. JONAH 2:1, 7-10 NLT
One hope:
Jesus
Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second
time: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message
I have given you.” This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command… The people of Nineveh
believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least. When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop
to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction
he had threatened. JONAH 3:1-10 NLT
This change of plans
greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. “That
is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate
God…” [GOD REPLIES] “But
Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness… Shouldn’t I
feel sorry for such a great city?” JONAH 4:1-2,11 NLT
I must
leave a new legacy by:
Discussion Guide