If God is loving why does the Bible also warn of His wrath and judgment? How can these two portrayals of God co-exist? The response of Nineveh’s king to Jonah’s message of judgment followed by God’s response to the king provides a portrayal of grace, the relationship between and reason for God’s love and justice.
Sermons by Dean Wertz (Page 18)
Did you know that God has a vision for the world, and He wants you to be a part of it? He is making it known that Jesus is Lord of all. This good news is going to our neighbors, city, nation and eventually, to very ethnic group in the world. Why did God “hurl a great storm” at, and then “appoint a great fish” for Jonah? Maybe He really is committed to having His people see, savor AND share His glory across the street and around the world!
God will be exalted among the nations, so He demonstrates His grace by transforming fearful Mediterranean sailors into worshipers. Beyond the storm, God used Jonah’s rebellion in an unexpected way, to bring glory to His name and mariners to Himself. Have you responded to the Lord’s revelation of Himself to you? If not, will you? And, join His worshipers around the globe in calling out to the Lord, to the praise of His glorious grace!
God’s vision is to see people from all ethnicities glorify Him and for His people to join Him in this central venture. Yet, sometimes we all struggle to embrace the apparent sacrifice required to pursue God’s plan for global glory. How does God respond when His people reject His vision? In Jonah chapter 1, we discover that God pursues His people to train us to unite with Him in His mission for the world.
Jonah is a great story including a great city, a great tempest, a great fish, a great revival and a great closing question. Yet, Jonah is ultimately about a great God with an exciting global vision. In Psalm 46:10b He describes His vision this way, “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” So, let’s not waste our lives or our coming together as a church running from God’s call or dabbling in secondary pursuits. Whether He wants us to go, pray, give, support, send, mobilize and/or encourage, let’s join Him in His chief glorious, global and great endeavor!
The Bible teaches that there are many rewards given to God’s children. Yet, it also teaches that not everyone is a child of God. Are you? Am I? How can we become children of God? If a 10-year old asked you how to become a child of God, what would you say? On this Sunday after Christmas we learn from the Apostle John, who spent three years with the Incarnate Jesus, God’s answer to the question, “How can we become a child of God?”
Peace is the global focus on this fourth Sunday of Advent. Peace is a good feeling produced by the Holy Spirit when conflict is replaced with loving kindness in our relationship with God, our relationships with one another and within our own souls. Though peace on earth is offered to all, today we discover from relatives of Mary that those who recognize Jesus as Lord will experience sustained divine peace.
Joy is the global focus on this 3rd Sunday of Advent. Since God is the most joyful person in the universe and He has gifted us with joy for our interior lives, today we consider what true joy is, a few thieves of joy and the key to obeying His command to “Rejoice!” in the calm and stormy seasons of life.
After investing 12 weeks learning from Jesus’ teaching in the vineyard it has become clear that abiding in Jesus is essential for God’s glory, the world’s good and our joy. In this final message in The Abide Project we reflect on how we have been affected by Jesus’ invitation to abide and how abiding together can help us grow in our close, dependent and continual relationships with our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are all born with unfulfilled souls. Fortunately, Jesus reveals a path to divine and full joy! Today we consider, when Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” is “my joy” referring to his or his abiding disciples’ experience of joy? What does it look like to have “full” joy? And, why is he concerned about his disciples’ joy on the night before his crucifixion (v. 11)?