IMMEASURABLY MORE: DIVINE CALLING

Jonah 1 ESV

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. 4

INTRO:

Opening up the book of Jonah. Where do we find this book? in the OT

Jonah is considered one of the “Minor Prophets” / you have the Major Prophets (isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah) and then the minor ones. Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Micah, Obadiah, habbakuk and others…. U can go and look but there’s quite a few, and I would highly encourage you to go and read them … Basically a section of the Bible.

Jonah he’s in the middle of all of that

MORE THAN A STORY & A CHILDRENS TALE / Its a real story:.

What is to be found and why Jonah: while its a small book, its quite a small and mighty book. Its more than a mythical story and something reserved for the kids minisrty but its actually a challenging book that causes self relection and growth as a believer: Jonah struggled, we struggle.

Thats why this book is an awesome book to read, to study, to read again and to study again and to ask the Holy Spirit to show us more and more of Christ in these pages and how we can continue to conform into his image: the image of Gods own son.

There Are many Themes of Jonah:

Gods calling, Gods grace, Mercy, Love, Sin, Repentance, Obedience….Salvation & ultimately and overwhelmingly the story of the love of God knowing NO BORDERS or BOUNDARIES.

This book is a great book.

IMMEASURABLY MORE: “THE CALL” ……THE VISION of God and the CALLING of Jonah.

Vision in 3D’s: inspired by Jonah…..What is the vision in 3d?

1.Divine DEVOTION. (a God man)

Jonah was a devoted Jew. A man of God. A prophet. We have to understand that. That’s who he was so Jonah 1:1 “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,”

God spoke to Jonah.

he was a a jewish prophet & we actually can read about Jonah in just not the book of Jonah but also other places as well:

2 Kings 14:25 ESV

25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher.

And Jesus talks about Jonah as well:

Matthew 12:40 ESV

40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Luke 11:29–32 ESV

29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

Jesus is also talking about his own life and purpose here as he aligns Jonahs purpose and calling to his own but as we will see Jesus does actually what Jonah doesnt do.

He goes and obeys the will of God the father and completes the task, fulfil the prupose by wich he came

2.Divine DIRECTION (The direction of Jonahs calling)

Jonah 1:2 “2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.””

The call of God on our lives always involves two things

an urgency as it relates to TIMING

and a sensitivity to DIRECTION.

God always works in the NOW. the “get up & go”

in the TODAY, this is going to happen.

Go (timing)

Go here (or go to,)

Something we must always remember about GOD is this: God doesnt delay, and he doesnt withhold. But when God comes, we must be ready to accept that he has come, and he has said to GO;

Oswald Chambers: Jan 25th:

But when it pleased God . . . —Galatians 1:15 kjv

Have you learned how to leave space for God—to give him a little elbow room to work in your life? Too often, as we go about making our plans, we forget to leave a place for God to come in as he chooses. We say that this or that will happen, but none of our predictions leave room for the element of divine surprise.

Would we be shocked if God came into our meetings, our prayers, or our preaching in a way we’d never expected? However well we think we know God, we can never know exactly what he’ll do. What we can know is that, when it pleases him, he will break in. This is the great lesson to learn—that at any minute God may arrive. We tend to overlook this element of surprise, and yet God never works in any other way.

Keep in constant, intimate contact with God, so that his surprising power may break through at any time and any place. Always be in a state of expectancy, and remember to leave room. Do not look for God to come in any particular way, but do look for him.

“God gets a good laugh when we make our plans”.

Jonah was called to get up - and GO. As we will find out it didnt suit him, but that comes later - what comes first, is GOD comes into His life.. and says GO

when he calls his children forward into his plans and purposes. He does it precisley and he does it lovingingly (ie its for their best interets)

Think of joshua

Joshua 1:2–3 ESV

2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.

think of Paul: What we see in His life that he was prsecuting the church, going about his own path, going in his

It became a case of a major change of direction:

Acts 9:1–3 ESV

1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him.

God has a direction for jonah, for joshua, for Pau - But also for you. for me.

IN THE VISION THAT GOD HAS FOR YOU; Consider today the direction.

Where is God leading us? Where is God leading you. Its wherever HE IS DIRECTING YOU TO GO.

**so often in life we see people wander/ or have a lack of direction. They often ask what is Gods will>? where should i go? what should i do?

Dont ask “what am i to do”

but rather: what does GOD want me to do?

(in other words: search for pray about what is God saying, not what am i saying…. or what am i wanting)

Where is God asking you to go? thats where he is leading you.

You see Jonah was asked toGO. He was given a direction. But here is where it gets interesting: he wasnt being asked to GO alone.

have you been given a direction by GOD>? here at church we have that direction: this is where God is saying TO

**** the first time i ever set foot in St Augustine i was given the direction and told where to GO. I was fearful of that direction. I didn’t understand why i was required and so i thought i was helping GOD out by saying “DON’T SEND ME SEND SOMEONE ELSE. But the call of God doesn’t work that way.

It’s a divine direction that is embedded into a divine calling.

As long as you walk with the Lord that still small voice reminding you “this is the direction” “this is where we are going” “follow me, i know the way because i am the way”.

GOD WANTS TO POINT YOU IN THE DIRECTION OF YOUR CALLING TODAY. EVEN IF YOU DONT KNOW THE WAY. HE WILL POINT YOU IN THE DIRECTION OF YOUR DESTINY TODAY.

PRAYER FOR SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

Are you in here today and you need direction? Gods leading in your life? Are you lost in the seas of the world trying to figure out whats next and what should be?

Put your HOPE. Your Heart and set it ON THE LORD. Move your Minds EYE, your Souls passion away from YOUSELF… and PUT IT ON GOD.

NOT PERFECTION, BUT DIRECTION.

Are you going the way that GOD has said to GO?

He wants to provide the answer and he doesnt want you to be fearful of the passage or the destination. they say the “journey is the destination” which is a nice way of saying try to enjoy the whole deal because even traveling to it can be part of it.

IT MAY SEEM SCARY, IT MAY SEEN UNKNOWN (it is to you),

But here is the promise. GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW TODAY that is is with you as you “arise, and GO”

God is with you the whole time.

Psalm 23 “A Psalm of David. 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

At our church we have a GOD-SIZED vision, and here is why it should be attractive to you to want to sow your life into the vision and future of this house (if indeed this is where you are called): it is where God is needed to do the leading.

I AM NOT LEADING MYSELF> Jill is not leading HERSELF> our team is not just wandering around trying to come up with good stratgies for ourselves.

We believe god has given us a direction. its a God sized VISION for the future of our city. The question is, at this particular point in the journey—-Are you in? are you onboard to be LED by GOD TOWARDS A GOD-SIZED VISION.

“direction changes everything”. ….. it doesnt matter where you are in life right now, the question is this: where are you headed?

I sense that God is showing up on the road in peoples lives today and saying “son, where are you headed?” “Daughter, where are you headed?”

Direction: Because people want to follow a worthy cause. They want to get caught up in something that has purpose anyway. here is where it gets amazing:

Speed Vs Direction: you can have all the speed in the world but if your heading in the wrong direction the whole things a waste of time. Whats more important than speed? direction. Heading. are we going towards the right direction, in Jesus name.

PRESENCE:

i will be with you.

2.Decision(s)

3.Discipleship.

Making disciples is the end goal of all of this.

There is a big difference beyween a crowd and a disciple.

What is a crowd? they come and GO. a disciple stays. Crowds form once or in an event. Discipleship is a lifestyle of discipline and practice and determination to closely follow. Crowds stand at a distance, dont get the full picture, dont see the cost, dont count the full cost or bear the weight. disciples do. they know.

Come and See (what its all about)…. to Come and Die (to self)