Ablaze Church Sermon Podcast (Audio‪)‬ Ablaze Church

We begin a new series this weekend called, “Paul’s Word to Timothy.” Timothy was, in every way, Paul’s spiritual son. Young but gifted, Timothy had been assigned to lead the church at Ephesus. The congregation that gathered in Ephesus needed order in worship as well as doctrinal correction. It was also plagued with false teachers. This letter from Paul guided and counseled young Timothy in his duties.

In Chapter Four, Jonah came to realize that God was going to spare Nineveh from destruction. Several days had elapsed since Jonah had begun preaching that Nineveh would be overturned if they did not repent. When Nineveh repented, Jonah became very angry. His anger is mentioned several times by God. In contrast, God is “slow to anger and abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression of sin” (Ex. 34:6-7).

The people of Nineveh hardly seem like prospects for responding to God’s Word because they were not Jewish, yet they did turn from their sin, fasted, and put on sackcloth. Upon seeing their turn from evil, God relented from sending disaster. We thank God that His Word bore the fruit of repentance in Nineveh and in our lives.

Have you ever asked, “How low can you (or I) go?” It is just a figure of speech, but it definitely has a scary meaning behind it. In our reading from Jonah Chapter 2, we will see how low a prophet of God is allowed to go. Some might say, “You can’t get any lower than Jonah.” God wanted Jonah to go to Ninevah, but he ended up below sea level. The good news is, that after three days in the belly of a great fish, Jonah finally reconsidered going to Ninevah.

We begin a post-Easter new series, based on the Old Testament book of Jonah. This is one of the most compelling and well-known stories in the Bible. It is full of drama, action, human interest, and practical lessons for Christians and for the Church today as it teaches us to remain true to our calling and mission. When we drift away from it, God may intervene dramatically to get us back on track.

Easter is not merely a one-day celebration, it is a fifty-day season from the Day of the Resurrection of our Lord to the Day of Pentecost. During the Easter Season, we have a tradition to greet one another with a special Easter greeting and response, “Alleluia Christ is Risen!” “He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”