The Mystery of God’s Mercy

Jonah Chapter 3:1-10

 

 

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REFLECT | 'What is going on in our life right now?’

Discuss

  • Was there anything you did differently this week and how did that go? Why/Why not? (Not supposed to be condemning, just an acknowledgement)

  • How was this last week been for you? Highs, lows, have you seen Jesus in this week?


ENGAGE | ‘How do we engage with what God is saying to us?

Jonah 3: 1-10

3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

  • When has God spoken to you about something more than once? Why was that?

  • Why did God refer to the city of Ninevah as a ‘great city’ after referring to its wickedness the first time?

  • If God had a design for Hemel, what do you think it would look like? (see some of the history of Hemel below)

3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

  • What is/has been your experience/understanding of fasting? Have you ever practiced it? What impact did it have?

6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

  • For a people who did not know God (Yahweh) or his rules, what did they learn about him through this period?

  • James speaks about the role of HVC in Hemel and takes a quote from Alan Scotts book ‘Scattered Servants’

    • What is your reflection on Alan Scott’s quote?

‘Therefore, expect churches in the future not to focus on winning people FOR Jesus or leading people TO Jesus, instead they will love people WITH Jesus and allow his glorious generous life to spill into them. 'In him is life' and that life lights up our cities causing them to come alive in every way. Expect the Church of the future to learn how to wash the feet of its city!’ Scattered Servants

  • What practical ways are we as church doing this? How else could we/you ‘wash the feet of our city?’

‘The dream of God over your life is not that you become a believer and help out the local church. The dream of God over your life is that you come alive in His presence and bring life to every environment, spilling contagious hope into hurting humanity… You are the light of the world. It is time to let our light shine’.

  • God has made us dreamers but what are your dreams? If that is hard to answer then another way to look at it is what would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? What are you passionate about? What gets you excited? This could be in medicine, cooking, writing, engineering, teaching, hospitality… God isn’t limited but can use many ways to bring hope to a community.

James spoke about expectations.

  • Has there been hurt/wounds/disappointment in the past that is preventing us from speaking to others in freedom? If so bring it before God.

  • Ask God about your expectations of others and himself? Ask him provide you with opportunities to share with others your story and journey.

INSPIRE | - ''How do we inspire each other to do something different this week? What opportunities are in front of us, that we can choose to explore?’

Discuss

  • What ONE thing am I going to take the opportunity to do differently this week?

  • How can we INSPIRE each other get involved in dreaming about what ?

Go Deeper

  • Has there been hurt/wounds/disappointment in the past that is preventing us from speaking to others in freedom? If so bring it before God.

  • Ask God about your expectations of others and himself? Ask him provide you with opportunities to share with others your story and journey.