Class Lesson July 26, 2015 New Series

Don't sleep through your spiritual life. Wake Up!
 

Why is this Study Important:

This study is important because the church in America needs revival. Period. And the church will experience revival to the degree that the members of the body experience revival. Average Christians may not see revival and spiritual renewal as a felt need in their lives, but this study can open their eyes to see that we should all examine ourselves and consider where we stand in our walk and commitment to Christ.

This Study will help connect us to Christ because God pursues us and calls us back to Himself. He made it possible for us to have a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. Christ loves us fully and completely, and we respond to His love by loving Him in return. We passionately seek Christ through the disciplines of prayer and study of God's Word.

This Study will help us connect to our Christian communities because, as we respond to God in our lives, we can - and should - call our fellow believers to join us in wholehearted devotion to Christ. Our love for Christ is reflected in our love for His body, the church. Unity is never forced or superficial when Christ is the center of the church.

And this Study will help us connect with our culture because God will use us to point others to the call of God on their lives. We lovingly engage the culture with the truth and the call God makes for all of us to return to Him. A renewed walk with Christ compels us to share the gospel with a lost world.



This series is about spiritual revival:

• Do you think we need spiritual revival in our country today?
• Do you think we need spiritual revival in our state today?
• Do you think we need spiritual revival in our community today?
• Do you think we need spiritual revival in our church today?
• Do you think we need spiritual revival in our families today?
• Then where does it all have to begin?

Our first lesson is taken from one of the most well-known stories in Scripture - the Story of Jonah. This is a story of God's sovereignty, compassion for all people, and willingness to forgive those who repent and return to Him in response to His word.

 Return to God

Are We A City On Our Knees?

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The Point

God's call to return to Him demands a response.

What does it take to get your attention?

It's a common question. We start out with good intentions. We want to be great parents, do well in school, or take care of our health. But we falter somewhere along the way. It may be subtle at first, but after a while we look back and realize we're not the people we wanted to be. At that point we often wonder, What does it take to get back on course?

The same cycle can happen in our relationship with God. Laziness, a lack of priorities, and even outright sin has a way of lulling us to sleep in our daily walk with Jesus.



So here's the big question: if you get off track, what will it take to get your attention and bring you back to God?

In the Book of Jonah, we see a man who got off course in his relationship with God. Jonah's move away from God's instruction wasn't subtle; he flatly refused to listen to God. But God got Jonah's attention in a most unexpected way. As we'll see in this study, God often acts to get our attention and draw us back to Him.

 Return to God

NASA confirms 2.5 mile wide comet expected to hit the earth in September 15-28, 2015!

Is it true?

What's it going to take for God to get your attention - today? What did it take for God to get Jonah's attention?



Are you willing to ask yourself seriously this morning: How’s my walk with God?

• There are many of us who have blatantly walked away from God.
• Others have gradually gotten off course in our walk with Him.
• We stand to gain a lot when we each evaluate ourselves and consider where we stand in our walk with God.
• God desires for us to return to Him, and He calls us back to Himself.
• The Book of Jonah shows us God’s call and His merciful response when we return to Him.

  

I. God’s Call

Jonah 1:1-3

1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because their wickedness has confronted Me.” 3 However, Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the LORD’s presence. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, from the LORD’s presence.


Jonah should have said "yes" to God. He should have obeyed. But he didn't.

God called Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and call the people there to turn away from their sin. Nineveh had "more than 120,000 people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left" (4:11). It was a big city. It was also a pagan place, full of clueless people. God wanted to use Jonah to get their attention and do something about their spiritual condition.

How did Jonah respond? He ran in the opposite direction. It's almost comical that Jonah thought he could actually run from God's presence - almost. Jonah failed to realize he could never escape God's attention. God sees all and knows all.

When God brought a massive storm against Jonah's boat, he finally began to see the precariousness of his rebellion. Jonah knew he was under God's judgment because of his disobedience and he was risking the lives of everyone on the boat with him (see 1:4-16). Jonah thought Tarshish would be far enough to escape God's call on his life. He found a ship to take him there, but his journey ended in disaster.

The same principles are at work in our lives. There are times when God gives us a clear call to return to Him, but we respond by taking the first ship going in the opposite direction. We race toward a place, person, or desire we think will bring fulfillment, yet we only find destruction. Running from God always leads to pain.

Thankfully, the story doesn't end there.

 

What do you know about Nineveh?

• Nineveh (1:2)—Located on the east bank of the Tigris River across from the modern day city of Mosul, Iraq. This city served as the capital of the Assyrian Empire during its height.

What do you know about Tarshish?

• Tarshish (1:3)—While the exact location of ancient Tarshish is uncertain, the most probable location is Spain. It was in the opposite direction from where God wanted Jonah to go.

Highlight the key points:

• God called Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and call the people there to turn away from their sin.

• How did Jonah respond? He ran in the opposite direction.

• When God brought a massive storm against Jonah’s boat, he finally began to see the precariousness of his rebellion.

Can we relate to this in any way? Why is it sometimes tempting to flee from God?

• The same principles are at work in our lives. There are times when God gives us a clear call to return to Him, but we respond by taking the first ship going in the opposite direction. Running from God always leads to pain. It is clear rebellion.

• If Jonah’s rebellion is foolish how much more foolish is ours? God has revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ in ways that Jonah never saw. If his rebellion was foolish how much worse for disciples of Jesus to attempt to say, “no, Lord”?

Did Jonah’s rebellion have consequences?

Jonah is known as the guy who got swallowed by a great fish. But being whale food isn’t all that his rebellion cost him. Consider these consequences:

• Chastisement—This great wind upon the sea is a picture of the Lord’s displeasure. (Consider Hebrews 12)
• Others suffer consequences because of his defiance—notice that these pagan sailors lost all their cargo.
• Prayerlessness—in the middle of distress, the prophet has to be encouraged by unbelievers to pray. Rebellion often leads to prayerlessness.
• Lack of witness—as a prophet of the LORD these sailors should not have had to ask Jonah who he was. He should have boldly told them of Yahweh. Rebellion often blinds us to the goodness of the gospel; in these times we are usually too ashamed to share the gospel.
• Running from God and His people—Jonah tries to flee God’s presence and God’s people. Rebellion is often a lonely road.
• Depression—For Jonah repentance was not an option. He’d rather be thrown in the sea and die than repent.
• Guilt—Jonah knows it is his sin which is causing this trouble. What horrible guilt he must have felt.

Our rebellion often has the same consequences. You never truly “get away” with rebellion. As a believer we know there is no condemnation for us in Christ Jesus. Yet, we also know that God continues to hate sin. He will not allow sin to be cherished in the life of His children. Rebellion is always costly.

How is your life different today because you responded to a call from God? When have you tried to escape from what God was telling you to do? When have you had a Jonah experience and tried to avoid the Lord’s presence? Describe a time when you felt like God was specifically asking you to do something? How did you hear from Him? What did you do?



Tossed overboard to spare the ship and its crew, Jonah was miraculously swallowed by a “huge fish” (see 1:17). He spent three days and nights inside that creature. It’s not surprising that Jonah was moved to pray and worship God during that unprecedented interlude, and he vowed to obey God’s command (see 2:1-9). When the timing was right, God caused the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land.


Try to picture the scene: Jonah lay on the sand—exhausted, filthy, and smelling incredibly nasty. And that was the moment God called out to him a second time.

II. God’s Persistence

Jonah 3:1-5

1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the LORD’s command. Now Nineveh was an extremely large city, a three-day walk. 4 Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed, “In 40 days Nineveh will be demolished!” 5 The men of Nineveh believed in God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least.

Tossed overboard to spare the ship and it's crew, Jonah was miraculously swallowed by a "huge fish" (1:17). He spent three days and nights inside the creature. It's not surprising that Jonah was moved to pray and worship God during that unprecedented interlude, and he vowed to obey God's command (see 2:1-9). When the timing was right, God caused the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land.

Try to picture the scene: Jonah lay on the sand - exhausted, filthy, and smelling incredibly nasty. And that was the moment God called out to him a second time.

God told Jonah to tell the people of Nineveh, "In 40 days Nineveh will be demolished!" Talk about a message that doesn't lend itself to making friends. Can you imagine walking the streets of Chicago or Dallas and yelling, "Your city is about to crumble!" You might get arrested. You surely wouldn't make any friends. Yet Jonah did what was difficult. It wasn't an easy task, but he was obedient to God and faithful to His message. No doubt it's harder to follow God than to stay in step with this world.

Then something remarkable happened: the people of Nineveh actually responded! They repented of  their sins and believed God. To display their repentance, they called for a national fast and put on sackcloth. Even the king of Nineveh repented. He changed from his royal robe into sackcloth to show his own repentance before God (see 3:6). The king charged everyone in Nineveh to call out earnestly before God so that He might change His mind and not overthrow the city (see 3:7-9). God used Jonah's message and obedience to convince the people that He was a righteous God, rightfully and fully capable of destroying them because of their evil ways.

Because they believed this about God, the people of Nineveh had the opportunity to discover another part of His character: grace.

When have you benefited from a second chance?

What do God’s actions toward Jonah and the Ninevites teach us about His character?

III. God’s Grace and Mercy

Jonah 3:10

10 Then God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—so God relented from the disaster He had threatened to do to them. And He did not do it.


The story that weaves through the Book of Jonah is the story of what happens when people respond to what God is calling them to do. This is exactly the message we need to hear in order to experience a spiritual awakening.

1. When we fail to obey God, strong consequences can result from that sin. Jonah spent three days in the belly of a fish. It could've been worse. He might have drowned when the sailors threw him over the side of that ship. God could have killed him right there in that moment. Instead, God was gracious. Sometimes God brings pain into our lives so that we'll wake up before we bring complete destruction on ourselves.
2. Blessing is found in obedience. Even though Jonah didn't know what was going to happen to Nineveh, he was obedient - and God was faithful. The people responded. The king led the people to repentance before God, and the city was saved.

I don't know who originated this statement, but I love its truth: "Someone is waiting for you on the other side of your obedience." A huge city full of dying people was waiting on the other side of Jonah's obedience. If God is burdening your heart to do something, you can be sure He is preparing someone or something to happen on the other side of your obedience.

• Do you want to see a spiritual awakening in your family? It starts with your own repentance.
• Do you desire for God to start a great revival in your church? Let Him revive your own life.
• Do you want God to change your community? Start by letting Him change you.

Groups and communities won't experience renewal and awakening until individuals experience renewal and awakening.

 

How can our group be a safe and supportive place for returning to God?

Personal Assessment: Wake Up Call

1. How consistently do you pray and read the Bible as a daily discipline?
2. How often do you experience meaningful times of worship in God’s presence?
3. To what degree have you grown closer to Jesus in the past year?
4. How often do you experience meaningful times of worship in God’s presence?
5. In recent months, how often have you initiated spiritual conversations with others?

What would you like to experience spiritually throughout the course of this study?






LIVE IT OUT

Consider the following suggestions for remaining open to hear God’s call when it comes:



Be sensitive to God’s voice. Don’t let yourself become numb toward God. Immerse your Bible study in prayer, asking God to help you become more sensitive to what He tells you.



Respond with obedience. When you hear God telling you to do something in the days to come—do it! Repentance isn’t necessary when we obey God’s call in the first place.



Repent when necessary. None of us will obey perfectly. When you find yourself wandering from God, repent, turn away from your disobedience, and turn back to God.



Spiritual renewal happens as we turn back to God. Be willing to always put your “yes” on the table before Him—even before He asks you to respond.

Prayer of Commitment

Lord, I hear Your call to return to You. I respond with repentance and commitment to live in a way that honors Your great Name. Amen.



Hope to see you on Sunday!


In His Love,


David & Susan