God is the God of Second Chances. His mercies and grace are new every morning. This week we see the big miracle in the story of Jonah, but it has little to do with the reluctant prophet. Jonah’s final words in the fish come true in Nineveh in miraculous ways: “Salvation comes from the LORD.” Unlike Jonah, may our hearts be open and receptive to God’s Unrelenting Grace.

From the belly of the fish, Jonah finally acknowledges God and offers A Prayer from the Depths. He prays a pious prayer full of beautiful words and Biblical imagery, but can it really be called a prayer of submission? As we find ourselves in Jonah’s story, we should ask the same questions of ourselves. Do our words to God match our lives for God? Do our prayers reflect a life of total submission to God? May we be transformed completely by God’s Unrelenting Grace.

Very few of us would choose hardship over ease, but even hardships can be a source of God’s grace. The key question is how we will respond in the Wake of Grace when it comes in unwelcome forms. This week we see God’s challenging grace to two parties in the book of Jonah, but only one party responds with repentance and praise. Can we see God’s hand of providence and grace daily in our lives? May we always turn our hearts to God In the Wake of Grace.

The prophet Jonah gets a clear call from God… and he runs. In fact, Jonah sprints away from God and the task God has given him. When we read the story as spectators, we easily see how foolish Jonah is. However, when we enter into the story as participants, we see ourselves Running From Grace like Jonah. What does running look like today for us? How can we turn back? Most importantly, how does God’s Unrelenting Grace respond when his children run?

Jonah is a timeless story of God’s Unrelenting Grace. Jonah is not a typical prophetic book, and that’s why Jonah’s story is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible… at least the storybook version of Jonah and the Whale. Jonah is less about prophetic words and more about story, and it’s a story that draws us in and acts like a mirror for us. We’re going to spend 6 weeks going through the short book of Jonah, and it all begins with a word from the Lord to Jonah – a word which Jonah very dramatically rejects. As we look in the Jonah mirror, we’ll start by looking at what a word from the Lord sounds like when God speaks to us.