CALL TO WORSHIP
OPENING PRAYER
OPENING COMMENTS
- Welcome and Thanks for joining us.
- The theme for this week is epiphanies demand a response.
- The supporting passages are Psalm 62:5-12; Jonah 3:1-5, 10; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20
-
- In our call to worship psalm, affirmation of God’s faithfulness enables a renunciation of placing vain hope in riches.
- Jonah, although reluctant, serves as an instrument of bringing God’s message to Nineveh that gained a response of repentance.
- Our reading from 1 Corinthians records Paul’s reminder that all other values are minimized by the surpassing worth of Christ.
- The Gospel text in Mark recounts the fishermen who leave everything behind when called by Jesus.
-
OPENING SONGS
FIRST READING
Jonah 3:1-5, 10 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 ‘Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’ 3 So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.
SERMONETTE
Welcome to this week’s episode, a special rerun from our Speaking of Life archive. We hope you find its timeless message as meaningful today as it was when it was first shared.
Jonah—Prophet or Cautionary Tale
Greg Williams
If you ask anyone about Jonah, what will they say the story is about?
The whale. Every kids’ book and cartoon adaptation of Jonah features some hybrid of Moby Dick and Jaws creeping up out of the seaweed to swallow the hapless prophet.
But the real story is much bigger. Jonah is asked by God to avert the destruction of Israel’s sworn enemy, Nineveh. Jonah, out of an ethnic hatred of these people and anger about God showing them mercy, ran in the other direction as fast and far as he could.
At one point, he even chose to kill himself by jumping into angry seas rather than obeying God’s call. In his own rage and bitterness, he would rather die than soften his will to God’s.
God turns the tables on him by sending, as we all know, a giant fish.
God turns the tables again by hearing the Ninevites repenting and holding back his judgment.
But Jonah remains unmoved. He ends the whole book arguing with God over whether God is allowed to show mercy to these people.
In a sense, Jonah gets his theology right, but he misses who God is. Sure the Israelites are the people of God, sure the Assyrians were bloodthirsty and godless, but in the book of Jonah we read, God is:
“… a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.” Jonah 4:2 (ESV)
Isn’t that who we want God to be? Sure! But Jonah was blinded by his own self-preservation and his own thoughts on how God should be acting. Instead of a prophet, his story became a cautionary tale.
Has that ever happened to us? Have we ever so figured out how God should be acting that we miss what he’s doing? Does an obsession with theological details sometimes cause us to lose the big picture — that God loves the world and wants to draw everyone to himself?
Let’s not forget that God’s main business is love — and that love is messy, fuzzy, spontaneous, and generous. He’s not going to follow whatever expectations we have for him, and he’s not consulting us on how far to extend his grace. Halleljujah!
Let’s be grateful! Embrace his lavish love for you and for your perceived enemies. That’s how GOOD God is.
I am Greg Williams, Speaking of Life.
Mark 1:14-20 (NRSV)
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake — for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
SERMON REVIEW
The Gospel and Your Response
INTRODUCTION
A. The first verse from the song, We Are The World …
There comes a timeWhen we heed a certain callWhen the world must come together as oneThere are people dyingOh, and it’s time to lend a hand to lifeThe greatest gift of all
B. I want to focus on the first two lines.
C. If you were to receive a call from God … how would you respond?
D. If you’re hearing me today … chances are
- 1) you have been called … or
- 2) you are being called … or
- 3) you will be called.
E. Question: How will you respond?
SPS: To look at how you should respond by looking at how four men responded.
Mark 1:14-20 (NRSV)
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake — for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
The previous CONTEXT …
- John the Baptist Prepares the Way … Mark 1:1-3,4-8
- John Baptizes Jesus … Mark 1:9-11
- Satan Tempts Jesus … Mark 1:12-13
- Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry … Mark 1:14-15
- Four Fishermen Called as Disciples … Mark 1:16-20
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake — for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
- Jesus Casts Out an Unclean Spirit … Mark 1:21-28
- Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed … Mark 1:29-31
- Many Healed After Sabbath Sunset … Mark 1:32-34
- Preaching in Galilee … Mark 1:35-39
- Jesus Cleanses a Leper … Mark 1:40-45
CONCLUSION
- What can we take away? What should we take away?
- You have been called … You are being called … You will be called.
- For those who are being called or who will be called … what will your response be?
- Will you be like Jonah … or will you be like those first four disciples?
CLOSING SONG
CLOSING PRAYER