Sermon
– “The Good News of the Good News”
Jonah
3:1-5, 10
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Many
scholars see this book as more of a parable regarding God’s grace toward people
outside of the Jewish faith. It takes
discernment to be able to tell what kind of literature each story of the bible/book
of the bible is rooted in actual historical events. This is troublesome to people who equate
“truth” only with historical events.
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V.
3 – Nineveh was a very large city based on archaeological finds.
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V.
5 - The large city which contained a lot of sin/evil shows how incredible it
was that the people actually repented!
This is contrasted with the reluctance of the prophet to offer God’s
grace!
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V.
8 – When even the animals are confessing/repenting, you know the city is
experiencing total transformation!
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Why
is it difficult for us to see God extending grace to people we are angry with
or believe don’t deserve God’s favor? Do
we forget God’s grace in our own lives?
How can we guard against being “holier than thou?”
Mark
1:14-20
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It
is likely that the Zebedee family had a family business of fishing for several
generations that went back centuries!
It’s pretty amazing that they dropped this to follow Jesus into an
unknown future!
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This
story reminds us of the Abram story when God called him to leave his home and
way of life.
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At
the center of Jesus’ call is the “kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God means 1) Turn away from
any worldview/ideologies that are not in line with Jesus’ understanding of
God’s kingdom. This was the difficult
thing for Jonah to do! 2) Give total loyalty to the God of Israel. 3) Embrace the good news that God is truly
the king over all the earth.
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What
is the good news? God is about to rescue
the world from sin and death. And the
good news of the good news is that we can leave our nets and embrace this good
news in the here and now!
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