BIG IDEA: It’s important to determine if our personal greater purpose actually matches up with God’s greater purpose for our lives. Reading: Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the en

BIG IDEA: It’s important to determine if our personal greater purpose actually matches up with God’s greater purpose for our lives. Reading: Philippians 3:7-11 “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righte

BIG IDEA: It’s important to determine if our personal greater purpose actually matches up with God’s greater purpose for our lives. Reading: Jonah 4:10-11 “And the LORD said, ‘You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?’” Luk

BIG IDEA: It’s important to determine if our personal greater purpose actually matches up with God’s greater purpose for our lives. Reading: Jonah 4:5-9 “Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah w

BIG IDEA: It’s important to determine if our personal greater purpose actually matches up with God’s greater purpose for our lives. Reading: Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Philippians 3:8 “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Ch

BIG IDEA: It’s important to determine if our personal greater purpose actually matches up with God’s greater purpose for our lives. Reading: Jonah 4:1-4 “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the LORD and said, ‘O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disast

BIG IDEA: REPENTANCE is the ULTIMATE SAVING TRANSACTION of the HUMAN SOUL. Reading: Jonah 3:10 “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.” Romans 10:9-13 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one c

BIG IDEA: REPENTANCE is the ULTIMATE SAVING TRANSACTION of the HUMAN SOUL. Reading: 1 John 5:13 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'” Devotional: The sermon that launched the entire earthly ministry of Jesus began with a single word: repent. Not perform. Not achieve. Not maintain. Repent.

BIG IDEA: REPENTANCE is the ULTIMATE SAVING TRANSACTION of the HUMAN SOUL. Reading: Jonah 3:8-10 “but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would

BIG IDEA: REPENTANCE is the ULTIMATE SAVING TRANSACTION of the HUMAN SOUL. Reading: Jonah 3:6-7 “The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water,” Devotional: The king of the most powerful empire i

BIG IDEA: REPENTANCE is the ULTIMATE SAVING TRANSACTION of the HUMAN SOUL. Reading: Jonah 3:4-5 “Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.” Devotional: Eight words. (technically 4 in Hebrew) That is all it took. Jonah delivered what may be the most reluctant and

BIG IDEA: REPENTANCE is the ULTIMATE SAVING TRANSACTION of the HUMAN SOUL. Reading: Jonah 3:1-3 “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth.” Devotional: God called Jonah a second time with the exact same message. The a

BIG IDEA: Our own spiritual blind spots can stall out God’s mission for our lives. Reading: Old Testament Reading: Jonah 1:17; 2:10 Jonah 1:17 “And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” ‭‭ Jonah‬ ‭2:10 “And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.” New Testament Reference: Matthew 12:39-41 “But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a si

BIG IDEA: Our own spiritual blind spots can stall out God’s mission for our lives. Reading: John 21:15-19 “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to hi

BIG IDEA: Our own spiritual blind spots can stall out God’s mission for our lives. Reading: Matthew 18:21-35 “Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owe

BIG IDEA: Our own spiritual blind spots can stall out God’s mission for our lives. Reading: Romans 12:1-2 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice… Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” Jonah 2:8-9 “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salva

BIG IDEA: Our own spiritual blind spots can stall out God’s mission for our lives. Reading: Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved.” Jonah 2:1-7 “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I

BIG IDEA: Our own spiritual blind spots can stall out God’s mission for our lives. Reading: Luke 9:61-62 “Yet another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’” Jonah 1:1-3 “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up

BIG IDEA: You could be in the right place with the right people doing all the right things and still be WRONG with God. Reading: Jonah 2:2-7 “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your breakers and your waves passed over me. T

BIG IDEA: You could be in the right place with the right people doing all the right things and still be WRONG with God. Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were