What happens when I know the right thing to do and choose not to? Is it possible for me to be so far from God that there’s no coming back? And when my life feels like a sinking ship, what should be my next move? 

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MESSAGE NOTES

Every follower of Jesus has a call to ministry.

God has this great story for your life.

Your calling is not about you. It’s about God. 

This is the first time God called a Jewish prophet to the Gentiles

The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” [Jonah 1:1-2]

But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish. [Jonah 1:3]

Why does he run? For the same reason we run today, too.

We are all runners. We run from pain. We run from uncertainty. We run from God’s authority in in our lives. We run from call because it pushes us beyond what we can do on our own.

You can always find a boat sailing in the wrong direction.

You’re either running towards God or away from him.

And as long as you’re running away from him, God is not going to stop trying to get your attention. Here’s what happens next.


But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. [Jonah 1:4-5]

So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.” [Jonah 1:6]

Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.” The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned. And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?” “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.” [Jonah 1:9-12]

Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him. Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights. [Jonah 1:15-17]


Are you running towards God or away from him?

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Application Questions

  1. What stood out to you from this message and why?
  2. What is one thing God is telling you to START doing because of this message?
  3. What is one thing God is telling you to STOP doing because of this message?
  4. How will this message change how you act at home, work and in the your relationships?