May 31, 2009 AMDave MarttunenJonah's book is his spiritual journey. God uses Nineveh to move his prophet from passion to compassion. It is a long, hard and painful journey. Few of us change without pain. Most of us change to avoid pain (and more pain). God kindly confronts the mess in Jonah‟s heart and exposes our hearts in the process. In this last chapter of this little book, we will see and feel an angry man find healing grace in God‟s dramatic confrontation.Audio / Questions
May 24, 2009 AMDave MarttunenWhat will it take for God to bring revival to our City? Not as much as we might first think. Jonah teaches us that it takes nothing more than a reluctant prophet to do what God says. No strong faith, not much maturity or heart cooperation. God can use the smallest act of cooperation. Jonah preaches a short repetitive message and the hearts of people respond. He starts on the fringe with the least likely to change: the rural farms, industry and edges of the city. God is at work in a reluctant prophet to bring change to a city and change to his man. Remarkable, God can and does perform miracles through reluctant people. Grace is always greater than sin—ours and others. Jonah 3 is a chapter of hope for all of us who long for change in our city. If we... then God. It is a simply principle and a simple pattern. Just do what God says. If we... then God. Imagine what God will do in our city, if we decide and then do what He says.Audio / Questions
May 17, 2009 PMDavid Dawson
Opposition will come. We all face challenges in life and faith and while God may not remove these from our lives, he does enable us to face them. May we learn to face opposition with the power of the Holy Spirit, asking God not to remove us from difficulties, but rather to enable us to face them in his strength.Audio
May 17, 2009 AMDave MarttunenJonah is taken deep and dark in the second chapter of his book. Jonah feels the hard discipline of God. He is shut in with God, shut down in life; cornered and caged. It seems on the surface that God is treating this child harshly, with a roughness we might question. Is it necessary that God take this man (his prophet) so deep and to such a dark place? And we might hazard another personal question; will God treat me this way, and why? As we watch God smash the idols of Jonah‟s heart, we see a great principle emerge. God is not afraid to pursue our heart to any extreme. Jonah‟s heart felt cry is found in 2:8, “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” That is an autobiographical statement forged on the anvil of his life experience. Jonah knew that his heart held a false idol. Today, we learn from Jonah‟s life that our God will smash every idol we hold so that we will not lose the grace He alone can give.Audio / Questions
May 10, 2009 AMDave MarttunenWe need to face the facts. We are Jonah.
* He received the Word of the Lord * We have received the Word of the Lord
* He is called to a great city * We are called to a great city
* Jonah runs * We run
We are Jonah. We are happy to be the object of God‟s grace, but we run away when He calls us to be agents of His grace.This morning is the first part of a four part series on the Book of Jonah. It is his journey “From passion to compassion.”Audio / Questions
May 3, 2009 AMDavid DawsonThe verses at the end of Colossians 3 present a difficult challenge to modern ears. We cannot help but feel like Paul is giving divine sanction to things which we find offensive. Yet on a closer look we see that this passage offers guidance in all kinds of relationships, not to maintain power, but to give honor to Christ. As we explore how this passage is relevant to our culture, we will be challenged to make Christ the Lord of all our relationships.Audio / Questions
