What stood out to you in Bill s message this week? Why?

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1 Uncharted Waters Week 2, September 17/18, 2016 Jonah Bill Hybels Quick-Connect Guide Use the questions in this section if your group is already studying something else and won t be using the full discussion guide. What stood out to you in Bill s message this week? Why? Which of Bill s three suggestions about letting go of hatred spoke to you? How can you implement it this week? Discussion Guide In this section, you will find an opening prayer, discussion questions, next steps, and a closing prayer. The discussion questions are separated into three categories Getting Started, The Basics, and A Little Deeper and are designed to allow the group discussion to deepen as you move through them. Use the prayers, questions, and next steps in whatever manner you find helpful based on your group s needs. The Message Recap might help you and the group to prepare or to remember key points. Opening Prayer Father in heaven, thank You that we are able to gather and thank You for each person here. We all face storms from time to time and feel like we re navigating in uncharted waters. Give us insight by Your word and Your Spirit. And help us listen to one another well. Amen. Getting Started Ice Breaker: What s your favorite passage of Scripture (you don t have to know the exact citation)? Why?

2 2 What stood out to you in Bill s message this week? Why? The Basics Read Jonah aloud as a group. Because it s somewhat long, you might want to have several people take turns reading. What questions arose for you as we read through this story? Share a time in your life when you ran away from or rebelled against God. What happened? Why did you run away? What was the outcome? How would you define repentance? What elements of repentance do you see present in the story of Jonah and in the story of the Ninevites? Which of Bill s three suggestions about letting go of hatred spoke to you (placing yourself under the waterfall of God s love; steering clear of any source that generates hate in you; and hanging out with radically loving people as often as you can)? How could you implement the one that stood out this week? A Little Deeper Reflect on a time you got angry because another person was shown forgiveness or grace whether by God or another human being. What were the circumstances? What motivated your anger? Take a minute or two and allow each person to ask God to show them whether they harbor hatred or a lack of compassion or empathy for certain people or a certain people group. Who came to mind? How did you feel when that person or group came to mind? One of the most profound gifts of being a part of a small group is the practice of confession. Through this practice, we not only have an opportunity to confess to one another, but to remind each other of God s forgiveness. In James 5:16, we read: Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16) And in 1 John 1:9, we read: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Let s take some time to act together in obedience to this Scriptural command. We will take about a minute of silence for each of us to reflect on the ways in the last several weeks or months we have allowed hatred of a person or a people group to take hold of our hearts. If you feel comfortable, share with us what came to mind and we will simply pray over you.

3 3 After each person shares, thank them for sharing and pray over them: Thank You, loving Father, for [insert person s name] and [his/her] willingness to trust us. May [he/she] know your grace and forgiveness, which is already present in Christ Jesus. Root any hatred out of [his/her] heart and fill [him/her] with Your unending love. Help [him/her] to continue to walk in obedience to Your commands. Amen. Next Steps Review the next steps below and consider which one or ones each member of the group would like to commit to for the upcoming week (and beyond). Pray and Journal. Take some time this week to pray and journal about ways hate has taken root in your heart. Perhaps it relates to the election, or terrorism, or a certain people group. Ask God to illuminate how you ve let hate in and remind you of His love for you so that you can be filled with love instead of hate. Steer clear. What source of information website, news, social media, radio have you identified as one that stirs up hate in you toward others? Commit to steering clear of that source this week and notice what happens in your mind and heart. Bring a friend to Alpha. Alpha begins this Wednesday night. This is the perfect place to bring a friend or co-worker who has questions about faith and wants to know more. It s a safe environment and we provide dinner, a short talk, and great conversation. You can sign up on our website. Closing Prayer Pray for whatever difficulties or needs were shared during your time together and have someone close that time by reading the prayer below. God, thank You for the reminder of how easy hate can take over our hearts. We want it rooted out of us and we want to be filled instead with love for all people, no matter where they live, what they believe, or what they do. Give us the courage to steer clear of any sources of information that stir hate in us and turn us toward You and toward people who grow our capacity to love. Amen. Message Recap Bill Hybels Scripture: Jonah In the book of Jonah, we read of a guy who chose to go into uncharted waters by stubbornly disobeying a direct order from God. The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.

4 4 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. (Jonah 1:1 3) Tarshish was 2200 miles in the opposite direction of Nineveh. How could Jonah have done this run in the exact opposite direction from where God was calling him? Of course, we all have done this in one way or another. Why do we do it? Often for the same reasons Jonah ran. But most of us don t remember why Jonah ran. Instead, our view on whether what happened Jonah getting swallowed by a large fish is myth or historical causes us to lose sight of what we can learn from the story of God s prophet. So, what could make Jonah and what makes us do such a thing? Let s review the story. Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. (Jonah 1:4) This part of the story reminds us of Paul s story in Acts 27, but in this story, the crew believed someone one board has done something terrible. They didn t believe this was a seasonal storm or a natural storm. Then the sailors said to each other, Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity. They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. (Jonah 1:7) The crew cast lots something we see throughout the Scriptures. In fact, it s mentioned over 70 times. Scholars don t know for sure how it was done or with what, but it might have been akin to our drawing straws. In any event, the lot fell to Jonah and when it did, Jonah came clean and admitted to his wrongdoing. He then offered his life and took full responsibility, telling the crew to throw him overboard (v. 12), which they did: Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (Jonah 1:15 17) Instead of dying, God provided a fish to swallow Jonah. While he was in the fish, he prayed a desperate and heartfelt prayer of repentance. And in response to his prayer, the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. (Jonah 2:10) When released from the fish, God commanded Jonah a second time to go to Nineveh to share the message of its coming destruction. (3:1 2) This time, Jonah went and against all odds, the entire pagan, godless Nineveh, including the king, repented and vowed

5 5 their obedience to the God of Israel. When God saw their true repentance, He relented and did not destroy the city. In Luke 15:7, we read these words of Jesus: I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Imagine the joy and celebration in heaven when the 120,000 people in Nineveh repented and turned their allegiance and devotion to God! But there was one person who wasn t celebrating: Jonah. This was his response to God s decision not to destroy Nineveh: But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, Isn t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live. (Jonah 4:1 3) Upon reading this, the natural questions are, Are you kidding me? A Godfearing prophet whose words and preaching just saved 120,000 people is ticked? What is this about? So, we return to the question we asked at the beginning what would have caused Jonah to disobey a direct command from God, to run 2200 miles in the opposite direction of Nineveh, and to be angry about the repentance and salvation of 120,000 people? The answer is hate. Why would Jonah hate the Ninevites? Historians rank Nineveh s military leaders as the most violent in history. They captured enemy soldiers and instead of turning them into slaves as most nations did with prisoners of war, they did unspeakable things to them cut off their hands and feet; cut off their noses and ears; and decorated the city walls with body parts. They were absolute barbarians. So, Jonah feels conflicted about offering the Ninevites an opportunity to repent and be redeemed. He d rather see the whole city burn than to allow them to be redeemed. God knows what hate can do to a human heart. In fact, hate has been called a vampire emotion one that sucks life, love, and energy out of the person who has it. Hate can transport you into uncharted waters. It can make you think, say, and do things you never thought you d think, say, or do. Hate causes you to feel lost, lonely, and unable to find the way back to shore. God loved Jonah so much that He went through extraordinary lengths to root the hate out of his heart: He sent the great wind (Jonah 1:4), He provided a great fish (1:7), He commanded the fish to vomit (2:10), and He gave Jonah a second chance (3:1). But after all

6 6 this and after all the Ninevites repented, Jonah s heart was still filled with hatred and he directed his hatred toward God (4:1). Jonah was so filled with hate and so unwilling to give it up that he wished he would die. And yet, God still didn t give up on Jonah: Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, It would be better for me to die than to live. (Jonah 4:5 8) God eased Jonah s discomfort by providing the vine but then sent a worm, a scorching wind, and blazing sun, causing the vine to die and Jonah to lose his shade. Jonah got very angry and then came the punch line of the entire story: But the Lord said, You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left and also many animals? (Jonah 4:10 11) God wanted Jonah to grasp how sad it would be for Him if 120,000 people whom He created and loved were destroyed. God wanted to show that He always prefers redemption over destruction. In the end, we don t know what happened to Jonah. As Bill closed his sermon, he asked the question, Why this sermon? He said that he has never seen more hatred in our world than he sees today and it s tearing our world, our country, and our city apart. It s actually become fashionable to be a hater. People are proud to be a Trump-hater, a Hillary-hater, a gay-hater, a Muslim-hater, etc. God is seeking to convince us to let go of our hate and turn to love. How do we do this? 1. We place ourselves under the waterfall of the affection of God every day. In 1 John 4:19, we read: We love because he first loved us. In Isaiah 43:4, we read: you are precious and honored in my sight and I love you. When your heart is filled to overflowing by the love of God, hate doesn t have room to grow, it gets squeezed out. By praying and meditating on the Scriptures about God s love and singing songs of worship that remind you of God s love, you can be filled anew with God s love.

7 7 2. Steer clear of any source that generates hate in you. There are websites, news shows, and talk shows that stir up hate. Why would you give access to your heart to sources that generate hate? It s pretty hard to give up hate if you re feeding it raw meat every day. 3. Hang out with radically loving people as often as you can. Make time to be with people who will stretch your capacity to love. Encourage others in love and allow others to encourage you in love. Read authors and get mentors who help you to be more loving. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13) Imagine a world if all 7.5 billion people on our planet decided to give up hatred forever and stand under the waterfall of God s love. This material is protected by U.S. Copyright Law and is for your own personal use. Any further use requires permission. Contact Kellye Fabian at Willow Creek Community Church with your request.