Grace Bomb: Grace Bombing a Hard Heart
This past Sunday, Pastor Robbie brought us a word from the Book of Jonah and the extents that God went to Grace Bomb the people of Nineveh in spite of Jonah’s reluctance. Even in the face of a people that lived in absolute opposition to God, He desires to see them loved and brought into right relationship with Himself. We have concluded our Grace Bomb series and just in case anyone is joining us for the first time, for even more info than what we will be discussing here, you can find more information at their website here. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!
Before getting into the main passages we would be discussing which came specifically out of the Book of Jonah, Pastor Robbie had some powerful words for that we may have considered saying,
“We believe that Grace Built People Grace Bomb People, so this doesn’t end here today, and for some of us, it’s only just the beginning. And if you’re just joining us on this Grace Bomb journey, don’t worry, I’ll catch you up with where we have been and where we are going in just a moment. But I want to start with some amazing Grace Bomb stories. And to echo what I said last week, please please share those stories, share them now, share them later when they happen, and please, share them often! Someone told me this week that they felt weird sharing the story and essentially taking credit or receiving recognition for Grace Bombing someone - I get that, but as long as we have the understanding that it isn’t about us specifically, but is about us encouraging others. And I have biblical support for that: Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. Your act of love and generosity could be the catalyst that encourages someone else to move with the Holy Spirit. The reaction that you get from a Grace Bomb could be the motivation for someone to step out of their comfort zone and step into obedience in the Lord!”
The Book of Jonah serves as a very specific reminder that the people that we are not inclined to love are the people that God is seeking to love and Grace Bomb no matter what we think of the situation! God called Jonah to preach to Nineveh, the capital city of the nation of Assyria, one of the greatest enemies of Israel. Jonah has made his prophetic living preaching against these people. Jonah was horrified that God wanted Him to now preach to the Ninevites. Stories were told that when they fought, they killed every person, including children. Jonah viewed people differently than God viewed people. And isn’t that the case with us? When we think about certain people, maybe even whole people groups like Jonah, do we think that they deserve the grace of God? Do we think about people the same way that God does, with love and hope and mercy and grace? Or maybe we’re fine with them receiving grace, but we just don’t want to be the ones to give it. So like Jonah, we run away. We retreat to our houses, to our cozy jobs, to our comfortable friend groups, all of the while, God is calling us to take Grace the Ninevites living next door, around the block, across the railroad tracks...Who was Jonah, and who are we, to be the deciders as to who receives the grace that we were freely given in the first place?!
The main passage(s) of Scripture surrounds the entire Book of Jonah, and Pastor Robbie goes through each chapter thoroughly with very specific applications - way too much to be able to cover here in this post; we encourage you to go and listen to the Podcast for this Sermon to get all of the great breakdown Pastor Robbie gives!
Essentially Jonah resists God’s call on his life to go and prophesy to the people of Nineveh by trying to escape to Tarshish - he is humbled before God for the error of His ways and concedes to his task, heading back to Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-3:2). During this section we see God humbling Jonah to realize the foolishness of trying to escape what mission he has been given by a sovereign and holy God.
The last two chapters deal with Jonah still reluctantly going to prophesy to the people of Nineveh to turn from their evil ways, and their soften hearts respond positively to this message! Jonah should be joyous and celebratory over the Grace and Love that has been shown to the people of Nineveh but instead throw a temper-tantrum because He didn’t want them to be made righteous. God then uses a plant with its life-giving shade to Jonah and he is upset when God takes it away from him; this is used as a lesson to show Jonah that he is more concerned about the life of a plant than the 120,000 people who found redemption through God’s moving through Jonah (Jonah 3:3-4:11).
Pastor Robbie concludes the message with a convicting thought for each and every one of us saying,
“God loves lost people, even the violent people of Nineveh. He’s saying “Jonah, people are more important than your plant,” and this should be so clear to him, and to us! - he’s mourning a plant more than lost souls! Why? because as I said in the beginning, he doesn’t see people the way that God sees people. God is for the least, the last, and the lost and there is nobody too far gone to receive his free grace. So, there’s this cliffhanger ending, where we don’t get to see the full redemptive outcome in Jonah’s life - kinda leaves us thinking: Will we love who God loves? Will we demonstrate this in not holding back Grace Bombing anyone as the Lord leads - even those we may feel hard-hearted towards? Is having a hardened-heart a barrier in moving forward in our Grace Bombing journey?”
We must consider the conditions fo our hearts today. Are we like Jonah worried about something trivial, while there are thousands of people in our community that need to experience the Love of God? We are able to make an impact church! Legacy City Church is committed to impacting the City of Greenwood as we will hear from many of our Strategic Partners this upcoming week - we hope to see you there!
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Grace Bomb: Grace Bombing a Hard Heart - The Book of Jonah serves as a very specific reminder that the people that we are not inclined to love are the people that God is seeking to love and Grace Bomb no matter what we think of the situation!
Main Scripture Verses - Jonah 1-4
Jonah Doesn’t See People the Way God Sees People - God sees each and every person in the world as someone worthy of Love, and are those who He desires to know on a personal relationship level; Jonah didn’t, he thought he knew which people should and should not receive God’s Love.
Do We See People Like God, or Like Jonah? - We see that God is concerned very much with how we view other people - we all have to potential to be the Jonah we see in chapter 3; God desires to use our obedience to mighty things in our world. Are you ready to join Him?
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
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Join us next Sunday as we hear from our For Greenwood partners, non-profits in our community seeking to join with YOU in helping provide for much-needed services in our City!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!