August 23rd & 27th
Say Yes
HELP!
The word of the Lord came to Jonah…
—Jonah 1:1a (NIV)
God does not need an audience but an army!
For as Jonah was…
—Matthrew 12:40a (NIV)
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “GO…”
—Jonah 1:1a (NIV)
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world.
—John 17:18 (MSG)
If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live.
—Mark 8:35 (LB)
I don’t care about my own life. The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.
—Acts 20:24 (NCV)
But we must each be careful how we build, 11 because Christ is the only foundation. 12-13 Whatever we build on this foundation will be tested by fire on the day of judgment. Then everyone will find out if we have used gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw. 14 We will be rewarded if our building is left standing. 15 But if it is destroyed by the fire, we will lose everything. Yet we ourselves will be saved, like someone escaping from flames.
—1 Corinthians 3:10b-15 (CEV)
You gotta know human help isn’t as effective as God’s help.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
—Jonah 1:5b (NIV)
Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.
—Jonah 1:13 (NIV)
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 1:17 (NIV)
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
—Psalm 46:1 (NIV)
You gotta know that help comes when you pray.
The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God! Maybe He will take notice of us so that we will not perish.
—Jonah 1:6 (NIV)
At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
—Jonah 1:16 (NIV)
From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.
—Jonah 2:1 (NIV)
“I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.” —C.S. Lewis
He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
—Jonah 2:2 (NIV)
You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me.
I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
—Jonah 2:3-7 (NIV)
Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.
—Jonah 2:8 (NIV)
You gotta know he helps you when “saying yes” is outside the fish.
But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
—Jonah 2:9,10 (NIV)
Like a dog that returns to its vomit, a fool does the same foolish things again and again.
—Proverbs 26:11 (ERV)
“When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry places looking for a place to rest, but it finds none. 44 So it says, ‘I will go back to the home I left.’ When it comes back, it finds that home still empty. It is all neat and clean. 45 Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself. They all go and live there, and that person has even more trouble than before. It is the same way with the evil people who live today.”
—Matthew 12:43-45 (ERV)
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins …
—Hebrews 10:26 (ESV)
Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes the way, And he who hates correction will die.
—Proverbs 15:10 (NKJV)
FILL OUT YOUR CONNECTION CARD HERE
Next Steps:
1. Today, I accept Jesus in my life for the first time.
2. I will “say yes” and complete one of the “say yes” cards that are in the lobby.
3. I will be serious in this season to seek my life mission thru bible reading, prayer, and godly counsel of at least 3 people.
4. I will read the book of Jonah this week and do a YES inventory.
(What is stealing a “yes” from God that I need to say “no” too?)