St. Paul Lutheran Church

St. Paul Lutheran Church

St. Paul Lutheran Church

If only Jonah would have ended happily ever after in chapter 3, but instead realistically ends (sort of) in chapter 4 were Jonah reveals his real reason for not wanting to go to Nineveh. The way that Jonah ends helps all of us to take a hard look in mirror of our sin but even more so assures us of our Lord God who will never give up on his prophets or his people always inviting them to repent and receive what nobody deserves grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

When Jonah is called a second time to go to Nineveh by God he chooses to go. After delivering a very short 5 word sermon it would seem Nineveh destruction in 40 days is eminent. Yet in those 40 days God through His Word spoken by Jonah accomplishes the biggest miracle in the story of Jonah. God does not given up on his prophet, the Ninevites, or YOU! He is a God of second chances purchased and won through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who specializes in transforming lives through the mercy, grace and steadfast love of God.

Jonah may have wanted to end his life and thereby bringing condemnation upon the people of Nineveh but God has other supernatural plans that will unfold in the belly of a great fish. In this belly Jonah will say a prayer that is pretty solid theologically but lacking in believability on the part of Jonah's true faith as he unmasks himself as the object of his worship. But God will not give up on Jonah as he continues to pursue him with his relentless steadfast mercy and love.

Jonah is not interested in God's plan for his life and will do anything he can to reassert his control over his life even if it means ending it. In the midst of a storm Jonah professes the right theology but the application of that theology is far from where God would have him be. Yet through it all God continues to pursue his prophet using even creation to call him to repentance and reception of the mercy of God.

When God calls his prophet Jonah to leave the comfort of his home and go to the city of Nineveh with words of judgement, the prophet of God without saying a word to God rebels and runs in the opposite direction. The book of Jonah begins with the audience wondering why this prophet of God is so reluctant to deliver God's word and when we finally find out the reason is quite shocking and sad, but yet if we are honest with ourselves not entirely shocking because we can so often have the same attitude toward the mercy of God.

At the baptism of Jesus as described by the Gospel of Mark we see the incredible good news that Jesus is willing to stand in the place of sinners and in doing so shows the kind of ministry and work he has come to do. In our own baptism we get the incredible good news that Jesus has chosen us personally!

No matter who you are, where you are from, what you look like, or even what you smell like, King Jesus born in Bethlehem is the Savior of the world for all people. The lowest in the land were given the highest honor that first Christmas to be the first to share. They didn’t have all the answers but they knew enough that Jesus wasn’t just for them but for the world. Let’s join them and continue to share that hope this Christmas.

There is a huge difference in life between knowledge and wisdom perhaps no better illustrated in Daniel 5 where one king who had the knowledge of the past yet did not have wisdom in learning from it. When the "writing is on the wall" in our lives do we learn from the past and especially from God's Word by both gaining knowledge of that Word and applying it in our life as the wisdom to which to live life by? After all what is at stake is not just our future but the future of those around us who God has perfectly positioned in our lives to make an eternal difference in.

There is an infection that is running rampant in our nation for which masks and social distancing can't seem to slow down. It is an election infection whose primary symptom is fear! Yet through out the pages of scripture the Lord God extends the invitation to Fear Not! It doesn't mean that there aren't fearful things in this world but instead that there is a way of living by faith that can still allow us to fear not. We cast our votes for candidates on a ballot but we do not cast our hope because our hope is put in the Lord God.

On the final keystone habit in the Being Challenge we learn the importance of Choosing Church! When we Choose Church we are committing to be part of the body of Christ here on earth. Church can get pretty messy at times which is why forgiveness is a key to living out our faith in community with one another.

In a crazy, busy and loud world it is hard to find true solitude. Yet we find Jesus the busiest person to ever live chose to seek solitude time and time again to be alone with the Father. We too in our daily and weekly rhythms of grace need this same solitude for when we do God gives us a better focus in this crazy world and sends us out with his strength and power.

Jesus spends a lot of time praying and teaching about prayer and as he does so we get insight to the valuable gift in which we have the privilege to talk to our Heavenly Father.

Studying Scriptures allows us to see our true identity as it explains who God is and who we are in light of that truth! As your creator and redeemer God has naming rights over you and invites you to find your true identity in and through Him!

We are made for Community! Join us for week 2 of the Being Challenge where we will spend time seeing how even Jesus himself seeks out and creates community around himself to do life together!

We all have Habits, some good and some not so good. This week we will look at the 5 Keystone Habits of Jesus and begin to dive in to see what we need to do to make those habits our own!

Roman Christians at the time of Nero faced this dilemma that might sound familiar: How do you relate to the civil authorities when publicly they say one thing and privately do another? How do you obey, as a Christian, when it seems like the rulers you are asked to obey are obscured by propaganda, so you never know the truth? The answer that Paul gives in Romans 13 helps us better understand what God is doing in the world around as we live in the tension of being citizens of Two Kingdoms.

You are an essential worker in the Kingdom of God! The glory of God is hidden in the lives of his people and is revealed in self sacrificial service on earth. That is how Paul in Romans 11 & 12 would have Christians see themselves. Your life joined to the ministry of Christ carried out in every day ordinary ways in the various callings that God has given to us and in doing so you can make an eternal difference in the lives of those around you.

As Paul steps back from the details in Romans 11, he is ableto see the big picture and it is a vision of mercy on the part of God.  As God comes into this world, he finds disobedience among all nations, but God remains faithful to his promises andworks mercy, mercy for all peoples, Jews and Gentiles, in Christ.  Though the world be disobedient, God will remain merciful.  Merciful to all people who believe in Jesus Christ.