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We will start a new series from the book of Jonah. We’ll turn our Bibles to Jonah chapter 1. Jonah chapter 1. We’ll read a couple of verses together. Maybe we can read till verses 1. Maybe we can read till verse 17. Let’s read it together. Jonah chapter 1 verses 1 till 17.
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for the evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, tempest on the sea so that the ship threatened to break up.
Then the mariners were afraid and each cried out to his God and they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean you sleeper? Arise, call out to your God, perhaps the God will give a thought to us that we may not perish.” And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation and where do you come from? What is your country and of what people are you?” And he said to them, “I’m a Hebrew and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he told them. Then they said to him, Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O
Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. We’re not going to look at the entire chapter. I know that this is a very familiar story in the Bible and we’re going to look at this
book over the next few weeks. And the book of Jonah offers one of Scripture’s most vivid portrayals of human rebellion against God’s sovereignty. Here we see not a pagan king resisting God’s will, but a prophet, a man called and commissioned by God himself.
He’s fleeing in the opposite direction from God-given assignment. Today we’ll look at just the first three verses. And the title of the sermon is Divine Compassion and Human Reluctance. I know that most of you are familiar with this story, but the book of Jonah, if you want to put that in a nutshell, the book of Jonah begins with God calling the pro the prophet to go and proclaim judgment uh against uh Israel’s enemies in the city of Nineveh, is uh is part of the Assyrian kingdom. However, instead of obeying God’s call, Jonah boards a boat going in the opposite direction from. In a way, a violent storm threatens to sink the boat and endanger everyone on board, but Jonah admits that he is running from God.
He is thrown into the sea and the storm calms down. Then God sends a great fish to swallow Jonah. While inside the fish’s belly, Jonah prays a prayer of thanksgiving for being saved from death. After three days, the fish vomits Jonah onto the dry land, giving him another chance to obey God. And because of God’s steadfast love, Jonah responds with obedience and goes to Nineveh to warn the people about the city’s impending judgment or destruction.
Yet as soon as Jonah starts preaching, the people of Nineveh starts repenting. And Jonah is disappointed. Jonah is disappointed that people are repenting. But God withdraws from punishing the Ninevites. Withdraws the disaster he planned. However, this act of God’s mercy makes Jonah angry, disappointed. And to teach him about God’s compassion, God gives Jonah a lesson involving a plant, a worm, and a scorching wind. That’s the story of Jonah.
So we’ll in first three verses we will try to answer a few questions we need to ask. First of all, who is Jonah? Look at verse one. Here Jonah is addressed as the son of Amittai and we read about Jonah also in 2nd Kings chapter 14 verses 23 till 27. Please turn your Bibles to 2nd Kings chapter 14 verses, 2nd Kings chapter 14 verses 23 till 27. I request one of you to read loudly and clearly. Second Kings comes after First Kings.
The son of Nebuchadnezzar, he made Israel a city. He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath. As far as the city of Hanukkah, according to the word of the Lord, the Lord of Israel, that he spoke to his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, that he was the prophet to the words of God and God. For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, which was very bitter. So by this time in 2nd Kings, Israel was divided into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom was called Israel with ten tribes and the southern kingdom or will comprises of two tribes Judah and Benjamin and Jonah was a prophet in the northern kingdom that is Israel and during King Solomon’s final days he also worshipped other gods.
And after Solomon’s death, Jeroboam I took over northern kingdom and did evil in the Lord’s sight. And none of the northern kings, after Solomon, none of the northern kings did what was right in the sight of God. They did only evil in the sight of God. And Jonah lived during the reign of Jeroboam II, 130 years of the first king of the northern kingdom. And the nation still did evil in God’s sight. In 2 Kings chapter 14 verse 26, we see there that Israel was suffering greatly. And in verse 27 God rescues Israel through King Jeroboam II, and this happened according to the word of the Lord spoken through Jonah in First Kings chapter 14 verse 25 — sorry, Second Kings chapter 14 verse 25. And in Second Kings Jonah was already a prophet, he’s addressed as a servant of the
Lord. The calling to be a prophet must have happened before this. It doesn’t say the word of the Lord came to Jonah here. But he addresses him as a prophet. He was already a prophet. But in Jonah chapter 1 verse 1, it says that the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai. What does that mean? If you compare this verse with other prophets, right, be it in, let’s say, Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 4, or even Zechariah chapter 1 verse 1, or even Micah chapter 1 verse 1, all these verses use the same phrases here.
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. The word of the Lord came to Zechariah. The word of the Lord came to Micah. And the word of the Lord came to Jonah. This coming of the word is called the calling of the prophets or calling of that person to the this office of being a prophet and this men were called as prophets when the word came to them. So it is possible to say that the incidents in the book of Jonah must have taken place before the incidents in 2 Kings chapter 14. Because Jonah was already a prophet in 2 Kings.
In the book of Jonah, we see a man who is reluctant to obey the Lord. But God doesn't give up on him. He prepares him to be a servant of the Lord. And in 2 Kings 14, verse 25, the narrator calls Jonah a servant of the Lord. and in second Kings chapter 14 verse 26 Israel was in bitter affliction and there was no helper for them but God comforted them by sending his word through Jonah no if we think that Jonah happened first and then second Kings happen later it could be a possibility if you think that God turned
a reluctant man into a useful prophet, a useful servant. The book of Jonah ends with Jonah receiving one of the most challenging and life transforming presentations of God’s compassion. And when, so when he eventually took up the work in Israel described in Second Kings chapter 14, Jonah must have been a very different man than the one who had gone to Nineveh. He had become a man who could present the compassionate heart of the living God to the people of Israel. The reluctant prophet has now become a useful servant to whom God later brought comfort to Israel. And who are these Ninevites, and Nineveh was, it’s
addressed here as a great city. It’s a great city and it was part of the Assyrian kingdom. It was one of the ancient cities as recorded in the Bible. Do you know who founded this city? Any guesses who founded this city? Oh Luke to our Lua, sorry, it’s in the book of Genesis. Nimrod, yes, the one who founded Babel also founded this great city, for of the ancient city. You’ll find that in
Genesis chapter 10 verse 11, right? By the time of Jonah this city had grown into a large city with, uh, inhabitants more than 120,000 people living there, and we see that in Jonah chapter 4 verse 11. Later through the word preached by Jonah we see that the entire city turned to the Lord in repentance. But it is one of the places in the Old Testament we see God reaching out to the Gentiles. Did they continue in faith after that? We are not sure what changes they had made in their worship. But hundred years after Jonah another prophet arose in the southern kingdom of Judah, his name was Nahum, was the prophet in Judah, and there was fear among the Jews concerning Assyria because they became so ferocious.
They’ve already, by the time of Nahum, they’ve already destroyed the northern kingdom, Israel. It became non-existent, right? And Nahum brings the word from the Lord to the people of Judah to comfort that Assyria will be destroyed. So their faith in the Lord did not last long, maybe a few decades. We don’t know.
But why did God send the word to Nineveh? Why? It’s not part of Israel. It’s a Gentile land. So why did God send word to Nineveh? During Jonah’s time, the Assyrian kingdom had not yet reached the size and power it would later display several decades later on the nation of Israel. But however the Empire was still dominant and the Assyrian kings were infamous for their violence and brutality, especially shown in their conquest of other nations. They were so wicked, they were so wicked. Look at verse 1, chapter 1 verse 2.
Jonah chapter 1 verse 2. It says that their wickedness has come up before me. Their wickedness has come up before the Lord. Their wickedness was so wicked that God wanted to destroy them. Where else do you find such phrases? Sorry? Sodom, right? 18 verse 20, we see there, and verse 21, the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I will go down now and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to me.”
So you may have a question. Why did God send the word to the people of Nineveh? God did not send any word to Sodom or Gomorrah, right? But God sent the word to Nineveh. To answer that question, we do not know. That's a plain answer, we don't know. But what we know from the scriptures is that God's heart for the nations is expressed in the Old Testament also. Look at the great commission given to Abraham. Genesis chapter 12 verse 1 till 3, you see there, now the Lord said to Abraham, “Go forth from your country and from your relatives
and from your father's house to the land which I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” All the families of the earth will be blessed. So what was the purpose of God sending plagues in Egypt?
Have you ever thought about? Look at Exodus chapter 9 verses 14 and 16. Verse 14. It says, “no one like me in all the earth.” God wanted to display his glory. And look at verse 16, “but indeed for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you my power and in order to proclaim my name through all the earth.” Then how about the Gentiles like Melchizedek, Jethro, Rahab, Ruth.
They embrace God of Israel. How about a few Psalms like Psalm 67, Psalm 96, or Psalm 117. Let us read a few verses from Psalm 96. I request one of you to read Psalm 96, verses 1 till 4. Psalm 96 verses 1 till 4.
Right. Right. So the psalmist repeatedly prays in different psalms that the Lord's name would be great in all the earth. And it also says that proclaim good tidings of his salvation from day to day. Tell us, tell of his glory among the nations. Right. So we see in the Bible that God. We see that God, we see God's heart for the nations. We see here that God is truly a missionary God. We try he reaching out to people, right, of all nations, and but why was Jonah reluctant to go? Didn't he know God's promise that he has made to Abraham?
For obvious reasons, Jonah disliked Assyria because of their wickedness. They were wicked people. And they were also a threat to this nation, Israel. And because of wickedness, Sodom and Gomorrah were completely destroyed. Maybe Jonah expected the same for Nineveh. He didn't like his appointment to preach the word to them. Though their sins may be as wicked as those of Sodom and Gomorrah, the people of Sodom had no prophetic messenger, but God required Jonah to warn the people of Nineveh.
Jonah may have perceived that the Lord wanted to fix them because he's sending him there. And which he didn't want for them. And Jonah's loyalty to Israel, he was a true nationalist, right? But Jonah's loyalty to Israel blinded him to God's broader redemptive purposes.
Look at verse 2. There are two commands there. “Arise, go to Nineveh.” In a way, this is so important. In the Hebrew literature, when two commandments are placed side by side, it speaks of urgency. It means to, it means to go immediately, urgently, but leave whatever you're doing, go. That's the, that's a word, it's a word of urgency. And Jonah should implicitly obey God's. A prophet of Yahweh was typically sent to Yahweh's own people, not to their enemies.
And probably Jonah didn't have time to contemplate all this. Look at verse 2, the last part of verse 2. It says, “their wickedness has come up before me.” For whatever reason, the wickedness was so great that God chose to act immediately. The wickedness here is moral in nature, it is evil in nature, it is evil. The word used there expresses the evilness. The wickedness has reached a crucial point, so God wants to send a warning to the city. And in chapter 3, when Jonah reluctantly obeys God and goes to the city, after the fish vomits him out, goes to the city, the inhabitants repent.
And God relents from his anger. And in chapter 4, verse 1, it says that, “But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry.” Jonah didn’t want them to repent. Jonah didn’t want them to repent. Look at chapter 4, and the last part of verse 1 says, Jonah even says that, he confesses these things, these truths of God, these attributes of God. Jonah says, Jonah knew that God is a gracious, compassionate God, slow to anger, abundant in loving-kindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. He knew this. That’s a reason he didn’t want to go there, because he goes there, he proclaims there, proclaims the word, what if they repent? Well
they should not repent, they should perish. That was the heart of, that was the disposition of Jonah. He knew if he declared the word of the Lord, if people repented, God would forgive them. He wanted those people to perish. In chapter 1, verse 3, “But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”
He went down to Joppa. “Found a ship, which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” I want you to make this observation here. “From the presence of the Lord” is repeated twice.
So Jonah didn’t board or board the wrong ship or wrong boat. He deliberately went in the opposite direction. It is, was deliberately walking in the opposite direction of God’s call. God was calling him to do something, but he deliberately chose to walk away from that call.
And do you know what the opposite direction means here? It is going away from the presence of the Lord. Do you remember Moses’ commission to go to Pharaoh in Exodus chapter 3? Do you know that? Moses was not ready to go to Pharaoh.
He must have hated Pharaoh and the Egyptians. You remember before he fled to the Midian, he killed a guy, right? And he fled from that place. He must have hated Egyptians because of the brutality towards Israelites. He must have hated Pharaoh. He may have expected God to do something for God's people.
He was not ready to go to Pharaoh, but he did not turn and run away. He contemplated with God. He expressed his fears. But here Jonah doesn't care. He heads straight in the opposite direction. And the narrator here calls it fleeing from the presence of the Lord. And how do we understand this phrase or this clause here? Fleeing from the presence of the Lord. Based on the confession, his confession in chapter 1 verse 9 and chapter 4 verse 2, Jonah knew who Yahweh is and that he could never flee. He knew that he could never flee from, flee out of his reach.
knew that. But we should understand this as fleeing from his call as a prophet. He didn’t want to obey God. He’s expressed, he’s expressing his unwillingness to serve God in this regard, God. Jonah, wanting to go to Tarshish, reaches Joppa, a seaport, and boards a small ship. The narrator repeats again, “from the presence of the Lord.” Jonah is running away from Yahweh’s command, and this emphasizes Jonah’s selfish ambitions which are contrary to God’s purposes. He prioritized his feelings over God has commissioned. He has prioritized his feelings, his fears, over what God
has commanded him. All boiled down to one question. What’s that question? Was he for the Lord or was he against the Lord? Was he for the Lord or against the Lord? Jonah must not have thought about all this, or he may have thought about this. We don’t know his contemplations. But instead of being captured by the word of the Lord, he was overwhelmed by his feelings. He was overwhelmed by his own fears and also his bitterness.
He forgot who he was. He forgot who he was for. Was he for the Lord or was he against the Lord? He was either obeying the Lord or disobeying the Lord. There's no middle ground. But Jonah chose to rebel against God. How about us?
Are we for the Lord or are we against the Lord? We must learn that there is no middle ground. We are either obeying God or disobeying God. Avoiding God’s commandments is active disobedience. Avoiding God’s commandments is active disobedience. We cannot compartmentalize our lives or hide any area from God’s Lordship.
When we attempt to create God-free zones, there are no God-free zones. But we attempt to do that, right? Sometimes in our careers, in our relationships, in choosing our life partners, whatever our ambitions. No, we deceive ourselves that we think that we are free to do however we like, whatever we like, in particular areas. You know, you think, you reason within yourself, “This is okay, this is okay. God is not really concerned about this area. It’s okay if I watch this kind of movie, God is not really bothered. It’s okay, you know, I can, if it is, you know, if it really pricks me, I can say sorry later.” We have all kinds of silly
foolish reasoning. There are no God-free zones in our lives. We cannot compartmentalize. God is God over all, over all our lives. True peace comes not from escaping from God’s presence but from aligning ourselves with His will, though His will is difficult to carry out, but His grace accompanies when we choose to obey Him.
And that grace is sufficient to move in the direction of pleasing God. Though there are difficulties, hardships, the grace is sufficient to sustain us in those difficult times. Sooner or later, disobedience to God will affect us. Often God’s commandments are not easy. They’re not easy. To preach the gospel to a stranger is not easy. Going to a difficult part of the world as a missionary is not easy. Are you avoiding sharing the gospel because it’s not easy? It is never going to be easy. Every time you share the gospel or you attempt to share the gospel, you will have your own fears. Those people who caused harm to you, are you willing to share the good news of the gospel with them? They betrayed you. Are you willing to share the gospel with them?
They caused you great harm. Are you willing to share gospel with them? Or are you filled with bitterness? Are you pessimistic about them? Do you want bad for them, right? Or are you desiring harm for them? God’s call to the church is to be His witnesses, and we are His witnesses in every place. We are commissioned to go to all nations, to all people groups. We must take the gospel, plant biblical churches, partner with like-minded churches to accomplish the Great Commission. We cannot be to ourselves, and also we should be willing to go to even to the difficult places, us even
to those people who hate us bitterly. In the early 1950s, man by the name Jim Elliot and four other missionaries with their families lived in Ecuador and were preparing to reach to a particular people group that’s called as Rani people group. And Jim and his four friends made many attempts to contact these people by flying over those places through an airplane and dropping gifts for them. After a few attempts, they thought they will build a small camp near a riverside and to reach out to the tribe. They landed at the riverside and were building a campsite. But however, all the men, all
these four men, all these five men were speared to death on January 8, 1956. Young people, Jim Elliot was only 28 years old when he died, was newly married. He had a, yeah, they had a toddler. And even another missionary along with Jim, Nate Saint is, he had a son, Steve Saint, who was a toddler. And Nate Saint had a sister, Rachel Saint, who was also living with other women.
And after all these men were killed, Jim’s wife, Elizabeth Elliot, and Nate’s sister, Rachel Saint, after a few days, they went and reached out to these tribes. They went there. They stayed there for a few years. Though Elizabeth Elliot moved back to the States, but Rachel Saint remained there.
She created a script for them. She compiled a dictionary for them. And later, even Nate Saint’s son, Steve Saint, went there, lived among them. They shared the gospel with them. Many people turned to the Lord. They could have been filled with bitterness, hurt because they caused much harm to them.
But they were motivated by God’s mercy towards unworthy people like them. They realized that they themselves were unworthy recipients of God’s mercy. Therefore, though these tribes are unworthy, undeserving, God’s mercy should be extended to them. Many times we tend to choose ministry opportunities based on comfort, safety, or the chance of success. The today’s young people are excited about ministry or, you know, what do you call, you know, social media ministry, stuff like that, which are so easy, comfortable, right?
And they think that we, you know, by doing that, they think that they have done a lot for the Lord by doing a podcast or, you know, writing a blog or something like that or doing something. They think that they are necessary. They are important.
That is not enough. Jonah was called to a mission that seemed dangerous, unlikely to succeed, and involved helping people would hurt him, kill him. And it involved helping people also on the Jonah side who, whom he didn’t want to bless. Still, this was exactly where God wanted him.
And this passage suggests that God’s servants don’t always get to pick their assignments or have their preferences on it. God wants us to be in difficult places at times. In the midst of difficult people. Surrounded by people who hate us. But even in those circumstances, we share God’s love with them.
It is the same with the church. Not everyone will like us. Not everyone will appreciate us. Not everyone will forgive us. Not everyone will bear with us. There are people who will quickly judge us, who will quickly put, no, avoid us. How do you assess your service within the church and your relationship within the church? Do you find yourself disliking a brother’s attitude or perhaps feeling offended by someone? How do you handle such situations? Do you believe it is best to avoid that individual? Or do you rationalize and convince yourself that giving them the shoulder is acceptable?
Do you think that they deserve such treatment? Are you reluctant like Jonah to seek their good and to pursue them with God’s grace and patience? When was the last time you prayed earnestly, whether for that bothersome, irritable brother or sister? The sight of him irritates you, frustrates you. But when was the last time you prayed for that person, that the Lord bless him with his grace, and with such praying, gentle attitude you reached out to him, to strengthen him, to build him up, or to build up her, build her up? When was the last time you did? Or when was the last time you avoided him or made a judgment about him and created a barrier between him or her and you? That’s so easy to do that, right? Easy
to avoid people. Easy to put a people at an arm’s distance and give a cold smile once in a while when you see them at a church gathering. “Hey brother, how are you doing? I hope everything is good.” You, that’s not what God wants us to do.
You cannot serve God’s kingdom by what you feel like doing. You cannot keep avoiding, hating people and still feel that you are serving God. You can’t serve however you like. God has given multiple one another commandments in the New Testament. Love one another, forgive one another, encourage one another, bear with one another, exhort one another, rebuke one another, confront with gentleness one another, see others as better and more worthy than yourselves, and there are many more one another commandments in the Bible. If you and I choose to serve not by these commandments, we are seeking to flee from the presence of the Lord like Jonah. We have made for ourselves our own standards. Oh, this person is too touchy, avoid him. Where does it say in the Bible to avoid it? Where does it say in the Bible to hate him who has caused of offense
to you? Where does the Bible say that? If you are choosing to avoid or to hate, to have bitterness in your heart, you are fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because we are not captivated, captured by the word of the Lord, and what, we are not living by the word of the Lord. So we are fleeing from the presence of the Lord. And to serve God’s church sacrificially and willingly, and to serve the world — it’s not easy to give away your preferences or your feelings for the sake of the Lord — is God’s commandment.
If God bids you to go to a difficult place to serve as his witness, you go as an act of obedience to God. Parting with your heart and money to give to the ministry, you know, is God’s commandment. Serving people sacrificially is God’s commandment.
Where are you? Are you for the Lord, or are you against the Lord? Are you walking in the direction of the Lord that the Lord has shown you in the word? Or are you carried away by your own feelings or own your own contemplations and fleeing from the presence of the Lord? I think it’s high time that we examine our motives, our hearts, and set ourselves right. Don’t take God’s grace, God’s word for granted. Don’t take that for granted.
Because we learn certain things about God in this passage. What do we learn about God from this passage? Firstly, God is a missionary God. He’s the one who initiates reaching out to the lost and fallen people. From the very beginnings in the forces of all of Adam, God reached out. God opened the eyes to see his mercies. God rescued what, and we see that from the very beginning. But God promised a Savior right after the fall in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. God called a pagan Abraham and promised him the seed to whom the nations would be blessed. Christ came into this world as the promised Savior. God took on the flesh, born of a virgin, sinless, and lived a sinless life. He was a sinless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of his people. Unlike Jonah, Jesus willingly went to
the most difficult place on the earth, on the entire earth. That place is a cross. Most difficult place, where all wickedness or evil of men would be laid on him. That sinless one suffered for the sinless, sinful people under God’s holy anger which was burning against us. God’s justice was satisfied because Jesus
Jesus, it was difficult, it was not easy, but God’s purposes was accomplished. Jesus died in our place and rose again from the dead to give us a new life, so that we would not live any longer for our own selves but for the one who died and rose again for our justification. If God, if God ever showed compassion to fallen humans, it was only because in, in the entire history of God has forgiven anyone, it’s only because in God’s plan, in God’s redemptive plan, there was cross. It was cross of Jesus Christ. In God’s redemptive plan, His justice will be satisfied through Christ’s
finished work. Secondly, we learn from the story of Jonah that God’s sovereignty is greater than the human reluctance. Disobedience to God has consequences. He will overcome our stubbornness through his great long-suffering, and through discipline he’ll bring us to the place of submission. That’s what he did in the life of Jonah. And thirdly, we must know that God’s purposes are unstoppable. The question is not whether God will accomplish his will. He will, he will accomplish. No one can thwart his plans or his purposes. The question is whether we will joyfully participate in his mission or be dragged, reluctant and resistant, to do what he has ordained. Do we serve, will be serving reluctantly, or we, do we
serve him willingly. But no matter of fears, failures, no matter what they are, we all have hope in Christ Jesus. His grace is sufficient. His grace is powerful than our weaknesses. His grace will help us overcome all the inhibitions, fears in our hearts, or even bitterness towards people. Our hope is in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. So let us be a people who trust God. Let us be a people who are captivated by God’s word, more than our feelings. Let us be a people who depend on him in prayer for grace so that we become his willing servants. Let’s pray.