The Call You Can't Ignore | Jonah 1

Sermon Guide for November 16, 2025

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How to Use This Guide:

These guides are designed to help you engage more deeply with my weekly sermon, regardless of your life stage. Use this guide to prepare your heart to receive God's Word before worship, or to reflect on God's Word the week following worship.

Parents, use the information in this guide (especially in the "Family Discussion Guide" section) to have meaningful conversations with your kids that nurture their faith and help them grow in God’s love.

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The Core Idea

We all get calls we’d rather avoid—from “spam” calls to people we’d rather not deal with. Jonah opens with the ultimate unwanted call: God asking his prophet to show grace to his worst enemies. Too often, we reduce Jonah’s story to a fun VBS tale about a big fish, but it’s a literary and theological masterpiece that speaks directly to our resistance to God’s call.

This sermon explores how we, like Jonah, try to swipe “decline” on God’s difficult, uncomfortable assignments. Two central questions guide us: How do we resist God’s call, and how does God respond when we do?

Sermon Outline

1. The Hard Call (Jonah 1:1–2): God asks us to do what collides with comfort, safety, or convenience.

2. Jonah's Disobedience & The Ship to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3–16): Our escape routes, the alternatives we choose, and the inevitable storms that follow.

3. The Father’s Compassion (Jonah 1:17): God uses the consequences of disobedience not to merely punish, but to redirect, rescue, and restore.

Key Insights for Deeper Understanding

1. Disobedience is a Downward Spiral. Jonah’s journey repeatedly goes “down”—to Joppa, to the boat, to the lowest part of the ship, and finally into the sea. This repetition isn't accidental. Sin and resistance drag us downward—from peace, joy, and purpose into isolation and restlessness.

2. Storms Are Rescue, Not Mere Punishment. For believers, Christ has absorbed the punishment for sin (Romans 8:1). The storms that arise when we run are God saying, “I love you too much to let you continue this way.” Hardship can be loving, fatherly discipline (Hebrews 12:7ff) meant to awaken, redirect, and restore us.

3. The Gospel Reverses Jonah’s Run. Jonah went into the depths because of his disobedience. Jesus went into the depths for ours (Matthew 12:40). Through Him, we can obey without fear of condemnation.

This Week's Reflections & Practices

Identify Your Nineveh & Tarshish

• What hard call is God placing before you right now?

• What “Tarshish” escape are you tempted to take?

Wake Up from Spiritual Sleep

• Where are you “comfortably resting” in disobedience?

• What storms in your life might be God’s loving wake-up call? Spend time in prayer, asking God to show you.

Practice Repentance as Redirection

• Take one tangible step this week to turn away from your Tarshish and toward God.

• Examples: Send a message of reconciliation, surrender a worry to God, serve in a difficult area.

Family Discussion Guide

Step 1: Read Together

• Read Jonah 1:1–17

• Optional: Listen to or act out the story to make it engaging.

Step 2: Talk About It

Use these questions to guide conversation:

• The Call

  • Jonah got a call from God he didn’t want to answer.

  • Question: Have you ever been asked to do something hard or uncomfortable? How did it feel?

• The Escape

  • Jonah tried to run away on a ship to Tarshish.

  • Question: What are some ways we try to “run” from God’s calls in our lives?

• The Storms

  • A big storm came when Jonah ran.

  • Question: What “storms” (problems, stress, conflict) might happen when we try to avoid what God asks?

• God’s Compassion

  • God used the storm and the fish to redirect Jonah.

  • Question: How does knowing that God can use challenges to teach, guide, and shape us change the way you respond to hard things?

Step 3: Take Action Together

• Identify one “hard call” in your family life this week (helping a sibling, apologizing, sharing, or serving).

• Choose a small step toward it. Example: Say sorry, help without being asked, or pray for someone you find hard to love.

Step 4: Wrap Up in Prayer

• Thank God for his love and guidance.

• Ask him to help your family listen and obey even when the call is hard.

• Pray for courage to turn toward God instead of running away.