Jonah.

Yes, the man who fled from God and ended up in a big fish.
The theme of my church is "to follow Christ" and so today Pastor Andrew spoke about this in the book of Jonah. 

Following = "realizing what you are and running from that and learning to imitate who God is."

So in the book of Jonah, God initiates and Jonah responds. That's high-level overview of the book. In v.1, "...the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai..." Here we see that God initiated and told Jonah to go to Nineveh. However, we see that in v. 3 "Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD." Away from the presence of the LORD (Yahweh). How do we even know that God's presence was there? God's presence is His word. When His word is spoken, God is there (sooo interesting!!). So what does it mean by fleeing from the presence of the LORD? For example, when you have a disagreement with someone (or arguing/in a heated argument), you're so mad that you just want to leave that person's presence. You don't want to be in the same room as him/her. And this is what Jonah did. So chapter 1 is all about "Running from God". When Jonah hops onto a ship that is going to other direction of Nineveh, God (initiates) hurls a great wind upon the sea (Jonah 1:4). We see that the marines were afraid and cried to their own gods (v.5). But what do we read? We read that Jonah was fast asleep. What does this show about him? That he is selfish and does not care about the mariners - this is what happens when we are so intent in escaping from God. Which is why in v.6, the captain said to Jonah, "What do you  mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god!..." So we can see that Jonah was a selfish person in that when the word of the LORD came to him, he refused to obey and listen and fled from the LORD's presence. All he cared about is get away, as far as he can so that he would not have to go to Nineveh to tell them to repent from their sins. This is interesting because we are all selfish. Humans are selfish beings and we have fled from God/refused Him before. But you know what, God still used Jonah in his rebellion to save people. "Therefore they [the mariners] 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." (Jonah 1:14-16). Waaaah, praise God! God is so good! His love, mercy, compassion and grace are ever overflowing!!! Even in our rebellion, God will still use you in the circumstances for His good. 

So this is chapter 1. Haha, it's funny because I miss Pastor Andrew speaking. It's been 4 years and thinking back, I was so immature back then and now we've all grown so much! So I am very thankful :) Hahaha, praise God!

Since we were tight in time, this Part I session had to end early (due to an induction service) but here is a summary he provided the congregation:

4 R's
Running from God - Chapter 1
Running to God - Chapter 2
Running with God - Chapter 3
Running against God - Chapter 4

Take-away points
1. God's word = God's truth to us = gospel  = goodness (nothing else can save you).
2. Jonah did not want to follow God. We know what we are doing (it is planned out) when fleeing from God. Therefore, no excuses!
3. When fleeing from the word that comes from the LORD, we run away from His presence.

Application
1. Surrender to God's will
2. Following Him is not natural (tendency to rebel and flee from Him)
3. We have comfort because God's sovereign hand will lead us in His direction
4. God will never leave us or forsake us. It is all His grace to bring us to Him. 
 

LESSON: To realize your selfishness, turn from it and imitate God's compassion.
Is this descriptive of my life?

:) Part 2 next week = more writing! :D :D :D
Praise God!