Colossians 3:16-17

16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

“Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.”

• The Word in us
  • Word of Christ refers to the word to Christs teachings
  • Dwell – to be at home. Like when someone says “make yourself at home”.
    • visitor vs family
  • Richly – abundance. more than you need to survive
  • Have the teachings of Christ in you.
  • When the teachings of Christ are missing – humanity feels a soul craving that it trys to fill with nonsense
• Share the Word
  • Teaching – sharing what you are getting – after service!
  • Admonishing – has to do with duty. we owe our brothers and sisters
• Praise God
  • And sing, sing your hearts out to God!
  • Taking in the teachings of Christ then sharing the teachings of Christ with each other – Praise should be the immediate result

Colossians 3:17

Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

• Don’t act or speak unless you have the teachings of Jesus dwelling richly in your life.
• Your mouth and your actions can hurt more than help.

Have you ever felt hopeless in a situation? It’s fight or flight? Have you ever run away? Why do people run from God? Why do people hide? Is it some sort of fear? Maybe pride. Maybe nervousness about the unknown. We’re continuing our Can’t Cancel Hope series where we look at people in the Bible who were in dark, hidden, isolated, places… far from hope. Today we are looking at Jonah. He went from the belly of a boat, to the belly of a fish, all because he ran from God.

Are you running from God in any part of your life? 

Follow along here:

Jonah 1:3-16

3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. 

Running from God 

…..is hearing and intentionally not doing.

What happens when we run from God?

1 – It will cost you.

2 – Bring harm to you and others

3 – Favor Follows

Finding Hope When Feeling Lost – Faith Check

9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

** If we have faith that God is the creator of the water and the creator of land…

… Then He is the creator of where we are at and the creator of where we are headed.

** We find Hope by proclaiming Jesus is the author of my situation, and He is writing the chapter

!! He is just waiting on me to start moving forward !!

17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

1 – God will Provide

God will resource you. You have all that you need right now. Focus on what you can do now, not what you can’t do. Take actions on what you can do, then pray for God to show up on the rest.

2 – Supernatural Positioning

The fish was not punishment. The fish was actually supernatural positioning. The hardest things in your life right now, become the foundation of where you are headed. 

Your faith is being stretched. Your hope is growing. 

3 – Heart Change

Jonah 2:8-9

“Those who cling to worthless idols

   turn away from God’s love for them.

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.’”

10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Did you catch it? Jonah praised and proclaimed – WHO God is and WHAT God does, before he experienced it.

Your next steps today – Take inventory. Write out how Jesus has provided for you.