Depths of Mercy

Welcome to a brand new and exciting series, Jonah.

For many, the Book of Jonah is nothing else but a simple children’s story.

Admit it. When we hear the word “Jonah”, the first thing we think of is “Whale”. (Note: The Bible does not say whale. It was a mistake of the translator of the King James Version.)

Here’s the truth. The Book of Jonah is one of the most sophisticated, complex, intricate writings in all of the Scriptures, jampacked in one-and-a-half pages, crafted by a brilliant Jewish author some 2400 years ago.

Sadly, people don’t see the profundity of Jonah.

By learning how to read Jonah, you’ll learn how to read the Bible the way Jesus read His Bible. 

The key message: God is more loving than you think He is.

This is Talk 2 of the Feast Talk series for May titled Depths of Mercy — a five-week journey and study of the life of this Old Testament character by the name of Jonah. Jonah who ran away from God’s calling.

Talk 2, titled Sleeping on Stormy Seas is special. It has two big messages:

First, See Him in the storm.

Second, God loves them more than you do.

We are now in Talk 3 of our Feast series Depths of Mercy.

Titled In the Belly of the Beast, Talk 3 centres on the key message There are blessings at the bottom.

People have known this a long time ago.

In the 14^th century, Italian poet Dante Alighieri wrote The Divine Comedy, and in his masterpiece, he said, “The path to paradise begins in hell.”

Meaning? Sometimes, a person needs to hit rock bottom before he can even start climbing out of his pit. He needs to be brought to a place where he has no alternatives. Once there, he realizes his pride vanishes, his stubbornness evaporates, his deafness is healed, and for the first time in a long while, he starts listening.

We are now in Talk 4 of our Feast Talk series, Depths of Mercy – about how Jonah tries to disobey God, but God mercifully gives Jonah a second chance to change his ways.

Jonah is fueled by impure motives, relating to God with passive-aggressive obedience. But aren’t we all complex? This is why Jonah is so real and relatable.

But the Book of Jonah not just spotlights the flawed character of Jonah but the mind-blowing character of God as well.

This is the focus of Talk 4, titled Reluctant Preaching vs. Repentant People.

The key message: God can turn your bad into good.

Talk 5 is our last talk in Jonah.

Titled When God’s Goodness Doesn’t Feel Good, Talk 5 is based on the experience of the prophet Jonah not feeling good about God’s mercy and goodness to the Ninevites whom Jonah and his fellow Israelites regarded as enemies.

The key message: God is good to people you don’t like.