Responding, Repenting, Relenting

Responding, Repenting, Relenting

What happens when God calls again? Jonah has run from God, been pursued by grace, rescued from the depths and given a second chance. Now the word of the Lord comes to him again: “Arise, go to Nineveh.” This time, Jonah responds. But the greatest surprise in Jonah 3 is not the prophet’s obedience. It is what God does through one reluctant and imperfect messenger. The people of Nineveh, from the least to the greatest, believe God, turn from their evil ways and cry out for mercy. And God relents. In this message, Matt Hadfield explores a chapter full of second chances, unlikely repentance and extraordinary mercy. We discover that God delights to use imperfect people to reach unlikely people, and that our ability, our capacity and even our past failures do not discount us from joining His mission. In this sermon: • Why God gives Jonah a second call • What true repentance looks like • The real miracle at the heart of Jonah • Why no one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy • How God uses imperfect people for His glory • Why obedience means trusting God with our safety, security and comfort • How Jonah points us to Jesus, the true and better missionary The Lord delights in pursuing stiff-necked people. He delights in second chances. He delights in saving unlikely people. And He delights in sending imperfect people to bless others. So go. Trust that God is already at work in the people and places He is calling you towards.

God Help Me!

Have you ever reached the end of yourself? Jonah has. After running from God's call, Jonah finds himself in the belly of a great fish. It's dark, hopeless and completely beyond his control. Yet it is there, in the depths, that Jonah discovers one of the greatest truths in the Bible: "Salvation belongs to the LORD." (Jonah 2:9) In this message we discover that before God works through His people, He often works deeply within them. Sometimes the storms and seasons we would never choose become God's school of grace, teaching us that His mercy reaches deeper than our failures. Whether you're weary, struggling, or simply wondering what God is doing in your life, Jonah 2 reminds us that God hears the cry of desperate sinners and delights to rescue those who call on Him. In this sermon: • Why God sometimes works on the messenger before the mission • What Jonah discovers about grace in the depths • The idols that keep us from experiencing God's mercy • Why "Salvation belongs to the LORD" is the heartbeat of Jonah • How Jonah points us to Jesus, the greater and better Jonah

Running from God

Jonah isn't primarily about a fish. It's about a relentlessly merciful God. When God calls Jonah to take His message to Nineveh, Jonah heads in the opposite direction. Yet even in Jonah's rebellion, God refuses to let him go. Through storms, pagan sailors and a great fish, we see that God's mercy is always moving towards people who are moving away from Him. In this opening sermon of our Jonah series, we discover: • Why mission begins with God, not us. • How comfort can quietly become an idol. • Why God's storms are often acts of mercy. • How Jesus is the true and better Jonah. • Why we can go with confidence, knowing God is already at work. Before Jonah ever reached Nineveh, God's mercy was already moving. And before we speak to our neighbours, friends and family, God's mercy is already moving there too.

Where Do You Boast?

After thirteen weeks of journeying through Paul's letter to the Galatians, we arrive at his final words, and they take us to the very heart of the Christian faith. Paul's conclusion is wonderfully simple: boast in nothing except the cross of Jesus Christ. In a world that tells us to build our identity on performance, success, reputation, or even our own religious efforts, the gospel invites us to find our confidence in Christ alone. In this sermon we explore: 📖 Why Paul takes the pen himself at the end of the letter ✝️ Why the cross stands at the centre of the Christian life ❤️ The subtle danger of legalism and self-righteousness 🌱 What it means to become a new creation in Christ 🙌 How the grace of God frees us from striving and leads us into joyful obedience As Martin Luther said of Galatians: ”This is the truth of the gospel... It is most necessary that we should know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually.” Our prayer is that this series has done exactly that, fixing our eyes once again on Jesus Christ, His finished work, and the freedom that belongs to all who trust in Him. ”But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 6:14)

The War We Feel

What do you do when you genuinely love Jesus… and yet still feel the pull of sin? In Galatians 5, Paul reminds us that the Christian life involves a real war between the flesh and the Spirit. But the struggle itself is not proof that God has abandoned you, it is often evidence that the Spirit is at work within you. In this sermon we explore: • The battle every believer feels • Why legalism and rebellion both lead back into slavery • What it means to “walk by the Spirit” • Mortification and vivification, putting sin to death and coming alive to God • The fruit the Spirit grows in those who abide in Jesus The Christian life is not about trying harder to earn God’s love. It's learning to live from the love already given to us in Christ.