A Fish Story or a Man story or a God story?

Grace Church Roseville will be taking on a well known true story with some important implications when we start "Jonah". This 3 week series will kick off on September 30th and is open to anyone and everyone.

Many people view Jonah as a story about a whale. And actually the Bible never says it's a whale, but that's another story. But what's interesting is that while the great fish plays an important part in the story, it's not the main character. You see, sometimes people put Jonah in the same category as Moby Dick and often confuse the details. There is no harpooning in Jonah and besides some fish throw up--no fish dies in this story. Yes the fish is amazing, amazing enough to house a living man for 3 days but that's not what's most amazing about this story.

Other people view this story as a story about a man. That makes complete sense, since the title is "Jonah". He's a guy, a religious guy, a prophet of God to be exact. He like many of his countrymen hate these people called the Ninevites. And from my perspective, and the perspective of history, no one should blame them. These were evil, evil people--the terrorists of the ancient world who were brutal to men, women and yes, even children. There was abuse, decapitation, murder and some of the vilest acts recorded in history. So when Jonah was called by God to preach to these wicked people, he didn't want to go. Less out of fear for his life, more out of fear that they might get grace and forgiveness and they were less than deserving. The story of Jonah explores the journey of a man called by God to do the unthinkable and it teaches us a lot about the heart of man and the issues we all face. This will be a fascinating adventure for all of us.

And while we can make a case for the fish, and an even better case for Jonah -- I think this story is a story about God. You see we learn a lot about the heart of God from this simple 4 chapter story in the Old Testament. We learn about second chances and we learn just how far the compassion and love of God reaches. And once we see just what God will do for people and once we see just what God will do for one person --- well, let's just say it will challenge many preconceptions and call us to reevaluate life through a different lens.

I hope you'll join us for this eye-opening fish story, man story, God story that could just change your life! See you at Grace Church Roseville September 30, October 7 and October 14th. Don't miss this.