 Tonight's message is going to be simple because you already said that I can be who I am and I will tell you right now I will kind of give you the kind of the caution I am not that intelligent and I know some of you I've met some of you already in past multiple times as a matter of fact this is not my first rodeo as some would say and yet I'm awful with names and so if I point then you're going to have to be okay with that because I barely passed high school it's just the way it is also my my mission in in life has always been something of extreme some would call a reckless I just call it obedient because it's not about me questioning God what he has called me to do and again it's not to become popular and all that I think I have like 1400 friends on Facebook and I'm really truly friends with maybe a hundred of them so it doesn't matter and so I believe God has a word for you tonight and we're actually going to be going in a book that God has really just set it in my heart and we're going to go through an entire book in the Bible tonight is not amazing are you are you ready it's it's starts with J Jonah and so some of you are getting worried because John's a big one Lisa wasn't you know Leviticus or Deuteronomy we could have done it I did Deuteronomy once and I think there was three people at the end of that service that were left over everybody else was at Applebee's but no we're going to be talking about Jonah and and I really want to spend the time tonight in chapter three of four there's only four chapters I know some of you are really worried but there are only four chapters and most of them only have 10 verses in them but this is really about a story about a man named Jonah that had a calling on his life and it was very evident in fact God had specifically asked him and called him to go to a place called Nineveh which not to take too much time in the historic value of this place but Nineveh was kind of a city suburb of Assyria which ultimately was a lot of heathens or pagans and ultimately was the birthing place of what was later to be known as Babylon now this is important because even though we are in the book of Jonah and we'll reference Jonah we're not talking about Jonah tonight we're actually talking about a king an unnamed king that is later on in this story in chapter three so chapter one goes something like this God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh to basically not make friends with them come on but to go there and say hey in 40 days God is going to kill all of you have a good day and then that's it how many of you would run to that kind of calling to go into a city you've never been before with people that don't speak your kind of language to tell them not so good news that God is going to kill them not spank them not teach them a lesson or even give them punishment that would be good come on but to just kill all of them not very exciting and so Jonah like some of you probably me at least and can I just tell you if there's some of you and I believe that there are there's some of you that are struggling tonight with a sin in your life and you're worried that well I'm disqualified or I feel kind of left out I really felt that tonight during worship can I just tell you that I sinned better than you can I do can I just go ahead and say that I try I really do not try to sin but I sin very well and I'm just telling you that because here I am what the enemy would try to do in the mind games and in the heart games the truth of the matter is I give it to the Lord every day because the best thing I could do is die to myself you see the enemy comes to kill steal and destroy but if I let God allow me to die first then he's already lost that power over me amen come on you see there's times where if we just stop and say I die to myself today the enemy has no ability over you anymore because there's nothing to kill because you're already dead amen come on did you catch that it's already a done deal when you say Lord what I wanted to do today I die to that I give it to you in that moment the enemy has lost his ability to get a foothold on you or a stronghold on you because there's nothing to hold on to anymore you're already to the Lord amen so anyways Jonah goes and he runs the other way the bible says the opposite direction of some translations would say I find it interesting that not only do we dodge our calling but we literally will run the other way some of you you will know what God's calling you to just look in the opposite direction amen and so he went to the docks the kind of ocean side and he went on a boat that was headed to a place called tarsus and it was full of people that were not believers in the Lord but instead they were believers in in their own doing their own vices their own pagan religions and so on and so forth and so as they set sail to tarsus they find themselves in a huge storm and everyone is screaming crying out they're making sacrifices trying to figure out what can we do they're doing things and hear this they're doing things in the natural they're throwing things off the boat trying to lighten the load and then they're trying to do things and what they think is the supernatural they're casting lots trying to figure out what is the reason for all this why are we gonna die and so then they go look for Jonah and the bible says that Jonah is sleeping on the boat now we see this one other time in the bible where there's a huge storm and someone is sleeping on the boat and his name was Jesus and I found that God was beginning to speak to me on why this is you see Jonah has seen God do miracles Jonah does not get caught up in those types of things storms and and and huge things because Jonah deep down he knew that there was a call on his life and so God was carrying him but everybody else is not used to the Lord you see at times in your life storms may rise up and I see this all the time I see at times pastors leaders and everyone in between a storm will hit your life and quickly you will find yourself crying out to all kinds of things you will try to lighten the load of your life in the physical and the natural you'll you'll start trying to make changes right you'll try to you're gonna start seeing other people because you're awful at relationships come on you're gonna start watching different I'm gonna stop watching scary movies because I think scary movies is what I'm having those kinds of dreams I'm gonna start doing different things with my money I'm gonna start doing things that I hear this I have control over I have control over or maybe you'll start doing supernatural things you'll start asking all kinds of people my wife and I were scanning through the TV the other day and TV is often a waste of time but we found ourselves scanning through TV and these people were talking to a psychic about what they should do with their future hear this they were putting their future in the hands of a person not God and asking them what they should do in the supernatural when the truth of the matter is they have no idea they're just guessing and sometimes you need to take a seat back and allow God to be who he really is sometimes you need to take a back seat and say God you're already running the ship I have a destiny I may be on the wrong course but it's all gonna turn around and so finally they wake up Jonah and ask him what he's doing and he said I was dreaming I was taking a nap and so they they figure out that it was his fall and they ask him who are you where are you from what do you believe what God do you serve and Jonah said well I'm actually uh I follow the Lord and this is all because of me just cast me over the boat this is still chapter one just cast me over the boat and this will all go away you know what I find interesting though that even in even when that was the simple answer all they had to do was cast Jonah over the boat and all would go away they wouldn't do it isn't it interesting at times when people in the church fail the church is quick to kick them out the boat to make it all just go away but even the heathens wanted to save him did you hear that the church is quick to oh yeah let's kick him out the boat that'll be a lot easier what does get rid of the problem and all this will go away but the truth of the matter is even the heathens wanted to save him so the bible says they continued to try to lighten the boat they tried to steer course and try to do what they could but at the end it proved to no avail and so they tossed him over the boat to his death you see Jonah was quick to say I'll just die because you're not going to live through something like that I don't know if you've ever been in a storm before it's awful people are throwing up people are passing out I went fishing out into the ocean one time and and it was not a storm it was simply just waves come on I'm talking the waves that you see out here in the river kind of waves it was not bad and people are throwing up there was a there was two brothers they were twins they're about 14 years old they turned to each other and throw up on each other like it was crazy and I'm looking around like what is going on did they drink some of the water I don't know what's happening one guy is literally praying in the corner of the boat and me I'm just drinking water like it's it's no big deal I'm I'm eating a sandwich it's okay and they're dying right it wasn't one of those kind of storms it was a raging storm where the sailors were thinking they're all going to die this is over and so in chapter two we see almost a poetic tale Jonah gets swallowed by big fish ordained by the Lord it wasn't an accident ordained by the Lord and for three days while he was in the fish the Bible says that he had a conversation with God and as he was talking with God he was recounting how he was sinking to the depths of the ocean even to the point where the seaweed was engulfing him it was wrapping him up come on that's the bottom of the ocean and yet he called out to the Lord and God spared him sent him an unnormal everybody say unnormal an unnormal happening to save him and at times we often look for something normal to happen in our lives we need something to occur in our lives that makes sense so we can explain it away often my prayer is God let the unexplainable happen because then it's not up to me you see if it's unexplainable then I had nothing to do with it if I can explain it then it's possible I had something to do with it you see I love testimonies that are unexplainable I love it when someone can't swallow and now they can swallow I love it when someone has asthma for years and then just a moment of prayer they can run around and they've never touched an inhaler since for years I remember there was a time where we had a girl in youth ministry her knee had been blown out because her sister was with a golf club on accident and it blew out her entire knee Casey was there so he'll keep me honest here blew out her entire knee they replaced it with plastic but in doing so she could not have a full range of motion in fact she could never jump again and even in standing in long periods of time it would be it would hurt her so she often had to sit down during worship you see the enemy would try to steal your worship you would try to steal your praise and not for maybe the obvious reasons we think that often worship is about us that's why it's the most fought over thing in church but I I challenge your thinking worship and praises often the thing that severs a church because it's the very thing that the Lord has seated upon you see the bible says that he is seated on the praises of his people and where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom there is liberty and see the moment you get rid of your opinions and you say this is for him in that moment there is freedom and there is liberty not just for some but for all not just for the ones that are participating but for all we see that with Paul and Silas is there in jail or a cage and they begin to praise the Lord not we're not just where they set free but the bible says that all captors were set free and in that moment the prison guard was a ready to kill himself thinking it was his fault but I'm telling you it's somebody else's fault it's going to be his fault the Lord's that you become free tonight I believe that I'm a fan of praise and worship it's worth fighting for amen and so in chapter two Jonah is talking about this and how the Lord has rescued him and I don't know about you has anybody ever touched a fish before it doesn't smell like roses my wife loves that I fish and she hates that I fish I love the fish I catch fish all the time I was just up in Alaska this last summer and and we caught all kinds of fish it was incredible but then I came home smelling like fish and even with that I've never been in a fish I don't know if I would praise the Lord for being inside of a fish with all the things that that fish is eating come on think about it for a moment this is not something worth praising the Lord over and yet it's better than the death that he thought he was going to have and so in chapter three this fish spits him up on the land and this is where we are and so I'll read this out loud if I may I'm almost done and we're going to allow God to do what he will do verse one then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time get up and go to the great city of Nineveh and deliver the message I have given you remember the the really good news hey you're all going to die in 40 days that one this time Jonah this time Jonah obeyed the Lord's command and went to Nineveh a city so large it was about 120,000 people that it took three days to see it all kind of like New York on the day Jonah entered the city he shouted to the crowds 40 days from now Nineveh will be destroyed that's kind of one of those moments where you just after you say it you're like hmm there could have been a better way to that's the message I would whisper the Bible says he shouted it but I think I would whisper it or maybe send a text message maybe do a Facebook blast like as it kind of makes its way into the rounds it's okay the people of Nineveh believe God's message and from the from the greatest to the least catch this they declared a fast and put a burlap and put on burlap to show their sorrow when the king an unknown king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes he dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes then the king and his noble sent this decree throughout the city no one not even the animals from your herds and flocks may eat or drink anything at all people and animals alike must wear garments of mourning and everyone must pray earnestly to seek God they must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence who can tell perhaps even yet God this is important will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us we'll stop there for time but listen to this I find it interesting that sometimes even the greatest of leaders are kind of the last ones to do something great did you kind of catch how this story fell into line the Bible says that people from the greatest to the least did it before the king even did leaders can I just be bold with you because you already said I could be because like that's how that's who I am you already gave me permission it's your fault not mine don't be the last one to respond don't wait on your throne of importance and your throne of opportunity and your throne of entitlement your your throne of abilities and all these things do not be the last one to respond to what God is doing in your midst don't do that even the least of those people were before the king but nonetheless the king did get the memo the bible says that the king stepped down from his throne I find it even in Christianity how many thrones we build we do at one time I was I found myself struggling with the throne of entitlement I was at youth ministry in enum claw and when brandy my wife and I had got there there was 20 people 20 people that's it and most people would say well that's small and and for me I thought well that's a lot of room for growth man we got all kinds of room to grow that's great you see for me I I've always been given the gift and the curse of seeing past the the obvious I look past obvious all the time and that's not always good I'm just telling you I know it sounds motivating right now but it gets you in a lot of trouble and so I found myself looking at these 20 people and I just started believing for more and after a few short months we went from 20 to 100 just in a few short months and it's not because we were doing cool things we were doing cool things but it wasn't to become cool we were doing because we were reaching people that need to be reached and that was it we were preaching Jesus we were showing Holy Spirit we were there in in in the midst of a world that did not know better and I still held on to God but then as the next year came across we were over 200 250 250 students every week not on a special night but every week showing up calling out to the Lord we had prayer services of over 100 people just praying junior highers not high schoolers not parents junior hires having their parents drop them off when are you going to be done I don't know I'll text you we may be here all night I don't know junior hires gripping an altar calling out to the Lord I didn't teach any of them how to do that and I found myself sitting on a chair tweeting about it taking pictures of people before me doing something before me and I was sitting on a throne of entitlement I was sitting on a throne of achievement you see we have got to allow ourselves to come down our throne and this is what's interesting about the king Bible says he took off his royal robes he took off the very thing that defined him to be who he was so now not only is he coming off the throne he is letting go of the garments that if he went anywhere in the city people would say that's the king he's a somebody he is he is the one that rules overall he's taken this off now then he puts burlap on a sign of mourning and then catch this the Bible says that he didn't cover himself with ashes because that's what you should do to mourn the Bible says that he sat down on ashes and this is different to sit down on ashes to symbolize here I am as a sacrifice positioning myself to be sacrificed and the words that he said was this you will all do this even the animals this city will become a sacrificial city and who knows maybe God will spare us isn't it amazing how quickly a heathen can have so much faith when he positions positions himself differently you see tonight I believe that we have to reposition ourselves I have been praying for this for this evening for a while now as soon as pastor and I came to a conclusion that I could come I I've been praying God what what can I do with what can I do with what you've put in my heart what can I bring here and I thought it was going to be really funny right because at times I have been guilty of being a class clown it's kind of the reason I didn't do very well in school I was more concerned with making everybody happy you know and making everybody laugh and everybody like me and all of that I played sports and did all that too but I was more concerned with being popular and and I found that tonight I had to reposition myself so that you may reposition yourself as well and so tonight the tone is very much different you see we could talk about Jonah and how he was willing to sacrifice himself but I find it to be a greater sacrifice for someone that didn't know God he did his own thing he had his own methods he he had his own way of life and many of us do don't we we go to work at the same time we grab that Starbucks or Dutch brothers or whatever we go whatever our vices or we make our tea we have our order of things do we not come on do we not for some of us that have facebook we get on facebook for a good hour it's devotion time we want to see what's going on in the world so we know how to pray better amen we get on twitter we make sure we instagram at least five pictures on the way to work because that that sunset or that sunrise is different so we're going to take that same come on instagram all over that same dumb bird in the lake we're going to take a picture of them again we have our method of doing things we come to church and we have the place where we always sit there's certain ways we like to worship we we only worship a certain way because that's how that's how i am i mean it you know it's uh i'm only comfortable with doing a certain way of expressing my myself to the lord but but see when you realize that your life is no longer your own did you hear me when you realize that your life is no longer your own and you are yet but just a sacrifice to the lord then you will begin to worship differently and i'm not saying that you have to get louder i don't hear that loud is for the seahawks loud is for birthdays and celebrations that's loud that's what you save loud for i'm talking about worship where it doesn't matter what they think it doesn't matter what he thinks or he thinks it doesn't matter what i think it matters what he thinks it matters if you brought something appropriate for him because i'm convinced that we're more concerned with bringing something appropriate for us come on we don't want to sing too loud because the chance is all we're not very good at singing we're not as good as everybody up here so we're going to keep it down because we don't want to scare everybody off one of my favorite things in youth ministry is i remember uh for a testimony could i actually have you come up to the piano would you mind doing that for me um his name is russell really good friend of mine he might be one of the the greatest men on this planet today and he's not even a pastor can you imagine you should have him sometime he would say no because he'd be embarrassed and he'd be too humble but he's incredible and he struggled with severe asthma in fact it was so bad that uh he would carry shots and he would carry uh he would take breath like the the breathers all the time all the time and it would be so bad that he would worship for one song he'd have to sit down for the rest or he would just stand there couldn't sing out to the lord couldn't do anything and uh and so we're praying for people and he comes up and this is not how he is he is selfless in so many ways he will pray for everybody else and he'll never ask for prayer but he really felt like god was speaking to him that night and said that this was his night so he came up and he told me i didn't even know that he had this i thought he just sat down because he was praying or something you know something really spiritual but he was sitting down because he feared for his life because the last time that he lost his breath he went to the hospital he almost died and so he looked at me he said i have severe asthma and i had never noticed this but as he was telling me i realized he never played any sports with us he never would run around he never would do anything and he always had that that uh breather with him always and i just never i just never put it together because i'm not that smart remember we've talked about this and with tears in his eyes he comes up and it must have been the lord because again he wouldn't have done it he said i think this is my night i'd like for you to pray for me so i walked up and again i i never took school on how to pray for people the best thing i was taught is that you grab them so they can't run away and you pray as fast as you can before they get stronger than you so i put my hand on his shoulder and i said jesus he wants to worship you and there's something in the way of that fix it that's it just fix it and he looks at me and you'd have to know russell to know what i'm saying but he looked at me and his eyes got really big and he's like something's happening something's happening and everybody's looking at him like because everyone at this church knew him they knew him since he was pee-wee okay and he is really tall now he'd look really weird here he's really tall i feel tall which is a great feeling but he's really tall and i said well russell prove it prove that god did something he runs through the doors and he starts doing laps outside in the parking lot i mean he's like running as fast as he can and i run over to the door trying to catch him like come back in and he is singing out to the lord i can't even sing while i'm running come on and i don't have asthma and he is singing out to the lord you see i'm convinced that when you reposition yourself to worship god the things change things will change in the physical god designed you from head to toe the bible says that he knit you together in your mother's womb he knew you before you were even between your parents come on plans that he had for you plans of a purpose in a future to further you in his kingdom amen he knows you so the things you struggle with in the natural again it is nothing to an almighty god and yet i feel at times that we hold back our worship for all kinds of reasons maybe you're disqualified tonight maybe your sin has blinded you to the greatness of god because i believe that i believe there are some in here you are wounded deeply by sin that you've allowed to put you on your own throne tonight with heads bowed and eyes closed all across this room i don't do this because the holy spirit walks through the side door i do this so it's a focus see this is the part where i start to disappear i get out of the way i used to get in the way past the flat i did another thing i forgot to tell you before we started is that i'm really aggressive when it comes to the moments like this i fight for you even though you don't want to be fought for i can take a really long time on one thing that god wants to do it's always amazing how many people actually respond i have great endurance and stamina in moments like this but tonight your sin has crippled you i will leave it at that for those of you that that is not the case i ask for you to pray because we're asking someone crippled to move so we need prayer to make something supernatural happen in moments like this your sin has crippled you and leaders listen if a king can come off their throne then so can you this is not a place of condemnation but this is a place of grace a place of power a place where god reigns come on where the holy spirit will move in confidence and comfort that's you tonight would you simply stand where you are come on don't wait don't look around heads bowed and eyes closed your sin is crippling you that's you you don't have to wait anymore you don't have to look elsewhere you don't have to wait for the next time and i understand that you're crippled keep praying everybody don't grow tired in doing something good your sin is crippling you as you're still praying i feel like the lord would say this your frustration with how things run here is what stops you from worshiping him in here there are some of you that you're frustrated it is crippling you and worshiping there's others of you your frustration and your brother is what cripples you there's others of you the things that those people do not see is what cripples you we're not here to embarrass i'm not going to ask you to come up and talk about it because i believe what's being said is already what's said come on keep praying you want to see a city of 120 000 change you've got to get some people off your thrones you've got to come off your thrones i think there are more than that in leadership in leadership with everybody that's standing standing everybody else look at me really quick sometimes the worst sins are not the current but the past they're the ones that keep coming up like i failed then the problem is that you keep reliving them you keep dragging them along in your life it's like roadkill is everybody know roadkill is it's an animal that's dead on the side of the road it already got hit the problem is we carry that around at times when i was younger i did this and you keep carrying it and it's become a part of your identity it will blind you come on it will dismantle your worship so we've got to get through this before we can go anywhere else so tonight that's you things in your past come on you stand right now in confidence you stand in confidence you don't have to wait for anybody come on don't make me get the teeth out now see in the south they say don't make me walk over there and slap you i would have loved to have seen somebody do it but nobody did anybody else