Notes in raw form from Regeneration's Sunday service (1/19/09)

-------------------------------

Jonah 2 - God to Fishy "Pick up Jonah and remember don't chew. I've got plans for him." Approach our doubts in a thoughtful way... "Thank you for being a skeptic." The point of Jonah isn't the fish. It would take a miracle for this story to happen.

1:3 - Jonah gets down into the lower depths of the boat. Later in the chapter he's thrown overboard. For an Isrealite that's the lowest you can go... it's death... He doesn't pray about going to Tarshish... He's not talking to God anymore. No longer praying. Finally begins praying awhen he ends up in the fish...

We have so many other things to do that we forget to pray... too many distractions... we don't have to face reality. God brings Jonah to the lowest depths to get his attention.

Chapter 2 - At this point the story changes. To the jews this is the lowest you can go. In Pslams if I made my bed in hell, you are there... God will help you no matter. He understands that when you are at rock bottom and have no where else to go...he's there...

Third day is always the big day in biblical stories. Jonah was vomitted onto the shore... projectile sort of vomitting. This story falls under comedy.

Chapter 1's funny events... Jonah is Charlie Chaplin.. he runs the other direction, pagan man of god encourages him to pray, thrown overboard, God appoints a fish (Nemo to the rescue) to save him... But then the story chnages... We see GOd is great. We find stiff necked people to not be that difficult for God. The things we see as grave and serious are not beyond God.

2 kings 14 35 - Jonah from Gathipticure (sp?) near Nazerath...

Jonah means Dove... Jesus also descended into the water... He was also in the "belly"

Jonah is a foretaste to Jesus... sorrow, death, etc loses... Love wins. There's no low that GOd can't save you from.

Art in the catacombs - who is found the most in the OT? Jonah second most. Lazarus is the first. There is no death for the Christian. The third day is coming... Jonah is a "holy comic book... death has no sting...death has no power... it's the door to the rest of our lives..."

What do we do when we hit rock bottom? Pray.

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2 He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD." And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jesus comes and says, "I will meet you at your lowest point... there is a third day..."