Cornerstone Blog

“The Second Chance” (Mercy Upon Mercy)

Scripture: Jonah 3:1-3

Sermon Summary 

What do you call it when somebody gives a person a second chance who doesn’t deserve it? Foolish? Absurd? Illogical? God has another name for it. Merciful. When we mess up, often in the same things, God does not grimace and scowl at us but he is ready and poised to show us mercy. Jonah messed up when he disobeyed God and tried to flee his presence. And yet in chapter 3, we see Jonah being recommissioned by God for the same task. Using almost the exact same words as chapter 1, the word of the Lord comes to Jonah. But the key difference? It was “the second time.” Why did God give Jonah a second chance when Jonah had proved himself so unfaithful? Was God in short supply of messengers and prophets? Not at all. This recommission reveals something about God and his heart. He is a God of second chances and infinite chances. 

There are many instances in the Bible where God did not give somebody a second chance. Lot’s wife, Moses, King Saul, Ananias and Sapphira, and the list goes on. The point is that nobody deserves a second chance from God. Let alone a third, fourth or fifth one. When God calls Jonah to serve him again, this is not just good news for Jonah but for us as well. It reveals something tremendous about God, not something impressive about Jonah. God gives Jonah a second chance not because Jonah had merit but because he is full of mercy. In the same way, God gives us infinite chances because of his mercy, not our merit. After all, we’re the only part of God’s whole creation that dares to hear his voice and disobey. The skies, the waters, the sun never needed a second chance from God because they never disobeyed. And yet we, the pinnacle of God’s creation, need God’s mercy again and again. 

God does not show us mercy upon mercy because he is giving us chance after chance to prove ourselves and earn our own salvation. God does not given second chances for redemption but for relationship. For our redemption God gave us Jesus. Jesus came as one greater than Jonah and he did everything right the first time. He came to this earth and lived in perfect obedience. Because he got it right the first time, even when we get it wrong, God stills counts his Son’s obedience as ours. So Jesus redeems us, not our second chances. So then why does God give second chances? For relationship. Because we know God is the Father of mercies and a God of infinite chances, we can keep coming to him again and again. We never need to fear that we will bankrupt him of his mercies. And so we can keep coming to him again and again, unafraid that he will ever turn us away. He will meet our mistakes with mercy, our failure with forgiveness, and our sins with his Son. 

Group Discussion Questions

1. Have you ever had a transformational experience of receiving a second chance from another person? Have you ever had to give another person a second chance that was costly for you? 
2. What are some of the reasons you feel hesitant to come to God after you’ve sinned? Is it different if they are reoccurring/habitual sins? How do you imagine God views you and thinks about you in those moments? 
3. If the spectrum ranges (1-10) from viewing yourself as deserving God’s mercy (the error of entitlement) to viewing yourself as unworthy of God’s mercy (the error of disbelief), where would you place yourself? Has it changed over the years? What contributes? How does where you are on the spectrum affect your relationship with God? 
4. Have you come to truly believe that God is “the Father of mercies” (2 Cor. 1:3) and “rich in mercy” (Eph. 2:4) or is there a suspicion of it? How can you believe more that God doesn’t simply possess mercy but that God is merciful? What difference would this make?
5. Express how this sermon helps you understand, appreciate and worship Jesus more. In what ways has the gospel become more alive to you having read this passage and heard this message? 
6. Everybody should formulate a one sentence prayer response and request to everything heard and discussed. Have a few people share what they came up with.

“The Prayer” (Mercy Upon Mercy)

Scripture: Jonah 1:17-2:10

Sermon Summary: 

Many people know that they should pray but the problem is that they don’t know how to pray. This is especially true during times of suffering and difficulty. We know we should pray but we simply can’t find the words to articulate. When Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights, he was in a very dark and depressing place. And yet he managed to pray. How? A close examination of Jonah’s prayers reveal that none of his prayers were original. They were all adaptions and modifications of various psalms. Every verse of Jonah’s prayer can be traced back to prayer in a psalm. 

God gave us the psalms so that his words could become our words, especially when otherwise all we would have are groans. God gives us the psalms as a provision, as an act of grace, so that we can express our heart back to him in an intelligible way. The psalms help us express our frustrations and our fears, our doubts and our distress in God-approved ways. In order to grow in prayer, it will be incredibly helpful to grow in your familiarity, understanding, meditation, and memorization of the psalms. This will give you better access to the language of God that you can use to pray back to God. 

Our comfort as Christians though does not come simply from the command – pray the psalms like Jonah. Our hope comes from the gospel. When Jesus likened his death and resurrection to Jonah’s experience in the fish, Jesus was identifying himself as the greater Jonah. But as the fulfillment of a greater Jonah, Jesus also prayed the psalms in his own suffering and despair. As he hung on the cross for our sins, Jesus was reduced to borrowing the words of the psalms. By doing this, Jesus was experiencing in himself the fullest sting and greatest agony of the the psalms. Jesus took on every experience and emotion that the psalmist articulates so that it would have no more power over us. This means when we experience these things in our lives, they can not ultimately drown us. We have new hope and new strength. 

Group Discussion Questions

1. As a group, summarize the sermon together into a few sentences. 
2. Share an experience where you wanted to pray but couldn’t find the words to pray. Were you eventually able to pray through it? What helped? 
3. What is your general view and attitude of the psalms? Is it a book that you love to read or do you have a hard time enjoying it? Why? 
4. Do you have a favorite psalm? Share it and tells others why. What about it resonates with you? How has it ministered to you and helped you pray? (Or take a favorite psalm of yours and try to turn it into a prayer to borrow)
5. Express how this sermon helps you understand, appreciate and worship Jesus more. In what ways has the gospel become more alive to you having read this passage and heard this message? 
6. Everybody should formulate a one sentence prayer response and request to everything heard and discussed. Have a few people share what they came up with.

“Hope in Heavenly Things”

Scripture: Colossians 3:1-2

Group Discussion Questions

1. The gospel rests on the pillars of the death and resurrection of Jesus. List some of the benefits that Christ’s resurrection hope provides for the Christian. Which of these do you look forward to most? Share how it would impact your life. 
2. Has hope found on the horizon/things below on earth ever disappointed you? In what was have you experienced the frailty, fragility, futility and finitude of earthly hope? How would heavenly, resurrection hope be any different?
3. Express how this sermon helps you understand, appreciate and worship Jesus more. In what ways has the gospel become more alive to you having read this passage and heard this message? 
4. Everybody should formulate a one sentence prayer response and request to everything heard and discussed. Have a few people share what they came up with. 

“The Weightier Matters”

Scripture: Matthew 23:23-24

Group Discussion Questions

1. As a group, summarize the sermon together into a few sentences. 
2. Why do you think the Pharisees and scribes gave so much attention to tithing their spices but neglected the weightier matters? What are some matters of the law you pay more attention to than the weightier ones (justice, mercy and faithfulness)?
3. How should Christian/gospel-centered mercy and justice differ from the agenda of mercy and justice set and pushed by the world? How can you make mercy and justice a “big rock” in your life?
4. Express how this sermon helps you understand, appreciate and worship Jesus more. In what ways has the gospel become more alive to you having read this passage and heard this message? 
5. Everybody should formulate a one sentence prayer response and request to everything heard and discussed. Have a few people share what they came up with. 

“The Contradiction”

Scripture: Jonah 1:7-9

Group Discussion Questions

1. As a group, summarize the sermon together into a few sentences. 
2. In what areas has the Lord revealed or is revealing contradictions in your life between your profession and your practice? 
3. What are some ways you can personally come to embrace more of the value of global missions in your own life? What has helped in the past? 
4. List as many prayer topics about global missions that you can. Consider what kinds of things churches and Christians should be praying for. 
5. Express how this sermon helps you understand, appreciate and worship Jesus more. In what ways has the gospel become more alive to you having read this passage and heard this message? 
6. Everybody should formulate a one sentence prayer response and request to everything heard and discussed. Have a few people share what they came up with. 

“The Runaway”

Scripture: Jonah 1:3

Group Discussion Questions

1. As a group, summarize the sermon together into a few sentences. 
2. Share something you found either interesting, memorable, convicting, confusing or challenging about the passage/sermon.  
3. How did you tend to think of/view sin before this sermon? What difference does it make when sin is understood as running away from God? How does it change the way you view sin in yourself and sin in others? How does it change the way you preach the gospel to yourself and share it with others? 
4. Can you share a personal example of a time you chased after a god-substitute and found that it left you empty, unsatisfied and discontent? What was that experience like? How were you awakened from your disillusionment? 
5. Express how this sermon helps you understand, appreciate and worship Jesus more. In what ways has the gospel become more alive to you having read this passage and heard this message? 
6. Everybody should formulate a one sentence prayer response and request to everything heard and discussed. Have a few people share what they came up with.