JOHN ORTBERG ON JONAH - Water City Church

[Pages:25]JOHN ORTBERG ON JONAH

Table of Contents

q Click on a session you'd like to see q

2 Session 1: Dealing with Our Doubts

Participant's Guide

8 Session 2: Pray, Pray, Pray

Participant's Guide

15 Session 3: Jonah as a Foreshadow of Jesus

Participant's Guide

20 Session 4: Recognize Your Own Jonah Moments

Participant's Guide



?2009 Christianity Today International

LEADER'S GUIDE

Session 1

Dealing with Our Doubts

Do you have trouble believing the impossible?

When we read stories in Scripture that stretch our imagination, we often have trouble believing them. Jonah is one of those stories. It's full of one miraculous, outlandish thing after another. So what do we do with the doubts that niggle within us?

Scripture: The Book of Jonah

Featuring: The sermon "Desperate for God," by John Ortberg,

Note To Leader: Encourage your group to read the Book of Jonah before coming to the first session. Provide each person with the Participant's Guide included at the end of this study. Open this session with the first video clip, then ask the following questions.

As a group, watch clip one.

After the clip is finished, discuss the following questions together.

Part One

Identify the Issue

[Q] Have you read the Book of Jonah all the way

through? If so, what was your impression of it?

[Q] What do you think is the main message of the Book

of Jonah?

[Q] Do you get hung up on the fish part of the story?

Why or why not?

[Q] Does any other part of the story surprise you? If so,

what?



?2009 Christianity Today International

Session 1: Leader's Guide | Dealing with Our Doubts | 3

Teaching Point One: Get to know Jonah's world.

The Book of Jonah was probably written autobiographically by the prophet Jonah, which gives us great hope that he learned much through his experience. Most likely written between 785 and 750 B.C., the book focuses on the political rivalries of the day.

At this point in history, Israel had divided into a northern kingdom, which continued to go by the name of Israel, and a southern kingdom that went by the name of Judah. Jonah lived in the northern kingdom, which was ruled by Jeroboam II, a king of Israel who did not honor God. Yet, God allowed Israel to continue to expand its territory, causing them to feel great patriotic pride in their nation. But Assyria, whose key city was Nineveh, was a brutal enemy that threatened Israel's power. In fact, just a few decades after Jonah went to preach to Nineveh, Assyria invaded Israel and brought the northern kingdom to an end.

This gives us some insight into why Jonah was so reluctant to go to Nineveh. It might be similar to God asking someone from London to go preach to Berlin during World War II with the promise that all would be forgiven if they would repent. The Londoner would likely rather see them tried for their crimes.

[Q] Can you think of any other modern-day examples of what it might have been like for

Jonah to preach to Nineveh?

[Q] Comparing Jonah's experience to these modern-day examples, how do you think you

would have responded to God's command? Why?

[Q] Read Jonah 1:1?3 and 3:6?4:3. Do you understand Jonah's attitude? Why do you think he

felt that way?

Teaching Point Two: Don't get lost in the debates and miss the point.

As soon as Jonah got his orders from God, he ran. Most of us can understand that, when we put it into our own historical context. What may be harder to understand is how God dealt with it. Read Jonah 1:7?17.

God sent a storm that Jonah recognized as punishment for his disobedience. So in a great show of self-sacrifice, Jonah asked the sailors to throw him overboard. It worked. The raging sea calmed. But Jonah was left drifting in the ocean, so God sent a fish to swallow him, keeping Jonah alive (though not exactly comfortable).



?2009 Christianity Today International

Session 1: Leader's Guide | Dealing with Our Doubts | 4

[Q] John Ortberg dismisses studies made to identify a fish that

a person could live in for three days. Do you think such studies matter? Why or why not?

[Q] Why might it be better, as Ortberg says, to believe that

miracles are possible?

[Q] Even if we explain away the fish, what do we do with the

fact that the storm ceased as soon as the sailors threw Jonah into the sea?

[Q] Why do you think Jonah was so sure the storm was his

fault?

[Q] When you hear stories of miraculous events in Scripture,

what is your first reaction?

u Check other translations to make sure the account is correct.

u Look up similar stories outside of Scripture to explain it.

u Simply believe it.

u Struggle with the idea, but finally accept it.

u Other.

[Q] How can we deal with the doubts we have about Scripture,

or about how God works?

[Q] Are doubts good or bad? Explain. [Q] When does a healthy doubt become unhealthy? What line is

crossed when this happens?

Optional Activity

Consider doing this activity during your time

together

d Purpose: To help us think through what to do with our doubts.

d Activity: Make sure everyone has a pen and paper. Ask each person to write down any story in Scripture they presently have, or at one time had, trouble accepting or believing. What about this account gives them trouble? Why?

Now ask each person to write down a miraculous story they don't have trouble believing. What is the difference? Why is this one easier to accept than the one they struggle with?

Finally, if anyone would like to share their doubts, discuss them as a group.

Part Two

Apply Your Findings

John Ortberg concluded his introduction with the statement, "God is always up to something great." We certainly see that in the Book of Jonah. As we study this book, we will see more and more of what God's heart is toward his people and those outside his fold.



?2009 Christianity Today International

Session 1: Leader's Guide | Dealing with Our Doubts | 5

Action Point: Set aside time this week to think through your doubts about Scripture

or about God himself. Read Psalms 42 and 43. Write down all the things the psalmist struggled with in these passages. Do you struggle with those things too? Note how the psalmist expressed doubts freely to God. Note also how he ended the psalms. Write down your own prayer to God, including your doubts. End it as the psalmist did: with trust and praise to God, even when you don't understand everything.

--Study by JoHannah Reardon



?2009 Christianity Today International

PARTICIPANT'S GUIDE

Session 1

Dealing with Our Doubts

Do you have trouble believing the impossible?

When we read stories in Scripture that stretch our imagination, we often have trouble believing them. Jonah is one of those stories. It's full of one miraculous, outlandish thing after another. So what do we do with the doubts that niggle within us?

Scripture: The Book of Jonah

Featuring: The sermon "Desperate for God," by John Ortberg,

Part One

Identify the Issue

Teaching Point One: Get to know Jonah's world.

Teaching Point Two: Don't get lost in the debates and miss the point.

[Q] When you hear stories of miraculous events in

Scripture, what is your first reaction? u Check other translations to make sure the account is correct. u Look up similar stories outside of Scripture to explain it. u Simply believe it. u Struggle with the idea, but finally accept it. u Other.



?2009 Christianity Today International

Session 1: Participant's Guide | Dealing with Our Doubts | 7

Part Two

Apply Your Findings

Action Point: Set aside time this week to think through your doubts about Scripture

or about God himself. Read Psalms 42 and 43. Write down all the things the psalmist struggled with in these passages. Do you struggle with those things too? Note how the psalmist expressed doubts freely to God. Note also how he ended the psalms. Write down your own prayer to God, including your doubts. End it as the psalmist did: with trust and praise to God, even when you don't understand everything.

--Study by JoHannah Reardon



?2009 Christianity Today International

LEADER'S GUIDE

Session 2

Pray, Pray, Pray

We can learn from Jonah to pray no matter what the circumstances.

John Ortberg says, "Have you ever been in over your head in life? Pray. Is it your own fault? Pray anyway. Have you not been living the kind of life you think God wants you to live? Pray anyway. Are you concerned that even if you were to pray, your motives might be mixed--that you might be more concerned about your own well-being than you are about God's will? Pray anyway. God is never more than a prayer away. One of the amazing things about God is that he is a gracious God. When we come to him simply because we've hit bottom with no place else to go, God still chooses to say, `Come to me.'"

Scripture: The Book of Jonah

Featuring: The sermon "Desperate for God," by John Ortberg,

Note To Leader: Provide each person with the Participant's Guide included at the end of this study. Open this session with the second video clip, then ask the following questions.

As a group, watch clip two.

After the clip is finished, discuss the following questions together.

Part One

Identify the Issue

[Q] What has been the lowest point of your life so far? Did

it cause you to turn to God? Why or why not?

[Q] Have you ever been in a situation where you could

do nothing but pray? Was that a good or a frustrating place to be? Explain.

[Q] How would you rate the importance of prayer

compared to other aspects of a person's spiritual life, such as Bible reading, church attendance, sharing your faith, and so on?



?2009 Christianity Today International

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