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[0:01] All right, we are continuing in our series on Jonah, lest you wonder from the video that you just saw there. Jonah chapter 3 is where we pick up our story.

[0:13] I want to thank Greg Cox for ministering so well to us. Thank you, buddy. Every time I forget that, don't I? It's like an every time thing.

[0:25] That's all right. Greg has ministered to us very well and will continue to do so. He's involved in many areas of our church life and I want to thank him for doing that.

[0:39] Jonah chapter 3, let's go by way of review just over the last few weeks. We talked about the runaway prophet in Jonah chapter 1.

[0:51] And we looked at the very beginning of the story, perhaps the most well-known part of the story. Jonah and the fish, the whale, call it what you want.

[1:05] We know it was a big one, right? And it swallowed Jonah. So the runaway prophet, Jonah chapter 1, we said, why do we run? Because of our lack of faith. And then why does God pursue us to draw us to himself?

[1:19] We saw that spelled out in Jonah chapter 1. The takeaway was God's plan always does what? It wins. Let's say it together. God's plan always wins.

[1:31] That's right. Something we need to remember and we'll talk about that a little bit more today. And then in Jonah chapter 2, we looked at two lies and a truth. Two lies and a truth.

[1:42] We said that Jonah blamed God and Jonah never repented. Those were two key takeaways from Jonah chapter 2, as well as this truth that self-deception keeps us from real change.

[2:03] So Jonah blamed God. He never once repented in this prayer from the depths of the sea and the belly of the whale. And we can learn from that that self-deception keeps us from real change.

[2:16] Even though he seemed like he was turning to God, crying out to God for help. At the same time, he was deceiving himself. And seemingly that kept him from any real change, which we're going to see in the rest of the story.

[2:30] So the theme for today, Jonah chapter 3, is nothing is too hard for our God. Nothing is too hard for our God.

[2:42] If y'all came to the last movie night we had here at our church several weeks ago, we watched the movie Facing the Giants. And that is a big, big theme in that movie.

[2:52] Is anything too hard for our God? And of course the answer is no. Nothing is too hard for our God. So, before we dive into it, are there any basketball fans in the house today?

[3:06] Anybody like basketball? There's got to be more than that. Raise your hand loud and proud. I don't know how you raise your hand loud. But up high anyway. There you go.

[3:16] Good. Anybody just hate basketball? Y'all, I'm sorry. Just close your ears for a minute. We're going to talk basketball just for a second.

[3:28] I'll give you a little thumbs up when it's time to get back to the rest of the sermon, okay? So, I love basketball. I love watching it. Used to love playing it. My ankles don't like that anymore, so I don't play it anymore.

[3:40] But I like to watch it. And it's a lot of fun. So, for a season of my life, I wrote as an amateur, what do you call it, freelance sports writer for this website called Pounding the Rock.

[4:03] It's a fan blog for the San Antonio Spurs. So, are there any big Dallas Mavericks fans in the room? I figured we had a few, yeah. Any Spurs fans?

[4:15] I knew there was something I liked about Kenda Cox, man. Tiffany, let's go. Love me some Spurs, man. I think it was David Robinson back in the day that kind of made me a Spurs fan.

[4:25] And then you go on through Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. Anyway, Greg Popovich, he's still their coach. Just greatest basketball coach ever, I think. Anyway, we could go on about the Spurs for a while.

[4:36] But I was a big fan and for a while I got a chance to write as one of the writers on this site called Pounding the Rock. Now, you might expect a Spurs blog to be named something other than Pounding the Rock, right?

[4:51] You know, Alamo Express or I don't know. You know, whatever. You get creative with the name. Why did they choose the name Pounding the Rock for their site? It's because if you were paying attention to the Spurs organization back then, they were winning championships, by the way.

[5:09] Let me just throw that little nugget out there. Now, they haven't done that in a little while, so that's okay. But back then, this was the heyday, man. They were winning NBA titles. They were doing great. One of the biggest reasons, and many, many articles and TV specials have been done on the culture of the Spurs organization back then.

[5:29] They were very, very special. They had a very special culture that all of their organization, from the front office to all the staff down to the coaches and the players, adhered to.

[5:42] And it was this idea of pounding the rock. It actually came from a Danish gentleman who grew up poor in New York City, became a famous writer, journalist named Jacob Reese.

[6:01] And he popularized this thing called the Stonecutter's Credo. Y'all still with me? Stonecutter's Credo, okay? So think an old-timey stonecutter, somebody who would make something out of stone.

[6:15] He says, look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it.

[6:27] So he's beaten on this rock over and over, and there's not even a crack. Yet at the hundred and first blow, it will split in two. And I know that it was not that blow that did it, but all the blows that had gone before.

[6:45] You understand the concept there? It wasn't anything magical about that hundred and first blow. It was the hundred blows before that had prepared it to finally achieve the desired goal.

[6:59] The Spurs embodied that. Game in and game out. They would be there. They would be giving a hundred percent effort. They would be adhering to the game plan, the system.

[7:10] There's nothing like watching the Spurs. They even made a movie called The Beautiful Game, talking about one of the Spurs' run to an NBA title that year. It was basketball as it was meant to be played.

[7:21] It was basketball as it was meant to be played. We're not going to take any shortcuts. We're not going to suddenly turn it on when it comes to the playoffs. We're going to give max effort, dial in, focus in, game in, and game out.

[7:37] It was not the final blow that did it. It was all that had gone before. So the idea behind it is just keep pounding on the rock and eventually it will break.

[7:55] Keep pounding on that rock. Now, keep that in mind because we're going to refer to it again in just a minute.

[8:06] But as we dive into Jonah chapter 3, I want to give you a little bit more context than we have in previous weeks because we're up to this part of the story now. We have transitioned from Jonah running from God, getting thrown overboard, swallowed by the whale, spit up back on the land, and now we're picking it up in Jonah chapter 3.

[8:30] And the Lord speaks to Jonah a second time. Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. So this great city of Nineveh.

[8:43] Let's talk about it for a minute. Nineveh was perhaps the most feared city in the ancient world at that time. It was the capital of the nation of Assyria.

[8:55] And we'll get into some of the political turmoil that Assyria had been through at that time. But this place was the place you didn't want to go unless you were an Assyrian. It was population central back then.

[9:07] It was a big, beautiful, wealthy city and incredibly, incredibly wicked. Horrifying place. Horrifying place. What they did to their enemies.

[9:18] What was allowed, what was legal back then. The crimes against humanity that would regularly take place in Assyria and especially in this city called Nineveh.

[9:29] It was huge. Later, King Sennacherib would take over and make it something to rival ancient Babylon. But even then, under this king, it was still an impressive place, a fearsome place.

[9:44] And Jonah was understandably terrified to go there. But that is what God commanded him to do. So let's pick it up in Jonah chapter 3 and verse 1.

[9:56] If you're able to stand with me, would you mind joining and standing? And let's read together. I'm reading from the New Living Translation. Back it up in verse 1. The Lord speaks to Jonah a second time.

[10:07] Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh and deliver the message I have given you. We see that message back in chapter 1. This time, Jonah obeyed the Lord's command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.

[10:21] On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds, 40 days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed. The people of Nineveh will be destroyed.

[10:33] The people of Nineveh then believed God's message. Boy, that's the most anticlimactic transition from verse 4 to verse 5. He shouts this warning to this horrible, terrible place.

[10:45] And instantly, verse 5, the people of Nineveh believed God's message. And from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.

[10:56] When the king of Nineveh, even the king, 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.

[11:07] Then the king and his nobles 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.

[11:19] And everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violets. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.

[11:31] This is an ancient freak out that's happening right now. They're losing their minds.

[11:45] So what happened? When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind, did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

[11:57] Let's pray together. God, this is a familiar story for many of us. Some of us, it might be new. But I just ask that you would reveal to us who you are, what you're about, how powerful and how great and mighty you are, God, and how good and merciful you are.

[12:18] Show us that today. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Thanks for standing. So backing it up to Jonah chapter 3 and verse 1, we see that God is the God of second chances.

[12:32] This is the first time that I want to apply this principle of pounding this rock. Keep at it and eventually that rock will break. We see God do that with Jonah.

[12:42] So we see this entire story laid out before we ever get to this part. God came to Jonah with a simple request. He was about 500 miles away in his hometown from Nineveh where God wanted him to go.

[12:56] And he decided instead to go 2,500 miles in the opposite direction instead of just doing what God had required. So instead of doing the simple but scary task that God had given him, Jonah ran, tried to outrun God.

[13:12] If you try to outrun God, it's not going to work, right? Many of us would have given up on Jonah at that point and said, forget him, I'll go get somebody else. But God knew that he still had a plan for Jonah.

[13:24] Despite Jonah's crazy, despite his resistance, despite his arrogance, possibly even racist mind against the Assyrian people, Jonah was still going to be used by God.

[13:43] So God kept coming back at him, kept messing with him, kept prolonging his mercy and grace toward Jonah. So he comes back to him again and gives him the same message.

[13:59] Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh and deliver the message that I've given you. Back in verse 2 of chapter 1, here's the great message that God had for Nineveh.

[14:11] Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are. So God gives Jonah a very specific message. But we can understand that God is the God of second chances.

[14:25] You and I aren't good at giving second chances. When we're burned, we don't like to be burned again, do we? It makes us feel silly, makes us feel foolish, makes us feel hurt. But God gives us second chances, third chances, fourth chances.

[14:40] Time and time again, God keeps coming back and saying, the mission I have for you hasn't changed. My will for you hasn't changed. Go back and do what I've been trying to get you to do all along.

[14:53] My long suffering will see you through. You might have to suffer the consequences of some of the bad choices you've made along the way. But I will still be faithful. I will still try to accomplish through you what I was trying to accomplish all along.

[15:09] We see that in the story of Jonah. So, verse 2, God's mission never changes. Look at verse 2. This time, Jonah obeyed the Lord's command and went to Nineveh.

[15:25] Sorry, that's verse 3. Let me back up. Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Deliver the message I have given you. That's kind of tying in back with verse 1. God's message didn't change.

[15:36] And God's mission for Jonah didn't change. Folks, the message today in 2024 is the same message that God had for First Baptist Henrietta in 1876.

[15:50] It's the same message that he had in 1924. It's the same message he had in 1994 or 2004. It's the same message he'll have 20 years from now.

[16:01] 50 years from now, 100 years from now, until he returns, God's mission and message never changes. That's why you and I should be able to get along.

[16:14] Just a little side note here. We may not agree on the methods all the time. We may not agree on the style. Or we may not agree on all our opinions about all the different things.

[16:29] But we can agree on God's message. We can agree on God's mission. So we ought to be able to come together around that and say, we're going to join together around that.

[16:42] If you polled everybody in the room, you'd get any number of different opinions about controversial topics out there. But we can set those things aside and say God's message of saving grace is more important.

[16:56] God's mission to go out and shine his light in this dark world is most important. So we're going to set aside these things and get together and rally around the cross and the empty tomb and take that hope to a world that desperately needs it.

[17:13] That's why we can come together and have church. That's why we can go out and see life change happen with people that we might never otherwise hang out with.

[17:24] Because God's mission is the same. It's consistent. It never changes. And then in verse 3, Jonah did obey the Lord's command and this time he went to Nineveh.

[17:37] Sometimes you and I learn the hard way. Sometimes we learn the hard way. I've learned some lessons the easy way.

[17:50] Some lessons I've just learned because I've listened to wisdom. I've listened to the Holy Spirit guiding me and I avoided some difficult circumstance that God didn't plan for me because I listened.

[18:04] I wish I could say I've done that all the time. But I haven't. Sometimes I've learned things the hard way. Sometimes I've done what I thought was best and I've put myself and others through suffering.

[18:16] Unnecessary suffering that God didn't plan for me to go through. But I chose that. And so I endured and those around me endured hardship and suffering that God never intended.

[18:29] Just like we see in the book of Jonah. So when we learn the hard way, we must then learn that lesson and not keep going back and having to relearn it over and over and over again as it gets harder and worse and more difficult each time because we're so hard headed.

[18:53] Right? We see that in Jonah. But at some point along the way, God wants us to learn that lesson. Learn it. Turn the page.

[19:03] Let God take you and teach you something else that he's got for you. So Jonah finally learns this lesson enough to go to Nineveh and obey God's command.

[19:16] Though he certainly had to learn it the hard way. For some reason this is going two slides at a time here and I apologize for that. There we go. God's truth is often a hard truth.

[19:27] Look at verse 4. On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds, 40 days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed. Listen, let me pivot for a minute.

[19:38] Oftentimes in today's world, and it's not just today, it's been around for a few decades now, there's this thing called the prosperity gospel. The health and wealth gospel. And even beyond that, there is this idea where pastors get up in their churches and they only preach the love of God.

[19:55] Listen, you're not accurately preaching the love of God unless you preach against sin. Unless you preach against unrighteousness. Because you can't really show a picture of God's love unless you show that he loves us in spite of how bad we are.

[20:14] In spite of how bad the world is. In spite of this darkness, God wants to shine his light. No one can appreciate that light if they don't understand they're in darkness.

[20:28] They'll be blind to it. So God's truth is often, hey, you're bad. You're a sinner. You're going to hell. That is an inescapable message in the scriptures.

[20:41] But it's accompanied always, 100% of the time, by God's love. It's always, you can't help yourself.

[20:53] You did wrong. You broke my laws. But I love you anyway, and I'm here to save you. Sometimes churches go one extreme or the other. They'll preach God's love without ever preaching repentance from sin.

[21:07] Or they'll preach repentance from sin without ever preaching God's love and compassion and grace. But Jesus was always a balance of the two. He was always full of both grace and truth.

[21:20] So God's truth is often a hard truth. But ultimately, God was going to show great love to these people in Nineveh. So, God's truth is often a hard truth.

[21:34] Look down at verse 5. God's truth is often a hard truth. Belief produces change. The people of Nineveh believed God's message. And from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.

[21:49] I don't understand how this happened. Now, we can always look at the historical context of what we read in the Bible. We can look at the cultural context.

[22:00] We can try to understand how something like this could have happened. And historians have showed us that back then, around the time of Nineveh, there was great political turmoil. They had had successful kings.

[22:11] But then one had died. And so the individual leaders of the cities kind of became their own kings. Which is probably why we see here in Jonah 3 that it references the king of Nineveh as opposed to the king of Assyria.

[22:24] Assyria. So it's almost like he was a king of the city of Nineveh, but not the whole nation of Assyria. Because they were without a king at this time. So there was great political turmoil happening.

[22:35] There was also a great famine in the land of Assyria at this time. And people were struggling to get enough to feed their families and themselves.

[22:46] So this is a time of doing without. This is a time of political unrest. And then there was a big eclipse that happened shortly before this, it seems like, according to scientists.

[22:57] And sometimes back in those pagan ideas, when there was a solar eclipse, they would think that there was a God who was angry at them. So all of this could be coming together to make these people ready to hear Jonah's message.

[23:16] Now Jonah didn't know that. He didn't know that God had already possibly prepared the hearts of the Ninevites to hear this message. Jonah just knew their reputation.

[23:26] He knew they were fierce and bloodthirsty and had no morals. And they had been enemies to God's people for as long as anyone could remember. So Jonah is thinking, no, we need to go in with a military conquest.

[23:40] King Jeroboam, as Jonah had prophesied his military victories, and then he had had military victories. But then the prophet Amos had come in and said, oh, slow down. Jeroboam, you're going to die by the sword.

[23:52] The same sword that you're killing others with, you're going to die by the sword. And all of this military victory that you have achieved will be undone. And guess what? That prophecy came true. And all of the achievements that Jeroboam had done for God's people because he was such a wicked king, because he refused to follow God, Amos' prophecy came true, and all of that was lost.

[24:15] But Jonah, at this moment, he's riding high. He's thinking, we got the right king. Assyria is vulnerable at this moment.

[24:27] We don't need to ask them to repent and turn to God. We need to go in and wipe them out. That was his thought. But instead, God said, tell them a warning.

[24:40] Give them a warning. Because he knew that they were ready to believe. And what happened? As soon as Jonah gives the warning, they believe.

[24:53] The people of Nineveh believed God's message from the greatest to the least. I pray that that would be the testimony of the people of First Baptist Church, Henrietta, Texas.

[25:05] That we would believe God's message from the greatest to the least. That the people of Clay County, when hearing the message of God, would respond in belief.

[25:19] And sorrow for our sin. And turn from it. And turn back to God. Don't wait until God says, I'm going to destroy you. Don't wait until we get to the worst case scenario.

[25:34] Turn to God today. All of us in this room who have yet to turn to Jesus are in danger. Much greater danger than a city being wiped out.

[25:44] We're in danger of eternally paying for our sins in the lake of fire. That is the very real danger we are in without Jesus.

[25:56] So we have the opportunity today to turn from our sins. Repent and turn to Jesus. Believe God. And that will produce change.

[26:08] It produced sorrow in the people of Nineveh. It produced a turning from their sin. The king and his nobles sent out the decree. Verses 7 through 9.

[26:19] Talk about it. Nobody go throw a party. Nobody go work right now. Everyone put on your garments of mourning. Everyone humble yourself before God.

[26:31] Everyone pray to this God whom we have just heard about. We knew something was wrong. This political turmoil. This famine. This eclipse. We knew something bad was happening.

[26:42] We knew there was some kind of judgment coming on us. Now the prophet of the real God is here to tell us what this is about. We must stop. We must turn to him for salvation.

[26:53] That's what we see unfolding here in Nineveh. You know what the ironic thing is? Sometimes, let me jump ahead here. Sometimes those furthest from God have more faith than God's own servants.

[27:08] Sometimes, people that have heard about God and his saving message for the first time end up exhibiting more faith in God than those who have been Christians for 50 years.

[27:24] I've seen it happen in real life. I've seen the new joy. The new peace. The new trust.

[27:36] The new faith. Jesus even said of the Gentiles, he hadn't found so great faith ever in Israel that he found in the Gentile people.

[27:46] Those who should have believed the most, who have known the longest, sometimes struggle to have the same faith as those who are newly hearing about God's saving grace.

[28:01] Now, something I don't want to skip over is back in verse 6. The king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying and he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes.

[28:13] I think there's a great application for us there. It's will we step down from our thrones. This king who did not worship Jonah's God.

[28:25] This king who was an adversary to the people who believed in Jonah's God. This king was willing when he heard the truth to step down from his throne, humble himself and turn to Jesus.

[28:40] You know who else stepped down from his throne and humbled himself? The Bible says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.

[29:00] Therefore, God has highly exalted him and has given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Things in heaven, things in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth, every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

[29:15] Jesus stepped down from his throne. He humbled himself so we could then be saved. This king stepped down from his throne and humbled himself so his people could be saved.

[29:28] Sometimes the lost, sometimes the unlikely candidates show more faith than those of us who really have no excuse.

[29:44] So, let's look. Back at our week one lesson. I said we'd come back to it. God's plan always wins.

[29:56] God's plan always wins. No historian, no political commentator could have ever predicted that this gigantic shift would happen in Assyria.

[30:14] Can you imagine? Back in World War II, if all of a sudden the nation of Germany turns to God, repents of its evil, its inflicting upon the world, and completely changes course.

[30:28] That's what we see happening with Nineveh, with the Assyrians. But that's because God kept hammering on the rock.

[30:40] Jonah tried to run away, but God kept bringing him back. He kept hammering on the hard, cold, resistant rock that was his prophet until he finally broke.

[30:54] And then he kept hammering on those Assyrian people through all that turmoil, all that trouble that had been inflicted upon them as a people. And then finally, when they heard the message.

[31:07] It wasn't a friendly message. It wasn't, hey, God loves you. God wants to save you. God doesn't think you're that bad. God likes you.

[31:18] You should really turn to him. He'll give you all kinds of blessings. That wasn't at all the message. It was God's going to wipe you out because you're so wicked.

[31:28] But then, God's plan won. God's plan won.

[31:39] Why did God's plan win? Why have we seen throughout history, time and time again, sometimes atheists who spent their entire lives and careers just trying their very best to disprove the Bible and disprove God, then suddenly over the course of their study, see the truth of God and his word, and they turn to Jesus, the most unlikely candidates.

[32:06] Why do these things happen? Why did this happen in Nineveh? Because Hebrews 4 says the word of God is living, alive, it's quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, the joints and marrow, and to the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

[32:26] Jeremiah 23, 29, does not my word burn like a fire, says the Lord? Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock in pieces? Keep pounding on that rock with God's word, and it will break.

[32:38] Isaiah 55, 11, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that for which I purpose, and it shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

[32:51] And then Jeremiah 32, verse 26, this message came to Jeremiah from the Lord. I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?

[33:03] Did you catch that? He is the God of all the peoples of the world. They may not recognize it. They may not acknowledge it. They may not admit it, but he is still God over the Assyrians. He is still God over Nineveh.

[33:15] He is still God over America. He is still God over those who seem like they resist him. He is still God, and nothing is too hard for him. And Jeremiah confirms that in verse 17 of Jeremiah 32.

[33:28] O sovereign Lord, you made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you. God is in the saving business, and he can save anyone.

[33:45] No one is too far gone. No one is too hard. He could break crusty old Jonah's heart to get him to finally go and give the message.

[34:00] He could break that terrifying, godless society with one message of the truth and save an entire people.

[34:12] God is in the saving business. I want to share this quote from Jerry Bridges with you, and we'll be done. Our worst days are never so bad that you're beyond the reach of God's grace.

[34:31] Our best days are never so good that you're beyond the need of God's grace. We'll go from either extreme sometimes.

[34:44] We'll bounce back and forth. Oh, I'm too bad. I've got too much history. You don't know what I've done. You don't know how I grew up. You don't know the things that I've thought.

[34:55] You don't know what I've been involved with. There's nothing that's too hard for God. Where sin is great, grace is much greater.

[35:06] God is more powerful than anything that you've done. And on the other side of it, you're never so good that you don't still need that grace of God.

[35:17] You've never gotten so proud of yourself and so successful and so fulfilled in your own eyes that you aren't still in need of the grace of God just like you were at your lowest point.

[35:33] God is a saving God, and God still wants to save you today. So our takeaway today is very simple.

[35:44] Nothing is too hard for God. Nothing is too hard for God. No one is too hard for God. Not your spouse. Not your children.

[35:55] Not your friendships. Not your enemies. Not those who just, on your last nerve. God still loves them. God still wants to save them.

[36:07] And by the way, He still wants to love and save you. Would you bow your heads with me? God, I pray that you would save us today. I pray that there's someone in the room who doesn't know you and needs to be saved from their sin.

[36:21] But God, maybe there's someone who turned to you in repentance, and you have saved them, but they need to come back to you for saving today. They've been eaten up by pride. They've wandered far away from that need for grace.

[36:33] I pray that you would draw them back. Break through that brittle, hard heart. Pour your love on it again. Let your waters overflow it. Your Holy Spirit, warm it up and bring them back to you, God, today.

[36:48] Church, as you keep your seats, would you enter into an attitude of prayer with me in just the final moments that we have with us this morning? The music's gonna begin playing.

[36:58] Would you take this time just to pray? To ask God, have I wandered far from you? Maybe I haven't been as obvious as Jonah was, but in my heart, I've strayed far away.

[37:13] In my heart, I know there's something that you want from me, and I've resisted. But God, I know that you're greater. I know that you're stronger. I know that you can break me. Break me today, God.

[37:24] Maybe that's a prayer that somebody in this room needs to pray. Maybe there's somebody who needs to bow their heads finally for the first time in repentance of their sin and say, God, I give up.

[37:37] I turn to you. Please save me. I place all my faith in you, not the church, not anybody else. I place my faith in you to forgive me of my sins.

[37:51] Become your child. Is there anybody like that here today? Say, I need to be saved. I need to repent and turn to Jesus. Would you slip your hand up? There were a couple who came through my office this last week, and we sat down in the office and went through this, and we got to see two new souls come to Christ for the repentance of sin and turn to Jesus.

[38:13] Maybe there's somebody here this morning who needs to do the same thing. Thank you. Would you slip your hand up and say, Pastor, would you pray for me? I've got some things going on in my life that I need to hand over to God. I've been resisting, and I just need to hand it over to God now.

[38:27] Pray for God to break me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Let's do one final question here.

[38:37] How many of you would say there's somebody on my heart that I'm praying for that I know they've been resisting? I know it's the least likely person to turn to Jesus, but I just need God to work a miracle and break through to their heart.

[38:51] They're on my heart right now. It's a burden. Would you help me bear it? Would you pray for this person? Slip your hand up, and I'll pray for you as well. Thank you. All over the room. God, you see these hands? You know the names.

[39:02] You know the situations. You know the hurt, the hangups that are keeping people away from you. God, by your power, by your spirit, the same God that broke Jonah, the same God that broke Nineveh, the same God that conquered Goliath.

[39:19] Would you conquer? Would you win again? Would you, by your spirit, draw people to yourself? We'll give you all the glory for it. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

[39:30]  Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.