Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, ‘Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.’ But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
–Jonah 1:1-3

The next theme in our series is “Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness.” Our question of the day will be: What does faithfulness mean to you? How are you faithful?

If we were to ask the prophet Jonah what it means to be faithful, he would roll his eyes, sigh, and encourage us to read all 4 chapters of his Old Testament book. And as our weekly Bible study group learned, there is more to faith than sitting in the belly of a big fish while reminiscing upon our beliefs and actions.

At the end of the day, Jonah might describe faithfulness as learning to love who and what God loves. And apparently that includes enemies and happenings outside of our personal bubbles.

Jonah would also say faithfulness means accepting that mercy is not just a personal gift. Jonah was all in favor of God’s mercy, for Jonah… But when God showed grace to Nineveh, that was pushing it.

Through sharing all of Jonah’s story Sunday we will better understand faithfulness in deeper ways. Holiness begins with paying attention. Storms reveal more than they punish. God’s grace is always bigger than our boundaries.

I look forward to worshipping with you on YouTube or in the Chapel this Sunday!

Brett