I have to admit that for the past few months, I've been thinking about Jonah WAY more than normal.
Of course, I think about Jonah everyday. Just like I think about Ezra, Thaliea, Megan, the St. Louis Cardinals, and how great of a vocalist Kelly Clarkson is. However, for the past few months, I've been immersed in the book of Jonah as part of our preaching series at church, which means I've been thinking about Jonah a TON.
I preached a few weeks ago on Jonah 1 and will be preaching next week on Jonah 4, which is going to be a ton of fun. I've always enjoyed preparing a sermon but this process has been especially fulfilling for a few different reasons.
- I don't preach on the OT very often. I think, especially in Evangelical church circles, there is a lot of emphasis on the NT, particularly Paul's letters. Of course, those are SUPER important and it's good for us to spend time there. I just noticed as I was going through my sermon notes that I hadn't gone deep into the OT for quite some time, including to when I was prepping Bible Studies for students at Mizzou.
- Jonah 4 is too often overlooked. Jonah 1-3 is the classic story of Jonah and the whale. It's one that most have heard of and know relatively well. Jonah 4 is the forgotten chapter of the book because it doesn't fit neatly into Jonah's redemption arc in chapters 1-3. I'm really looking forward to being in Jonah 4.
- Prepping in community has been fun. We've been working on a preaching team at Bridge. Since we picked Jonah about a month before we were actually going to be preaching on it, it's given our team time to look at the text together and pick a direction together. I think the sermons flow together better, especially when you have multiple preachers, when everyone is moving in the same direction.
Here's my sermon on Jonah 1 if you're interested (The sermon starts at the 42 minute mark but in the beginning you can see an "off mic" moment that is pretty entertaining). I'll post the Jonah 4 sermon after it happens. Either way, please be praying for our team and me as we continue through this series and onward to what's next.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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