God of the 2nd Chances

God always give you a second chance.  He did for Jonah.

    

Jonah 1:1-5 (NLT)

1 The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”

3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

4 But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. 

5 Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.

But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.

Every decision that we make costs us something.  Every wrong decision impacts those who are closet to you.   Are your decisions bringing you closer to God?

1. Take responsibility for your bad choices. 

Jonah 1:12 (NLT)

12 “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”

God is waiting at our point of crisis to rescue us.  

2. Turn away from your bad choices. 

Jonah 2:9 (NLT)

9 But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise,
    and I will fulfill all my vows.
    For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

Repentance means to change your mind so deeply that is changes you.  

3. Embrace God's grace.  

Jonah 3:1 (NLT)3 Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time:

We serve the God of the second chance.  You're not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes.

Tom Mullins, Guesting speaking at Church of the Highlands.