God of Mercy: The Cry of the Lost

God sent a storm at sea to reroute His wayward prophet, Jonah.
But He also used that same storm in the lives of Jonah's tempest-tossed shipmates to bring them salvation.
"Arise, call on your God…" Jonah 1:6 (NKJV).
The sailors' cry to Jonah is one he should already have heard in his own conscience. As God's ambassador, he should have known he was in the middle of a divine opportunity to point pagans to the living God.
Instead, he slept, his conscience dulled by disobedience.
And as Jonah slept, the sailors cried out to their myriad false gods, dug deep into the sea with their oars, and jettisoned cargo once precious to them.
All their efforts failed, just as all efforts of sinful people to save themselves fail. Religion, self-effort, moralism… all seem to be typified by the sailors' vain labors.
But even human futility has its fruit when God's mercy is at work.
As soon as the sailors yielded their trust fully to the sacrifice of another on their behalf, they were saved, and their lives bore the fruit of repentance.
"… the sea ceased its raging… the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows," Jonah 1:15-16 (NKJV).
Please join us this Sunday as we continue our study of Jonah's prophecy with, "God of Mercy: The Cry of the Lost."