We are going through the book of Jonah together as a church before Easter. Today’s chapter is everyone’s favorite part, or at least the most familiar. The part about the whale. But more than just a tale of a whale, Jonah is a tale of the miracle of undeserved grace. And of how God works in our world and in our lives and in the lives of those around us. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Chapter 1 ends with Jonah thrown overboard and sinking down beneath the waves of the storm, seemingly abandoned by God in judgement of Jonah for running away. But we join Jonah in the deep waters about to not be swallowed by judgement, but rather swallowed by grace.

Have you ever ran away from home? Maybe you wanted to but never did. The truth is, we have all wanted to run away from something at some point. And there is a part of us deep down that wants to be pursued even when we run. We are in our second week going through the book of Jonah together. Jonah is the only time recorded in the Bible where a prophet simply just runs away from God. It tells us a lot about who we are as runaways and about who God is as our Father who pursues us back.

Chances are, if you have been a kid in the last two THOUSAND years you have heard parts of the book of Jonah read to you as a child. Jonah is God’s story of a runaway prophet who He pursues with all the passion of a mother wanting to save her child. In modern times, Jonah has become just a children’s fable about a whale. Because who doesn’t love whales? We don’t like murderous empires, unpredictable deities or prodigal prophets, but kids love whales. Adults love whales. The Christian bath toy industry loves whales. There is even a Children’s book entitled: “The Whale Tells His Side of the Story.” But more than just a whale tale Jonah is a book about us. But more than that even it’s a book about God. In fact it may be one of the most important books in the Bible for understanding God. If you are struggling to understand why God is allowing things to happen in your life, you need to understand Jonah. If you are struggling to believe that God is good or that He cares, you need to understand Jonah. Or maybe you think you have God sort of all figured out. You need to understand Jonah. Or maybe you just love whales…so let’s dive in as we start our new sermon series on the book of Jonah.

Being at war changes things. It changes our plans, our priorities and our prayers. It changes how we view our freedoms. War suspends certain privileges and makes us re-evaluate life. War brings an urgency and a reorienting of all of our resources around stopping whatever it is we are at war with. It’s no surprise then, that the Bible uses the imagery of war when talking about good and evil in our world. We can say we don’t like certain things, or something is bad or messed up. But when we are really serious about stopping it, we declare war on those things that need to be stopped. Over the last few decades our country has declared war on drugs, on poverty and on terror. But somehow when we begin speaking in terms of a war with evil we as good sensible Americans begin to get uncomfortable. So what do we do with all of this war and battle imagery in the Bible? Should we try to find kinder, gentler ways to communicate Biblical truths? Or is it one of the keys to understanding our messed up world? Today we are in the last week of our series going through the book of Ephesians. And we end with one of the most famous passages of Scripture on the spiritual battle that we face in this world.

We all have to serve someone, whether that is God, the devil or ourselves. Jesus says in Matthew 6 that “No one can serve two masters. For he will either hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ____” (fill in the blank, whatever it may be for you). We are going through a series as a church called, “The Secret To Healthy Relationships,” and in this final part we will look at relationships of authority: those who serve and those who are served. And we will see the eternal perspective the Bible gives us on power and control, on service and submission.

Matthew 5:38-48 shows us that those who have a deep spiritual life with God are able to love everyone whose life intersects with their own, even those who hate them or have hurt them. (ft. Caleb Knedlik, Pastoral Assistant at Elevate Hope Centennial).

It is hard to be a parent on display, responsible for guiding your kids in righteousness and goodness. It is also hard to be a child, watching and having to obey an imperfect, flawed and sometimes downright ungodly parent try their best to parent successfully. We are in a series as a church called, “The Secret to Healthy Relationships” looking at what the book of Ephesians has to say for us in a variety of relationships. This morning we will look at the beginning of Ephesians 6 as we talk about healthy relationships between parents and children. This is one of the most remarkable passages in Scripture, equally difficult to fulfill as both parents and children - and God’s Word has something to say for all of us as His children.

We are in a series called “The Secret to Healthy Relationships,” going through the book of Ephesians verse by verse. Our passage today deals with relationships between husbands and wives. Marriage can be one of our greatest sources of joy and fulfillment. Or it can be our greatest source of pain and misery. Just like tandem kayaking. One of the articles online you can find on Tandem Kayaking is an article entitled: How to Paddle a Tandem Kayak (and Avoid Opposition, Mutiny and Divorce). And it says this: “Two people both trying to steer a tandem kayak is a recipe for misery. You can only be successful if you and your partner are willing to come together, to sacrifice the idea of full control and to exercise patience with each other’s shortcomings. If you can do this, then paddling a tandem kayak can be magnificently fun.” What the Bible will tell us today is that no matter your past, your present situation or what the future throws at you in terms of marriage there are some secrets to having a healthy marriage relationship that brings joy and laughter, rather than strife, stress and paddling around in passive aggressive circles.

Relationships can often be the source of some of our greatest joys in this life, but they can also often be a source of our greatest sorrow, anxiety and exhaustion. And the common denominator for unsuccessful relationships in our lives is simple: us. Many of us have wounds, shortcomings, insecurities and sins in our lives that make us capable of making a mess of some if not all of the relationships in our lives. We are going through a series as a church called, “The Secret to Healthy Relationships,” and this week we will look at what the Bible has to offer us as the genuine power to change in relationships; a power that doesn’t start with others, and doesn’t even start with each of ourselves, but rather starts with the God who made us.

What does a spiritual life feel like? The Psalms, and the life and teaching of Jesus, are our guides, in a world that has forgotten the truth of who we are: not just possessors, but persons. (ft. Caleb Knedlik, Pastoral Assistant at Elevate Hope Centennial).

We are a people in love with love. And yet few have any idea what real and lasting love looks like or how it acts. It would be easy to sum up healthy relationships, whether it is romantic relationships or relationships between family or friends or neighbors, with something like “All we need is love.” But that brings up the question: What KIND of love is foundational to healthy relationships? What does that kind of love look like? Are we basing our relationships on something that looks like love, but really isn’t love at all? Is that why they are failing or stressed out? We are in a series called “The Secret to Healthy Relationships,” looking at what the Bible says about how to have relationships that are strong, growing and reflect God’s best for us. And we are doing that by going verse by verse through a book of the Bible called Ephesians. Last week we talked about forgiving others and realizing our own need to be forgiven as one of the secrets of a healthy relationship. This morning we’ll talk about our second secret to healthy relationships: having a love that gives and is satisfied, rather than a love that takes and always wants more.

How are your relationships lately? Whether it is in your marriage, in your family, or at work, relationships can be our greatest source of joy or our greatest source of heartache. Join us starting this Sunday for a new 6 week series as we examine the key to building healthy relationships in our marriage, in our family, in our personal and in our work lives.

What does a spiritual life feel like? The Psalms, and the life of Jesus, are our guides, in a world that has forgotten the truth of who we are: not just bodies, but also souls. (ft. Caleb Knedlik, Pastoral Assistant at Elevate Hope Centennial)

How many of us make New Year’s Resolutions? Over the last couple of years, an interesting trend has started with New Year’s Resolutions. Studies have found now that FEW people who make resolutions actually intend to keep them, but now they are simply made to signal a new start rather than to be a catalyst for change. So now I just say that I resolve to do something, just to signal that I want to change it. It seems that what they say is true: “A New Year's Resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other. But, in all seriousness….what is it about New Year’s Day that makes us feel like we have a fresh start? Another chance? A line in the sand of change? What is it that makes us feel like on January 1st, real change is finally possible, that in our minds everything is new or at least has the possibility of being new? This Sunday we are going to look at what Scripture says about real and lasting change, and offer real and practical advice from the Bible on how we can truly change in ways that matter. In ways that move beyond simply resolving to do better.

This Christmas we may need a lot of things. We may need more money, deeper family connection, a new job, or maybe our health back. This Christmas we may need a lot of things. But what we really need is peace; a settled peace that nothing can shake. And that is the message of that first Christmas, and every Christmas, that we need so badly. That peace on earth is possible. Not the absence of war, but a deeper peace even than that. The peace on earth promised on that first Christmas means an existence without fear. A peace that brings with it light and hope and doesn’t depend on us having it all together, being in control, or knowing what the coming year will bring. Peace with God again, and peace with one another again. That’s why we need Christmas so badly. Because what we really need is peace - our Prince of Peace.

We’ve been going through the titles of Jesus in Isaiah 9 as a church this Advent season, anticipating the celebration of Christmas and the coming of our Lord. In Isaiah 9 the anticipated child to be born to save Israel is named ‘Everlasting Father’: what does it mean for this baby to be called our Everlasting Father? It can be difficult for us when we hear of God being referred to as ‘Father’ because we immediately imagine our own earthly fathers and place our own experiences, good or bad, of our own fathers onto God. So let’s look at what the text has to say for us, pointing us towards our immensely good and Everlasting Father.

The holidays often come with a storage problem. Where do we put all of the stuff we asked for or didn’t ask for? And here is what is also true: when it comes to our lives, our thoughts and our emotions around the holidays, we can also have a storage problem. We are burdened and stressed out by all sorts of things. Some things that we brought on ourselves but a lot of things we didn’t ask for. Finishing school well, holiday travel, Christmas parties, cleaning the house, endless gift lists, stuff to bake, stuff to buy. Maybe Christmas reminds us of hard relationships, or loved ones we have lost. People who are in our home that we wish would leave. A child who is far away from home. When it comes to all of the burdens, stresses and sorrows that can get amplified by the holidays, we can have a storage problem as well. Sometimes we just don’t know where to put our burdens, our struggles, our sorrows or our stress. But we have to store them somewhere. So we carry around fear as a pit in our stomach, we carry hurt in our hearts, and we carry burdens and responsibilities on our shoulders. And yet the very meaning of Christmas, the good news of what actually happened on that first Christmas, offers an invitation that all who are burdened in life need desperately to hear and to consider. We need Christmas and we need the Mighty God.

We need Christmas this year. Not more presents, or more nutmeg or peppermint, or movies about saving Christmas. We need Christmas. We have always needed Christmas, even BEFORE the very first Christmas. In fact, Christmas—God with us, as one of us, to save us—was the plan for our world all along. 700 years BEFORE the very first Christmas, in the time when the prophets wrote about the coming of that baby in a manger, people were feeling the same way as we are today. A maniacal king, King Ahaz, ruled the land. Faith, religion and spirituality had stopped providing any answers because they had become a harmful mix of idolatry and evil and just downright awful. There was war and struggle and fear of war. And in the midst of that, a prophet of God most High named Isaiah received a promise to pass on to God’s people that we now use as one of our main Christmas texts. For the next four weeks, through the time we call Advent leading up to Christmas, we will talk about each of these names for Jesus who came to offer us forgiveness of everything we have ever done, past present and future. To give us a new start and bring us back into right relationship with God. That is the good news we call the gospel. That’s what we celebrate at Christmas. And each one of these names tells us something about that good news! The first name for the coming Savior Jesus is: Wonderful Counselor. We need a Wonderful Counselor this year.