Elementary Follow-up: Jonah Week 1

Gulp! Jonah and the Big Fish

Focus: Even though Jonah disobeyed God, God never gave up on him.
This week, we learned about the story of Jonah and how God's mercy was displayed through Jonah. We see Jonah disobey God because he had a hard time understanding why he needed to show love to the Ninevites, who were a very unloving group of folks to begin with. Though imperfect and initially disobedient, Jonah was eventually used in a mighty way by the Lord!

Go Deeper!

"...You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Matthew 22:37-39

How does this passage in Matthew relate to Jonah? [Jonah was commanded by God to share God's love with the Ninevites.] Was Jonah loving God and his neighbors with his choices? [Had Jonah loved God with all his heart and loved his neighbors, he would have obeyed God from the beginning. Even though he disobeyed, God still used Jonah, but not until after He disciplined Jonah for his disobedience.]

We looked at Jonah's prayer in Jonah chapter 2. How does this prayer point us to Jesus? [This is the prayer of a sinner, calling upon God to save him. This is the kind of prayer we may all pray at one time or another, as we beg God for His mercy and salvation. It reminds us that we are never outside of God's presence and never beyond the saving power of Jesus Christ, who died to save us once and for all time.]

The Challenge!

Just like Jonah, there are times that we feel left out or we even leave out people. As followers of Christ, we are called to love others, even when it's hard. Encourage your child to reach out to another child in your neighborhood that is sometimes ignored or made fun of by others.