Good morning. Let’ just say that after a week of Church Camp for kids 3rd though 5th grades, with a few extras on each side of that, me and Nellie are glad to be back. In fact, I spent a good portion of Friday and Saturday sleeping and getting things ready for today. Now, just like I did after Summer In The Son, I want to share a little with you from our week of Church Camp. And as we do that, let’s me ask you a question. When can you see the furthest? During the day, or during the night? Well, you can see the furthest during the night, because you can see the stars. The stars that are in the sky are so far away, yet they shine so brightly that you can still see them here on earth. Our theme for the week was Being An All Star For God. The kids learned a lot of stories from the Bible, and stories about kids their age doing amazing things… Now, to go over everything from the week, we would never be able to cover it in one message. So, I have decided to give you a top 10 list from our week of camp. So, here are the Top 10 Things From Church Camp: 10. The kids learned a new song. 9. Death Ball, Bocce Ball, & Slip & Slide 8. Girls can be just as strong, if not stronger than boys. 7. Camp beds are really uncomfortable. 6. Our kids are very well behaved. 5. Peyton is a very giving child. 4. I realized that I was not as in shape as I once was. 3. Mail time. 2. I learned that Nellie was really good at Simon Says, she came in 2nd out of 92+ 1. I learned that I was even better than Nellie at Simon Says, I came in 1st. (Play Simon Says… Take oath to be honest…) Now, what is the key to wining in the game Simon Says? Well, in order to play well, in order to win the game of Simon Says, you have to listen, and then you have to do what the leader says. And when it comes to God, if you want to be an All Star for God, then you have to listen to what He says, and do what He tells you. Today, we are going to take a look at a very familiar story from the Bible. If you have your Bibles with you, you can go ahead and turn with me to Jonah chapter 1. And as you are turning there, I will go ahead and have a word of prayer. Let’s Pray! “Hello, you’ve reached Josh Book. Sorry I can’t get to the phone right now, but if you’ll leave your name, your number, and a short message, I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. (Beep)” A standard message that most of you have on your answering service at work or at home. The whole point of having a message bank or an answering machine is to make sure that you don’t miss your calls. But, there are some people who use it to screen their calls, to avoid certain callers, to sift out who they want to talk to, and who they don’t. Maybe you know someone who does that? Or, maybe you are that someone? Well, Jonah is just like that when it comes to God. The message on his answering machine goes something like this, “Hello, this is Jonah. I am unable to take your call right now, please don’t leave your name, your number, or a message, because I won’t be getting back to you. (Beep)” So, what is it that we can learn from Jonah, and what he went through in his life? Well, here is the story of Jonah…. • Jonah is given a calling from God to go to Nineveh and preach against it… • Instead, Jonah boards a boat and heads to Tarshish. o Now Nineveh was to the East, and Tarshish was to the West… • While on the boat a bad storm came their way… • The captain told Jonah to call on his God to save them… • The men were wondering what was causing this storm, so they cast lots… o By God’s hand, the lot fell on Jonah… • Then Jonah finally told his story to them… o The God who created the seas, is after me… o These men must have been terrified… • So, they ask Jonah what they need to do… o And he tells them to throw him overboard, and the storm will stop … • Instead, they try to go to shore, but the storm just gets worse… • So, they finally throw Jonah overboard… o With that, the sea grew calm… o And these men began to follow God… • As Jonah is fighting for his life, a great fish came up and swallowed him. o We think of a whale, but God just calls it a great fish… o Perhaps God created this great fish for this one purpose… • The story goes on and Jonah prays to God and makes a vow that if he is saved, he will do whatever God asks of him… • And at that, God caused the great fish to vomit Jonah out onto dry ground. • Again God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and to preach against it… o This time, Jonah goes… Now, a lot of people will tell you that this story just simply couldn’t have happened. However, I believe that there are 2 reasons why we can believe the story about Jonah. 1. It’s in the Bible… 2. Jesus said that it happened…(Matthew chapter 12) So, now that we know that we can believe this story, what does it teach us about being an All Star for God? First, we need to realize that God has given each of us a calling. Jonah 1:1-2 says, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” Whether you realize it or not, each and every one of us have been given a calling in life. We each have a job that God wants us to fulfill. It may be a big one, like going to Nineveh and preaching against it, or it may be something small, like helping others out. Whatever the case is, God wants you to do it, and you should listen. Secondly, we learn that Jonah disobeyed God. Jonah hears God’s call, and knowingly disobeys it. God gives Jonah a very clear command, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” Jonah knows what God wants, he knows what God desires of him, he understands what God has called him to do. God’s instructions are pretty clear, and yet, he still disobeys. Nineveh is to the East, but we’re told in verse 3 that Jonah flees to Tarshish which is in the West. Jonah, after hearing his call from God, goes in the opposite direction. The truth of the matter is that Jonah will not go God’s way. He refuses to serve God. In fact, he does the exact opposite of what God says to him. He tries to run away from the Lord. Now, God might not have called you to go to Nineveh, but human nature does not change. Time and time again you see in our relationship to God the same scene played out. The same blood that ran through Jonah’s veins runs through ours. Our natural tendency is to run away from God. We hear the word of God, we know what it means to be faithful, to do what is right, to live God’s way, to have the right priorities and goals in life. Yet, we avoid it, we make excuses, we will not listen, we choose to go in the opposite direction sometimes. So, Jonah boards a boat, and he heads in the complete opposite direction that God has directed him to go. And that leads us to our next point. Number three, Jonah is found out. While he is on this boat, his sin and disobedience comes to light, and he comes under the storm of God’s judgment. The safest, the best, and the simplest thing Jonah could have done was to go to Nineveh and preach against the city. Instead he runs away, and God sends the mother of all storms his way. The passage does not say God sends someone else, it doesn’t say he let Jonah get away with it. Jonah wins the battle, but God wins the war. You can run, but you can’t hide. You can see the contrast between verse 3 and verse 4. Have a look, it’s very clear. Verse 3 says, “But Jonah ran away from the Lord …” And then in verse 4 it says, “Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.” God in His judgment sends a violent storm, the sailors in verse 5 do all they can from praying to throwing out their cargo. And then Jonah’s wake up call finally comes to us in verse 6. It says that, “The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God! Maybe He will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”” In desperation the sailors then cast lots to find out who is responsible for this mother of all storms. And guess what, by God’s hand, the lot falls on Jonah. He can run, but he can’t hide. And when they question him and ask, “…Who are you? What have you done to cause this?...” Jonah answers them by saying, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of Heaven, who made the sea and the land.” This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.” God sends a great storm in judgment, but he also sends a great fish to save Jonah. The next thing we learn is that God gives us a second chance. God could have allowed Jonah to die in the sea because of his sinfulness and his disobedience. Instead, this great fish becomes the instrument of God’s rescue and Jonah’s second chance. Many other times throughout scripture, God gives people a second chance. And in our lives today, God gives us a 2nd, a 3rd, a 4th, and many more chances to do what it is that He desires for us to do. So, even if you have already blown it, God is still there waiting for you to come back. In Jonah’s case, God has to speak loudly, and God had to re-direct him. So along came this fish, and swallowed old Jonah. The Bible tells us in Jonah chapter 2 that Jonah prays to God, and he vows to do whatever it is that God tells him. And with that, God caused the great fish to spit Jonah out onto dry ground. And then God speaks to Jonah a second time, and tells him to go to the great city of Nineveh and to preach against it. And then comes our most important point from the story of Jonah. Finally, we need to follow the directions. Just like in our game of Simon Says, in order to play the game right, you have to listen to the leader, and then do what you are told. Jonah finally does what God directs him to do. He goes to Nineveh and preaches to them. Now, Jonah by no means is a perfect person from then on, in fact, he still has some issues about preaching to Nineveh, but did do what God told him to do. When we hear our calling, or we read through God’s words, we must obey it, and learn how to follow directions. When God gives you a mission in life, you need to go in the direction that He wants you to go. Jonah may have messed up in the beginning, but then, he finally obeyed. And if you want to be an All Star for God, then you need to obey, and when He says go East, you need to go East, not West. Now, so you know I didn’t make any of that up, let’s go ahead and take a look at Jonah’s story from scripture. In Jonah 1:1-2:1 it says, “1” Then, if we skip down to Jonah 2:9-3:3 it goes on to say, “1” So, we can believe that story for 2 reasons: 1. It’s in the Bible… 2. Jesus said that it happened…(Matthew chapter 12) And from Jonah’s story, we learn 5 very important things: 1. God has given each of us a calling in life. 2. Jonah disobeyed. 3. Jonah was found out. 4. God gives us a second chance. 5. We need to follow the directions. Let’s Pray!