The Prophets - Lesson One: The Prophet Jonah - Silhouettes of Promise

The first lesson in our series 'The Prophets' taught by Assistant Pastor Dillon Meadway on Sunday, January 4th 2026

This powerful message takes us deep into the story of Jonah, revealing it as far more than a tale about a man and a fish. We discover that Jonah's name means 'dove'—a symbol of freedom and the Spirit—and that he was called to be a prophet of truth and faithfulness. Yet when God asked him to extend mercy to Nineveh, a city known for violence and wickedness, Jonah ran in the opposite direction. His journey becomes a mirror for our own lives, challenging us to examine the excuses we make and the callings we avoid. The sermon draws a stunning parallel between Jonah's three days in the belly of the fish and Christ's three days in the grave, reminding us that no depth is too deep for God's mercy to reach. We're confronted with the uncomfortable truth that doing God's will often makes our flesh uncomfortable—if it were easy, everyone would do it. The message asks us pointedly: are we merely remorseful about our failures, or are we truly repentant? Do we see the 'Ninevehs' in our own lives—the people or places we've written off as undeserving of God's grace? This teaching calls us to stop playing God with mercy, to recognize that even when we're sleeping through the storm of our own rebellion, God is orchestrating circumstances to wake us up and bring us back to purpose.