Questions for Personal Reflection and Group Discussion
Bobby Warrenburg - September 17, 2023
The Reluctant Witness
Scripture References: Jonah 3:1-10
From Series: "The Gospel According to Jonah: God's Surprising Rescue"
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Read Jonah 3:
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. 6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
- St. Patrick, the first missionary to Ireland, experienced God’s guidance in a dream indicating that he should go to Ireland and share the gospel there. If you’ve ever experienced God telling you something he wanted you to do, share about that with your group.
- Why do you think Jonah’s message to the Ninevites was so short and he only gave it for one day? What was missing from his message? What does all this reveal about Jonah’s heart?
- Why was Jonah so reluctant to share his faith with the Ninevites?
- If you’ve ever felt reluctant to share your faith, what do you think was behind that feeling?
- Is there anything that might help you share your faith more? Could there be ways of sharing faith in Jesus that you would be able to do more regularly and effectively?
- Jonah’s sermon could be translated, “In 40 days Nineveh will be turned over.” In what ways did this prophecy come true? How was Nineveh turned over, that is, transformed?
- If you know someone whose life was totally turned upside down in beautiful ways after they connected with the gospel of Jesus Christ, share about the transformation you saw in them.
- Talk about the parallels between the King of Nineveh and Jesus Christ and what we can learn from these parallels.
- What did you sense God saying to you through this message?
