“God’s Mission – My Mission” consistently points us to our Gracious God and how He wishes us to portray what He has done for us. In response we will reach out to others: 
Hymn 573 – I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go, Dear Lord, hence our theme hymn. This is in response to 
So Send I You – Hymn 573.

Today we hear 
So Send I You – Hymn 578 as much as Abraham and Jonah heard so long ago. May we make no excuses.

Unfortunately, Jonah had his fears, but we are able to 
Give To The Winds Your Fears – Hymn 519 and ask God for 
Peace, Perfect Peace – Hymn 463 and be given 
Wonderful Peace – Hymn 466 rather than running away like Jonah did.

In the belly of the fish, Jonah “didn’t miss God’s message of love”, and so we will not miss God’s love: 
O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go – Hymn 76, 
Hymn 77 O Love Of God Most Full and 
Hymn 79 – O Love of God, How Strong and True!  to name just a few beautiful hymns.

We are given great courage on Thursday: 
Hymn 573 – I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go so we can 
Give Of Your Best To The Master – Hymn 572 and 
Hymn 623 – I Will Follow Thee. “We are to answer that call by submitting to His leadership, listening to hear His voice, and then choosing to obey whatever He tells us”: 
Hymn 590 – Trust And Obey His calling.

Friday encourages us to be ever faithful: 
Hymn 602 – O Brother, Be Faithful.

So, dear people, be encouraged to go forward so that we and all our friends and neighbors will be rejoicing 
When We All Get To Heaven – Hymn 633.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org/Search and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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Key Thought : We may find it easier to make excuses for not participating in mission. Our motivation for these excuses could be one of many. The question is, how will you choose to answer God’s call?
November 4, 2023

A. Have a volunteer read Jonah 1:1-12.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What were some of the reasons Jonah didn’t want to go to Ninevah?
3. Personal Application: Have you ever felt like God wanted you to do or say the right thing, but you didn’t? Share your thoughts..
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “I’d love to help the church, give a Bible study, or participate in a mission project, but I am just too busy to be involved. I just don’t have enough time.” How would you respond to your relative?

B. Have a volunteer read Jonah 3.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. How did the people respond to what Jonah had preached?
3. Personal Application: What sacrifice is God asking you to make, or be ready to make, for the sake of sharing Him with someone else? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “What caused Ninevah to repent and believe God through His messenger?. Did the Holy Spirit work on their minds and hearts to change them? But didn’t God already know that they would later backslide and turn away and become so wicked He eventually destroyed them? So why did He delay His judgment here?” How would you respond to your friend?

C. Have a volunteer read Jonah 4:1-4.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What was wrong with Jonah’s attitude and thoughts here?
3. Personal Application: What will we do about God’s concern for the wicked, the bullies, for the unreached, across the globe? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “Well, God is a merciful and loving God. He doesn’t want to punish people. He loves us. So we should love all people, no matter what they do or who they worship or how they worship.” How would you respond to your relative?

D. Have a volunteer read Isaiah 6:1-8.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What made the difference in Isaiah’s willingness to serve the Lord ?
3. Personal Application: Do we tend to willingly go when and where God calls us, or do we run in the opposite direction or do we just ignore the call?. Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Daily Lesson for Monday 30th of October 2023

When the storm came, Jonah blamed himself (Jonah 1:1-12). His attitude does reveal something about the kind of worldview and understanding of God or “gods” that many had back then. While various gods, they believed, ruled in their various lands, the sea was deemed the chaotic realm of demons. In the worldview of the mariners, sacrifice was needed to appease their wrath. Although Jonah was a Hebrew, he quite possibly had a worldview that was influenced by the traditional beliefs of his times.

Although Jonah was running from the territory where the people claimed Jehovah as their God, he learned (the hard way) that even when he was traveling into foreign cultures, Jehovah was still sovereign. The wind and waves belonged to God. The fish, too. “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness” (Psalms 24:1, NKJV). Jonah’s heart was turned to the Sovereign of earth and sea, and so he confessed and was saved.

We, too, can have misunderstandings about God and what He expects of us. One common misunderstanding is that God’s desire for us is to focus on our own salvation and to remove ourselves from the wickedness of the world around us. Though we are instructed to keep ourselves “unspotted from the world” (James 1:27, NKJV), our focus should be on how we can bring God’s blessings and hope to those in need.

Another misunderstanding that stops us from accepting God’s call into mission is believing that success depends on ourselves. We can no more save a soul than Jonah could save Nineveh. We can have a “savior” mentality about mission. Our call is not to do the saving but to cooperate with God in His saving work. We give testimony praising God for specific ways He is changing us, but only God can draw people to Himself. We can plant seeds of truth, but only God can convert the heart. We often confuse our role with God’s, which is enough to make anyone find an excuse not to witness. Yes, God used Jonah, but only God, not Jonah, turned Nineveh around.

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Daily Lesson for Sunday 29th of October 2023

One of the reasons Jonah may have been unwilling to go to Nineveh was fear. The Assyrians were a formidable foe, and Nineveh served as the capital of the kingdom.

“Among the cities of the ancient world in the days of divided Israel one of the greatest was Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian realm. . . . In the time of its temporal prosperity Nineveh was a center of crime and wickedness. Inspiration has characterized it as ‘the bloody city, . . . full of lies and robbery.’ In figurative language the prophet Nahum compared the Ninevites to a cruel, ravenous lion. ‘Upon whom,’ he inquired, ‘hath not thy wickedness passed continually?’ Nahum 3:1,19.”—Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 265.

Nineveh was a magnificent city. Historians tell us that Sennacherib greatly expanded the city, including building the huge southwestern palace that alone measured 1,650 feet by 794 feet. (503 by 242 meters) and contained at least 80 rooms. He also built 18 canals to bring water to the city from as far away as 40 miles (65 kilometers). Its size alone would have been intimidating.

But the Assyrians were also ruthless. In his account of the conquest of Babylon, Sennacherib boasted that he filled the streets with the corpses of its inhabitants, young and old, and relief carvings found during excavations depict scenes of soldiers impaling victims. These were not people you wanted to cross; they were not averse to using violence, and gratuitously cruelly, too, against those they didn’t like. Indeed, at the thought of walking among the masses of people in Nineveh, Jonah must have quaked with fear.

In spite of all of this, we often read Jonah’s story with disapproval for letting fear get in the way of carrying out God’s instructions. What we fail to realize is that we can do the same thing (i.e., allow ourselves to be controlled by our fears rather than by God).

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Why does Christ label “loving your neighbor” a new commandment? Join us as we discuss Lesson 4, Sharing God’s Mission.

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