BIG IDEA
God is for our enemies.
MESSAGE NOTES:
WHAT:
Don't you just hate people who seem like they're always winning?
I'm guessing I'm not the only person here who has ever rooted for someone else's failure.
God is for us, and how God calls us to be for others, but God is also for our enemies.
SO WHAT:
A lot of people hated Nineveh, but God's people, the Israelites, had a pretty justifiable reason to hate them.
Jonah was not interested in preaching to the Ninevites. He hated them.
Jonah’s disobedience to God and hatred for his enemies led to some pretty ridiculous consequences.
God gave Jonah a second chance and, this time, Jonah obeyed. He went to Nineveh.
Thanks to Jonah, God has spared Nineveh from destruction, but Jonah was angry! Jonah had wanted his enemies to burn, and now it was his fault that they had repented!
The hatred and indifference Jonah felt for the people of Nineveh is the kind of hatred and indifference that has caused some of the darkest moments in human history. God needed Jonah to understand that Jonah had it all wrong.
God calls us to be for everyone — even our greatest enemies.
Like the people of Nineveh, we were once enemies of God. But aren't you glad God didn’t treat us with hatred and indifference? Instead, God treated us with compassion and love.
NOW WHAT:
If you have an "enemy" for any other reason, I'm inviting you to have a conversation with God like the conversation Jonah had with God.
So what would it look like for you to be for your enemies like God is for them? It's hard work to do, but it’s worth it.
Watch what God does when, instead of getting angry or choosing hate, you choose to show compassion and love.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Q1: Who does your school love to hate? Who do your friends love to hate? Who does the world love to hate?
Q2: What are some reasons people hate each other or see each other as enemies?
Q3: Without naming names, is there anyone you see as an enemy right now? Why do you see them that way?
Q4: How does it feel to hear that God is "for" those people? What would you like to ask or say to God about them?
Q5: What would it look like for you to be "for" your enemies?
Matthew 5:43-47. “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.
Q6: Why do you think Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies? What good would that do?
Q7: This week, what's one step you'd like to take toward being "for" an enemy?