Sermon Study Guide

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Maranatha Bible Church

Chicago

Sermon Study Guide

Go and Tell: Jonah, Nineveh, and World Missions | Jonah 3:1-5 | Pastor Mark Griffin (5/1/26)

Pastor Mark Griffin|Friday, May 1, 2026

Scripture References

Jonah 3:1-5Jonah 1:1-2Psalms 67:1-7Ephesians 3:4-6Matthew 28:19-20Ephesians 5:4Psalms 111:2Ezekiel 18:231 Corinthians 2:1-2Romans 10:11-17

Sermon Summary

God gave Jonah a second chance — not because Jonah deserved it, but because 120,000 souls in Nineveh needed to hear five words before judgment fell. The same God who sent one reluctant prophet into enemy territory now sends every believer into a world where 3 billion people have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. The question is not whether the mission is risky — it is whether we love our comfort more than they need the gospel.

Key Takeaways

1God does not discard broken instruments — He tunes them and plays them again. Jonah's second chance was not a reward for good behavior; it was mercy upon mercy, and 120,000 lives hung in the balance.
2You are immortal until your Master's work is done. No musket fires, no spear flies, no arrow leaves the bow without the permission of Jesus Christ who holds all power in heaven and on earth.
3Five Hebrew words toppled a city's rebellion. God does not need your eloquence — He needs your mouth open and your feet moving. Faithfulness, not polish, is what heaven rewards.
4If you strip the bad news out of the gospel, you strip the power out of the cross. People must know they are condemned before they can know they are rescued.
5Jonah robbed himself of the deepest joy a human can taste — watching enemies become brothers. John Paton, who lost everything on those cannibal islands, said placing communion bread into once-bloodstained hands was the nearest thing to heaven he ever knew.

Discussion Questions

Use these questions for small group discussion or personal reflection.

1Jonah knew exactly what God told him to do and ran the other way. Be honest: is there an area of your life right now where you know what God is asking and you are actively avoiding it? What would it look like to stop running this week?
2John Paton said it made no difference whether he was eaten by cannibals or by worms. Does that kind of statement inspire you or terrify you — and what does your reaction reveal about what you truly treasure most?
3If someone stripped away your safety, your comfort, your financial security, and your reputation — would you still follow Christ into whatever He called you to? Or have those things quietly become the real foundation of your life?
4Have you ever been secretly glad — or at least indifferent — about the suffering or condemnation of someone you consider an enemy? How does Ezekiel 18:23 and God's mercy on Nineveh confront that attitude?
5There are 3 billion people on earth with little or no access to the gospel. What is one concrete thing you could do in the next thirty days — not someday, but now — to participate in getting that message to them?
6The sermon says that if we strip the bad news out of the gospel, we strip the power out of the good news. When you share your faith, do you tend to avoid talking about sin, judgment, and hell? Why? And what does that avoidance cost the person listening?

Application Points

Practical ways to apply this message to your life.

If you are in a season of affliction right now — pain you cannot explain, walls closing in, nowhere to turn — stop and ask whether God is using this to get your attention. Do not waste your suffering. He is not trying to destroy you; He is trying to bring you back. Humble your heart tonight and return to Him.
Examine your speech this week with ruthless honesty. When you are around unbelievers, do your words sound like Christ's ambassador or like the world with a church membership card? Cut the coarse jokes, the constant complaining, the biting criticism. Let people hear thanksgiving from your lips and wonder where it comes from.
Stop being a secondhand Christian. If everything you know about the Bible comes from a preacher, a podcast, or a TikTok clip, you are starving yourself at a banquet table. Open your own Bible this week. Study it. Memorize it. Get your face in it until it gets into you.
Prepare a short, honest gospel message — thirty seconds or less — that you can give to a stranger in a grocery line, an Uber ride, or a hallway. Practice it. Not so it sounds slick, but so it sounds true. Five words changed Nineveh. You do not need a seminary degree to tell someone that Jesus saves sinners from hell.
If the Holy Spirit has been tugging at your heart about missions — whether across the street or across the ocean — do not dismiss it as emotion or fantasy. Pray about it. Seek counsel. But whatever you do, do not ignore it. The comfortable life you are protecting is not more valuable than the souls who have never once heard the name of Christ.

Personal Reflection

Take time to quietly reflect on these prompts.

How is the Holy Spirit speaking to me through this message?

What areas of my life need to change in light of this teaching?

Who can I share this truth with this week?

What is one specific action I will take as a result of this sermon?

Prayer Points

Thank God for His Word and the truths revealed in this message.
Pray for understanding and wisdom to apply what you've learned.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you live out these truths in your daily life.
Pray for others who heard this message, that they too would be transformed.

Notes

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