Jonah is no doubt a familiar story to many.  It stands as among the favorites for children, inspiring fun songs and cute pictures and entertaining cartoons.  In this sermon series, we will engage this story from a missional lens.  It speaks powerfully about the mission of God in and for the world, Israel’s (and the church’s) surprise and reluctance at the wide-reaching grace of God, and the calling of the church to live as those who have been sent to participate in the redemptive activity of the triune God.

In his classic book Foolishness to the Greeks, missiologist Leslie Newbigin says that the Bible is “that body of literature…that renders accessible to us the character and actions and purposes of God.”  These questions will frame our study of Jonah.  What does this story reveal about the character of God?  What does it reveal about the actions of God in human history?  What does it reveal about the purpose of God in and for the world, as well as the purpose of the church?