Worship Preview 11.16.25 "Jesus' Mission Statement: The Sign of Jonah"

Worship This Sunday: 10:30am –  “Jesus’ Mission Statement: The Sign of Jonah” Scriptures: Matthew 16:1-21, Isaiah 40:1-31 and a summary of the book of Jonah. Rev. Christopher Eshelman preaching. 

Too often we read Scripture as a series of stand-alone lessons and fail to see connections. Our ancestors in faith, especially in 1^st century world that Jesus grew up in, heard it quite differently. All of Scripture is an invitation to us to consider who God is; who we are, and how we respond.  Jesus knows the stories of what we call the Old Testament, and he interprets them, often in ways that challenge the status quo. This week, we will again take a deep dive to try and make some connections and to ponder those questions.

Isaiah 40 is a wonderful source of comfort and hope. It is a reminder of God’s presence in trying times – we often read from it at funerals. “Comfort, O Comfort my people…” it begins. It then reviews the wonders of creation – the scale of the heavens and the weight and measure of the dust and water of the earth – who can fathom the fullness of God? “Do You not know? Have you not heard?” the Prophet declares: “The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of Heaven and earth. He will not grow tired or weary!” From there, we are assured that “those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength... They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary…” God, who is beyond our comprehension, is with those who seek God. And for Christians, we proclaim that the fullness of God is found in the person of Jesus, the Christ. The Word becomes flesh and dwells among us!

Last week we talked about “Jesus’ Mission Statement” – in Luke 4, he comes from the wilderness and the first story we are told is his visit to Nazareth’s synagogue where he reads the first part of an assigned reading from Isaiah 61, cutting his reading off in the midst of what we now label verse 2: ““The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Luke 4:20-21 tells us he then: “rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” But then he brings up two Old Testament stories in which outsiders were healed and found faithful – the hometown crowd reacts by trying to throw Jesus of a cliff!

Yet this understanding of God’s mercy is what Jesus, filled by the Spirit, having heard (after his Baptism in Luke 3) “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” and having engaged in 40 days of discernment and resisting temptation in the wilderness – what many cultures call a vision quest – has come to understand as his role. Throughout his ministry, this is what we will see him doing – teaching, proclaiming, healing, liberating – even across cultural and traditional boundaries, as God has always done. This week we will explore that further with a reading from Matthew 16. Jesus is engaged in one of his many debates with the religious authorities – he declares to them that they know the signs of the weather, but are missing the signs of the times (that is, they are missing who he is!) – and that, instead of showing them some sign of his authority as they have demanded, the only sign they will receive is “the sign of Jonah.”

What does Jesus mean by this? Like Isaiah, Jonah was a prophet – perhaps now the most known of the Old Testament prophets because of the “children’s story” of Jonah and the Whale. We’ll review the stories told in Jonah  – and particularly Chapter 4, the part we usually don’t get to in the children’s story, where Jonah is furious – because God is too forgiving and merciful to those Jonah despises! In many ways it’s the same story we heard last week in the Nazareth synagogue, with the same reaction. Sunday we’ll talk about this, and about our own response. We are called to love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously in our time and place – and we are asked the crucial question, as the Disciples were near Caesarea Philippi. Who do we say that Jesus is – in our words and actions?

No matter where you are on your faith journey, we invite you to experience the love and presence of Christ, together with us at 10:30am each Sunday and explore your next steps! 301 S. National here in Fort Scott.  Find your path, share your journey!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Community Office Hours Monday – Pastor Christopher will again be available at Common Grounds from 2-4pm on Monday, November 17^th. Come by, grab a treat from the bakery, and share a time of no obligation prayer and conversation!

Kiwanis Chili Feed Fundraiser – Tuesday, Nov. 18th – come by to pick up lunch or dinner to go. Delicious chili and a cinnamon roll – suggested donation $8 to benefit Pioneer Kiwanis programs.

Wednesday, November 19^th, Feeding Families in His Name: A free, no obligation meal is served “to-go” style from underneath our portico from 5:30-6:30pm each Wednesday, prepared each week by our members as well as several area churches and community groups. We aim to provide 400 meals per week. If you would like to support this ministry feeding our neighbors, you can make donations online at: www.firstumcfortscott.org/feedingfamiliesdonation. Thank you.

Dec 5-7^th – Our 3^rd Annual Nativity Showcase – a part of Christmas on the Bricks. We will again have new displays this year and we’d love to have your favorite nativity set as part of our celebration this year. To reserve your display space, pick up a registration form at the Church office 9am – 2pm Mon. – Thurs. or  download a copy from www.firstumcfortscott.org/nativity-showcase