Session 6 Jonah 4:1-11

NO COMPASSION

ENGAGE

INTRODUCE:

Pre-judge and Prejudice

ask:

• What do you see as the difference between pre-judge and prejudice?
• Or are they the same? Explain.

EXAMINE:

list groups or individuals in our society today
who are sometimes judged prematurely or isolated through prejudice.

DISCUSS:

• What are the pros and cons of knowing that God extends grace to all people?
• What attitudes surface when grace is extended to someone we believe to be undeserving? (p. 53)

TRANSITION:

Recognizing that we are all sinners saved by grace through faith,
we sometimes forget that God’s grace and mercy are extended to all people.
Jonah didn’t want to share God’s message with the Ninevites,
but as we saw in the last session, Jonah vowed to obey the second time.
Today’s session focuses on the next step as Jonah shares God’s message.

EXPLORE

OVERVIEW:

Review Jonah 1–2,
focusing on Jonah’s prayer of thanksgiving.

Overview Jonah 3,
highlighting Jonah’s brief message in Jonah 3:4,

Jonah 3
4 Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk;
and he cried out and said,
"Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown."

and the Ninevites’ response to the message.

Read aloud Jonah 3:10, relating God’s response to the Ninevites repentance.

Jonah 3
10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way,
then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them.
And He did not do it.

Reference the location of Assyria using Pack Item 1 (Map: Prophets of the Eighth Century).

TRANSITION:

After the Ninevites repented and God relented,
Jonah became furious and asked for God to take his life.
He revealed his prejudice toward the Ninevites,
stating that he did not desire to preach to them
for fear of them turning to God.