April 21, 2012 - Church at Worship

Sermon: "Praying Part 2: Jonah: When God Expands Your World" - Randy Roberts

Pastoral Welcome: Rob Mohr

Alumni Welcome: Craig Jackson

Children’s Feature: Shawna Campbell

Child Dedication: Austin James Foran, Kenneth William Thomas - Randy Roberts
Garrett Tillman Anderson - Randy Roberts

Meditation:

Prayer does not change God, but it changes the one who prays. – Soren Kierkegaard
 
Whether or not our prayer is heard depends not on the number of words, but on the fervor of our souls. – John Chrysostom
 
I would rather teach one person to pray than ten people to preach. – John Henry Jowett
 
Most people pray for power, the strength to do things. Few people pray for love, the quality to be someone. – Robert D. Foster

Scripture Reading: Jonah 2:1–4, TNIV - Paul Damazo, SAHP ’52-1st service
Linda Wat Jacobson, SAHP ’77-2nd service

Sermon Notes:

They say that there are no atheists in foxholes. I’ve never been in a foxhole, but it’s
easy to see how that would be true. I wonder if there are any changed believers in
whales’ bellies?! The story of Jonah tells us that that’s where Jonah finds himself.
Do you know what else the story says? It says that at the point of his extremity,
Jonah prayed! That’s not hard to believe either, is it?!

What have you done at your moments of trial, of uncertainty, at your points of
extremity? My guess is that you (as have I!) prayed. It’s natural. Those are the
moments when we realize how finite and limited and vulnerable we are. It is natural,
then, to turn to God.

What did Jonah say in those moments when he turned to God? Did he change? Did
God come to his aid? It is to such things that we turn our thoughts today.

Note: Child dedications and Baptisms are in the extras section of the DVD