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Misc Bible Chats
(1) Jonah
For Leaders:
This story is presented by PowerPoint. The story of Jonah is often told in such a way that leaves children thinking, it was all about a ‘whale’ and Jonah. But there is much more for the children to learn from this somewhat bizarre adventure. One of the underlying messages of Jonah’s encounter is God’s great love. Despite Jonah’s rebellious actions God never stopped loving him and wanting him to do the right thing. Equally, the people of Nineveh who were set on doing awful things were loved by God too. What God really wanted in all of this was for Jonah and those who lived in Nineveh to know that He loved them and wanted the best for them. Despite all of their wrong doing, God so wanted them to come to Him so that they could receive the blessing of forgiveness and go on to live good and meaningful lives, loving God and one another.
Bible Chat
Have you ever been asked to deliver a special message? (You could take some answers here and also chat over how special messages are communicated today.) Sometimes someone might give you a message to pass on to someone else, they might give a note, letter or card (hold up an envelope). If I’m asked to deliver a special message, I like to write it down to make sure I don’t forget something and get it right.
Our story today is about a man who was asked to deliver a very special message but he didn’t want to go.
SLIDE 1
His name is Jonah and he was asked to deliver a special message from God to a bunch of people who lived in a place called Nineveh.
But oh dear, Jonah was not at all happy about the message and he didn’t like the people of Nineveh either. The people of Nineveh were doing a lot of bad stuff. God’s message to the people was to get themselves sorted out and change their ways because they were going to get themselves into a load of trouble, if they carried on the way they were going. Even though it was God who asked Jonah to go to deliver the message, he decided to run off to somewhere else to get away from it all.
SLIDE 2
So Jonah set off in the opposite direction to Nineveh and headed instead for Spain. To get to Spain, Jonah had to travel on a ship, so he went down to the port of Joppa.
SLIDE 3
Jonah wasn’t on the ship long before the weather completely changed and a furious storm came. The sailors started throwing things over the side to lighten the ship. The wind howled and the sea became very rough, the sailors were getting desperate. But Jonah, well, he was fast asleep, down below not knowing about the storm.
The captain went looking for Jonah and when he found him, he woke him up, “Hey mate, what’s going on? How can you sleep at a time like this? There’s a storm raging and things are not good up on deck. Get up, pray to your God maybe He’ll listen to you and save our lives!''
SLIDE 4
The storm got worse and eventually Jonah realised it was because of him, he was the reason for the storm. So he told the sailors that he was running away from what God wanted him to do and he suggested they throw him over board, but they didn't want to do that and tried everything to keep the ship from sinking. The storm just grew worse still and sadly, in the end they could do nothing else but what Jonah had said.
SLIDE 5
They threw Jonah overboard - SPLASH! Jonah must have thought his life had come to an end, but God who loved Jonah very much, had other ideas. Deep down in the ocean, there was something waiting for Jonah.
SLIDE 6
God had sent a huge fish to swallow him up!
SLIDE 7
Suddenly, Jonah realised he wasn’t drowning to his shock and surprise, he was in the belly of a huge fish.
Wow what an amazing thing to happen! Jonah realised that he couldn’t run away from God and he prayed that God would give him a second chance and He did.
SLIDE 8
The whale coughed up Jonah on the beach, he was safe and sound, although he just might have been a bit smelly!
SLIDE 9
Jonah then went to Nineveh, where God had asked him to go in the first place and took God’s message to the people of the city.
SLIDE 10
He told everyone to stop doing bad things and turn to God and do good. He told them that God wanted to forgive them. Guess what, the people of Nineveh turned their lives around towards God, they stopped hurting each other and happiness returned to Nineveh.
SLIDE 11
Jonah completed the mission God gave to him.
This story is all about God’s amazing love. God loves everyone, you, me the whole world. In the Bible we read these words, ‘God Is Love’ The people Jonah went to talk to were doing bad things, but God didn’t stop loving them. When they realised how wrong all the things they were doing were and how much God loved them, they changed their ways and started doing what was right.
You can review the POWER-POINT slides below
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