Jonah: Who is My Neighbor?
120,000 At Risk: Do We Care?
In this message, Pastor Ben continues our summer series in Jonah with a message from Jonah 1. He challenges us to move beyond a comfortable, inward-focused faith by praying for people who don’t yet know Jesus, intentionally building relationships with those around us, and trusting God to work as we faithfully share His love.
Message Summary
In this sermon, part of a series called ‘120,000 at Risk: Do We Care?’, challenges the congregation to move beyond comfortable, inward-focused faith and actively engage with the people around them. Drawing from the story of Jonah and the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, Pastor Ben highlights how Jonah’s silence and self-centeredness kept him from being a blessing to the sailors around him, and how Christians today can fall into the same trap of keeping their faith private while the world around them is in desperate need.
The sermon calls believers to embrace a kingdom-minded perspective, to pray specifically for people they know who don’t yet follow Jesus, and to step outside their comfort zones to be present in places where they might encounter those who are far from God. The pastor shares a personal testimony of a family member coming back to faith after years of prayer, illustrating that God moves when His people are faithful to pray and to speak. The Nineveh Challenge for the week is to go to an unfamiliar or uncomfortable place, be present, and ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the people around you.
Intro Prayer
Heavenly Father, we come before you today grateful that you hear our cries, even from the deepest and darkest places.
As we open your Word together, soften our hearts and open our minds. Help us set aside distractions and allow your Spirit to speak clearly to us.
For anyone who feels stuck in a pit right now, remind them that you have not turned your back on them. Guide our conversation and draw us closer to you.
In Jesus name, amen.
Ice Breaker
What is one place or activity outside your normal routine that you have always been a little curious about but have never tried?
Key Scriptures
Jonah 1:1-3
Jonah 1:16
Luke 10:25-37
Acts 2:42-47
Colossians 2:6
Questions
- Pastor Ben described Jonah as having an ‘us four and no more’ mentality. In what ways do you think that mindset can quietly show up in our own lives or in the life of a church?
- Jonah was on a ship full of people in crisis, and he had a direct connection to the living God, yet He stayed silent below deck. What are some reasons we stay silent about our faith even when the people around us are struggling?
- The sermon mentioned that ‘private faith is of no public good.’ Do you agree with that statement? What does it look like to have a faith that is both personal and visible to others?
- In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, both the priest and the Levite had reasons to keep walking. What are the most common reasons you find yourself ‘crossing to the other side of the road’ when it comes to engaging with people who are different from you or in need?
- The Good Samaritan showed mercy that went above and beyond what was required. Can you think of a time when someone showed you that kind of unexpected, generous mercy? How did it affect you?
- Pastor Ben shared that he had been praying for a family member for years and nearly given up hope, but she came back to faith in less than three weeks of renewed, intentional prayer. How does that story encourage or challenge your own prayer life for the people you love?
- The Nineveh Challenge this week is to go somewhere outside your comfort zone, be present, and ask the Holy Spirit what He wants to show you. What is one specific place or situation that came to mind when you heard that challenge?
- The sermon pointed out that Jesus consistently showed mercy to people who were despised or overlooked, including a Samaritan woman, Zacchaeus, and Nicodemus. What does Jesus’ example teach us about who deserves our time, attention, and care?
Life Application
This week, take the Nineveh Challenge. Identify one place outside your normal comfort zone, whether it is a coffee shop in a different part of town, a community event, a neighbor’s porch, or somewhere else that feels a little unfamiliar. Go there, be present, and simply pray: ‘Holy Spirit, what do you want to show me here?’ You do not need to have all the answers or a rehearsed speech. Just show up, slow down, look at the people around you, and listen. Come back to your group next week ready to share what you noticed or experienced.
Key Takeaways
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Jonah’s story is a warning about what happens when believers keep their faith private. Knowing the living God and staying silent is a failure to love the people around us.
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The Parable of the Good Samaritan redefines neighborliness. A neighbor is not defined by proximity or similarity but by who shows mercy, even at personal cost.
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Jesus consistently modeled mercy toward the overlooked, the despised, and the unexpected. His example calls us to do the same, regardless of how uncomfortable it may feel.
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Reaching people for Jesus begins with intentional, persistent prayer. The pastor’s testimony shows that praying specifically for one person can lead to life-changing results in a short amount of time.
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Expanding God’s kingdom requires leaving our comfort zones. The church cannot expect the world to come to it. Believers are called to go where people are and trust the Holy Spirit to provide the words and the opportunities.
Ending Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for being a God of mercy who never gave up on us. As we leave this discussion, we ask that you would plant the seeds of what we have talked about deep in our hearts. Give us eyes to see the people around us the way you see them, as image-bearers who are loved and worth pursuing. Where we have been silent, give us courage. Where we have been comfortable, give us a holy restlessness. And for the people each of us is praying for by name, we trust you to move in their lives just as you have moved before. May we be faithful to pray, to go, and to show mercy wherever you lead us this week. In your name we pray, amen.
5-Day Devotional Guide
Day 1: Faith That Stays Hidden Helps No One
Devotional
Think about a moment when you had something someone desperately needed but said nothing. Maybe it was a word of encouragement, a piece of advice, or simply your presence. Now imagine holding back something far greater, the knowledge of a living God who loves, saves, and restores.
That is exactly what Jonah did. He knew the God who made the sea and the dry land, and while the people around Him cried out to gods who could not save them, He stayed silent below deck. His faith was real, but it was private. And private faith, as we will see this week, was never meant to stay that way.
You carry something the people around you are searching for. Your coworker, your neighbor, the person in line next to you at the grocery store. They may not know what they are looking for, but you do. And God has placed you right where you are on purpose.
This week, we are going to explore what it looks like to move from silent faith to active, merciful, bold faith. It starts with simply acknowledging what you already have and who gave it to you.
Bible Verse
‘I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.’ – Psalm 145:1
Reflection Question
Is your faith mostly private, something you keep to yourself, or is it something the people closest to you can clearly see?
Quote
“Tim Keller, in his wonderful book Rediscovering Jonah, which I’m using throughout the series, says his private faith is of no public good. He is being secret. He is being silent, and he’s holding it to himself.”
Prayer
Lord, thank You for the gift of knowing You. Open my eyes this week to the people around me who need what only You can give. Give me the courage to stop hiding.
Day 2: Mercy Goes Further Than Required
Devotional
Most of us are comfortable doing the minimum. We hold the door, we smile, we give a polite answer. But Jesus did not tell the story of the Good Samaritan to celebrate the minimum. He told it to redefine what love actually looks like in action.
Two religious people walked past a beaten man on the road to Jericho. They saw him. They kept moving. Then a Samaritan, someone the wounded man would have despised, stopped. He bandaged the wounds, carried the man to safety, and covered the cost of his recovery. He did not do what was required. He did far more.
Mercy, by definition, is compassionate treatment that goes above and beyond what would be required. That is the standard Jesus held up. Not obligation. Not convenience. Genuine, costly, inconvenient love.
Here is the encouraging part. You do not have to manufacture this kind of love on your own. When God’s mercy has truly taken root in you, it begins to overflow naturally. You start to see people differently. You stop walking past. You stop doing the minimum. You start showing up the way the Samaritan did, fully present and willing to go further than anyone expected.
Bible Verse
‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’ – Luke 10:36
Reflection Question
When was the last time you showed mercy to someone in a way that actually cost you something, your time, your comfort, or your resources?
Quote
“Mercy, according to one definition, is the following. Compassionate treatment that goes above and beyond what would be required.”
Prayer
Jesus, thank You for showing me what mercy looks like. Help me to stop doing the minimum and start loving people the way You love them. Make Your mercy overflow in me.
Day 3: You Cannot Give What You Have Not Received
Devotional
Before you can show mercy, you have to know mercy. That is not a complicated idea, but it is a deeply personal one.
Jonah knew that God was merciful. He knew God was slow to anger and abounding in love. He had experienced it. And yet he kept it entirely to himself, unwilling to let that mercy flow toward the very people God was sending Him to reach.
Contrast that with Jesus. When Nicodemus came to Him in the night, full of questions and uncertainty, Jesus did not turn Him away. He sat with him. He spoke truth to him. And out of that conversation came one of the most quoted verses in all of Scripture. John 3:16 exists because Jesus chose mercy over judgment in that moment.
You have been on the receiving end of that same mercy. There was a moment, maybe many moments, when God met you in your mess and did not turn away. That is not just your story to keep. It is the very thing that equips you to reach the people around you.
You are not being asked to have all the answers. You are being asked to share what you have already received.
Bible Verse
‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ – John 3:16
Reflection Question
How has personally experiencing God’s mercy changed the way you see or treat people who are far from Him?
Quote
“You’re not going to be able to show mercy unless you know mercy, right? You got to know it.”
Prayer
Father, remind me today of the mercy You have shown me. Let that memory fuel how I love others, especially those who feel far from You.
Day 4: Step Outside and Go to Them
Devotional
Here is a simple but challenging truth. Most people who need Jesus are not going to walk through the doors of a church to find Him. They are at the coffee shop, the park, the workplace, the neighborhood street. They are searching, hurting, and wondering if anyone sees them.
That means the mission does not start inside these walls. It starts the moment you walk out.
The early church in Acts understood this. They did not just gather together. They went out. They were present in their communities. And the result was remarkable. The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Daily. Not because people stumbled into a building, but because believers went to where people were.
You do not need a platform or a program to do this. You need willingness. Write down the name of one person in your life who does not yet know Jesus. Commit to praying for them. Then look for the moment to simply be present with them, to listen, to care, to show up.
God will meet you in that step. You do not have to have the perfect words. The Holy Spirit will give you what you need in the moment if you are willing to move.
Bible Verse
‘They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.’ – Acts 2:42-43
Reflection Question
Is there someone in your life right now who needs you to go to them rather than waiting for them to come to you?
Quote
“I’m so glad you’re here because they’re not going to come to the church. But people would stop and receive prayer. We’ve got to go to them. We’ve got to be where they’re at.”
Prayer
Holy Spirit, give me the courage to step outside my comfort zone and go to the people who need You. Show me who they are and give me the words when I get there.
Day 5: Let Mercy Set You on Fire
Devotional
We started this week with a man who stayed silent when the people around him were drowning. We end it with an invitation to be something completely different.
Imagine what it would look like if the mercy you have received became fuel. Not a quiet, contained flame, but something that spreads. Something that reaches the coworker you have been praying for, the neighbor who is searching, the stranger who just needs someone to stop and see them.
Jonah knew the living God and kept it to Himself. The sailors on that ship had to drag it out of him. But when they finally encountered the truth, something remarkable happened. They greatly feared the Lord, offered a sacrifice, and made vows to Him. Even Jonah’s reluctant obedience produced fruit. Imagine what bold, willing, mercy-filled obedience could do.
You are not called to be perfect. You are called to be available. Step out in faith. Lay down judgment. See people the way God sees them, made in His image, worthy of love, longing to be known.
The word of God is a fire. Let His mercy be the fuel that sends the love of Jesus everywhere you go this week and every week after.
Bible Verse
‘So Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when He was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.’’ – Luke 10:30
Reflection Question
What is one specific, practical step you can take this week to let God’s mercy overflow from your life into someone else’s?
Quote
“The word is a fire in my bones. So may it become gasoline of mercy that just set on fire and sends the love of Jesus everywhere we go.”
Prayer
Lord, let Your mercy in me become a fire that I cannot contain. Use me boldly, send me where You need me, and let the love of Jesus go with me everywhere I go. Amen.
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