Text Study for Sunday, November 15, 2026
Series Theme: People and Promise
Reading: Jonah 4:1-11
CONNECTING QUESTIONS
What is one time you wish you would have listened to advice?
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Loving God, by covenant promise and enduring mercy you have joined us to yourself forever. By your Spirit may we join with all your faithful people in trust and hope, through Jesus Christ, our true King, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
CONTEXT
Our sermon series, People And Promise will focus on the ways God shows up!
Throughout history, God’s people have celebrated God’s goodness and trusted in God’s mercy. However, God’s people have also fallen short of what God desires, leaving behind suffering and pain. Scripture reminds us that God still loves and claims us! Just as God met people of the Old Testament where they were and worked through them to fulfill God's promise. A promise to be in relationship, to be life affirming, to defend, especially to remain with us even when we stray. God is with us today, in the joys and struggles, praise be to God!
From Dr Tyler Mayfield at EntertheBible.org:
The Book of Jonah ends with a question. God asks Jonah, “Should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?” Jonah does not answer. The question is left then for the reader to answer. Should God be concerned even about those who live in Nineveh, those we might consider our enemies? And if God is, shouldn’t we also be concerned?
LOOK AT THE BOOK
How is it with your spirit this week?
What was one take-away from listening to the Carry On Cast podcast that connects with this Grow Guide?
Open to Jonah. What do you know about this book?
Open to chapter four. Why is Jonah so mad at the start of chapter four? (hint: look through chapter three).
What action does Jonah do in chapter four?
Have you ever prayed angrily? What was it like?
What does Jonah pray?
What character traits does Jonathan ascribe to God in prayer? Which one speaks more to you?
How does God respond in verse four? How might that make Jonah feel?
What does Jonah then do immediately after?
What is God trying to teach Jonah through the bush?
What are some temporary comforts, like the bush, that can distract us from God's larger mission?
Why does God compare Jonah's concern for the bush with God's concern for Nineveh?
What do you think God means when He says the people of Nineveh "do not know their right hand from their left"?
Why do you think the book of Jonah ends with God's question rather than Jonah's answer?
If God asked us today, "Should I not be concerned about them?" who might "them" be in our community?
How is Jesus good news for us this week?
What would you like to talk about that we have not yet?
TAKING IT HOME
Identify one person or group you struggle to care about and pray for them every day this week.
Sending Prayer
O God, you made us in your image and send us into the world you so love by your Spirit’s power. As you have called all people to you, make us one in your name. Through your grace, let us live in community to the glory of your Son, for we pray in Christ’s holy name. Amen.