In the final sermon of our Jonah series, Pastor Ryan brings us to the prophet’s sulking seat outside Nineveh—where Jonah pouts under a vine, wanting God’s justice to look like his own bitterness. But God’s grace stretches wider than Jonah’s anger, wider than our categories of us and them. Like Jonah, we may show up without growing up, content with “good enough,” yet God keeps working in us, nudging us toward transformation. Jonah’s story ends with a question, because our stories are still unfolding: will we keep crossing our arms at the edge of grace, or will we join God in a redemption story that includes everyone—even the people we’d rather exclude?

In this fourth sermon of our Jonah series, Pastor Ryan weaves the story of his late mentor, Rev. Al Kundenreich, into Jonah’s reluctant walk into Nineveh. Jonah mutters a five-word sermon from the city’s outskirts—hardly a wholehearted yes—and yet God still moves. Even through reluctance, bitterness, or bare-minimum effort, God brings transformation. From prophets dragging their feet to cows in sackcloth, the story reminds us that God doesn’t wait for our perfection—just our presence. When we show up, however imperfectly, God shows up too.

In the third sermon of our Jonah series, Pastor Ryan takes us into the belly of the fish—the liminal place where Jonah’s running ends and God’s grace begins. The fish isn’t punishment; it’s a womb, a place of transformation where Jonah begins to be reborn. Through stories of his own journey and the wisdom of Indigenous traditions, Pastor Ryan reminds us that our darkest, most disorienting seasons can become spaces where God is quietly at work, shaping us for what’s next. Jonah’s story shows us that even in the depths, God is not done with us.

In this second sermon of our Jonah series, Pastor Ryan takes us below deck with Jonah—and into the depths we all know too well. Jonah goes down to Joppa, down into the ship, down into sleep, and finally down into the sea. Sometimes our own stories follow the same path: we seek comfort, control, or escape when God’s call feels too hard. But the good news is this—God goes down with us. Even in the storms and silences, even in the depths we’d rather avoid, God is already at work, luring us toward life. Where is your “down” right now, and what might God be growing there?

In this first sermon from Pastor Ryan at First UMC Gallup, we begin a five-week journey through Jonah’s story—and our own. From a storm on I-40 to the prophet’s flight toward Tarshish, we hear what happens when God’s call collides with our resistance. Jonah isn’t afraid of Nineveh’s violence; he’s afraid of God’s mercy being wide enough to include them. This opening message invites us to see where we’re tempted to run, who we’d rather leave out, and how God keeps drawing our stories into a larger one of grace.