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RELENTLESS
Part 1 | Running From Mercy
Senior Pastor Keith Stewart
July 19, 2026

If you look around our culture today, everything seems to be divided into "us" and "them." Every day we're told who to fear, who to blame, who to despise, and who deserves our outrage. The anger comes from the right and from the left, and before long it begins to shape our own hearts. What's surprising is that God's remedy for this isn't found in a New Testament command or a self-help book. It's found in one of the shortest books of the Old Testament—the book of Jonah. Because Jonah isn't really written for irreligious people. It's written for people like us. People who know God, worship God, and yet can still find themselves resisting the very things God loves. Jonah has a great deal to teach us about who God is, how God works, and how He wants to transform our hearts.

Discussion Questions

1. Before hearing this message, what did you think the book of Jonah was primarily about? Did anything in this week's teaching challenge or expand your understanding of the story?

2. Pastor Keith said, "The book of Jonah is a mirror." In what ways do you see yourself in Jonah's attitudes or actions?

3. Why do you think Jonah resisted God's call to Nineveh? Was it fear, prejudice, nationalism, hatred, or something else? What does his motivation reveal about the human heart?

4. Read Jonah 1:1–3. Jonah ran in the opposite direction of God's command. What are some ways people today can run from God without ever leaving home?

5. The sermon emphasized that all people matter to God. Why is that truth sometimes easy to affirm in theory but difficult to practice with certain people?

6. Pastor Keith asked several searching questions:
Who scares you?
Who offends you?
Who can you not stand?
Who would you rather see judged than forgiven?

Without naming individuals if it would be inappropriate, why do you think those questions are so difficult to answer honestly?

7. Throughout Jonah 1, the pagan sailors often behaved more compassionately than God's prophet. What do you think God is trying to teach us through that surprising reversal?

8. The message suggested that Jonah's deepest problem wasn't simply disobedience but misdirected love—he loved his nation more than God's heart for the nations. What are some good things that can become disordered loves in our own lives?

9. Read John 3:16–17 together. How does verse 17 deepen or reshape your understanding of verse 16?

10. Pastor Keith closed by praying, "God, make me into a grace giver, not just a grace receiver." What would that look like in one specific relationship or situation this week?

Closing Prayer
Ask God to reveal any "Jonah heart" within us—a place where resentment, prejudice, fear, or self-righteousness has replaced compassion. Pray that God would help us see people the way He sees them and become willing participants in His relentless pursuit of those He loves.