Repentance

The story of Jonah isn't really about a fish, it's about a God who pursues runaway people with grace they didn't think anyone deserved. Pastor Brad walks through Jonah's flight from his call, the storm, and Nineveh's repentance to show that Jesus is a better Jonah, who died so brutal, undeserving people like us could be saved.

Every believer lives behind a hedge of protection God has placed around them, limiting what Satan can do. Pastor Linn shows from Job, Luke, and 1 Samuel that when we dabble in the supernatural apart from God — Ouija boards, tarot cards, mediums, horoscopes — we step outside that hedge, and what we encounter is either a fake or genuinely demonic. The hope is that Christians cannot be possessed, since the Holy Spirit already lives in them, but they can still be oppressed by stepping outside God's protection, and repentance restores them behind the hedge.

Jesus saves us by His cross, but our own cross shapes us into spiritual maturity. Indulgences — chasing pleasure, position, or comfort at the expense of our health, relationships, and spiritual well-being — start small but dull our spiritual senses if left unchecked, so we're called to crucify them daily rather than let them define us.