Read This

God’s love for all people is so great it may confuse us, or even anger us.

Jonah 4:1-11 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant[a] and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

 Remember This

Jonah 2:1-2 “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”

Parent Cue  

Bed Time

At bed time, ask your kids, “Why is it so difficult to show love to people who are our enemies? Why do you think it’s easy to believe we are better than other people?”

Bed Time

Ask your kids if there’s anyone in their life that has hurt them that they feel like God might want them to forgive. If you’ve had any recent moments that you might need to apologize for, this might be a good time to even ask your kids for forgiveness.

Meal Time

At dinner read Jonah 4:1-11. Open up your phone and all the various emojis – ask your kids to pick which one they think most described the way Jonah felt in this chapter.

Drive Time

Ask your kids to tell you about their biggest rival – maybe it’s another school, another student, or maybe the sports team they hate. Ask your kids if they think it’s good news or bad news that when God loves people – he loves even our biggest rivals.

Read This

God’s Word is powerful, so powerful it can create faith in the hearts of even the worst people.

Jonah 3:1-10 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” 3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

 

 Remember This

Jonah 2:1-2 “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”

Parent Cue  

Morning Time

Write your favorite Bible verse on a sticky note and leave it where your child will see it. God’s word is powerful and little things like this can be a way that God is speaking to them.

Bed Time

Ask your kids if they’ve seen or experienced themselves somebody’s words hurting someone else. Talk about that moment and how we can respond or if they are the ones hurts, listen and affirm your child in the midst of their own hurt feelings.

Meal Time

At dinner time – have some fun with God’s words. Encourage your kids to imagine what it was like when he was making the animals and just speaking things into existent. Imagine what it was like when God made the platypus. Or cats?

Drive Time

While you’re driving, ask your kids about whose words in their life have a big impact? Ask them for details about the impact of words (good or bad) from teachers, friends, coaches, small group leaders. Based on what kind of words they think about, help them think about how to respond to those words.

Read This

Grateful for being rescued, Jonah decides to follow God’s plan.

Jonah 2:1-10 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. ² He said:

“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
³ You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me.
⁴ I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’
⁵ The engulfing waters threatened me,
    the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.
⁶ To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.

⁷ “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.

⁸ “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.
⁹ But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”

¹⁰ And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

 

 Remember This

Jonah 2:1-2 “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”

Parent Cue  

Morning Time

Before your kids go to school, encourage your kids to find someone they don’t usually talk to and to do something nice for them. It could be another student, a neighbor, a sibling, or a teacher.

Bed Time

Read Jonah 2:1-10. Discuss together, when are you most likely to ask for help or say a prayer? Is it when things are good or bad? Why?

Meal Time

At dinner time – ask your kids,”What’s the hardest thing that you are going through (or have been through)?”  Ask them how God helps them in those moments. Remind your kids that God listens to us, maybe reference 1 John 5:15.

Morning Time

One morning during the week ask your child for something that you can be praying for in their life. Then find a random way (through text or a note) to let them know you are praying for them.

Read This

Jonah runs from God, but God pursues Jonah.

Jonah 1:1-12 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

 

 Remember This

Jonah 2:1-2 “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”

Parent Cue  

Bed Time

Ask your kids if they feel like they have friends and family that they can share their biggest struggles with? If they need help finding people – possibly encourage their small group as a place to find those people.

Bed Time

A little bit before bed time, hide something that your kids care about and tell them where they can find it (ie: their phone). Then once they find it ask, “What kinds of things do people try to keep hidden from their friends? From their parents? From God?”  Ask them why they think that is.

Meal Time

Read Psalm 139:1-5. Ask your kids who they think knows them best out of their family members? Out of their friends? How does it make you feel that God knows everything about us?

Drive Time

Remind your kids about the story of Jonah and the reality that Jonah runs away but God chases him down. Ask your kids, “How God pursuing us can be seen as bad news and how it can be seen as good news?”

Read This

Jonah is an imperfect prophet, whose story points us to Jesus.

Jonah 1:1-2 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

 Remember This

Jonah 2:1-2 “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”

Parent Cue  

Morning Time

Before your kid leaves for school, encourage them to do what’s right even when it’s difficult. If there’s something specific (ie: a friendship, teachers, sports) that you can point to, even better!

Bed Time

Read Jonah 1:1-3. Discuss with your kids why you (and they) think that Jonah might have run away from God. Ask your kids, “What are some things that God could ask us to do that would be hard to do?”

Meal Time

At dinner time, ask your kids, “Who is somebody that it’s hard for you to be around?” Ask them what would be the biggest challenge if God wanted you to show love towards them?

Drive Time

As you’re driving, ask your kids – if we were being chased down (like the scene from an action movie), what do you think would be the best getaway solution? Then ask them, “When do we come up with crazy ideas of ways to get away from what God wants us to do?”

From the Small Catechism

Where do we learn about Jesus?

God’s truth about Jesus Christ is made known in the Bible and is its central message. We call this truth the Gospel, namely, the promise of the forgiveness of sins for Jesus’ sake. (Explanation of the Small Catechism, p. 46)