Connexus Church Audio Podcast

We're all busy. Our schedules are packed with career, family, friends, church, and other responsibilities. Sometimes our days are so full that we don't enjoy anything because we're trying to do everything. Our relationship with God and with others benefits when we create breathing room in our schedules. But where do we start?

Our lives are busy and fast-paced. The lack of margin increases our stress and shortens our tempers. It can distract us from the most important things in our lives . . . and our relationships suffer. It can even affect our relationship with God because there's a connection between our willingness to create margin and our faith. Life is better with breathing room.

Sometimes your running is over, but if you're really honest, you're still mad. We meet Jonah at the end of the story, and he's angry. Angry at God, angry at life. You can run away from God, but as we'll see, for some strange reason, God doesn't run away from runaways.

So what does God do with runaways? Especially stubborn ones who have adopted a lifestyle that completely dishonours him? He loves them. So many people who run from God think God is mad at them. God may be angry at the running, but he loves runners.

You can try to escape God, but your escapism actually provides no escape. We meet Jonah as Jonah meets a sovereign God who traps him. Trying to escape God is futile, but we try anyway, don't we?

At some level, all of us are running from something. Your past. The future. Your job. Your family. God. There are 1000 reasons to want to escape. Any idea what you're running from? And why?

Once upon a time, Jesus stood against the injustice of the Roman empire and the hypocrisy of religious leaders. He changed the course of human history. What will our Once upon a time… story be?

What if our faith was characterized by fearlessness, humility, confidence in Jesus, and love of others? Imagine how that would change the world around us.

We see daily news reports about violence and terrorism. The world can feel like a dangerous place. Surrounded by uncertainty, it's difficult not to be afraid. But Jesus offers us another option.

Our culture celebrates autonomy. Not needing to go to any more meetings. Not needing to answer the phone. Having enough money and enough health that you can do exactly what you want to do, when you want to do it. But what if your fulfillment is not found in isolation, but actually playing a part in something greater than yourself? What if there were a multitude of people waiting, hoping that you would play your part?