Community life groups: Salvation Belongs to the Lord

Open in prayer

Open with each member of the group sharing a prayer request, and then pray for one another.

Scripture reading

The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish: I called to the Lord in my distress, and he answered me. I cried out for help from deep inside Sheol; you heard my voice. When you threw me into the depths, into the heart of the seas, the current overcame me. All your breakers and your billows swept over me. And I said, “I have been banished from your sight, yet I will look once more toward your holy temple.” The water engulfed me up to the neck; the watery depths overcame me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. I sank to the foundations of the mountains, the earth’s gates shut behind me forever! Then you raised my life from the Pit, Lord my God! As my life was fading away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, to your holy temple. Those who cherish worthless idols abandon their faithful love, but as for me, I will sacrifice to you with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jonah 1:17-2:10

1. What did you find difficult to grasp or fresh in this passage?

Jonah is in the dark. In the deep. With no way out. He caused his own mess. As the Mark said, “Jonah is inside the fish. Three days. Three nights. No light. No way out. Miraculously preserved. And what does he do? Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish.” The sermon pressed this home, “When you are in a mess with consequences, who do you call out to? Who do you blame? Who do you cry out to for help out? Your friends? They will take your side, or they will take their leave. Your own cleverness? You dug the hole for yourself in the first place. You can’t dig your way out.”

Was there anything in this passage that struck you as new, surprising, or hard to understand? Perhaps Jonah’s prayer from the fish—so confident in the Lord’s deliverance while still in the belly? The references to Sheol and the Pit? Or the way the Lord is in control of the fish from start to finish? Share what stood out to you.

2. How does Jonah’s prayer change the way you think about crying out to God from a mess of your own making?

Jonah knows exactly who put him in the deep. As Mark said, “And he knows exactly who put him there. When you threw me into the depths, into the heart of the seas, the current overcame me. All your breakers and your billows swept over me. Not the sailors. Not the storm. You.” And yet, the prayer ends with rescue, “Then you raised my life from the Pit, Lord my God! Here is the author’s main idea. Salvation belongs to the Lord, so cry out to him, even if you caused the mess. Jonah cried from the bottom, and the Lord heard. The One who threw him in is the One who brought him up.”

What does it mean that the One who threw Jonah in is the One who brought him up? How does this shape the way you approach God when you have caused your own mess?

3. Why does Jesus use Jonah as a sign of his own death and resurrection?

Jesus says Jonah’s descent is a sign of his own. As Mark said, “Both went down. Both came up. But not for the same reason. Jonah went down because he ran. Jesus went down because he came for runaways.” And then, “Think of what Jonah feared most. I have been banished from your sight. At the cross, Christ stands in that place. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? The Father who heard Jonah does not answer his Son. Not because Jesus ran. Not because he rebelled. He was the only man who never earned the Pit. He took the abandonment we deserve.”

How does seeing Jesus as the greater Jonah change the way you read this passage? Why is it significant that Christ was abandoned so that rebels who cry out are not?

4. How does Jonah’s declaration “Salvation belongs to the Lord” confront the idols you are tempted to hold?

Jonah turns from his own rescue to speak of others. “Those who cherish worthless idols abandon their faithful love. Idols are things worshipped other than God. The things you hold on to. You can make an idol of anything. Money. Your own plans. Idols promise a rope, and they give you nothing. And when the water rises, the idol-holder lets go of the Lord’s faithful love, and clutches at what cannot save.” And then Jonah’s confession, “But as for me, I will sacrifice to you with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfil what I have vowed. Salvation belongs to the Lord.”

What are the idols you are most tempted to clutch when the water rises? How does the confession “Salvation belongs to the Lord” expose the worthlessness of those idols and free you to release them?

5. Have you thanked the Lord for bringing you back?

Jonah has not yet reached the shore. He is still in the fish. Still in the dark. And he says, “I will sacrifice to you with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed.” The sermon applied this to three types of people. To believers who are drifting, “Begin like Jonah. With thanks. Thanks admits he is still there. That he still hears.” To the young in faith, “Fear makes bold promises. Comfort forgets them. So do not build your thanks on your resolve. Build it on Christ, who went down into the grave and rose on the third day.” To the mature, “You are this church’s memory. So count the rescues. And tell them. Tell the new convert how the Lord held you when you thought he had left.”

Press deeper here. Where do you find yourself in this sermon—drifting, young in the faith, or mature? Be honest. What is one specific rescue the Lord has worked in your life that you need to thank him for this week? And who is one person you need to tell about it?

Who can you share this with?

A spouse, a child, a friend, a co-worker. Who can you share something you’ve learnt with?

Closing prayer

Close your group time by taking specific worries to God together. Pray over the tangible needs mentioned in the group, actively trusting the Heavenly Father who knows what you need before you ask.

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