God of Second Chances

June 14, 2026

Adam Detamore

Message Description

In Jonah 3, we see a God whose mercy meets people in their failures, pursues them when they run, and invites them to respond to His grace. What looked like a problem for Jonah became God’s provision. What seemed like an ending became another opportunity to obey. As Nineveh responded with genuine repentance, God revealed His compassion and desire to restore rather than destroy. This message challenges us to consider what God may be trying to show us and reminds us that every chance from God demands a choice from us.

Series

Jonah

Scripture Reference

Jonah 3

Message Notes

Jonah 3:1

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time.

Jonah 1:17

And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah …

Sometimes what we call a problem, God calls provision.

While you’re waiting, God is still working.

Jonah 2:10

And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Jonah 3:1

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time.

Titus 3:5

[God] saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

Jonah 3:2

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.

Jonah 3:3-4

So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

Jonah 3:5

And the people of Nineveh believed God.

James 2:19

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.

Jonah 3:5-6

And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. 6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

Jonah 3:7-9

And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

To truly repent is to change your mind so deeply it changes you completely.

Jonah 3:10

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Isaiah 30:18

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore, he will rise up to show you compassion.

What is God trying to show you?

Every chance from God demands a choice from you.