Jail Ministry 9-9-2025
Key Verse: Jonah 1:3 — “But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”
1. God Created You with Purpose
- You aren’t an accident. Psalm 139:13–14 says God knit you together in your mother’s womb.
- That means every single life—including yours—is intentional.
- When you dismiss that purpose, you’re not just making a bad choice—you’re rejecting the very reason God gave you breath.
2. Running Away Is Choosing Bondage
- Jonah tried to run, but it only landed him in the storm and then in the belly of the fish.
- Every time you run from God, you think you’re choosing freedom, but you’re really putting yourself in chains—addiction, anger, broken relationships, legal trouble.
- Proverbs 14:12 reminds us, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”
3. Your Choices Affect More Than Just You
- God placed you in the lives of others for a reason—family, friends, even the people in jail with you now.
- Jonah’s disobedience put the sailors at risk. Your choices ripple out too—kids grow up without a father, mothers cry themselves to sleep, communities are shaken.
- Running from God is never just “your business.”
4. God’s Mercy Still Pursues You
- The storm, the fish, the second chance—God didn’t let Jonah go.
- Being here in jail might feel like the end of the road, but it could actually be the belly of the fish—God’s way of stopping you in your tracks to get your attention.
- Lamentations 3:22–23 says His mercies are new every morning. That means today can be the turnaround.
5. The Call to Stop Running
- Every time you choose disobedience, you’re literally running away from your God-given purpose.
- But every time you turn toward Him, you step back into the life He created you for.
- Jesus said in John 10:10, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” That’s not prison bars, addiction, or shame—that’s freedom, forgiveness, and purpose.
Closing Challenge:
“You’ve been running long enough. The same God who created you, who placed you in other people’s lives, who hasn’t let you go even here, is still calling you. The question is—will you keep running into destruction, or will you finally run into His arms?”
Full sermon: