Introduction

Some of us walked in today carrying second thoughts and stale regrets. Maybe the week wore you down and your prayers felt thin. Maybe a call from God sits on your heart like a note left on the kitchen table—short, simple, and somehow weighty: Go. Speak. Forgive. Begin again. If that’s you, Jonah 3 is good news. It’s the sound of God’s kindness calling again. It’s the story of a prophet who got a redo and a city that got a rescue. It’s a chapter drenched in mercy, threaded with obedience, and brimming with hope for anybody who wonders if they’ve missed their moment.

Jonah’s tale reminds us that our Father is patient and persistent. He does not shrug His shoulders at a runaway prophet, and He does not fold His arms at a rebellious city. He speaks again. He sends again. He saves again. His grace is a wide river, and His word still works. Have you felt the nudge to make a call, to make amends, to make room for God’s assignment? Have you wondered if you get another chance? If you’re breathing, you’re eligible.

"The time is always right to do what is right." — Martin Luther King Jr.

That little sentence has a big echo in Jonah 3. The right time is the time God speaks. The right step is the step God shows. When the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, the prophet went. When the word came to Nineveh, the people turned. Courage meets calling. Faith meets follow-through. And when obedience walks into a city, mercy walks in behind it.

Let this encourage you: - God’s call can come again. He has a way of finding us, even after our detours. - Repentance can reshape what looks impossible. A hard place can become holy ground when hearts humble themselves. - Obedience can open doors for mercy to move. When one person says yes to God, many can feel the blessing.

So, as we open the Scriptures, ask yourself: Where is God calling me again? What yes is He waiting to hear? What small step today could become a doorway for grace tomorrow? Your life may feel ordinary, but in God’s hands, ordinary obedience becomes a megaphone for mercy. Simple steps. Steady trust. Strong God.

Let’s hear the Word.

Jonah 3 (KJV) 1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. 4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

Opening Prayer Father, thank You for second calls and softening grace. Speak to us by Your Spirit as we read Your Word. Calm our restless thoughts and clear our crowded hearts. Where we have run, call us again. Where we have resisted, bend us kindly toward Your will. Give us ears to hear, courage to obey, and joy to do what is right in Your sight. Let repentance be real, let obedience be prompt, and let mercy be seen in our homes, our church, and our city. In the strong name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Called Again to Go

God speaks again. That is grace you can hear. When the call comes a second time, it does not flatter us. It steadies us. It meets us where we stand and tells us where to stand next. It is clear. It is kind. It is firm. It is God saying, I still want you. I still have work for you.

This second word is personal. It has a name on it. It is not a vague feeling or a vague plan. It finds a person and gives a path. That is how God works in Scripture. He does not mumble. He calls. He does not tease. He tells. He does not rush to shame. He moves us toward trust and steps we can take.

"And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time." Those words carry weight. They tell us God does not toss a person aside. They tell us God speaks in seasons, and He can speak again in a new season. The second call sounds like the first because God has not changed. The assignment is the same because the need is the same. The city is still there. The message is still true. The plan is still wise.

A second call also cleans the heart. It helps us lay down fear and delay. It helps us leave excuses behind. We do not have to guess at our place. We do not have to craft a new mission. We receive what God gives. We stand under His word and let it set our course. The second call is not punishment. It is permission to move. It is God handing back the task and saying, we are going to do this now.

This is tender, but it is also plain. The same God who makes the sea calm can make the heart calm. He can steady the will. He can steady the feet. He can steady the mouth. When He speaks again, He provides again. He gives the hearing, and He gives the strength to follow what we heard.

"Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee." Those verbs do not wobble. Stand up. Go. Speak. Each word pushes us out of drift and into action. "Arise" lifts you from the ground. It pulls you from delay and from the fog of what-ifs. "Go" puts you on the move toward the place God cares about. "Preach" tells you what to do when you get there. God cares enough to be that clear.

The place matters. Nineveh is called great. It is big in size and big in influence. Big places can wear us down before we start. We can feel small when we face a city, a system, or a crowd. God does not shrink the place to calm us. He speaks into the scale. He sends us anyway. Size does not set the plan. His word sets the plan.

The message also matters. "Preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee." God owns the content. The task is to carry what He says, not what we prefer. This keeps the messenger honest. It keeps the message clean. It keeps the focus on what God wants to do, not on what we want to frame. We do not edit the truth to manage outcomes. We give the truth as He gave it and trust Him with what comes next.

There is comfort in this. You do not need new clever lines. You need God’s words in your mouth. You do not need loud style. You need clear truth. When the assignment is God-given, it comes with God’s authority. It is enough for a great city. It is enough for a hard room. It is enough for a tired heart that still wants to obey.

"So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD." That is what obedience sounds like. Stand. Move. Go where He said. He did not know the full schedule. He knew the next step. He took it. The text mentions the city’s size, a three days’ walk across. But Jonah begins after a day and starts to speak. He does not wait for perfect plans. He starts where his feet are.

His message is brief. "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." It is plain. It has a clock on it. It tells the truth about what will happen if nothing changes. That countdown is mercy. Time to think. Time to turn. Time to seek God. The warning is not harsh for sport. It is honest for help. When God gives a window, that window invites a response.

Notice what faithfulness looks like here. Jonah repeats God’s word. He does not add a cushion. He does not add a threat. He carries the line he was given. Faithfulness is not fancy. It is steady. It does not control results. It shows up. It speaks. It stays inside the lines God drew.

There is also a lesson for our steps. Movement precedes momentum. Start where you are. Use the day you have. Give the message you have been given. Trust that God can carry it further than your reach. Trust that God can use a short sentence to do deep work in a city that seems beyond reach.

"So the people of Nineveh believed God." That is the first sign of real change. They took God at His word. They responded with fasting and sackcloth. They humbled themselves. This was not an idea in their heads only. It showed up in their habits. They paused meals. They put on rough clothes. They cried out. They turned from their wrong ways and from the harm in their hands.

The king’s part is striking. He left his throne. He set aside his robe. He sat in ashes. Then he led his people with a clear call. No food. No water. Call out to God. Turn from violence. This shows what leadership can look like when God’s word lands. It is not posture. It is actual steps that match the truth just heard.

Their words carry hope and humility. "Who can tell if God will turn and repent?" They do not claim a deal. They seek mercy. They change course without a contract in hand. That is repentance. It is a turn to God and a turn from sin. It is a cry that says, God sees, and God can help.

"And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way." God notices real change. He sees the outward signs. He sees the inward shift. He sees the break with violence. He sees the tears and the hunger and the prayers. Then the text says God turned from the disaster He said would come. The warning did its work. The window of time bore fruit. The city lived because God’s word struck the heart and the heart turned to God.

Repentance Transforms a City

Repentance does not stay in a corner ... View this full PRO sermon free with PRO