05/23/2026
In last Sunday’s message, Pastor Jeremy shared a powerful message on “Missing the Mark by Missing Through the Heart,” reminding us that we can do the right things with the wrong heart. Through the lives of Jonah and the Pharisees, we saw that God is not just after outward behavior; He desires transformed hearts aligned with His mercy, compassion, and truth.
Check out these key points, Scriptures, and livestream from last Sunday for deeper study, and join us Sundays at 9:30 AM for Sunday School and 10:30 AM for Morning Worship!
Missing the Mark by Missing Through the Heart.
You can do the right things with the wrong heart.
- God is not after our behavior, He is after our hearts!
We are going to first look at Jonah.
Jonah 3:10 - Jonah 4:1
So, Jonah preaches, and sees one of the greatest revivals and turning of hearts in human history.
- But instead of rejoicing in their change of heart, Jonah becomes angry!
God addresses this heart issue in Jonah 4
Jonah 4:9-11
He never understands the mercy and compassion of God.
- And this is how the book ends. UNRESOLVED.
- His heart doesn’t change.
The problem was never the storm, the whale, or even Nineveh, it was Jonah’s heart.
In the New Testament, we see a group of religious people who had great knowledge of God but had hearts that were corrupted, and those are the pharisees.
Let’s take a look at how Jesus talks to the Pharisees in
Matthew 15:7-9
Outwardly clean but inwardly corrupt.
Appearance focused.
Whether it is Jonah or the Pharisees, they missed the mark because their hearts were not aligned with God.
You can do the right things with the wrong heart.
Evil, rebellion, sin, comes from within.
Mark 7:20-23
We’re going to go over 3 ways how we miss the mark through the wrong heart.
1. A WRONG HEART HIDDEN BEHIND RIGHT ACTIONS
Jonah eventually submitted and listened to God
• He obeyed God but his heart was unhealthy.
This is relative to us because we can be believers in God who:
• Serve
• Attend church
• Give sacrificially
• Teach
But internally be:
• Bitter
• Prideful
• Arrogant
• Unforgiving
• Jealous
• Cold to people
The Pharisees KNEW the scripture, they fasted, prayed, did good deeds…
But Jesus openly rebuked them more than he did those open in sin.
Why?
- Because THEY HAD PERFORMANCE WITHOUT TRANSFORMED HEARTS.
Matthew 23:27-28
Have you done the right things with the wrong heart?
2. UNHEALTHY HEARTS DISTORT HOW WE SEE OTHERS
Jonah loved that he received mercy from God.
But Jonah despised that others did also.
This exposes a human flaw so many people have.
• We want GRACE for ourselves but JUSTICE for everyone else.
Then when we look at the Pharisees. They were just like Jonah.
• Despised sinners
• Hated tax collectors
• Disgusted by Gentiles
• Wanted Grace / Executed Justice
One place Jesus confronts them is in Luke 15 with the parable of the Prodigal Son.
- The Older brother is supposed to represent the religious of Israel! The Pharisees and Sadducees!
Luke 15:27-28
The older brother just threw his sucker in the dirt. Refused to go in to the party.
- This was the same thing with Jonah and the Pharisees.
- God was showing mercy and favor on Gentiles, but they felt it should be exclusive to them because they were more important.
Matthew 9:13
When your heart is unhealthy, people become interruptions instead of souls.
A healthy heart is necessary in order to see people as Jesus does.
• All people, all colors, all backgrounds.
3. THE HEART DRIFTS BEFORE THE LIFE DOES
Hebrews 3:12
Looking at King Saul and King David
• When Saul failed, he wanted his image to be repaired.
• When David failed, he wanted his heart repaired.
Ps 51:10
David understood that the heart is the center of our being, and if it is corrupt, so will everything else.
Proverbs 4:23
If we see the course of our life beginning to divert, we must immediately look to our heart to assess the damage and situation.
Are there things in your heart that have caused you to drift lately?
But how do we heal our hearts? How do we mend and fix the issues at hand?
1. INVITE GOD TO SEARCH YOUR HEART
Psalm 139:23-24
Search me God!
LEAD ME IN THE WAY!
But more often than not, the prayer doesn’t go “SEARCH ME”…
It usually goes, “SEARCH THEM”
If you want YOUR heart to be right, then you have to allow God to speak the matters of YOUR heart, not theirs!
2. STAY TENDER TO GOD’S CONVICTION
When God is speaking something into your spirit to show you the way, the proper response is to humbly accept it, evaluate yourself, and address the change needed.
Hebrews 3:15
Every time we say no to God’s voice, we harden our hearts. The harder our hearts, the easier it is to ignore conviction.
3. KEEP PROXIMITY TO JESUS
The heart drifts when intimacy fades.
- Relationships stall when intention is gone.
Knowledge alone won’t transform your heart. The Pharisees prove that.
But relationship with Jesus will.
John 15:4-5
Have you been abiding in Christ?
4. DEAL WITH MISALIGNMENTS QUICKLY
The longer you wait, the harder it will be to overcome.
Ephesians 4:31-32
Misaligned hearts can still quote scripture while resisting God’s character.
Jonah knew God’s power but resisted God’s heart.
The Pharisees knew God’s Word but resisted God’s Son.
Here’s the question,
Is my heart trending towards being more sensitive to the Holy Spirit, or less?
Livestream: https://www.facebook.com/altoncog/videos/963047379921252
