00:00:00.100 Praise God. Thank you, Jesus Lord. Bless your holy name, God.
00:00:04.360 We thank you, God.
00:00:06.740 In the book of Colossians, it says that Jesus Christ is the visible
00:00:09.980 image of the invisible God. Jesus existed
00:00:13.960 before anything was created and was supreme over all
00:00:17.780 creation. For through him, God created everything in the heavenly
00:00:21.560 realms and on Earth. He made the things we can see and cannot see,
00:00:25.940 such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, authorities, even in the unseen
00:00:29.920 world. Everything was created through him and for him.
00:00:34.500 Everything was created through him and for him.
00:00:37.860 You were created through him and for him.
00:00:40.949 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.
00:00:44.800 Jesus Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body.
00:00:48.780 He is the beginning supreme over all who
00:00:52.100 rise from the dead, so he is first in everything.
00:00:55.720 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut
00:00:59.580 away, but then God made you alive with Christ,
00:01:03.900 for he forgave all our sins. He
00:01:06.620 completely canceled, eradicated
00:01:10.500 by his blood, the record of charges against us and took it
00:01:14.560 away by nailing it to the cross. And in this way,
00:01:18.660 he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities.
00:01:22.600 He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities.
00:01:26.580 Not only that, he shamed them publicly by his victory over
00:01:30.480 them on the cross.
00:01:32.340 He took what the enemy meant for evil, and he turned it for good.
00:01:36.200 He made an open spectacle the weapon formed against you by your
00:01:40.120 adversary, the kingdom of darkness.
00:01:42.240 He took that, and he made an open spectacle, dunked
00:01:46.220 on Satan and the kingdom of darkness by his blood.
00:01:50.420 And Jesus, we honor you this morning.
00:01:51.920 We thank you, God,
00:01:54.040 that these words hold eternally true.
00:01:58.140 There's not a single thing that we could've ever said
00:02:02.060 and done, and there's nothing that could've been said or done against us
00:02:06.860 that is not covered by your bloodshed on the cross.
00:02:10.180 We thank you your blood speaks a better word, that we are completely
00:02:13.760 forgiven and free, and the spiritual forces of
00:02:17.620 darkness are defeated.
00:02:21.080 We thank you, Jesus, nothing can stand a chance against you,
00:02:25.000 that you have no rival and no equal. We worship you. We honor you.
00:02:29.340 We surrender afresh, Lord God, to you this morning.
00:02:32.980 Any obstacle,
00:02:36.000 any problem we're facing, Jesus, it doesn't stand a chance
00:02:39.440 because you've already accomplished the victory,
00:02:42.220 and we thank you we get to walk as a free gift in the victory that you have
00:02:46.100 won because you love us so much. We honor you,
00:02:50.220 and we worship you, and all this is for you.
00:02:52.680 It's in your precious name we pray, Jesus. Amen.
00:02:56.580 Amen. You may be seated.
00:02:58.860 Praise God. We give the worship team a great big hand.
00:03:00.580 Thank you guys so much for leading us into worship and these powerful truths
00:03:04.840 that we get to sing about week after week about who God is and who we are to him as
00:03:08.860 a result. We actually have an opportunity this morning to extend
00:03:12.920 our acts of worship to God by giving.
00:03:16.000 And one thing I love about God is that there's not a
00:03:19.560 single moment in time in history that he is not able to
00:03:23.500 redeem, to completely restore, and bring into alignment
00:03:27.400 for his good and glory, and for our good and glory.
00:03:30.070 And I'm so grateful that we serve a God who's a God of
00:03:34.040 second chances, the God of redemption, the God who
00:03:38.200 works in the midst of evil and turns it for good.
00:03:42.640 And this morning, we have an opportunity to give as an act of worship to
00:03:46.540 this very God. Why? Because there are so many more people outside of
00:03:50.460 these walls who have yet to hear of this God and his
00:03:54.320 miraculous redemptive power. As we've engaged in this summer of
00:03:58.060 serving throughout this summer, I just want to thank you because your giving
00:04:01.080 directly goes to impact that somebody maybe on the trail, maybe
00:04:05.040 coming through the parking lot for the car wash coming up in August, or wherever we
00:04:09.020 go, that we get to be an extension of who Jesus is, his love,
00:04:13.020 his redemption power. And your giving directly goes to
00:04:16.541 funding that rescue mission. So I want to say thank you, and maybe you're with
00:04:20.541 us, and you'd like to partner in what God is doing in and through Freedom Church.
00:04:24.170 This is just one of many ways that you can partner up with what God is doing in
00:04:28.140 the community and worldwide. There are several ways to give.
00:04:31.400 Cash or check, there's a giving station at the back of the room.
00:04:34.180 You could take your phone out, scan the tap card on the seat back in front of you,
00:04:37.760 or give online. More importantly than the ways to give, let us hold fast and
00:04:41.580 true in remembering why we give and ultimately who
00:04:45.700 we're giving to.
00:04:47.540 Let's pray. Father, I thank you so much, God. You're so awesome, Lord.
00:04:51.480 There's not enough words, not enough time or praise that we could give
00:04:56.540 to you that you truly do, that you're worthy of.
00:05:00.380 But I thank you that because of what you accomplished on the cross, that we get
00:05:04.300 to do that for all of eternity.
00:05:06.780 We get to celebrate and walk in the victory that you bought and paid
00:05:10.700 for on the cross. Thank you there's not
00:05:13.600 a single person here that you're unaware of or not thinking
00:05:17.520 about, God. I thank you, Lord God, before we could ever give you anything,
00:05:21.480 you gave everything in your Son.
00:05:24.780 I ask, God, that we would surrender our hearts with fresh surrender and courage and
00:05:28.620 faith to give to the work that you're doing here locally and worldwide through your
00:05:32.520 church. We thank you that you're the head of the church, Lord God, and that we're
00:05:36.160 your body, an extension of you to the Earth.
00:05:39.500 It's in Jesus' precious name we pray.
00:05:42.260 Everybody said?
00:05:44.080 Amen. Amen. If you're new here with us this morning, maybe you're here for the
00:05:47.620 very first time, I just want to welcome you.
00:05:50.220 I had the privilege to meet some of you guys here this morning.
00:05:52.740 We just want to say welcome and thank you so much for choosing to spend part of
00:05:56.080 your Sunday with us. We would love to hear your story, hear more
00:06:00.100 about you and what you've walked through, and we'd love to get to know you.
00:06:04.040 One of the many ways that we do that is through filling out a connection card with
00:06:07.840 us. If you'd be so kind, just take out your cell phone, scan the tap card
00:06:11.820 on the seat back in front of you or that QR code.
00:06:14.340 Leave just some very general, basic information so that we can keep in touch with
00:06:18.260 you. And at dismissal today, on your way out the door, we want to put a
00:06:22.020 gift in your hand just as our way of saying thank you for joining us
00:06:26.080 here this morning. Perhaps you're even here this morning and you would like to
00:06:29.384 become a more active and growing part of Freedom Church, what God is doing
00:06:33.444 in and through our church in the community.
00:06:35.664 We have our Next Steps class, which is actually taking place today
00:06:39.644 after the service here this morning, out the hallway to the left.
00:06:42.604 We would encourage you and welcome you to join us, learn more about the church,
00:06:46.744 why God has put us here, and also discover how God has
00:06:50.284 uniquely gifted you to make an impact for
00:06:53.764 eternity through us and just uniting our hearts together, walking
00:06:57.684 alongside one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
00:07:01.104 So we encourage you to come on and stay after service. You don't have to sign up.
00:07:04.784 You can just show up here today. We would love to have you.
00:07:07.484 If you can't make it, we do have Next Steps twice a month after the 11:00 a.m.
00:07:10.864 service as well in August. We encourage you to join us.
00:07:14.524 Without further ado, everyone, let's get ready to hear today's message.
00:07:52.964 Good morning. Welcome, everyone. How are you doing today?
00:07:58.044 Last Sunday of July, if you can believe it, August is just
00:08:01.884 around the corner. I know some of you were having a good day, and then I had to
00:08:04.784 remind you of that. I'm sorry. It's reality.
00:08:07.864 Summer is coming to an end soon. It will come eventually.
00:08:11.344 But I want to start with just sharing a couple quick announcements with you.
00:08:14.734 I want to help you learn how you can be more involved.
00:08:17.584 Something we have coming up in just a few weeks on August 8th is
00:08:21.524 a car wash. We're doing a community car wash right here at the building, right in
00:08:25.144 front. We just want to have a free car wash for people in the community.
00:08:28.484 One of the ways we're just being the church outside the walls, outside
00:08:32.564 just Sunday morning. We're going to be advertising probably from 10:00 a.m.
00:08:36.404 to 2:00 p.m., but we put a little extra time in there.
00:08:39.164 If you can be a part of any of that day, because we're also going to be
00:08:42.884 doing some outreach on the trail. We plan to be doing some more work at the
00:08:46.484 community center in Export, and some other opportunities for you to serve.
00:08:49.924 So maybe, I hate washing cars, that's why I use the car wash,
00:08:53.944 but you want to help bless people or you want to be involved in some other way, you
00:08:57.324 don't have to be washing cars. There's going to be other opportunities.
00:09:00.204 But if you register, you sign up, I want to encourage you to do that, to
00:09:03.544 participate, because you really get to build relationships, not just on Sunday
00:09:07.224 morning, but when you're rubbing shoulders with people, literally hanging out with
00:09:10.244 people, talking, and hopefully you're going to have a great time and good weather
00:09:12.944 that day. Also, something else to encourage you to sign up for is
00:09:16.804 Highlands College Leadership Institute.
00:09:19.644 Highlands College is a very well-known college in Alabama.
00:09:22.944 They have classes all around the world.
00:09:25.664 People come to Birmingham, Alabama for their main college, which you see in that
00:09:28.784 photo behind me. But what they have is offering a virtual option for
00:09:32.544 some certificate programs. And as Freedom Church, we're able to work with them,
00:09:36.824 where we facilitate you as a virtual student of Highlands College
00:09:40.984 Leadership Institute. So technically, you can do everything online.
00:09:44.204 You don't have to come in person, but I'm going to offer once a week
00:09:47.844 in-person class time. We're going to have live instruction from Highlands College.
00:09:52.064 We're going to have some discussion time, really putting it into context for us
00:09:55.684 here at Freedom Church. Now, the biggest question I've been asked is how much is
00:09:59.064 it? It's $3,200 for the entire two-year program.
00:10:03.444 They intentionally make it very affordable, and it's designed to be
00:10:07.364 for working adults, people with jobs, with kids.
00:10:09.644 So it's not meant to be an overwhelming workload, but a very
00:10:13.064 intentional and thought-out way to formally train and educate
00:10:16.824 people who want to grow in their Christian walk.
00:10:19.264 So if you want to grow as a Christian, you want to take some classes, $3,200.
00:10:23.224 You can pay as you go. It's one class at a time for
00:10:27.264 two years. The schedule's very well-structured.
00:10:30.724 If you're at all interested, or you say, "I'd like to find out more,"
00:10:34.644 what we're going to do is have you scan this QR code, or you go on our website.
00:10:38.504 There's a Get Involved tab. Underneath, you can find HCLI.
00:10:42.424 Fill that out. All you're doing is filling out so that I can send you more
00:10:45.504 information. We actually had 18 people sign up from last Sunday interested
00:10:49.464 in enrolling in the Leadership Institute.
00:10:52.184 So I encourage you, if you weren't here last week, you're just hearing about it,
00:10:55.444 take some time. We're four weeks away from classes starting, so I want to encourage
00:10:58.684 you to get signed up. I will send you all the information, answer any questions you
00:11:02.224 may have. I really believe this is going to be a way that we can intentionally
00:11:05.984 develop, train, and equip you as the saints doing the work of
00:11:10.004 the ministry. So I'm going to pray, and then we're going to jump into the word.
00:11:13.964 Heavenly Father, we thank you, God, for your word.
00:11:16.284 God, we thank you for the opportunities.
00:11:17.824 God, thank you we get to worship you together in this building.
00:11:21.264 God, I pray you'd speak through me today.
00:11:23.364 God, as we dive into your word, as we apply these timeless truths to
00:11:27.224 our lives today in 2026, God, I pray that you would speak to
00:11:31.204 each and every one of us, and God, that we would choose to be courageous, to
00:11:35.024 be bold, and to live for you no matter what the cost.
00:11:38.684 In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
00:11:41.964 Well, today we're continuing our series called "Timeless," where we've been
00:11:45.844 looking at a lot of Old Testament characters and stories
00:11:49.774 and seeing how do they apply to us in our lives today.
00:11:53.334 And today we're going to continue this series by looking at the Book of
00:11:57.004 Esther. Now, Esther has 10 chapters, so for time's sake, I'm going to be
00:12:01.004 summarizing some of the chapters, highlighting some points, but really
00:12:04.824 telling the story of what happened with the story
00:12:08.844 of Esther. And it's an interesting book because there are a
00:12:12.264 couple unique facts about the Book of Esther.
00:12:14.724 It's actually the only book in the Bible that doesn't mention
00:12:18.384 God
00:12:19.132 Doesn't mention his name. There's no obvious like, here's where God was moving or
00:12:23.312 speaking, yet we see his work, we see his impact, we see how
00:12:26.912 he's divinely intervening and orchestrating
00:12:30.372 events within the Book of Esther. There's also no audible voice from heaven.
00:12:34.252 It wasn't God speaking. There are no angels that appear.
00:12:37.492 There's no prophets that are speaking on behalf of God.
00:12:40.512 There's no obvious miracles, like no splitting of the Red Sea, no ax
00:12:44.472 heads floating. Nothing real crazy takes place.
00:12:47.392 It seems all very natural in a sense.
00:12:50.012 Yet, when we read the story, what I hope you glean from this is
00:12:53.872 you'll see how God's hand was moving the entire time.
00:12:57.112 God was orchestrating. God was directing. God was guiding.
00:13:00.492 God had his perfect plan and his perfect timing that came
00:13:04.412 to pass, and that's one of the main themes of the Book of Esther is even though you
00:13:08.412 can't see or hear God, know he's still working.
00:13:12.152 He's still working in your life. Even when he seems absent, he knows
00:13:15.972 what's going on. Another theme that I would title this message is
00:13:19.852 courage over comfort. A little more focused on ourselves.
00:13:23.512 I believe courage over our comfort is what ultimately leads us
00:13:27.432 to walk in God's will for our lives.
00:13:30.302 That we need more people to be courageous and bold for Jesus.
00:13:34.312 Amen? How many of you believe we need more bold and courageous Christians?
00:13:38.272 Now, that doesn't mean we yell louder, doesn't mean we tell everyone what to do,
00:13:41.952 but we need to be bold and courageous as Christians, especially
00:13:45.952 in the world we live in today. So, the Book of Esther is really a
00:13:49.892 history book. It's really the last historical book of the Old
00:13:53.752 Testament. It takes place about 100 years after the
00:13:57.472 Babylonian exile. So, if you were here last week, we talked about Shadrach,
00:14:01.012 Meshach, and Abednego in the time of Daniel, where they were in Babylonian
00:14:04.932 exile. This is now about 100 years later, so
00:14:08.892 we can just follow along chronologically, 100 years later, the Persian Empire has
00:14:12.832 overthrown the Babylonian Empire.
00:14:14.852 So, they had the Babylonian Empire, now there's the Persian Empire, and the Jewish
00:14:18.672 people, the people of God, are living in the land of the Persian
00:14:23.032 Empire. And there's this king named Xerxes.
00:14:26.512 That's his Persian name. He's
00:14:29.211 really a guy who just is a drunken fool, I'll say.
00:14:32.652 He drinks, he parties. Actually, chapter one and two of Esther
00:14:36.652 starts off with him having a 187-day banquet
00:14:40.452 feast, where they're just drinking every day, messing around.
00:14:43.712 It's a bunch of debauchery, and all kinds of...
00:14:46.512 They're drinking and drinking and drinking and having these parties, and I'm like,
00:14:49.652 man, how do they do that? I get tired after one baby shower and a graduation party,
00:14:53.902 and I'm like, I need to take some time off.
00:14:56.272 Clearly, they did not have jobs, they weren't taking care of kids, that they could
00:15:00.032 have this feast and this party for over six months'
00:15:03.992 time. But ultimately, at day 187, the king, he
00:15:07.872 goes, "Hey," my wife, Queen Vashti, he calls her in.
00:15:11.592 He wants to show her off to all of his friends.
00:15:13.692 He wants to parade her around like a trophy, and she says
00:15:16.952 no. Good job, Vashti. We can commend Vashti.
00:15:20.412 She doesn't get much say, but she gets deposed.
00:15:22.652 She gets removed as the queen, and King Xerxes' advisors say,
00:15:26.682 "Okay, well, you don't have a queen now, so you need to have a queen.
00:15:30.572 How do we get one?" Well, they decide to throw a nationwide beauty pageant,
00:15:34.472 basically. They go, out of 127 provinces, they're going to go grab all these
00:15:38.392 young girls, and they probably would've been between 12 and
00:15:41.721 15-year-old girls that they would grab from all over the Persian
00:15:45.452 Empire to bring to the king, and he would get to pick which
00:15:49.272 one is his favorite. So, Esther chapter 2, verse five, we're going to read our
00:15:53.152 first text here. It says, at that time, at the time of that beauty pageant
00:15:57.072 where all these young girls are being brought to the king, it says, "There was a
00:15:59.952 Jewish man in the fortress of Susa whose name was
00:16:03.632 Mordecai." I love how it gives us very specific details.
00:16:06.672 Again, it's historical.
00:16:08.592 At that time, at the same time of King Xerxes having this beauty pageant,
00:16:12.572 there was a Jewish man in the fortress of Susa.
00:16:15.492 Susa was the capital city of Persia.
00:16:18.792 Of the entire Persian Empire, Susa was the main fortress, the main
00:16:22.812 citadel where the king and all the people would just have these elaborate parties.
00:16:26.692 But at the fortress of Susa, there was a man by the name of Mordecai.
00:16:30.792 In verse seven, it said, "This man had a very beautiful and
00:16:34.652 lovely young cousin, Hadassah, who was also called
00:16:38.432 Esther." Esther was her Persian name, Hadassah was her Hebrew
00:16:42.392 name. That's common when you see the Bible.
00:16:44.472 They would have Hebrew names, but whenever they were transported or living in a
00:16:47.832 different land, they would have, like Babylon.
00:16:50.112 Last week, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, their Hebrew names were
00:16:53.772 actually... I always mess it up. Azariah, Mishael, and
00:16:57.552 Hananiah, right, because I was flipping them around there.
00:16:59.612 But they have a Hebrew name, and then they had a Babylonian name.
00:17:02.192 Here, Esther has a Hebrew name, Hadassah, but she's more commonly known as
00:17:06.172 Esther, hence the name of the book.
00:17:08.932 It says when her father and mother died, Mordecai adopted
00:17:12.853 her into his family and raised her as his own
00:17:16.552 daughter. So, Esther's one of these girls that gets brought to the king.
00:17:20.392 So, she's a young, I know if you look at movies or see, there's movies about this
00:17:24.032 story. They always depict her as a middle-aged woman or an older woman.
00:17:27.552 I'm like, she was a teenager. She was a young girl that she
00:17:31.492 wouldn't have been married, it screams that she was a very young girl, probably
00:17:35.572 just of what they called adulthood at 13.
00:17:38.532 She was a teenager, and Mordecai was such a good man,
00:17:42.482 he adopts his cousin, takes her in as an orphan, and raises
00:17:46.452 her as his own daughter. And it just so
00:17:50.272 happens that Esther gets selected
00:17:54.372 as the queen. She wins the beauty contest. The king's favor favors her.
00:17:57.852 He picks her to be his queen. In verse 20,
00:18:01.932 very important note here, it says that, "Esther continued to keep her family
00:18:05.252 background and nationality a secret.
00:18:08.232 She was still following Mordecai's directions, just as she did when she
00:18:12.252 lived in his home." So, it just so happened that she was
00:18:16.232 following Mordecai's directions.
00:18:17.632 She kept her Jewish background, her Jewish nationality hidden,
00:18:21.632 kept a secret. It doesn't say why. We see there's reasons for that that get
00:18:24.872 revealed later. But then right after she is selected as queen,
00:18:28.992 Mordecai, just so happens in the text says that he overhears
00:18:32.872 two guards talking about how they're angry with King Xerxes, and they make
00:18:36.712 this plot to assassinate him. Okay, so it just so happened that Mordecai
00:18:40.672 happened to be at the right place, right time, overhearing these two guys.
00:18:44.552 He tells on them. They investigate, find these guys were going to kill the
00:18:47.952 king. Those guys are put to death, and that's the end of what we hear
00:18:51.952 in chapter two. We get to chapter three, introduce
00:18:55.900 this man by the name of Haman. Now, Haman, he's the bad
00:18:59.780 guy. In case you haven't heard this story, or it's been new to you,
00:19:03.400 Haman, he's the antagonist. Okay, so Esther and Mordecai, they're both the good
00:19:06.880 people. I think Mordecai's the true hero of the story,
00:19:10.560 but Haman, he's the bad guy. In chapter three, verse two,
00:19:14.640 it says, "All the king's officials would bow down before Haman to show him
00:19:18.520 respect whenever he passed by." To this day, since this story,
00:19:22.420 this was written about 2,400 years ago, this story took place,
00:19:26.480 ever since then, Jewish people have a celebration every year called
00:19:30.300 Purim. Purim, they would read through the Book of Esther two
00:19:33.920 times. Now, they would also give kids noise makers, and the
00:19:37.740 people would boo whenever the name Haman was read because they
00:19:41.660 wanted to blot out the name of Haman.
00:19:44.020 Now, you're going to hear, you might be like, "I don't like booing people." Haman's
00:19:47.260 a bad guy. You're going to see, it gets worse. He's a bad guy.
00:19:51.020 He wants to kill Jewish people. He wants to kill and wipe out a whole race of
00:19:54.940 people. So what I'm going to ask you to participate is when I read, get to Haman,
00:19:59.160 we're all going to say, "Boo," like, he's a bad guy. Okay?
00:20:02.500 I want to encourage you this. Okay, so all the king's officials would bow down
00:20:06.260 before, boo-
00:20:08.490 Boo
00:20:08.500 ... to show him respect whenever he passed by. You're getting it.
00:20:12.100 So feel free to do that at any point in time that I read his name.
00:20:15.200 There's not a lot of them written on the screen, but if it comes up, feel free to
00:20:18.420 do so. So everyone, Haman, he's so full of himself.
00:20:22.460 He's very prideful. Thank you. It's going to throw me off, but keep doing it.
00:20:27.440 He's so full of himself. He's literally on his high horse.
00:20:29.740 Wherever he goes, he demands everyone to bow down to him, to
00:20:33.320 worship him, to honor him, to respect him.
00:20:35.840 And there's this guy, Mordecai, that we just heard about.
00:20:38.360 He refused to bow down and show him respect.
00:20:42.020 Now, Mordecai was listening online last week when we talked about Shadrach,
00:20:45.400 Meshach, and Abednego. I'm kidding. But last week, we talked about what?
00:20:50.540 Stand firm, trust God, and don't bow.
00:20:53.380 Don't bow to anything or anyone other than Jesus.
00:20:57.140 The only one worthy of our praise, the only one worthy to be worshipped
00:21:01.040 is God himself. But really, this time took
00:21:04.820 place about 100 years after Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
00:21:08.600 It was actually about 300 miles from that location.
00:21:11.140 So that's like from here to Philadelphia.
00:21:13.340 Okay, there's a distance there, but he probably would've heard and known
00:21:17.280 of the story of those three young men who did not bow to
00:21:21.160 worship King Nebuchadnezzar's statue.
00:21:23.329 I read into that, that's historical.
00:21:26.020 It doesn't say why he just refuses to bow down and worship
00:21:30.040 this man. So in verse five.
00:21:33.120 Verse five, "When Haman saw that
00:21:36.700 Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was
00:21:40.380 filled with rage." Verse six, "He learned of Mordecai's
00:21:44.140 nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai
00:21:47.980 alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all
00:21:51.960 the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes." So here
00:21:55.740 he has a problem with one guy. One guy will not bow.
00:21:59.600 He doesn't think it's good enough just to hurt him.
00:22:01.960 He goes, "I'm going to kill all of his people.
00:22:04.320 I'm going to wipe them out." So he's trying to figure out a way, a plan,
00:22:08.360 and he goes, "Hey, I'm really close with the king.
00:22:11.000 We get drunk all the time together.
00:22:12.540 I bet I could convince him to make a law that we could wipe out the
00:22:16.540 Jewish people." So he actually goes to the king and he says, "Hey, there's these
00:22:19.940 people, they're Jews. They live separate.
00:22:22.500 They keep to themselves. They do different things.
00:22:25.520 They have good morals and religion, and they don't follow the ways
00:22:29.480 of Persia." He goes, "They don't worship you and your gods." So he sets it
00:22:33.400 up with some negative feelings that the king's starting to feel like, "Yeah, I
00:22:36.460 don't like these Jewish people," because he's being swayed by Haman.
00:22:40.680 Instead, so he goes to the king and he asks him, "Hey, will you
00:22:44.520 sign a decree, a law, so that they could be wiped out?" in verse nine.
00:22:48.660 But not only does he twist the truth a bit with him, he also says, "I will give you
00:22:52.580 10,000 large sacks of silver" to the government
00:22:56.620 administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.
00:23:00.000 If it wasn't enough to sway the king to hate these people, he bribed him
00:23:03.940 with 10,000. In the understanding of the
00:23:07.700 amount of silver, it was about 375
00:23:11.460 metric tons of silver. This is a massive amount of money
00:23:15.600 that Haman's giving to the king to kill all of the
00:23:19.380 Jews. So the king says, "Sure, go ahead.
00:23:22.580 Write the law, make this decree." And they picked about 11 months
00:23:26.520 after this time. They cast lots, it was just the way they did it, for deciding the
00:23:29.980 date. So about 11 months time, this is going to happen.
00:23:32.520 There's one day where anybody and everybody can kill any Jew they
00:23:36.280 want and steal their property. That was the order.
00:23:38.960 That was the law that the king had put into place.
00:23:41.680 So in verse 13, it says, "Dispatches were sent by swift
00:23:45.200 messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order
00:23:49.180 that all Jews, young and old, including women and children,
00:23:53.400 must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single
00:23:57.400 day." Again, what a horrible thing, a horrible law that was
00:24:01.460 written and enacted that these people, all the Jewish people, it says young
00:24:05.460 and old, women and children, it doesn't matter, kill them all in a single
00:24:09.480 day to wipe them out. And it says what happens is the
00:24:13.460 king and Haman sit down and drink together.
00:24:16.080 They celebrate this victory of theirs.
00:24:18.930 And what kind of a victory is this? A sick law that's put into place.
00:24:22.240 But what happened is actually a very small mention.
00:24:24.430 It says, "the city of Susa fell into
00:24:27.940 confusion."
00:24:29.420 Think about if a law was passed today that, "Hey guys, in a couple of months or
00:24:33.220 this year, you're going to be able to kill this certain race of people.
00:24:36.280 You can just kill them all and take their stuff." Who wants to do that?
00:24:40.720 Very few people would actually want to do that, and they need to be in prison or
00:24:43.980 somewhere else, right? We need to pray for them.
00:24:45.780 But the people, it makes sense the people are like, "Why is this law even written?
00:24:49.600 Where did this come from? Nobody wants to kill people just for
00:24:53.580 fun."
00:24:55.204 So they sit down and they're focused on themselves, and what happens is Mordecai
00:24:58.684 comes to the palace gates. So Esther's in the palace.
00:25:01.784 Mordecai comes to the gates. He's in mourning.
00:25:04.104 And there's this messenger that goes back and forth between the two of them.
00:25:06.624 Mordecai says, "Hey, Esther, did you hear about this law?
00:25:09.784 All of our people are going to be killed.
00:25:12.104 You need to go to the king and ask for mercy." Esther responds through the
00:25:16.004 messenger and says, "Hey, you know the law says if I go into the
00:25:19.784 king's throne without being requested, he could kill me."
00:25:24.584 It's not like she can send an email or a text.
00:25:26.944 She has to go into his throne room, put her life on the line
00:25:30.744 just to show up, just to ask and make this request.
00:25:34.944 And
00:25:35.964 Mordecai tells Esther, he says, "Well, ultimately, if you
00:25:39.924 keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for
00:25:43.864 the Jews will arise from some other place.
00:25:47.084 But you and your relatives will die.
00:25:49.684 Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a
00:25:53.144 time as this?" Probably the most commonly known verse of this
00:25:56.704 entire book is this very line where Mordecai gives her this
00:26:00.644 charge. He gives her this encouragement.
00:26:03.204 He goes, "You realize you're Jewish, your family is Jewish, and maybe
00:26:07.124 if some way her life is spared, her family is going to be
00:26:10.904 killed." He says, "Perhaps you were made queen.
00:26:13.924 Perhaps you were put in the place of position that you have for
00:26:18.044 such a time as this. Don't miss this
00:26:21.764 moment. Don't miss this time where you could turn the
00:26:25.564 tide of events. You could change history if you would step
00:26:29.644 in courageously."
00:26:33.284 Courage grows when purpose becomes greater than our
00:26:37.004 comfort.
00:26:39.564 She could have chosen comfort.
00:26:41.604 She could've said, "You know what? I'm not doing that. I'm safe. I'm the queen.
00:26:45.144 I know nothing's going to happen to me." But she chose courage because
00:26:49.024 comfort says not to do the hard thing.
00:26:51.704 Purpose says do the right thing, even if it's the hard thing.
00:26:54.944 Usually, the right thing is the hard thing, right?
00:26:57.184 Comfort says, "I just want to focus on myself.
00:27:00.604 I worry about myself." Purpose means, "I want to be focused on something bigger
00:27:04.524 than myself," a vision, a purpose, a greater goal than just
00:27:08.544 my life. Comfort says we're just going to scroll on our phones for
00:27:12.624 hours and watch TV, instead of our purpose being, "I want to know God more.
00:27:16.784 I want to discover a greater purpose in my life to help other people
00:27:20.624 receive purpose as well." Instead of selfishly consuming,
00:27:24.604 how can we selflessly contribute?
00:27:27.584 Instead of looking at what can I get from church, what can I get
00:27:31.544 from God, what can I get from somebody else, we should be asking the question, what
00:27:35.304 can I give? How can I serve? How can I contribute?
00:27:39.164 What has God put in me that I could give away, I could bless other people, I could
00:27:42.704 use my time, my talent, and my treasure to do something
00:27:46.604 for purpose? But it takes courage.
00:27:49.564 It takes courage, and it has to be greater than our desire for comfort.
00:27:54.044 In verse 16, she says, "Okay, go and gather together all
00:27:58.104 the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink
00:28:02.044 for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same."
00:28:06.024 The very first thing Esther does is goes to God.
00:28:08.984 Now, it doesn't say God, but she says, "We're going to fast." Now, being a
00:28:12.484 Jew, fasting would mean she's neglecting food
00:28:16.464 and drink for a spiritual purpose, for spiritual guidance, for God to give
00:28:20.344 direction, for God's favor, for God to intervene.
00:28:24.824 And then, though it is against the law, she says, "I will go in to
00:28:28.804 see the king. If I must die, I must
00:28:32.464 die."
00:28:33.824 Some translations say, "If I must perish, I perish." If
00:28:37.864 I go in, I know it's against the law, I know I'm putting my life on the
00:28:41.584 line, but if I die, I die.
00:28:44.544 That takes courage. That takes boldness to step into a
00:28:48.304 place where her life was literally on the line.
00:28:51.724 If we're really honest, we have fear about being made fun of.
00:28:55.344 We have fear, and I get it, at the same time.
00:28:57.704 Sometimes I want to talk to somebody at the store, I want to pray for somebody, and
00:29:00.784 sometimes my mind goes to, "What if I look stupid?
00:29:03.804 What if they reject me? What if they make fun of me?" Those are the
00:29:07.704 thoughts that go through my mind, and I'm like, "I'm the pastor.
00:29:10.324 I shouldn't have those thoughts," right?
00:29:12.144 But the reality is we all have those fears. We have those doubts.
00:29:15.624 We have those, what if it doesn't go the way I plan it to?
00:29:18.864 What if I say something stupid? What if they ask a really hard theological question
00:29:22.493 and I can't answer it? You don't want to look silly, right?
00:29:25.864 But we have to overcome all those what ifs, all those fears, all those
00:29:29.864 unknowns, to see how God's going to use us
00:29:33.764 with courage and boldness. We step in because courage is not
00:29:37.714 the absence of fear. It's obedience
00:29:41.144 despite our fear.
00:29:43.564 Courage actually requires fear to be present, so you have something to
00:29:47.544 overcome. In Joshua 1:9, God commands them four times.
00:29:51.924 He says, "Have I not commanded you: Be strong and courageous.
00:29:55.724 Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your
00:29:59.724 God will be with you wherever you go."
00:30:04.104 He had to say, "Don't be afraid, don't be discouraged," because there was fear and
00:30:07.344 discouragement there. But in order to be strong and courageous, we have to
00:30:11.284 have something to overcome. Overcome that fear, overcome the desire
00:30:15.264 of our flesh to be comfortable, to walk in courageous
00:30:19.504 faith, just like Esther did. So where is God asking you to be
00:30:23.444 courageous?
00:30:24.844 We all have a different place. We all have a different walk.
00:30:27.344 We all have different workplaces, schools, families.
00:30:30.244 Where is God asking you to be courageous?
00:30:33.604 I can't answer that for you, but I believe if you ask God, "God, where are you
00:30:37.464 calling me to take a step of courageous faith?" Maybe it is to
00:30:41.404 serve. Maybe it is to forgive somebody. Maybe it is to make a phone call.
00:30:45.224 Maybe it's to invite somebody to come to church.
00:30:47.764 Maybe it's just loving on people at your workplace, even though you know they have
00:30:51.684 different values and beliefs than you.
00:30:53.804 To show up and speak truth and love.
00:30:56.624 What step have you been delaying? And I want to encourage you to take that
00:31:00.580 step of faith. Be strong and courageous and know that the Lord your God
00:31:04.580 will be with you wherever you go.
00:31:08.020 So Esther 5 verse 1 says, "On the third day of the fast," so the Jews are
00:31:12.000 fasting, Esther and her maids are fasting, she puts on her royal
00:31:15.720 robes and entered the inner court of the palace just across
00:31:19.690 from the king's hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne
00:31:23.200 facing the entrance. Now I want you to picture this.
00:31:26.220 Here comes Esther, again, a young teenage girl.
00:31:30.320 She knows she's possibly going to be put to death in just a few moments.
00:31:33.980 She opens the doors of the throne room, and there at the other side is the king.
00:31:38.560 This would've been an opulent, magnificent, wealthy, gold-laden
00:31:42.860 throne room with this massive, probably obnoxious throne that
00:31:46.880 the king is sitting on with his gold scepter, his royal robes.
00:31:50.070 The most powerful man in the known world, and she's about to go talk to him
00:31:54.700 to request something. He could, in an instant, say, "Kill her.
00:31:58.300 Put her to death. Put her in the dungeon."
00:32:00.750 The fear she had to have been having, I bet her palms were sweating.
00:32:04.140 Her heart rate was racing. She had to have been so nervous as she walked
00:32:07.960 trepidatiously into the king's hall.
00:32:11.460 But when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the inner court, he welcomed
00:32:15.400 her. He pointed his gold scepter as a sign to receive, and she received it.
00:32:19.260 Then in verse 3 it says, "The king asked her, 'What do you want, Queen Esther?
00:32:23.740 What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it's
00:32:27.360 half the kingdom.'"
00:32:30.570 What a sigh of relief she must have felt. Like, "Okay, this is good.
00:32:33.940 Okay, it's getting better."
00:32:36.120 Now she's about to ask him to do something that in our minds, if you know the rest
00:32:39.910 of the story, it's like it's not that big of a deal, right? To show mercy.
00:32:43.240 But what she really was going to be saying is something along the lines of, "Hey,
00:32:46.980 King,
00:32:48.220 that law you made, it's really stupid.
00:32:51.000 I don't think it was a good idea. You shouldn't have done that.
00:32:53.620 You realize you're going to kill me and all my people." Imagine her thought
00:32:57.480 process. She's trying to tell the king he made a mistake.
00:33:00.840 Now, it's bad enough when you want to tell your husband that, but this is the king.
00:33:05.260 And the king could just cut her off, literally.
00:33:08.040 She walks in, so he's like, "What do you want? What's your request?
00:33:11.140 I will give it to you, even if it's up to half the kingdom." Instead of her
00:33:14.680 answering right away, she goes, "Hey, King, if it pleases the king, I want to
00:33:17.980 invite you to a banquet." Now she knows he loves his banquets, right?
00:33:21.280 He loves his drinking and his partying, so she goes, "I want you and Haman," who's
00:33:24.740 high command,
00:33:26.340 good job, "to come to a banquet." Verse 6, it says,
00:33:30.380 "While they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, 'Now tell me what you
00:33:34.240 really want. What is your request?'" This is the second time he says this.
00:33:37.320 "I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom."
00:33:41.880 Again, second time. She could've chosen comfort.
00:33:44.720 She could've said, "You know what?
00:33:46.680 I was going to ask for this, but you just offered me half the kingdom.
00:33:49.780 I might take that deal."
00:33:51.760 I was thinking like a nice villa on the beach.
00:33:53.860 Now I'm like, "I could just own the whole beach." He could've given her...
00:33:56.800 This was a vast empire. He's literally saying, "Half the kingdom could be yours."
00:34:00.800 She could've taken it. She could've taken the wealth, the power, the
00:34:04.200 protection, all the land could've been hers, but she had a
00:34:08.200 greater purpose in mind.
00:34:11.160 So instead, she invites the king and Haman to come back
00:34:14.640 tomorrow for another banquet. She wants to throw a second banquet.
00:34:17.591 Now, perhaps she was just nervous.
00:34:19.640 Maybe didn't have the right time to bring it up to the king.
00:34:22.220 But whatever it was, she goes, "I'm going to invite you to come back tomorrow.
00:34:24.980 I want to have another banquet. Then I'll tell you what I really want."
00:34:29.100 So what happens, they leave the banquet.
00:34:31.051 It says in verse 9,
00:34:33.180 "Haman
00:34:34.801 was a happy man as he left the banquet.
00:34:37.500 But when he saw Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not standing up or
00:34:41.580 trembling nervously before him, Haman became
00:34:45.020 furious." Now picture this. Haman,
00:34:48.080 he's literally on his high horse. He's literally so full of himself.
00:34:51.560 He's a happy man, the Bible says. He left the banquet because he just had a
00:34:55.341 private banquet with the king and the queen.
00:34:58.560 This wasn't just any banquet. This was exclusive.
00:35:01.560 Only he got the ticket to join there. So he leaves. He's so full.
00:35:04.840 He's like, "I get to come back tomorrow for another one?" He's so full of himself,
00:35:08.660 but then he sees Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not standing up,
00:35:12.720 not trembling nervously, and it makes him furious.
00:35:17.260 Now, this shows you into a picture of who Haman is.
00:35:20.160 That it wasn't enough that somebody would bow to him, but he was angry because
00:35:23.680 people weren't trembling in fear around him.
00:35:26.180 That shows what kind of leader he was, if I could put leader in quotations.
00:35:29.400 What kind of man he was, that he wanted people to shiver in fear around him,
00:35:33.360 to be trembling nervously, and it made him so
00:35:37.320 angry. He wasn't happy about being at the banquet anymore.
00:35:40.880 He just wanted to kill Mordecai. So he goes home and he tells his friends, his
00:35:44.940 wife. He's complaining to them about Mordecai, and they come up with this plan.
00:35:48.080 They say, "Let's build. Let's put up a 75-foot pole that we
00:35:51.940 can kill Mordecai on." And they say, "You should go to the king.
00:35:54.920 You're going to these exclusive banquets. The king's going to listen to you.
00:35:58.380 Go to the king tomorrow morning and ask him to let you kill Mordecai.
00:36:02.560 Don't worry about the Jews. They're going to die eventually.
00:36:04.980 You can just get Mordecai tomorrow." So he plans to go into the
00:36:08.560 king's chambers the next day and ask the king.
00:36:11.560 But that very night, chapter 6, the king had trouble
00:36:15.360 sleeping. Just so happened, had a little insomnia.
00:36:19.330 The king ordered an attendant to bring the book of the history of his reign so that
00:36:23.310 it could be read to him. Now, how many of you do some light reading of history
00:36:27.240 books to put yourselves to sleep? Anybody? Anybody else? Okay, I see those hands.
00:36:31.060 It's a good biblical lesson. Maybe read some
00:36:34.160 history. But basically, he brings a history book, and the attendant's reading it,
00:36:38.140 and just so happens, guess what the story is that the attendant reads to the king?
00:36:42.220 He's reading the story of when Mordecai told on those two guys who were
00:36:46.200 going to kill him and saved the king's life from being
00:36:49.760 assassinated. Just so happened that that's the page that the book opened,
00:36:53.860 that just so happened to be the story where the king learns about Mordecai's
00:36:57.480 loyalty, and the king says, "What do we do for him?" Certainly, we probably
00:37:00.700 promoted him, probably blessed him something. What do we do?
00:37:03.210 And the attendant says, "We didn't do anything." He says, "We gotta do something."
00:37:06.704 The king's wrestling, like, "How do we honor this man?
00:37:09.004 How do we thank this man?" Because obviously the king wants to bless and thank
00:37:12.984 and encourage behavior that results in him saving his life.
00:37:16.804 So he's thinking, he's wrestling, he goes, "Wait, who's that out in the court?" And
00:37:20.524 they say, "Well, it's Haman. He's out in the court." So verse six,
00:37:24.424 "So Haman came in and the king said, 'What should I do
00:37:28.244 to honor a man who truly pleases me?'" He's trying to figure this out,
00:37:32.264 and he just sees one of his attendant guys.
00:37:34.044 He's like, "Hey, come in here and help me with this." Haman thought to himself,
00:37:38.184 "Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?" He's like,
00:37:42.024 "Moi. I'm the best. The king's asking my opinion
00:37:45.964 of what kind of bonus I should get." That's literally what he's saying.
00:37:49.744 Haman's thinking to himself is, "The king's asking me what I would want for
00:37:53.704 myself." Again, he's me, myself, and I all day long.
00:37:57.444 And he's thinking this about himself, so he gives the king all these elaborate
00:38:00.384 things. He's like, "You should put your personal robe on him.
00:38:03.624 You should put him on your personal horse.
00:38:06.264 You should have somebody take him around the public square and brag about how great
00:38:10.024 he is and say, 'This is the guy that the king wants to honor.' You should really
00:38:14.024 honor him and make it very public and bold." And the king's like,
00:38:17.524 "Excellent," the king said to Haman.
00:38:20.824 "Quick, take the robes and my horse and do just as you said
00:38:24.844 for Mordecai the Jew,
00:38:28.224 who sits at the gate of the palace. Leave
00:38:31.224 out nothing you have suggested." Now, catch this.
00:38:35.164 Haman showed up to ask the king to
00:38:38.924 kill Mordecai, and in complete 180
00:38:42.364 reversal, that now he has to honor Mordecai.
00:38:46.484 He has to walk him around, and Haman's the one who's actually like, "This is the
00:38:50.024 guy that the king wants to honor." I can't imagine he did it with much
00:38:53.884 passion or emphasis, but he did what the king commanded him to do.
00:38:57.504 But how humiliating. Especially because all of his friends and
00:39:01.184 people knew how much he hated Mordecai.
00:39:04.074 The next thing they see is like, "What are you doing?" Imagine
00:39:08.184 his wife and the friends are like, "You're supposed to kill him today.
00:39:12.224 You're parading him around, bragging about him?" Picture that story for a
00:39:15.984 moment. And then now here we get right after this happens, they have the
00:39:19.704 second banquet with Esther. And the king asks Queen Esther again.
00:39:23.484 He says, "Tell me what you want." Chapter seven, verse two.
00:39:26.724 "What is your request? I will give it to you, even
00:39:30.584 if it is half the kingdom." A third time, he offers her half the
00:39:34.564 kingdom. He offers her wealth and power and safety and all these things that are
00:39:38.584 offered to her, and she reveals that she is actually Jewish.
00:39:42.304 And he probably would've been like, "Oh, okay." But she goes, "But there's a law
00:39:45.924 that says that all the Jews are going to be killed. There's a law.
00:39:48.444 Somebody wrote a law that says I'm going to be killed.
00:39:51.344 Mordecai, you know the guy that saved your life?
00:39:53.484 He's going to be put to death, and all of my family are going to be killed." The
00:39:57.444 king's response was, "Who is he? Where is he?
00:40:00.184 The man who has dared to do such a thing."
00:40:04.204 Guess who's sitting right next to them?
00:40:06.864 The very guy. I can't imagine the fear.
00:40:08.644 The Bible actually says he went pale with fear.
00:40:11.104 He was so scared, of like, "Don't say Queen Esther." And Esther's
00:40:15.044 like, "He's the man. It's Haman. That's the guy who
00:40:18.824 wants to kill me, your bride. He wants to kill the man who saved your
00:40:22.644 life and wipe out all of my people." So the king
00:40:26.464 gets up, he goes out to get the guards.
00:40:28.444 They're going to come back and arrest Haman.
00:40:30.584 And here are all the coincidences.
00:40:33.124 It just so happened that Queen Esther
00:40:37.384 was selected as queen. It just so happened that Mordecai overheard
00:40:41.224 those two guys talking about killing the king.
00:40:44.404 It just so happened that the king had insomnia that night.
00:40:48.104 It just so happened that Haman was the one walked into the court at that very
00:40:51.924 moment. It just so happened that the king was listening and heard that
00:40:55.964 story of Mordecai's loyalty. It just so happened as the king
00:40:59.924 went out to get the guard and Haman's trying to plead his case
00:41:03.864 to Esther, he's like, "Please, have mercy on me." It says he falls onto her on the
00:41:07.824 couch right when the king and the guards walk back in.
00:41:10.794 And the king's like, "You touch my wife? What are you doing?
00:41:13.804 How dare you assault the queen?" All of these
00:41:17.524 coincidences, all these just so happens are not
00:41:21.084 coincidence, but I believe God's divine intervention in leading
00:41:25.003 the events. And if he's doing that for Esther in the story, he's
00:41:28.744 certainly doing that for our lives as well.
00:41:31.164 Even when it seems like coincidence, even when it seems like God is silent or he's
00:41:35.064 not present or he's not speaking, God is still
00:41:38.184 orchestrating the events in our lives.
00:41:41.964 So ultimately,
00:41:43.494 the king kills Haman. He has him impaled, and he doesn't just kill him
00:41:47.304 anyway. He actually puts Haman on the very pole that he set
00:41:51.284 up for Mordecai. The very thing that the enemy,
00:41:55.004 Haman, was going to design to kill Mordecai, God used to
00:41:58.944 put him to death.
00:42:00.604 And I'm going to welcome our worship team back up, and I want the prayer teams.
00:42:03.624 We're going to have some prayer teams on either side of the stage as we get ready
00:42:06.924 to close here. I want to read to you one last verse.
00:42:10.224 Genesis chapter 50, verse 20.
00:42:13.764 It says, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.
00:42:17.504 He brought me to this position so that I could save the lives of
00:42:21.284 many people." Think about the cross.
00:42:25.064 Greatest evil in history. The only innocent man that was murdered, that
00:42:28.984 was put to death on the cross. The enemy,
00:42:32.644 Satan, thought he had won. But three days later, Jesus walked out of that
00:42:36.744 tomb alive.
00:42:38.984 God still specializes in redemption stories.
00:42:43.864 I know some of you walked in here today carrying some weight,
00:42:47.704 some burden. Maybe it's emotional, maybe it's physical,
00:42:51.944 maybe it's mental or relational.
00:42:55.774 Maybe you have some struggle in your marriage right now.
00:42:58.564 Maybe there's some tension with your children who aren't walking with God.
00:43:01.984 Maybe you got some wrestling with work and what you're going to do for finances and
00:43:05.464 provision. Whatever that is,
00:43:08.584 whatever the enemy is meaning to harm you with, God can turn it
00:43:12.564 for good
00:43:14.128 God will turn it for good if we truly let Him.
00:43:17.648 Now, the hero of this story really isn't Esther.
00:43:20.368 It's not really Mordecai. As good as they are, we honor their bravery and their
00:43:23.968 courage. The hero of the story is still Jesus.
00:43:27.748 He's the hero of the entire Bible.
00:43:31.528 That Jesus is the reason we're here.
00:43:33.728 Jesus is the reason that we have life and life everlasting.
00:43:37.148 Jesus is the reason that God actually uses what the enemy meant for evil and
00:43:41.088 turns it for good. What the enemy saw as a victory with Jesus nailed to the cross,
00:43:45.128 He ultimately saw the victory when He walked out of that tomb alive.
00:43:49.288 So whatever it is right now that you feel the enemy is winning.
00:43:52.448 Maybe you're getting beat up, maybe you're feeling beat down,
00:43:56.148 God's going to use what that enemy is doing to you and use it for good.
00:43:59.888 Do you believe that?
00:44:01.828 We're going to sing that as we sang a little bit ago, "I'm going to see a victory,"
00:44:06.068 that that weapon formed against you shall not prosper.
00:44:09.728 That what the enemy meant for evil, God can turn it for good.
00:44:12.788 So will you please stand to your feet?
00:44:17.348 I want to close just praying over you, and I'm going to invite you, if you want
00:44:20.628 prayer, once I'm done praying, we're going to worship, and I'm inviting you to come
00:44:24.408 to either side. There's going to be two teams on this side, one team on this side.
00:44:28.108 Just make your way up. We're praying for you. We want to stand with you in prayer.
00:44:31.768 Whatever needs you may have. Maybe you have a family member who's going through
00:44:35.168 something. I've got a brother right now who's going through some stuff.
00:44:37.268 I want to pray for him. I want people to be praying.
00:44:39.448 I'm like, "Let's fast and pray together.
00:44:42.188 Let's believe God together." So whatever needs you have, don't be afraid to come up
00:44:46.168 and receive prayer. And no matter how long it takes, if you need to leave at some
00:44:49.528 point, please leave. We're going to keep praying as long as we need to meet your
00:44:53.018 needs and pray for you. So let's pray.
00:44:54.108 Heavenly Father, God, I thank you, God, for this story.
00:44:57.388 God, thank you for the history that we get to read about.
00:45:00.488 God, I thank you for your divine hand that we see all through this book.
00:45:04.848 God, even when we can't see you, we can't hear you, God, I know that you are
00:45:08.688 moving in each and every one of our lives. That, God, you're orchestrating.
00:45:12.148 You're conducting things in our lives.
00:45:14.408 You don't force us to do things, but, God, you ask us to participate,
00:45:18.608 to surrender our lives to you. Not my will,
00:45:22.808 but your will be done.
00:45:25.428 God, I know your plans for us are good and perfect and pleasing to
00:45:29.488 you, God, for all those who are called according to you, drawn to you, and, God,
00:45:33.508 those who have a desire to please you, God, I know your plans for each and
00:45:37.388 every one of us are good.
00:45:39.828 God, I pray as I was reminded today of all those times I prayed, God, for what
00:45:43.748 the enemy was doing to me. You used it for good.
00:45:46.608 God, that you used my past for good.
00:45:48.588 You used my sin and the sinful habits of my past, that you've turned around
00:45:52.668 to use for good. God, I thank you for testimonies all
00:45:56.468 around this room, that every single one of us has a testimony of your goodness,
00:45:59.708 your faithfulness, your redemption.
00:46:03.088 God, I pray we would not keep that to ourselves, but, God, we tell others about it.
00:46:06.948 God, we tell other people about how you saved our lives, that you
00:46:10.468 redeem our lives, and, God, I pray for everyone here who maybe is
00:46:14.508 holding back on taking that step of courage.
00:46:18.108 God, that you'd give us the courage to take step of faith, to be bold in our
00:46:22.008 faith. To whatever that is, that thing that you're calling us to be courageous in,
00:46:25.928 that we would take that step today, this very week,
00:46:30.028 maybe in this very moment, we would take that step of faith.
00:46:33.848 God, I pray if there's anybody here, anyone listening online, God, that if they
00:46:37.608 don't know you, they don't have a relationship with you, that they would lay their
00:46:41.028 life down. They would bow to you and to you alone,
00:46:45.168 that they would give their life to you, the greatest decision they could ever make.
00:46:49.348 Just as most of us here have made that decision, God, I pray we would all
00:46:54.008 surrender to you once again.
00:46:56.848 God, we know you are good. We know you are faithful.
00:46:59.708 Turn all the evil things around in this world and our lives and
00:47:03.708 use it for good to build your kingdom, expand your church right here
00:47:07.708 in Murrysville. We give you all the praise, all the honor, and all the glory.
00:47:11.508 In Jesus' name, amen.