March 28, 2021

LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE:

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME, RIGHT PURPOSE

March 28. 2021

Pastor Jonathan Falwell

 

 

Can you recall a time when you just happened to be in the “right place, at the right time” and

later was able to reflect, awed that you had been able to help someone? Will you share?

Amazingly enough, we are about half-way through reading the entire Bible in the first six months of 2021! Today we look at the book of Esther, named for the Jewish girl born while in captivity, who became a queen. In the large kingdom of Persia, Esther was known for her beauty and grace. As queen, she was called upon to use qualities of honor and bravery to save thousands of fellow Jews from death. We can take the lessons from Esther and apply them to our own life, as we seek to serve God in a dangerous and bizarre time in history.

Focal Passage: The Book of Esther

            The Right Place

  • Esther and Mordecai, her older cousin and guardian, were living in captivity in Persia. Can anyone relate background facts that you recall? Read Esther 2:15. What can you surmise about her character just from her actions?
  • When we say she was in the “right place,” what do we mean? How do you see God’s supernatural power at work in her life?

The Right Time

  • Will someone tell of the short episode that happened to Mordecai in Esther 2:21-23? Why was the occurrence also supernatural? How was this important?
  • Read Esther 3:1-2, 5-6. What can we learn about Haman from this passage? Do you recall any verses that stood out as you read of his activities in the book?
  • Read Esther 4:1. What did Mordecai do upon finding out Haman was going to kill the Jews? What was Esther’s position by this time? Read Esther 4:2-3. Do you remember what she did when she heard of Mordecai’s actions? What do we mean that she was at the “right time” to help her people?

The Right Purpose

  • Read Esther 4:5-8. In verse 5, why did Esther seem insulated from the situation concerning her fellow Jews? In verse 8, why would she hesitate to approach the king? What besides the issue with Haman did she have to be concerned about?
  • Read verses 14-16. Esther had everything she could have wanted. How did she react when she had to make the decision to fulfill God’s purpose for her life?

What does Esther’s example mean to us?

We must speak!

  • Read verse 14a. Why do we keep silent in our community, whether on social media or by another way? Read Acts 4:20. What if Peter and John had been silent? Do you feel fear when asked to do something that takes courage?
  • Will we be responsible to God when we do not speak out?

We are here for His purpose.

  • Read verse 14b. Are you willing to ask God, in expectation and faith, ‘will You show me why You have put me here, in this time and place’? Can you share?
  • Has there already been a time when you recognized that God has placed you where you are for this moment? Can you share?
  • Do you have a particular character quality that might be used by God? How often have you told Him that you are available for Him to use?

Our only hope is to lean completely on Him.

  • Read Esther 4:16a. What actions did Esther tell Mordecai to take? What could she have done instead? Why did she not access her power, position, or status?
  • How do you react when you will be facing a real crisis?

We must sacrifice self for His purposes.

  • Read verse 16b. Why was Esther willing to go into the king, though it might cost her life?
  • What have you sacrificed this past week for God? This past year?

Close

Today is Palm Sunday, the day that begins Passion Week, when Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem in fulfillment of prophecies, was arrested, tried, beaten, and then crucified on Friday, to rise from the grave under His own power on Sunday morning. He was, in fact, the fulfillment of John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

Today’s story of Esther, so filled with situations that could only be brought about by God, is a perfect picture of the love that Jesus was speaking of in John 15:13. Only He knew the cost of what He had come to earth to accomplish, and only He knew the sacrifice it was going to require. Likewise, Esther would not only go into the king with no idea how it would play out, but could only say, “And if I perish, I perish.” She was ready to die, if necessary, hoping to save her people.

Few of us have had to sacrifice or suffer physical abuse for our faith. Yet if that is God’s purpose for us, He will give us the grace to endure when that time comes. Esther knew that nothing she held dear—her position, status, family, friends, wealth—could be a shield between her and the law to annihilate the Jews, but she was willing to be used by God. Are you?