The book of Esther begins with the queen of Persia, Queen Vashti, refusing to obey an order from her husband, King Xerxes. Subsequently, he deposes her and begins a search for her replacement through the use of a beauty contest. All of the beautiful women in the Persian Empire are brought to the royal harem and given a night with the king. Esther, a young Jewish woman is one of the contestants and following her time with the king, he selects her as his new queen.

Meanwhile, a Jewish man, Mordecai, Esther’s older cousin, became a government official and one day foiled an assassination plot against the king. The act was duly noted in the official record but nothing was done to reward him.

Following that, an evil, wealthy and ambitious man by the name of Haman was appointed second-in-command in the Empire who became enraged when Mordecai, a Jew, refused to bow to him. His response to this was to hatch a plan to kill, not only Mordecai but all the Jews with him.

His plan to exterminate the Jewish population in the Persian Empire was to start by deceiving the king and persuade him to issue an edict condemning the Jews to death. In this he was successful. Mordecai told Queen Esther about this edict, and she decided to risk her life to save her people. Esther asked King Xerxes, her husband, and Haman to be her guests at a banquet. During the feast, the king asked Esther what she wanted, and he promised to give her whatever she requested. Esther’s request was to have both men attend another banquet the next day, to which they agreed.

That night, unable to sleep, the king was flipping through some records in the royal archives and came across the account of the assassination plot against his life which Mordecai thwarted. He inquired about what was ever done to reward Mordecai and he discovered that nothing had been done.

The next day Xerxes asked Haman what the appropriate response would be to show his gratitude for a hero. Haman thought the king was referring to him, so he suggested a lavish reward and public honor. Haman was horrified to learn that the king intended the reward to go to Mordecai, not him.

During the banquet that day, the king once again asked Esther what she wanted. She replied that someone in the kingdom was plotting to destroy her and her people, and she named Haman as the culprit. Immediately the king sentenced Haman to die on the 75-foot high gallows that he had built to hang Mordecai on.

In the final act of the story, Mordecai was appointed to Haman’s position, and the Jews were guaranteed protection throughout the land. To celebrate this turn of events which saved them from annihilation, the feast of Purim was established and continues to be celebrated to this day by Jews around the world.

The story of Esther contains many valuable lessons for us today; among them is that God may not ask you to partner with him to save a nation, but he is asking you to partner with him and work with him for causes that matter to him in this life. Are you open? Are you willing?

Tim

Tim

Here is an amazing video of God’s creativity, power and majesty displayed in nature! I recommend it to you for a personal time of worship and praise to our God!

I Believe

Tim

“At the hearing, a policeman named van de Broek recounted an incident when he and other officers shot an eighteen-year-old boy and burned the body, turning it on the fire like a piece of barbecue meat in order to destroy the evidence. Eight years later van de Broek returned to the same house and seized the boy’s father. The wife was forced to watch as policemen bound her husband on a woodpile, poured gasoline over his body, and ignited it.

The courtroom grew hushed as the elderly woman who had lost first her son and then her husband was given a chance to respond. ‘What do you want from Mr. van de Broek?’ the judge asked. She said she wanted van de Broek to go to the place where they burned her husband’s body and gather up the dust so she could give him a decent burial. His head down, the policeman nodded agreement.

Then she added a further request, ‘Mr. van de Broek took all my family away from me, and I still have a lot of love to give. Twice a month, I would like for him to come to the ghetto and spend a day with me so I can be a mother to him. And I would like Mr. van de Broek to know that he is forgiven by God, and that I forgive him too. I would like to embrace him so he can know my forgiveness is real.’

Spontaneously, some in the courtroom began singing “Amazing Grace” as the elderly woman made her way to the witness stand, but van de Broek did not hear the hymn. He had fainted, overwhelmed by grace.”

Don’t let unforgiveness rob you of your peace and joy! If you need to forgive, forgive. It is the calling of a Christian!

Tim

Tim

You are who you are for a reason.

You’re part of an intricate plan.

You’re a precious and perfect unique design,

Called God’s special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason.

Our God made no mistake.

He knit you together within the womb,

You’re just what he wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones he chose,

And no matter how you may feel,

They were custom-designed with God’s plan in mind,

And they bear the Master’s seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy.

And God wept that it hurt you so;

But it was allowed to shape your heart

So that into his likeness you’d grow.

You are who you are for a reason,

You’ve been formed by the Master’s rod.

You are who you are, beloved,

Because there is a God!

Have a joy-filled week!

Tim

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Midget Vacations

Taken from Tim Hansel’s book, When I Relax I Feel Guilty

Here is a long list of tiny activities that have the potential to produce a lot of joy in your life. Over the weeks of our series in Philippians, refer to this list often for ideas on ways to produce joy in your life.

A number of people asked me for the Scripture references that I used in the Christmas Eve service, so I am providing them along with the corresponding ‘gift’ that we all have received through a relationship with Jesus Christ. We are abundantly blessed in this life and the next because of the birth and death of Jesus!

I am justified

2 Corinthians 5:21, “For God made him who never sinned, to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

I’m prayed for

Romans 8:26, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”

Romans 8:34, “Christ Jesus, who died and who was raised to life, is at the right hand of God interceding for us.”

I’m loved

Romans 8:35-39, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God is with me

Matthew 1:23, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel—which means, “God with us.”

Psalm 46:1-3, 7, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging…The Lord Almighty is with us.”

Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…”

I can talk to God

Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

God cares for me.

Matthew 6:25-34, “”Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For unbelievers run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”

I have the Body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:27-28, “You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

I have a gift

1 Corinthians 12:7, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.”

I have purpose

Ephesians 2:8-10, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

I have the Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

I have the Word of God

2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…”

I have hope

Titus 3:4-7, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”

Tim

“For three things I thank God every day of my life: Thanks that he has graciously given me knowledge of his works; deep thanks that he has set in my darkness the lamp of faith; deep, deepest thanks that I have another life to look forward to – a life joyous with light and flowers and song.”

Take a moment and complete this sentence: “For three things I thank God every day of my life…”

Tim

What a powerful experience to hear the stories of children, teens and adults coming to Christ. It doesn’t get any better than this! This is what it is all about. This is what we work for. This is what we give for…making disciples of Christ and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

The staff is already planning when our next baptismal service will be, and I for one can’t wait!

Tim