Access Church

Mission - The purpose and direction of our lives.

Shadow Mission - Allowing our lives to center around something unworthy, dark, or selfish.

King Xerxes

Esther

Mordecai

Haman

Susa, Capital of Persia

470 BC

Israel is in Exile

Esther 1:1 NLT  //  These events happened in the days of King Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia.

Esther 1:22 NLT  //  He sent letters to all parts of the empire, to each province in its own script and language, proclaiming that every man should be the ruler of his own home and should say whatever he pleases.

Esther 2:1-5 NLT  //  But after Xerxes’ anger had subsided, he began thinking about Vashti and what she had done and the decree he had made. 2 So his personal attendants suggested, “Let us search the empire to find beautiful young virgins for the king. 3 Let the king appoint agents in each province to bring these beautiful young women into the royal harem at the fortress of Susa. Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the harem, will see that they are all given beauty treatments. 4 After that, the young woman who most pleases the king will be made queen instead of Vashti.” This advice was very appealing to the king, so he put the plan into effect.

Esther 2:12 NIV  //  Before a young woman’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics.

Esther 2:17 NLT  //  And the king loved Esther more than any of the other young women. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti. 18 To celebrate the occasion, he gave a great banquet in Esther’s honor for all his nobles and officials, declaring a public holiday for the provinces and giving generous gifts to everyone.

Esther 3:15 NIV  //  The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.

Esther 4:11-14 NIV  //  “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.” 12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Career - advancing yourself

Calling - serving God

4 Key Questions:

Who plays the role of Mordecai in your life?

What is the position God has called you to?

What resources do you have?

What is the spiritual need you see?

It’s not your fault.

It’s not your fault. It is your time.

Esther 4:15-16 NIV  //  15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

God wants me to live life with nothing to lose, nothing to prove, and nothing to hide.

Nothing to Lose

John 5:19  //  Jesus gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

I have nothing to lose in life when I am surrendered and submitted to God.

Surrender and Submission

Nothing to Prove

Matthew 28:18  //  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

I have nothing to prove in life when I am secure in my identity.

Nothing to Hide

Matthew 14:23  //  After dismissing the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Well into the night, he was there alone.

John 10:14-15  //  “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep.

I have nothing to hide when I have a true connection to my Heavenly Father.

Surrender and Submit to God

Remind ourselves of our identity in God

Invite God into all areas of my life

John 10:10 // The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Matthew 6:34 // Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

MERIS – A part or division. To be here and somewhere else at the same time.

James 4:13-15 // Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

Our goal: Be FULLY PRESENT.

Exodus 24:12 // The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

HAYA - To Be, To Exist

“Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day” - Dallas Willard

“If the devil cannot make us bad, he will make us busy.” - Corrie Ten Boom

Luke 5:16 // But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Mark 6:30-31 // The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Mark 6:45-46 // Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

John 11:1-6 // Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

Luke 19:5 // “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”

Mark 10:32-34 // They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”

Matthew 6:23-34 NIV //  But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. “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 than food, and the body more 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers 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—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Why do we worry? Control.

One way to show our faith in God is by not worrying.

Matthew 26:36-39 NIV  //  Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”  He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Matthew 26:42,44  //  He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” … So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

Jesus feels what we feel but He always trusts.

God has given us the gift of peace and we can have it today.

John 16:33  //  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

We take God’s gift of peace and trade it for the supposed control through our worry.

Jesus was tempted to worry but He didn’t let worry take control.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 // Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Prayer should be our first response, not our last resort.

2 Chronicles 7:14 // If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Luke 11:1 // One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of his disciples said to him, ’Lord, teach us to pray...’

Matthew 6:9-13 // “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”

Connect with God relationally.

“Our Father in heaven” 

Romans 8:15 NLT // You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”

Worship His Name.

“Hallowed be Your Name” 

Proverbs 18:10 MSG // God’s name is a place of protection—the righteous can run there and be safe.

Pray His agenda first.

“Your Kingdom come Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

Matthew 6:33 // But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Depend on Him for everything.

“Give us this day our daily bread”

Psalm 121:1-2 NLT // I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!

Get your heart right with God and people.

“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”

1 John 1:9 // If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Win the war in the spiritual

“And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one”

Ephesians 6:12 // For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Express faith in God’s ability.

“For yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever.”

Jeremiah 32:17 // “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”

Matthew 6:9-12  //  This, then, is how you should pray: ’Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Matthew 6:14-15  //  For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

“Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.“ – C.S. Lewis

Matthew 6:9  //  This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven...”

Matthew 5:23-24  //  “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

Matthew 5:43-44  //  You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Your prayer may or may not change others, but it always changes you.

Colossians 3:13  //  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

“In the shadow of my hurt, forgiveness feels like a decision to reward my enemy. But in the shadow of the cross, forgiveness is merely a gift from one undeserving soul to another.” – Andy Stanley

Holding a grudge doesn’t make you strong. It makes you bitter.

Forgiving doesn’t make you weak. It sets you free.

Luke 23:32-34  //  32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude. – Martin Luther King

Relationship with God.

Without a relationship with God, all other relationships will fail.

God is the creator of all relationships.

Genesis 2:15-18 NIV  //  The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Community was God's plan from the start.

Genesis 3:8-11 NIV  //  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

Where are you?

Separation causes shame.

God isn't a part of my life, he is my life.

Relationship with others.

Friendship keeps us human because it leads us to a life outside of ourselves.

Genesis 2:7 NIV  //  Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

We are the breath of God.

1 Samuel 18:1 NIV  //  Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

Qashar – Hebrew – to bind, to tie together

Some of you are looking for fans and not friends.

Love is not telling someone only good things, it’s telling all things in love.

John 14:2-3 NIV  //  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Acts 1:4-5, 8  //  4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Dunamis

Acts 17:6 NKJV  //  These who have turned the world upside down have come here too…

Practical Cessationists

We reject things we don’t understand.

He is not an it.

Pneuma

He’s not weird.

He is my inner voice.

John 16:8  //  “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.”

1 Corinthians 12:3  //  No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

He is my teacher.

>John 14:26  //  “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

1 John 2:27 NLT  //  But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know...

He is my guide.

John 16:13  //  “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

Isaiah 30:21  //  Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

He is my friend.

John 14:16  // “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.”

Parakletos

2 Corinthians 13:14 MSG  //  “The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.”

What do we do with the Holy Spirit?

Ephesians 4:30 MSG  //  Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted.

“Holy Spirit show me.”

Ezekiel 36:26-27  //  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Psalm 139:23-24  //  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

“Holy Spirit change me.”

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NLT  //  For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom... And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

“Holy Spirit fill me.”

Ephesians 5:18  //  “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”

Acts 13:52 NASB  //  And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Luke 12:34 // For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The difference between acting generous and being generous is intentionality.

God must be FIRST.

Proverbs 3:9-10 // Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

The TITHE must be first.

Exodus 23:19 // The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.

Genesis 4:3-5 // And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering.

4 LEVELS OF GENEROSITY:

Giving

Tithing

Offerings

Extravagant Generosity

It Must Be Blessed to Multiply.

Malachi 3:10 // Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

We don’t GIVE to GET.