Christ is coming back again, this time with a purpose. He will heal creation and claim his own - will we be ready?

Christ died for us so that we would not feel the sting of sin. He rose himself from the dead so we may experience life. We cannot underestimate the power of his rising.

The Old Testament told us that the Messiah’s side would be pierced, and that he would suffer for the sins of the world. Christ death encompassed those prophecies. He died a heinous death because he loved us greatly.

Expectations minus reality equals disappointment. We get frustrated when things don't go the way we planned them to. When Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, many people expected Jesus to be a very specific kind of Messiah - one that would free the Jews from their Roman oppressors. When he ended up being very different than their expectations, they were extremely disappointed, even to the point of crying out for his crucifixion. What do we do and how do we react when our false expectations of God lead us to disappointment?

When God makes promises, those promises are kept. One of the biggest promises made in the Old Testament is that when the Messiah would come, he would be born of a virgin. When Jesus came, he had to come in the promised way - and he did. But further than that, the promise of the virgin birth means that we can born again too. God's promises always come true!

Mary, Martha's sister had such devotion and desire to put Jesus first, she was willing to sacrifice a year's worth of wages to anoint Jesus' head and feet with an extremely expensive bottle of perfume. From this amazing story, Mary shows us that nothing should distract us from Jesus and that we can't let ourselves be discouraged by the negative attitude of others around us. Where does your relationship with Jesus fall in order of importance in your life?

Hannah in the Old Testament wasn't able to have children while Ephraim's other wife was able to. But when she was in her darkest hour, she leaned on God and refused to be discouraged. She proved that devoted prayer can be powerful. What's more, she was a woman of her word - when she finally did have a child, she gave him away because that was what she promised to God. Integrity isn't optional for those who follow Christ.

Ruth is a fantastic example of loyalty in the Bible; in several ways, she shows us what loyalty is. We are a people who leave. We have let loyalty in our lives slip and when things get tough, we separate from others. But in Ruth, we see an example of someone who stuck through circumstances no matter what. And she was rewarded for her loyalty! We can expect that the same may happen for us as well.

In this 5-week series, we're looking at the stories of 5 prominent women in the Bible to see what we all can learn from them and we're starting out looking at Esther! Esther did what is right at the risk of being wronged and shows us exactly what it looks like to make righteous and courageous decisions. God honors the actions of his chosen people (when they are following Him) but he can't honor actions you never had the courage to take!

God had a great plan for Abraham that involved having a son with his wife Sarah. But instead, Abraham took matters into his own hands and tried to execute it a different way. When we do evangelism our way instead of God's way, we cheapen God's value and may even be introducing people to a false god. We need to introduce them to a God who judges but who also extends grace. And it starts with being honest about sin (and God's saving grace) in our own lives.