Forestgate

Sermon Notes

1. Use your own understanding, but don’t lean on it. vv. 5b, 7a

2. Trust with all your heart and know your God. vv. 5a, 6a, 7b

3. Turn from evil to find straight paths.

Reflection questions:

1. When you face difficult decisions, where is the first place you turn for advice? Pastors, friends, mentors, parents, others? Based on this passage, where do you think you should turn first for guidance?

2. Do you ever doubt that God will give you the answers you need to your problems? Do you ever doubt that God will give you those answers on time? When we doubt like that, what attribute(s) of God are we denying? (See Ps. 119:65, 66, 68)

3. Does God promise that we will never experience hardship if we trust in Him (cf. 2 Tim. 3:12) Does God promise that His path will generally turn out better than sin and rebellion against His path? (See Prov 3:7–8) Can God also redeem us in spite of our sinful choices? (cf. 1 Tim. 1:15; Heb. 7:25; Galatians 1:13 and 2:20)

Sermon Notes

1. Growing in worship

2. Growing in fellowship

3. Growing by God’s Grace, v.47b

Reflection questions

1. James Montgomery Boice writes (of Acts 2:42): “The closer men and women come to God the closer they want to get to where he speaks to their hearts, and that is in the Bible.” Is your devotion to God’s Word growing noticeably stronger, or is it the opposite?

2. Can you grow in love for God and (at the same time) not grow in love for His body of believers? Consider the following: John 14:15; I John 4:20–21; I John 5:3; Eph. 3:20–21.

3. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul makes the same point as Acts 2:41, 47 – God alone must give growth to His church. But if God gives the growth, what are we supposed to do? Read 1 Corinthians 3:5–9 and 1 Cor. 9:19–27 to see Paul’s answer.

Sermon Notes

1. A celebration of rest and reversal

2. A celebration so we remember

3. A greater celebration they awaited and we have

Reflection Questions:

1. What is something in your life right now that you are looking forward to finding some rest and relief from?

2. What is a situation in the past in which you did receive rest and relief from it?

3. How have you seen God provide for you in the past in a hard or trying time?

4. Why are we so prone to forget the ways God has provided for us in the past?

5. How has Christ guaranteed for us eventual freedom from our present struggles and trials?

Sermon Notes

1. The Fear of an Overlooked God, vv. 1–4

2. The Fulfillment of Godʼs Overlooked Word, vv. 5–16

3. The Feasting of Godʼs Overjoyed People, vv. 11–19

Reflection Questions:

1. God promised to preserve His people so that the seed of the woman could ultimately defeat the seed of the serpent (Gen 3:15), though He never promised that God’s people would be free from physical harm, including martyrdom. If God cannot ultimately protect us from physical harm, where is our comfort? (See Romans 8:18–39, especially vv. 18, 35, 38-39)

2. The background of Esther 9 (especially vv.10, 15, 16) is found in 1 Samuel 15, where Saul was commanded to destroy King Agag, the ancestor of Haman the Agagite (see Esther 2:5; 9:24; 1 Sam 15:3, 8). What was Saul’s sin? What did God mean when he said, “to obey is better than sacrifice”? (See 1 Samuel 15:17–23)

3. Are feasts simply a time to look back on what God has done? Or are they also a chance to look forward in anticipation of more blessings? Consider one thing Jesus said about the Lord’s Supper, which was both a transformation of the Passover feast and an anticipation of something great to come: Luke 22:17–18. (Also see Isaiah 25:6–9 and Revelation 19:6-9)

Sermon Notes

1. Favor and Riches, vv. 1-2

2. Pleading and Respect, vv. 3-6

3. Conundrums and Riddles, vv. 7-10

4. Defense and Repayment, vv. 9-14

5. Gladness and Rejoicing, vv. 15-17

Reflection Questions

1. Are God’s people special? Special because of who we naturally are, or special because of something God has done? (See Dt. 7:7-8) Why has God chosen us, blessed us, or made us special? (See Gen 12:3; I Peter 2:9 – Focus on the word “that” which reveals the purpose behind God’s actions.)

2. Read the Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8). Compare and contrast this woman to Esther’s actions in Esther 8. What lesson is Luke 18 trying to teach us about our prayer life (see vv. 1, 5, 8) and about God’s disposition towards us (see v.8)?

3. Despite Mordecai’s confidence that God would deliver (Esther 4:14), God does not tell his people how he will deliver them until Esther 8:11. Even then, God does not tell them directly; they only find out from the king’s 2nd edict. Read Deuteronomy 29:29; do we know everything there is to know about God? (cf. Rom. 11:33-36) Can we trust God even if we don’t know everything there is to know about God?

(one point for each verse)

1) Same Song …

2) … 3rd Verse

3) Currying Favor

4) Cutting to the Chase (Finally)

5) Kingly Outrage

6) Curtains for ‘the Enemy’

7) The King Cools Off (maybe), while Haman Grovels

8) Haman’s Groveling Backfires

9) Harbona’s Helpful Cameo

10) Poetic Justice and Propitiation –

———

Sermon Notes

Reflection Questions:

Read Numbers 6:24-26 (the blessing/benediction of Aaron) and Psalm 67:1-5. Why has God blessed his people? (Considering reading the next question before you answer this one.)

Esther risks her life for the sake of her people. She gives a voice to the voiceless, help to the helpless. Is this merely a description of what happened, or is it an example the Bible wants us to follow (based on this passage AND the rest of Scripture)? Consider: Prov 31:8-9; Romans 15:1ff; Romans 5:6, 8.

I once heard someone say: I want mercy for my sins, but I want justice for the sins of others. Does that describe the way you feel about sin? Read Mt 18:21-35 and see what Jesus has to say about this topic.