The book of Ruth is an incredible love story but bigger than that it's about God. On display is His loving kindness in ordinary lives.

The rescue of the Jews here points us to the bigger rescue we have in Jesus, but it's even better because his came not from self defence but self sacrifice and rescue not from death but from eternal punishment. So we can be eternally thankful and live for God while we wait in the in-between period between the salvation we now have and the not yet arrived final day of salvation and judgement when Jesus returns.

There's only 2 ways to live - either crime doesn't pay or crime does pay. The way to answer that question is to see who's in control of the world. Crime makes sense if this world is controlled by criminals, by luck or by predetermined fate. You could mis-read this part of Esther to think those things are in control. But as the humble and righteous Mordecai (and then Jesus) is raised to the place of power, it shows us that the world is controlled by the righteous God's providence. So crime doesn't pay and living God's right ways is the only way to live that makes sense.

Why is it dangerous to be a Christian? By nature humans hate God so also hate God's people. How does God help us to face persecution? He gives His sure promises & someone to bring them about.

Most of the time for most of us God is hidden and it's not clear what He is doing in the world. What is the hidden God doing? The hidden God is at work to defeat the kingdom of this world - a kingdom which looks powerful & appealing but is desperately weak & viciously cruel.

Christians are often unsure what to do with the topic ambition. Self ambition is condemned in the Bible - but is there a godly alternative? Often in this confusion Christian people can remain highly ambitious in their private lives but remain happy to settle for mediocrity in the church. This is not good. In this sermon ambition will be scrutinised through the passage in Genesis 11 (The tower of Babel) and people will be challenged to put aside petty ambition and pursue first the kingdom of God and be ambitious for that

Another one of the Corinthian church errors is lovingly being exposed in this passage. Their thinking about leadership (christian leadership) is back to front. They are taking pride in one leader over another. Paul warns them that such thinking is dangerous, and he uses the a number of images to show how foolish this thinking is. One image is that their leaders are not kings at the front of a victory parade but the down trodden condemned men at the end of the procession. The second image is that leaders are not the prized possession people treasure but rather the scum of the earth. Both images display the foolishness of taking pride in one piece of rubbish over another. The great one is the God they serve and it is important to remain humble before Him. The problem with taking pride in one leader over another is that it flows into your own assessment of yourself and that you are now far more able to take pride in yourself over others - this is a grave danger. We need leaders and people who follow them as humble servants of God, not going beyond what is written

Everything we have comes from God. Knowing this means we can't judge others and we can't boast in ourselves.

We get to join God in building the Church where He lives by His Holy Spirit, so build on the right foundation (Jesus Christ) & with the right materials (that fit the foundation & show how special it is) rather than building a monument to your own life.