Sharon Church | Sermons

Unique for many reasons, the book of Esther is a story of God's providential hand even in the shadows of life.To get a sense of the power of the story of Esther, we look at the end - but not just the end of the story. After a lot of set up, we finally get to the plot of the book of Esther. An assassination plan has been foiled by Mordecai and his subsequent refusal to bow to an historic enemy of the Jews has the Jewish population of Persia in trouble.

Unique for many reasons, the book of Esther is a story of God's providential hand even in the shadows of life.To get a sense of the power of the story of Esther, we look at the end - but not just the end of the story. After a lot of set up, we finally get to the plot of the book of Esther. An assassination plan has been foiled by Mordecai and his subsequent refusal to bow to an historic enemy of the Jews has the Jewish population of Persia in trouble.

Unique for many reasons, the book of Esther is a story of God's providential hand even in the shadows of life.To get a sense of the power of the story of Esther, we look at the end - but not just the end of the story. As the characters are developed in the story we meet Mordecai and Esther, two Jews living in the citadel of Susa in the Persian Empire. But, they don't look or act like Jews. Instead, they look a lot like the Empire rather than the Kingdom.

Unique for many reasons, the book of Esther is a story of God's providential hand even in the shadows of life.To get a sense of the power of the story of Esther, we look at the end - but not just the end of the story. The opening scene is a story of two parties displaying the power and prosperity of the Persian Empire and her king. But we quickly see that it is all a mirage. There is no true power in the Empire at all.

Unique for many reasons, the book of Esther is a story of God's providential hand even in the shadows of life.

To get a sense of the power of the story of Esther, we look at the end - but not just the end of the story. The end of the story is a celebration that has been celebrated every year since. This celebration is a reminder to us to celebrate the goodness of God.

Unique for many reasons, the book of Esther is a story of God's providential hand even in the shadows of life. Before we get into the narrative, it is important to know how we got to where we are both in the story of Scripture and the story of humanity as a whole.

Many people are already somewhat familiar with the story of Jonah. For a lot of us, our understanding of this epic story comes from our childhoods. However, the version of the book of Jonah we were given as kids is not the whole story.

Under the surface of this account is the story of God's providence - how He is actively involved with His creation to bring about His purposes. 

Many people are already somewhat familiar with the story of Jonah. For a lot of us, our understanding of this epic story comes from our childhoods. However, the version of the book of Jonah we were given as kids is not the whole story.

Chapter four is a whirlwind. Jonah is angry about God's mercy on the Ninevites and exiles himself to watch everything unfold in Nineveh. What we see is a microcosm of Jonah's life so far. A life of self-righteousness and a distorted view of how God's mercy works. But in a cliff-hanger of an ending, we are left to figure out what to do with this story.

Many people are already somewhat familiar with the story of Jonah. For a lot of us, our understanding of this epic story comes from our childhoods. However, the version of the book of Jonah we were given as kids is not the whole story.

In chapter three, Jonah is given a second chance to follow the call of God on his life and he does it...sort of. But what we see is the powerful grace of God to save even those far from Him.

Many people are already somewhat familiar with the story of Jonah. For a lot of us, our understanding of this epic story comes from our childhoods. However, the version of the book of Jonah we were given as kids is not the whole story.In chapter two, Jonah finds himself even deeper in the pit than he was before. He cries out to God but under the surface of his prayer is a self-righteousness that prohibits true repentance.