Ricky Hemme

Ricky Hemme//12/10/2023

Ricky Hemme 12/03/2023

How is Christmas a story of hope? It’s not just because of Jesus. It’s because of WHO Jesus was and is. It is only because of the divine nature of Jesus, the fact that God robed himself in flesh, that we have hope for today and hope for eternity.

There are a number of different ways churches operate today. But how did Jesus want the church to operate? Come and see? Or go and tell? We see that Jesus went to the people who never would have come to him. He was on mission to go and share the news of his kingdom with all those who most desperately needed to hear.

Guest speaker Matthias Haeusel speaks on church planting and what that looks like in a biblical aspect. 

Does the church do anything besides what happens on Sunday mornings? There is a tremendous amount effort that goes in, on a daily basis, to share the gospel with the world both in word and deed. This means organizations that are working to rescue the most marginalized people in the world such as She Is Safe which rescues girls from human sex trafficking.

Does justice mark the end of a story? Last week we saw Haman meet justice and it sure made the story feel like it had been resolved. The problem is that there is still that law Xerxes signed to see the Jews wiped out. What is God going to do? God leads Esther to realize that her salvation is not enough. Her salvation should lead to her seeking the salvation of all of her people.

As things have seemed to continue getting worse and worse in Esther’s story, today things actually seem to be going Esther’s way. Haman is exposed to be the wicked man that he is and he is served justice in maybe the most ironic way possible.

As Mordecai sat in sackcloth and ashes, he could not have had any idea that Xerxes was going to have a sleepless night that led to a reminder of how Mordecai saved his life. In a beautiful moment of irony, Xerxes has Haman plan Mordecai’s party while thinking the party is going to be for Haman himself. We see the beautiful justice that God brings to his people.