Theme Text: 3:19 | 3 & 4

Intro: Good morning and welcome to restoration life. We want to say Welcome Home. Welcome home because this is your House of worship.

And if you’re an honored guest with us this morning I pray you feel right at home surround by people who love GOD, Love people, and Love life!

Last week we kicked off our Brave 2015 series and I was really looking forward to challenging all of us today. The question is “are you ready to step up your faith and be Brave”?

My Anchor Thought for this series is… Being brave doesn't mean we have no fear - it means we refuse to be overcome by it.

In fact, if I push past my fears I can face everything and rise above it as a conqueror.

Quote: Until you discover your purpose, your existence will have no meaning, because purpose is the source of Fulfillment.

• Success is not purpose, because success without purpose is llife without meaning.

2 Timothy 1:7-10 NKJV 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,

1

A little background: Our story comes from the life of an orphan girl that rises up to be queen of Persia.

Genocide of the Hebrew people has been proclaimed by the King on a count of the villain of our story by the name of .

Haman is a nobleman whose found favor with King Exerses and convinced the king to exterminate the Jews on account that that he couldn’t stand that a righteous man of God by the name of Mordicai who just happens to be queen esters uncle, would not bow to him whenever he was in his presence.

Talk about a huge ego problem. He tells the king that he would have the cost of this genocide taken care of by his personal account and that this would not cost the kings treasure a penny. Then…

Esther 4 1-3 (MSG) When Mordecai learned what had been done, he ripped his clothes to shreds and put on sackcloth and ashes. Then he went out in the streets of the city crying out in loud and bitter cries. He came only as far as the King’s Gate, for no one dressed in sackcloth was allowed to enter the King’s Gate. As the king’s order was posted in every province, there was loud lament among the Jews—fasting, weeping, wailing. And most of them stretched out on sackcloth and ashes.

After this Mordicai sends Esther a message … He expects Esther to DO something Brave, Something about this impending disaster.

He expects her to go and talk to the King. Because he realizes that she’s the ONLY one who can do anything about the problem.

Vs. 9-11 Hathach came back and told Esther everything Mordecai had said. Esther talked it over with Hathach and then sent him back to Mordecai with this message: “Everyone who works for the king here, and even the people out in the provinces, knows that there is a single fate for every man or woman who approaches the king without being invited: death. The one exception is if the king extends his gold scepter; then he or she may live. And it’s been thirty days now since I’ve been invited to come to the king.”

So Ester is really freaked out of approaching the King.

2 :12-14 NIV 12 When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

Something powerful happens when we realize this vital truth.

I. That God always raises up a people for a particular time. a. No matter the season, or difficulty, God will always raise up someone to provide His people with an answer.

• to save all of His people from starvation • to deliver the people from bondage • to hear from God for the return from captivity • to preach repentance to Nineveh • Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem's walls • Paul to evangelize the gentiles • John to warn the church of the end of the age • Jesus to save us from our sins b. In our text Ester was in a position to save the Jewish people from extinction.

• It is so important for us today to grasp the significance of this historical account and how it applies to us today.

• Because we are living in a time of unsurpassed need.

II. WE NEED TO AWAKEN To OUR CALL OF DESTINY -

A. God has always been the God of the individual.

1. One person for one part in the plan of God.

• There was only one Moses. • Joseph / Daniel / Nehemiah / Paul • Moody / Wesley / Hudson Taylor / Billy Graham • And guess what there is only one you!

2. You’ve got to grasp the importance God has placed on your life!

3 B. You can influence a family,

• You can influence your work-place, • Uou will eventually influence friends and your neighborhood • And someday, maybe someday God will use you to impact the world.

• You can make a difference in your world

NOTE: But if we are to be truthful ... our tendency is to think, "Who am I?"

• That is the way all Bible heroes thought. • Most were all just simple, insignificant or obscure people. • Moses ... "Who am I God?" • ... “Where with shall I save , I am from a poor family, and I am least in that family." • ... "woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips." c. But even though we may feel insignificant and unimportant, we are not!

• If we really believed in God’s capability, then we can take on any responsibility.

1. We cannot conquer what we are unwilling to confront. We cannot ignore our responsibilities.

Esther 4:12-14 NIV 12 When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. a. I believe that as a people we are positioned to respond to the danger at hand.

• There are so many souls perishing every day in our midst. We must respond to the call of God, We must face our fears and rise.

• We must do something about this. Like Esther, if we remain silent, relief and deliverance will arise from somewhere else.

4 My Point: I’m not going to remain silent and allow the fear of change or the fear of rejection to keep us back from doing all that God has for us as a church.

• I’m not going to remain silent as the enemy drags my family through the muck and mire of Sin.

• I ‘m not going to remain silent as stand by while those that are within our grasp to help perish in their sorrows.

• I believe that God has called us, restoration Life for such a Time as this.

• That we are positioned as a people of God to Brave everything in order to see souls reached with the love of Jesus Christ!

Isaiah 51:12-16 NLT 12 "I, yes I, am the one who comforts you. So why are you afraid of mere humans, who wither like the grass and disappear?13 Yet you have forgotten the Lord, your Creator, the one who stretched out the sky like a canopy and laid the foundations of the earth. Will you remain in constant dread of human oppressors? b. But to do this we have get past the first lie of fear. And that is “that if you ignore a problem it will go away”.

Abraham Lincoln said… “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow, by evading it today”.

• Fear will have you believe that it won’t matter if you or I do anything or not.

• All we have to do is just stand back and wait till someone else does something about it. You’re fooling yourself, That’s a lie.

2. If God brings a problem to YOUR attention… It’s your Problem to attend too. a. If you’re in a position to help you should!

Esther 4:14 “…who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?

• He’s telling Esther: It’s come to your attention…

5 • You are in a position to help • Now get busy and do something about it.

Psalms 34:7 & 9 “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them… Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.”

3. When you’re facing a problem you’re not sure how to handle you need to kick take your Christianity to a new level.

• Sometimes that means getting serious about prayer. And you can’t get much more serious about your prayers than when you fast.

In Closing:

Ester had a plan but she needed to discernment and favor.

Vs. 15-16 Esther sent back her answer to Mordecai: “Go and get all the Jews living in together. Fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, either day or night. I and my maids will fast with you. If you will do this, I’ll go to the king, even though it’s forbidden. If I die, I die.”

Note: Esther was about to put her life on the line so that others may live.

My Point: We need to sacrifice in order to gain some much needed discernment and wisdom on how to handle some of the things we are going through and most terrified of.

A Call for a Fast. I’m calling for an all out church fast. Starting next Sunday. We will have information on line on How to accomplish this properly.

Let’s CLOSE: Isaiah 58:6-10 (VOICE) 6 No, what I want in a fast is this: to liberate those tied down and held back by injustice, to lighten the load of those heavily burdened, to free the oppressed and shatter every type of oppression. 7 A fast for Me involves sharing your food with people who have none, giving those who are homeless a space in your home, Giving clothes to those who need them, and not neglecting your own family.

6 8 Then, oh then, your light will break out like the warm, golden rays of a rising sun; in an instant, you will be healed. Your rightness will precede and protect you; the glory of the Eternal will follow and defend you. 9 Then when you do call out, “My God, Where are You?” The Eternal One will answer, “I am here, I am here.” If you remove the yoke of oppression from the downtrodden among you, stop accusing others, and do away with mean and inflammatory speech, 10 If you make sure that the hungry and oppressed have all that they need, then your light will shine in the darkness, And even your bleakest moments will be bright as a clear day.

7