The Soul of a Leader #4 “: The Courage of a Leader”

May 8, 2016

Sermon Notes From Bryan

Passages from Esther referenced: • :4 – King Xerxes had a party lasting 180 days • Esther 1:7-8 – “the king’s liberality” – it’s a really wild party • Esther 1:10-11 – King wants to parade his wife, , before his party guests, but she refuses • Esther 1:20 • :12 – King puts on a beauty contest to select his new wife and the women prepare with beauty treatments for a whole year • Esther 4:13-14 – reminds Esther that God has placed here in the palace for “such a time as this” • Esther 4:16 – Mordecai encourages Esther to pray and fast in community with other Jews before she takes action • :6 – Xerxes asks “what should be done for the man the king delights to honor”. o Haman thinks this is meant for him and he gives an excessive list of honors. But Xerxes commands Haman to honor Mordecai instead. Haman also had a gallows made to hang Mordecai on, but it ends up being used to hang Haman himself instead.

“Whether you are a mom or a nurse or a student, every one of us has a calling in life. God has given you a purpose. Everyone one of us has a palace where God has placed us for ‘such a time as this’ and the question is ‘What are you doing in that palace?’ Are you building up more wealth, comfort, and achievement? Or are you using your place in the palace to build up something more?” (Bryan)

“14 times in the book Esther is referred to as Queen Esther and 13 of these times come after she says the words ‘if I perish, I perish’. In other words, Esther’s greatness is not about her position but about her willingness to give up it for those who have no position.” (Bryan)

Discussion Questions

Connect These are open-ended questions to get people in your group talking about the themes for this week

1. What are you bringing with you today? Are there things in life that you are worried about, excited by, or wrestling with?

Engage

1 Look together at the Scripture and ideas from the sermon

Read Esther 4:10-14

Context: Haman was an official in the court of King Xerxes who had convinced the King to decree that the Jewish people be wiped out (genocide). Mordecai, a Jew and the uncle of Esther, asks Esther to intervene on behalf of her people.

2. What does Mordecai want Esther to do? What is Esther’s dilemma here?

3. Mordecai says to Esther in 4:14, “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

How would you respond to this quote from Bryan’s sermon that connects this verse to our lives:

“Whether you are a mom or a nurse or a student, every one of us has a calling in life. God has given you a purpose. Everyone one of us has a palace where God has placed us for ‘such a time as this’ and the question is ‘What are you doing in that palace?’ Are you building up more wealth, comfort, and achievement? Or are you using your place in the palace to build up something more?” (Bryan)

Apply Questions designed to help connect the passage and sermon to our everyday lives

4. Esther is an interesting book in that God is never mentioned in the entire book. How would you respond to someone who says that God is absent from the story of Esther? What does this show us about how God works in our own stories even when there are times that he feels absent?

Pray Take time to pray for one another

• Consider praying for ways you need courage in living out your calling as a Christ follower in various areas of your life

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