God

Happy Easter! What a great day to worship God together. Welcome to all of our guests. We’re glad that choose to join us on Easter. There’s just something special about Easter. The people that keep track of such things tell us that Easter has the highest church attendance of the year. What is it about Easter? What draws people to church on Easter? It’s not the Easter bunny, Easter eggs or springtime, it’s something else. I think what draws people to church on Easter is related to the true meaning of Easter.

Here’s what Easter is all about. Jesus crucified on the cross, laid to rest in a stone cold tomb rises from the dead on the 3rd day and 40 days later ascends into heaven. Jesus overcomes the greatest enemy, the biggest obstacle anyone could face, death itself. Somehow, people sense that if Jesus could rise from the dead, there’s hope for their lives and their situations. I believe that people come to church on Easter to find hope for their lives. NIV 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! Jesus overcame death and lives today. Those who believe in Him can put their past behind them and walk in a new way. Isn’t that what hope is all about? Looking for a fresh start for your life, moving beyond your past, going from the old to the new that God has for you. That’s what Easter is all about.

A Sunday School teacher was attempting to teach her young students the true meaning of Easter. “Why do we celebrate Easter?” she asked. When the children replied ’because of the Easter bunny,’ Easter eggs, candy, spring, etc., she said, “No, those are Easter traditions and symbols, but what is the REASON why we celebrate Easter? What happened at the very first Easter?” A little girl raised her hand and said, “Easter celebrates Jesus coming out of the tomb.” “Yes!” said the teacher, excited and relieved that finally the correct answer had surfaced. Encouraged, she prompted, “Jesus arose from the tomb, and what does He do for us?” The youngster replied, “He looks to see if he can see his shadow, and if He can, he goes back in for another six weeks.” Not quite right, she shouldn’t have asked the second question. But it is an important question, Jesus rose from the tomb, but what does that have to do with us? Sure, Easter is a great day to come to church, but what about tomorrow, the day after Easter and the rest of the year?

Today, I want to talk about “Living With Resurrection Power.” I’m going to answer the question, How can Easter give me power in my life next week? When all the trappings of Easter and the good feelings of the day are gone, how can you tap into some of that power that rose Jesus from the tomb for your own life?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 8, 2007 message entitled Living With Resurrection Power

Today, we’re concluding my message series “Bright Living In A Dark World. We’ve been looking at the ancient book of Esther as a model for how we should live for God in the world that God has put us into. Our world in the 21st century AD is a dark world, but so was the world of the Persian empire that Esther found herself in the 5th century BC.

Let’s review the story of Esther so far that we’ve covered. If you haven’t yet read the book of Esther, I encourage you to read it this week, it’s only ten chapters long. The setting of the book of Esther is the capital city of the Persian empire ruled over by King Xerxes. The queen of the empire was deposed and a young Jewish girl, Esther was chosen to replace her. Esther was part of the exiled Jewish community in Persia. Esther’s uncle Mordecai counseled Esther to conceal her Jewish identity and remained in contact with her.

Mordecai saved King Xerxes life by uncovering a conspiracy against him. However, Mordecai was hated by the evil prince Haman for refusing to bow to him. Haman conspired to destroy both Mordecai and the entire Jewish community throughout the Persian empire and a date was set. Mordecai persuaded Queen Esther to risk her life and approach King Xerxes with the goal of thwarting Haman’s evil plot. Esther requested that a banquet be held with the King and Haman. At the first banquet, Esther did not reveal her concern, but requested a second banquet with King Xerxes and Haman. That’s where we left of last week with the question, how could Esther persuade the King to reverse the decree to destroy the Jews?

So today, my message title is “Believing In God’s Power.” We’re going to see how God’s power, not only raised Esther to be queen but used her to bring deliverance for the Jews. What does this story from thousands of years ago have to do with us? NIV Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. The stories in the Old Testament, such as the book of Esther was written to teach you about how God works in our world. Esther was written to encourage you and give you hope to live in the dark world of the 21st century.

Now, I’m going to give away the ending to the story, if you haven’t read Esther yet. It is a great ending, evil is defeated and Esther and Mordecai are honored. We’ll see how God’s power accomplished that today. A thinking person might ask me the question, Pastor Dan, what is God teaching us in Esther, that evil will always be defeated and the righteous always exalted? The answer to that question is Yes and No. The proper understanding of that answer is crucial to your understanding of God, the Bible and life.

Theologians call the concept the Already and the Not Yet. Here it is in a nutshell. One day, all evil will be defeated and every righteous person exalted. When will that be? It will be at the end of time when Christ returns. However, in our lives, we do not always see evil defeated and righteousness always exalted. We are living in the Not Yet. But oftentimes we do already see evil defeated and righteousness exalted. We are living in the Already. NIV 1 Corinthians 15:25 For he [Jesus] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. So you and I are living in the period of time where Jesus is reigning and defeating enemies already. However not yet do we see all enemies defeated. Our destiny is to allow Christ to use us to bring the not yet into the already and we do that through faith.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 1, 2007 message entitled Believing In God’s Power

In my message series, ”Bright Living In A Dark World” we’re looking at how you and I can shine like candles in a dark room. As believers, as followers of Jesus Christ, our purpose in life is to push back the darkness around us by allowing God’s light to shine through us. The brighter you shine for God, the more power God gives you so you can shine even more brightly.

The problem is that many people aren’t shining at all. They’re being overcome by the darkness, by the dark side that we talked about last Sunday. Jesus warned us of the problem in NIV Matthew 5:14-16 You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men. Why would someone light a lamp and put it under a bowl? Seems to me, the only reason someone would do that is if they were afraid that someone might see the light. And what happens to a burning lamp put under a bowl, it will go out. We don’t want our lights to go out, we don’t want our children’s lights to go out. So, we need courage to let our lights shine for God before men in a dark world.

Today, my message is entitled “Finding Courage To Serve God.” The dictionary defines courage as mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. We need courage to live brightly in a dark world, courage to serve God no matter what other people think, say or do to us. NIV Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. When you live in a dark world, it’s easy to get discouraged, it’s easy to become afraid, it’s easy to worry and get depressed. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Why? Because God goes with you. He can make you strong and courageous.

Eighteenth century England was a dark period and Christians were concerned about the slave trade, but it seemed nothing could be done about it. A man named William Wilberforce was elected to Parliament and became a believer five years later. He became convinced that his destiny was to abolish the slave trade, yet the dark side opposed him. Lord Melbourne said “Things have come to a pretty pass when religion is allowed to invade public life.” Sounds familiar doesn’t it. The dark side doesn’t want any lights shining. After twenty years of courageously serving God, Wilberforce succeeded in abolishing the slave trade in 1807. The light of God through him had pushed back the darkness.

What about your life and destiny? How does God want your light to shine? First of all, you need courage to let your light shine in your family. However, I am convinced that God wants every believer’s light to shine beyond their own families and influence many people around them. That takes courage and God wants to help you.

In this message series, we’re looking at the book of Esther as a model of the dark time we live in today. The Persian King Xerxes had just decreed the destruction of the entire Jewish community through the empire. It was a very dark time indeed, yet God had raised up a candle in Esther as queen of the empire.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my March 25, 2007 message entitled Finding Courage To Serve God

Currently, we’re in a message series which I’ve called “Bright Living In A Dark World.” Even though we may all agree that the world is a dark place, God is calling us as believers to shine as candles in the darkness. The Bible speaks of two kingdoms, the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. Every person is in one of those kingdoms or the other. No one can straddle the fence. Those two kingdoms are in conflict. There is a battle raging between these two kingdoms that has gone on since man was created.

What does that have to do with you? Whether we like it or not, you and I are trapped in the war zone between these two kingdoms. In fact, we are either on one side or the other. The problem is that most people have no idea that any type of conflict is going on between these spiritual kingdoms. Many people see the world in shades of gray, rather than the contrast the Bible teaches between light and darkness. The result is that many people’s lives are being destroyed and short circuited by forces and conflicts they either don’t believe in or don’t understand.

Today, I want to talk about “Understanding The Dark Side” Let’s gain some insight about what the dark side is all about from God’s words to Paul. NIV Acts 26:17-18 I am sending you to them [the Gentiles] to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins. So we see that people are in darkness and need to be rescued. The dark kingdom is ruled by the power of Satan, whereas the kingdom of light is God’s kingdom. Unfortunately, the majority of people in America no longer believe in the existence of Satan. So they are incredibly naïve about the dark side and it’s power.

People just think that they are dealing with bad people or unfortunate circumstances, rather than with any evil power behind them. They’re wrong. NIV Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Your real struggles in life are not ultimately with people, but against the powers of this dark world, against spiritual forces of evil. When you begin to understand who the real enemy is, it simplifies life and makes you much more effective in dealing with the struggles of life.

In this message series, we are looking at the ancient book of Esther from the Old Testament, but we are looking at it through the lens of the New Testament. Jesus said of Himself in NIV John 12:46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. Jesus showed us the forces behind the darkness and how to defeat them through His power.

So let’s look again at the book of Esther. You’ll remember from last week, that God had designed Esther for the purpose of being queen of Persia. After Esther became queen, her uncle Mordecai uncovered a conspiracy to assassinate King Xerxes and reported it to the King through Esther. The king’s life was saved. So now let’s look at some principles for our lives as we move into Esther chapter 3.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my March 18, 2007 message entitled Understanding The Dark Side