Esther - A Woman Of Humility And Wisdom - The Queen Of Beauty And Courage Series

Esther - A Woman Of Humility And Wisdom

The Queen Of Beauty And Courage

Esther - A Woman Of Humility And Wisdom

The Queen Of Beauty And Courage

(The Book Of Esther)

THE Story Chapter 20

Sunday March 10, 2019

Thank you for joining us today as we continue with The Story. This week we are looking at chapter 20 The Queen Of Beauty And Courage, which is part of our fourth mini-series, God Is Speaking, Are You Listening. I’ve titled today’s message – Esther – A Woman Of Humility And Wisdom.

If you have missed any of the previous sermons in this series we encourage you to listen online at calvarycommunity.ca or order a CD copy at the Connecting Point or church office.

As in past Sundays, I encourage you to take a thought from today’s teaching, apply it to your life, and share it with others. And you might be asked to do that at the end of today’s sermon so be prepared!

Before we proceed just raise your hand if you are continuing to follow us through a daily reading of The Story. Great! If you aren’t, it’s still not too late to join us in our daily reading of this resource. Copies of The Story are still available at the Connecting Point today.

If you’re not yet in a group it’s still not too late to join one. Just come and see me afterward or contact me however and we can still fit you into one of our 17 The Story groups.

BTW The Story book contains readings from The Bible and we do hope that as a result of this series you will be inspired to further delve into the Word of God.

As we continue today I want to give us an idea where we are in chronological sequence of The Story.

http://www.thestory.com/resource-library/weekend-services/

TheStory_Timeline reduced.pdf

Before we go further I want to ask you a question. Is there a specific piece of wisdom that you have applied to your life? (x2) If so, what was it, and what difference did it make in your life? (X2)

To give you a moment to think, here is my example: At a weekend conference I didn’t connect at all with the only speaker for that event. In exasperation I prayed and said to God, “If you can give me one item of wisdom, I will consider that worth the cost of the conference and will happily go home. And shortly after that the presenter said, “Just remember, you are not God.” (2X)

And that is what I needed to hear, as I was taking on too much responsibility as a pastor to make everything work as I thought it ought to. And so I went home that evening thanking God and I didn’t have to go back the next day! And I continue to remind myself to this day that I am not God!

So is there a specific piece of wisdom that you have applied to your life? If so, what was it, and what difference did it make in your life? Now please turn to someone near to you and for one minute each share. Go ahead.

Briefly, what were some of your answers. Shout it out.

And so today, The Story is your story. The Story is my story. But most of all, The Story is the greatest story ever told. This is God’s story. We have the Upper Story which is God’s story. The Lower Story is Humanity’s story. And then there is My Story – your story and mine.

And now today we come to another of the lesser known individuals in The Bible, that of Esther. How many of you know her story?

Let’s watch this video summary of her story. (7 minutes)

Story of Esther From Bible / Animation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qnJxZIVLOU

And so a happy ending to a remarkable story full of twists and turns and plots and deception, which resulted in ultimate victory for God’s people.

A key verse illustrating a key element of this story is found in Proverbs 15:33 (NIV)

Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the LORD, and humility comes before honor.

To fear the Lord means to highly respect, to deeply honor, to hold in esteem. It’s somewhat like, but better than that, what you experience when you see a police car in your rear view mirror.

And while we can glean a number of insights from the story of Esther and apply them to our own lives, I want today to focus on one, yes just one.

Our Key Thought: Humility and wisdom go together hand in hand. (2X)

I now want to define these two important terms:

A simple definition of humility is a personal dependence on God and respect for other persons. (2X)

A simple definition of wisdom is the God-given ability to judge or discern correctly and to follow the best course of action. (2X)