Esther, the Story of – Part 4 – Esther 5:1-9:4
Nov 13, 2016 was designated as "Orphan Sunday 2016." What better biblical story about a biblical orphan than the story of Esther. She was a Jewish girl, who lost both of her parents while they were living as foreigners in Persia. Thankfully her older cousin Mordecai adopts her as his own daughter, and they remained living in Susa, Persia, the capital city of that great pagan empire. Yet there is so much more to this story! God had Mordecai and Esther right where He wanted them to accomplish His protective plan for the Jews whose lives were being threatened by wicked Haman who was the prime minister or Persia. We would like to encourage you to download the teaching notes, open your Bible to Esther 5, and listen as Pastor Anton teaches this 4th and final message in the series "Esther, the Story of." We hope and trust that you will be encouraged. WatchNotesDownloadDateTitle
- Nov 13, 2016Esther, the Story of – Part 4 – Esther 5:1-9:4
Esther, the Story of – Part 4 – Esther 5:1-9:4 Nov 13, 2016 was designated as "Orphan Sunday 2016." What better biblical story about a biblical orphan than the story of Esther. She was a Jewish girl, who lost both of her parents while they were living as foreigners in Persia. Thankfully her older cousin Mordecai adopts her as his own daughter, and they remained living in Susa, Persia, the capital city of that great pagan empire. Yet there is so much more to this story! God had Mordecai and Esther right where He wanted them to accomplish His protective plan for the Jews whose lives were being threatened by wicked Haman who was the prime minister or Persia. We would like to encourage you to download the teaching notes, open your Bible to Esther 5, and listen as Pastor Anton teaches this 4th and final message in the series "Esther, the Story of." We hope and trust that you will be encouraged.
- Nov 6, 2016Esther, the Story of – Esther 3:8-4:17 “For Such a Time as This”
Esther, the Story of – Esther 3:8-4:17 “For Such a Time as This”
Have you ever considered "why" you were born in the era that you were? Have you ever considered the parents that you were born too, and the part of the world in which you grew up in? While we did not have an opportunity to choose any of these, we have the privilege and responsibility of answering it. And the only place to get the real TRUE answer to these questions is the Word of God, the Bible. We would like to encourage you to open your Bible to Esther 3, and download the teaching notes to follow along as Pastor Anton teaches on the Story of Esther. We hope and trust that you will be encouraged and challenged.
- Oct 30, 2016Esther, The Story of – Esther 2:1-3:7
Esther, The Story of – Esther 2:1-3:7Our World View has a great deal of influence on how we view God's activity in the world and in our lives. For some, their belief is that there is no god, and thus what we are able to experience, measure, etc., is reality, and there is nothing outside of it. This first view is commonly known as naturalism/materialism. There are also many who believe that god is in everything, this is classically known as Pantheism. There are also those who hold the view of a Deism. This is the view that God or a god created the world and the universe, and then set things into motion. This is commonly exemplified in the illustration of the "great clock maker," where the clock maker builds the clock, winds it up, sets it in motion, and watches it spin-out. Finally, there is the view of Theism. Although there are many off-shoots that come from the Theistic worldview, this is the view that believes that God not only created the world, upholds it keeping things working and functioning, but that He also enters into our realm at times. Our prayer is that as you open up your Bible to the book of Esther, download the teaching notes, and listen to Pastor Anton's message, that you will have an open mind and heart to see God's activity in this story. We believe that God is at work and on the move in our lives, and we hope that you will be encouraged by this message.
- Oct 23, 2016Esther, The Story of – Esther 1:1-22
Esther, The Story of – Esther 1:1-22Do you like a good fairy-tale story? Many in our culture do. The Book of Esther, written roughly in 470 B.C. and most like by Mordecai, contains all the setup to a great fairy-tale story. A wealthy king, a beautiful queen, a breathtaking palace, royal parties, an orphan girl, a beauty competition, and the young girl winning and becoming the new queen of Persia! At least is some of the basic highlights until you arrive at Esther 2:20. However the problem is this, the book of Esther is a real life story, and in real life, things rarely end "happily ever after." It is very important to note that a unique characteristic of the book is that the name of the Lord God is never mentioned, nor is He ever prayed to. Prayer is suggested, but never mentioned explicitly. Yet even with the absence of the mention of God, His handiwork and divine providence of the Lord is seen throughout. We would like to encourage you to download the teaching notes, and turn in your own Bible as pastor Anton teaches on the Story of Esther, chapter 1. We trust that you will be encouraged.