So August is here. Surprise anyone else besides me. It's like we're here. It's August. Uh yeah. New new school year, new season for many. And if you are a parent of Children, going back to school, I'm guessing you have two simultaneous thoughts running through your head at the exact same time. On one side, you're thinking, wow, the summer went so fast. I only have so much time left with my kids. They're growing up so quickly and on the other, how early is too early to drop them off at school? I guess today is it like a camp out? You know what I mean? Like a school lock in to get things started, you know, with, with a new school year and the new season really represents new challenges but also new opportunities. And so, uh as uh all the new school stuff has been popping up online and on social feeds, I saw a couple uh funny stories from teachers, uh who shared. So I want to share some of them that made me laugh a little bit. There was a music teacher who shared the story that she was trying to get her middle school students to uh play sing, uh uh connect with Mozart. And one of the students is uh replied back to her after, after some failed attempts to, to play the music and just said, Mrs Willis, can we please just play music from our generation? Not your generation? And then there was one other teacher here who noticed one of her students uh didn't have his homework turned in. And so went up to him and said, Billy, uh where's your homework? To which he replied, it's still in the pencil. Hello? It's actually kind of a creative answer, you know, and I wonder when it comes to Christianity, when it comes to faith, you know, I wonder for us, I wonder how many of us really, our faith is still inside the pencil, so to speak. You know what I mean? Like, like we read the faith of people in the Bible, we read of and hear about the faith of others around us. But how many of us have actually embraced what it means to believe in Jesus and more importantly, live out those practices throughout the week because the best stories in life are not simply the stories that are written, but they're the stories that are lived. And so we wanna live a better story and we wanna help you live a better story because here we are new school year, new season. And so what does it look like to embrace this new season? And so we're gonna take a look at a, this gal who, you know, I love the Olympics right now and, and I love just seeing people compete at the highest level for a gold medal. Like I find myself really bought into sports that other times of the year, I've never would watch anyone with me. Right. Not only do I watch it but I also like critique it and like make commentaries on it or think I could do that any, any OK. And uh and so anyway, if, if Courage was an Olympic sport, this biblical character would win gold 100% because her example, her faith not just written about but lived out really sets the example for you and for me in this morning's message that simply entitled for such a time as this, for such a time as this, the biblical character that we're gonna study. The, the gal who would win gold in the sport of Courage is her name is Esther. It's in the Old Testament. There's 10, there's 10 chapters. So we're not gonna read through that. We're gonna focus in on the turning point in her story there in Esther chapter four. But before before we get there though, I encourage you to write this down if you're taking notes is that courage chooses, calling over circumstance. Courage chooses, calling over circumstance. You see it's easy in our culture today, in our busy lives to feel overwhelmed and alone that's why here at Mission Grove Church, we're building community around the message of Jesus so that we can help people find and discover the peace and the purpose that they've actually been searching for. And what you're gonna see from our story today is, is a woman who, who really had the odds stacked against her. If, if she focused on her circumstances and, and her surroundings and her situation, she would never take an act of courage or boldness because her focus wasn't on her circumstances, but instead was on her calling. It's a story that we still talk about 2500 years later and really will echo into eternity now to set up our story before we get to Esther four, we got to understand what happens in Esther chapters one through three. So the setting of our story takes place about 100 years after the Babylonian exile. So Babylon, uh this area that took over the people of God is part of a larger group kind of Persia that took over. And so the Persian empire, the capital city of Persia is Susa. And so while there were some Jewish people from Babylon, like Nehemiah and Ezra that led people back to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the temple and the walls and things there too. Uh There was another group of Jewish believers that stayed in the capital city of Sua and they were being persecuted. So they, they had no power they had no authority, they had really no hope for the most part in one of the strongest, most powerful people and nations in the world. And so there's four main characters in the story of Esther. There's the king, some translations um put him down by the title uh Ashra. Other translations use the name exerts uh same person. That's really the main thing is to understand that you got the king. He's this powerful rich drunken partier. OK. Now you have his right hand man who gets really noted as the villain, his name is Haman, who he loves power, he loves authority. And if people go against him, he wants to make them pay. And then you have, it really feels like the origin story of like a Disney tale. You have this orphan girl um who really loses family. Her name is Esther or the you were named her Hadasa and then is connected with her uncle Mordecai. And so those are uh so you kind of have our, our main players here. And so the king is showing his power and throws this massive feast that goes for days and days and weeks turns into months and so on. And then, and as king, he demands his wife Vashti to come out and parade in front of the people to which she says no. And that rejection of the king is oh OK, you're not the queen anymore. And then in, instead hosts a countrywide beauty pageant. If you will, if you think of a Miss Persia or like a Miss America pageant or like Persia's got talent or some, something like that, some kind of contest in which people can come from around the different Providences and provinces here. And yet, Esther decides to enter. And so she hides her Jewish nature because that would work against her and she actually wins the pageant. So here's this beautiful woman, Uh the king becomes obsessed and says, hey, you're the queen. So now you have an orphan girl, you see where this mirrors kind of some other Disney stories. So you have an orphan girl with no power, no authority now becomes the queen. But here's the problem though is that as she becomes queen in this process, um Haman, the villain really doesn't like the Jews, really doesn't like the Jews and, and really convinces the king that says, you know what we need to just wipe them out. Nothing good is gonna happen if we keep them around. And so they literally roll dice to just pick a date in which we're gonna kill all the Jews. And so it's not looking good. Uh a little side note as well, which comes back into play later that during this whole process, her uncle Mordecai overhears a plot to kill the king goes and warns him and and saves the day there. And so now to set the stage, we have Haman, the villain the right hand man of the king, who's this plot? He got the king to decree that all of them are gonna be wiped out. And you have the queen who is a Jew who hasn't shared her heritage with the king. I mean, like man, I need to do something. But if you confront the king and he doesn't want to hear it, you could lose your life right there on the spot. So the stakes are high. Now, a few other interesting notes behind this story that really comes into play for you. And I today one is that there's, there's actually an anonymous author here. We don't know who the author is. And number two, throughout the 10 chapters of the Esther story, there's actually no mention of God. Isn't that interesting? There's no mention of God in this story. Now, you would think that every book of the Bible is about God and it is. So how can a book be about God and God's power? God's provision without ever naming him? I think it's because of this reason is that we should not make the mistake of mista God's silence for God's absence just because you don't see God just because you don't hear God doesn't mean that God is not present, doesn't mean that God is not moving the pieces around where he sees fit. Have you ever been in a situation and thought to yourself, God, where are you, God? Why could you allow this to happen. I don't see you. I don't hear you like people who are evil people who are pagan people who are against, you are seemingly being successful. They're thriving. We're trying to follow you and I have no power, no authority, no opportunity. And it seems like things are hopeless. Well, this is the context in which our story takes place. And what we see is that even when you don't acknowledge the existence of God, God is still present. God is still all powerful, all knowing and he is in control of the situation and moving people and places and, and positions as he sees fit to accomplish his will. So never mistake God's silence for God's absence just because you don't see. God doesn't mean that God's not there. And Esther didn't forget this fact because we're gonna see how she responds with obedience and how she responds in faith. So we're picking up our story here. She's worried, she knows she needs to confront the king. She's having a conversation with her uncle through servants because he's not allowed in the palace. And so they're kind of talking through servants here. And so Esther speaking in verse 11 of chapter four, and she says all the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law to be put to death except the one whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to see the king these days here in, in the last 30 days. And they told Mordecai what Esther said and says, and then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther. Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace, you will escape any more than the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place. But you and your father's house will perish and who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this such a powerful phrase there say look, God's gonna deliver His people. I believe that. But if you don't speak up, it's gonna end for you. But what if God actually placed you in this position in this moment in this time for such a time as this? Isn't that incredible picture for such a time as this? Well, how would Esther respond? Verse 15? Then Esther told them to reply back to Mordecai. Go gather all the Jews to be found in Susa and hold a fast on my behalf and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king though it is against the law. If I perish, I perish. She embraces the moment and she says, I will speak and if I die, I die. So what happens? Well, she chickens out. She never speaks and all the Jews have been wiped out for all eternity. No, thank goodness. She responded to the moment and she stepped up and stepped into such a time as this. She, what she does is she goes, she approaches the king. He does extend the golden step to saying like, OK, I'll, I'll spare your life. What do you have to say to me? She invites the king and Haman to a feast. Now, in this process, uh Hayman just really hates Mordecai again because they're starting to see favor. I really don't like this guy. I'm already wiping out the Jews. I want him gone. And so after a feast, he goes and he builds this like spike looking deal to kill Mordecai. That's the plan. And so he goes away there. And so then at that point, the, the king is gonna go back to sleep after, after having this meal and some drinking and some food. And so these are not like the highest moral people. OK? And when he can't go to sleep and they haven't invented Melatonin yet. And so he has somebody read this newspaper and the, and the chronicles to him so that he can fall asleep. Well, when somebody's reading back the chronicles of what's been happening in the kingdom, he is reminded of the time that Mordecai called out a plot to threaten his life and actually saved the king's life. And so Hayman builds a spike to kill Mordecai. And then the next morning comes to the king with his plan to kill him. But before he can say anything, the king says to Haman and he goes, oh, Mordecai saved my life. Heyman, I want you to honor him. So in, in, in exchange, instead of killing him, he actually has to parade Mordecai around the city in honor of him. And so there he gets a voice before the king. And then Esther says, I want you to come to another banquet and then prepares, gets ready for the right place, the right time. And then actually in that moment shares that she is a Jew and that Haman plotted to kill all the Jews and kind of tricked you into making this decree. And so he actually says, well, I can't undo my decree, but I'll make a new one that you can defend yourselves and let me take care of Hayman and Haman ultimately gets executed on the same spike that he killed, made to kill somebody else. And so it's pretty graphic and, and so it goes through and the people of God are saved. And what's really fascinating too is that they begin this two day feast called Purim and, and Purim is pure, there is the Hebrew word for dice that was used And so that's why it was called Purim to name after the dice that was rolled to determine their execution. But instead ended up being their deliverance. And so the people of God were saved. Esther was Queen Moai was lifted up into a position of leadership all because she took a step of courage. She chose, calling over circumstance, she embraced the season, the moment that she was in for such a time as this. So why does that apply to you? And to me? Well, I think we can learn three things from her story as we applied into our lives here. 2500 years later. The first thing that we have to ask ourselves is, have you embraced God's placement? Have you embraced God's placement? See, it's all about perspective, it's all about perspective. Her situation, her circumstance for Esther was that everyone was against her. She was an orphan girl, right? Her people were about to be wiped out. If she even approaches or s or asks the question at the wrong time, she could lose her life. But that question, what if I'm here for such a time as this? Realizing that this was her moment to step up and to speak out, not just this, it's not just something that she was called to do. It was who she was called to be and she embraced the placement in her life. Going back to school. There's always questions for kiddos of, you know, why I didn't like what class I got placed in. Right. They, they make, they send emails out and teachers understand this too that like as soon as you send out the class role, they immediately complain and try to swap classes. That's why recent days they now just send out the class list. Like right before school starts to try to keep people from switching. And what I've realized is that as adults, we never grow up from this, right? Just as kids say, I wanna be in this class, I wanna be in this class as adults. How many of us think to ourselves? Well, I'd like that job. I want that house. I want that car. Well, if I had those kids, right? Like I'm sure your kids are great or sir my, you know, my and we fill in the blank if I only had blank and we think that our circumstance determine whether or not we have courage. But what Esther did was that she embraced where she had been placed and starting the church uh at Mission Grove years ago, I, I just remember uh and some of you, I was talking that are in this room right now. Uh Just how crazy it felt that God had called to start the church to plant the church. Find mission growth. Our name for those who might not know it came. Actually, it was on a youth mission trip up in the clo area. I was doing a quiet time, uh, looking over the muggy on rim over there and God hit me with two thoughts as I could see for hundreds of miles. Was that at some point that entire forest started from just one tree and no matter how big one street gets, no matter how big one tree gets, no, no one tree makes a forest but a forest can start from just one tree. That's why we are actually called Mission Grove. That no single tree makes a grove, but a grove can start from just one tree. And so this vision that to start a church that would help start other churches that start churches, that our churches began. But when I trans transitioned out of my position where I was, I had about a month of savings and a call from God and it seemed crazy and I did not feel qualified to do that. I mean, 12 years, a youth pastor, I still laughed at little kid jokes. Like my humor level was like the same as my toddlers and, and like I was like me God, like you choose me like no, this doesn't work. But in the early days of planning, I remember going to a pastor's lunch and there was a speaker there. His name was Wayne Cordero. He launched, I believe it was like hope Church out in Hawaii, multiple campuses, launched a seminary. Uh It's written books, all these things super wise. Uh older gentleman and, and just has been through the ringer and he was just dropping knowledge on all of us, uh, pastors there and just encouraging and I just went to it last minute. Have you ever gone somewhere last minute, last second? And then you realize God meant for you to go there. You know, I'm talking about, this was one of those moments for me. And so he started talking through it and he said, think about a relay race and, and I was reminded of this, this week is watching the Olympics, right? And it, but I remember flashback years ago said this lunch, you think about a relay race, the key to a relay race is to run the lap you're in and that the coaches, the teams place specific people in specific positions to run the lap and you typically place that fastest person at the end. He said, if you think about all of church history, you think about the lapse that the early church leaders ran, they were some fast laps, right? Like we read Peter Paul, like these guys who you read through church history and, and the reformation and all these things that we have to embrace the fact that the baton has now been passed to you and to me, and that if God has placed us and potentially our generation as one of the last people to run their laps that he's done so on purpose with the purpose that when we read about the courage and the boldness of the church leaders that the same God, the same power is available to you. And to me and the Baton has been passed. And so we have to accept that placement and say it is our turn to run and that God doesn't make mistakes. This means that God placed you in your workplace has placed you in this community, has placed you in this family in a series of relationships to understand that this is your lap to run. There is a uh there's stories all throughout scripture of when people understand that God placed them there. It's a story in Genesis of a guy named Joseph who he has this dream. He gets, and the brothers don't like it. The family beats him up and then sells him into slavery. Slavery works up, works into a powerful house actually has integrity. Uh The owner of the house, the wife wants to sleep with him. He actually stays pure in integrity. And in response, he gets thrown into prison while in prison starts interpreting dreams. He says, hey, remember me, they don't remember him. And so he's in prison for years. And so here he is beaten up, he is a slave. He is a prisoner. He is like over and over again, gets passed up, gets passed, over, gets ignored and he keeps doing what's right and being obedient. What time comes when the pharaoh needs a dream interpreted at that point, the person remembers brings Joseph into the mix. And Joseph ultimately gets elevated into a, a position of power. The nation goes through a drought. And so the people of God have to come to Egypt and the same people, his family that sold him into slavery, come before him. And just like a movie moment, they realize that the person that's going to determine their fate is the very brother that they sold into slavery years ago. But instead of enacting his revenge, he realized this was God's plan all along that he was placed to save his people. And he responds in Genesis chapter 50 verse 19 and 20 he says, but Joseph said to them, do not fear for, am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me. But God meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. He realized that God had placed him where he needed to be. So there's another story in the New Testament, a guy named Paul crazy backstory, complete rejection of Christianity actually persecuted believers. Has this radical salvation moment now turned around and becomes the mouthpiece for Christianity starts planting churches, starts leading people to Christ starts writing letters. All these things gets put into prison, prison and he was chained to the Roman guard. But see he changed his perspective and realized that God had placed them there. So it wasn't that he was chained to the Roman guards. It was that the Roman guards were chained to him. And he said, and because of his imprisonment, the entire guard heard the gospel and he says this in Philippians 112, I want you to know brothers. That what was, what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. I want you to think this morning where has God placed you in your family and your finances and at the school in the job in the in the community, I think God has placed you're there on purpose. I think all the things that have happened to you. I I hear me on this. Not everything that happens to you is good. We live in a broken world, we live in a broken system where there is sin, there is folly, there is evil and there are things that I wish you didn't have to go through. But while much of life is not good, God is always good and God will use whatever you're in, whatever you're walking through for good can flip the story, can turn the page and he is handing you the baton and telling you this is the lap. I want you to run. Have you embraced God's placement to realize your workplace is not dark because you're surrounded by non-christian, but rather your workplace is bright because you are there. I had someone come up to me think John, this is tough. I need prayer because there are no Christians in my workplace. And I said no Christians. So there are no Christians where I work. I said, do you work there? He said yes. And there's no c and like finally the light bulb went on. He said, oh look, I if God calls you somewhere else, right? Uh walk in obedience of that. But what if God placed you there so that you can shine light where otherwise light would not go? What if you were made for such a time as this? Have you embraced God's placement? The second thing we can learn from Esther's story is, do you trust God's plan? Do you trust God's plan? You know, in the Christian life, it doesn't make sense, right? We think it should be A plus B equals C A plus B equals C, right? But oftentimes it's A plus B equals negative four. Wait, what, where, how did a number get in there like this? Did not go as funny. Have you ever been there? God, I did the right thing. I prayed, I whatever. And then this happened. I, I mean, I think about the church. So many things were different than what we expected, right? So we launched in 2018, 2019, 1st full year and we legitimately thought we're like 2020. Here we go. God, smooth sailing, lo and behold a pandemic that would change like nothing, nothing about that year. Made sense. Right. Nothing made sense. But yet God was in every step. Do we trust him? Do you trust God's plan? Even when you don't understand it? Years ago when my kiddo were little, uh, like toddler age, uh, they, they would go and they try to, like, em, emulate me or impersonate me there and I, I never outgrew the junior high backpack stage. You know what I'm talking about? Like junior hires will go to school tomorrow or the next two weeks and their backpack weighs like 1000 pounds. I, I'll be honest, I never outgrew that like to this day, like in my office right now I got a backpack. It's got way too much stuff in it. Way too many books that it just than I needs to be. But I'm always queuing around. Well, my kiddo was a toddler, tried to impersonate me. So grab one day, grab my backpack and threw it on, but it's so heavy and he's so little that he would just fall over poop and then we get up and take a couple of steps and fall over and being the good father that I was, I just let him do that a few times because it was pretty humorous. Um, I already told you I'm not qualified. So, just, just bear with me. Um, but no, at some point I went over there after a few times, he fell down and I was kind of chuckling lighthearted and I just looked down at him and I said, buddy, it's ok. What's too heavy for you is not too heavy for dad. And I grabbed the bag and I walked away and I did not get two steps before God hit me. It was like that was for you. Right? How many of us load our emotional and mental backpacks with every possible stress and we do this to ourselves, We rehearse it. We think of every possible outcome. Well, if I write this email, they might respond back and not say what they could say. And then, and you start thinking about all the circumstances and you say, well, what if I go back, what I would say or what I'm gonna do and what I haven't done. And if we only had this, if coach would have put me in the fourth quarter, we would have won state like Uncle Rico or like wherever you are, right? We, we fill this in and then we start thinking about, well, now I'm thinking about it too much and we start overthinking or overthinking and it's like one of those like mirrored effects. It just keeps going down the anybody tracking with me or is this me? Ok. At some point, we have to recognize though what's too heavy for us is not too heavy for God. I had a buddy Kevin when we were playing in the church and I was all stressed out I didn't know how we were gonna pay for the thing where it was gonna start, how it was gonna happen. I just remember a big personality was like, cragle. If God ordered it off the menu, he's gonna pick up the bill. If it's God's meal, it's God's bill. And I was like, oh, that makes sense. Right? Like if God's calling you to something that he's got a purpose for that Jesus celebrating, Passover washed the disciples feet. He's gonna share with them really that the Passover was really gonna set up what becomes now we practice as communion which we're gonna do at the end of the service here and, and then he tells them, hey, I'm gonna leave and they start freaking out. But he says this in John 14 1, he says, let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. Another way to think about that is to trust in God trust also in me. Do you trust that God is strong enough? Do you trust that God is big enough? Do you trust that God is with you every step of the way for God himself says in Jeremiah 2911, he says for I know the plans I have for you. Declares the Lord. I wish with all that is in me that, that verse read differently. I wish the verse said for you will know the plans that I have for you. But it doesn't say that it says for, I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord plans for welfare and not for evil to give you a future and a hope. Have you embraced God's placement? Do you trust in God's plan? And then third, are you walking with God's power? Are you walking with God's power? Esther was able to answer the question. What if I was made for such a time as this? Yeah, I didn't see a Persian king but instead prayed to and spoke from a position of our heavenly king of the God who created the universe who spoken into existence. And now thousands of years later, we we know that Jesus himself went even further and came to earth, died on a cross rose, again, defeated death itself, giving us the power from which we can live every single day. That is where our courage comes from. That is our calling Paul writing in the church in Ephesus repeatedly uses this imagery of walking. Are you walking in something? Walking in love, walking in truth says this here in Ephesians 210, he says for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them, that you have been made on purpose with a purpose that this season of life that you're in the moment that you're in God has a purpose for it. We don't necessarily understand it, but God's job is outcome our job is obedience. When we try to make our job outcome, we miss the opportunity to obey. You don't have to understand God's plan fully to obedient or to obey him immediately. Does that make sense? I'm gonna say it again because I had a little word salad. Maybe I should run for office. 00, hey, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. That was me. That was me. That was not sermon. Um, you do not have to understand God fully to obey immediately. Does that make sense? We think we have to know everything when God just tells us to take a step and he gives us the power to do so. Ephesians 41 is therefore a prisoner for the Lord. I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called. It's two words for calling there, calle and Cleo. One is refers to this divine invitation to be called out. The other is to receive or bear witness to the name of God. You put those two definitions into that phrase is I urge you to walk in a manner of receiving the divine invitation to bear the name of God. God's called us to walk in that and he gives us unbelievable power. Ephesians three same book chapter before he says, verse 2021. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power that the work within us, to Him, be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever amen. This is the God that spoke the world into existence. This is the God that sustains our very existence. The God who made you the God who saves you, the guy who promises the Holy Spirit to be inside of you, to be with you, to walk with power. For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self control. One story. And we're gonna go into a time of communion years ago, uh at college football for the rose bowl. For those familiar praise God. Football is almost back. Sorry for those who don't follow football, but we're excited the Rose Bowl. They do this big parade in Pasadena years and years and years ago, one of the floats was going down and the truck that held the float ran out of gas in the parade. So the whole parade stops as they scramble to get a gas can to fill up. What made it even worse or better. Depending on your perspective is that the sponsor of that particular float was the standard oil company and now it's called Exxon. So the largest distributor of gas in the world sponsored the float that ran out of gas. Listen as believers, we have to understand that we have an unlimited supply of power, but we gotta keep the guys thankful we gotta understand that we walk not based on our circumstances on our calling that we can step encourage as Esther did that we can embrace our placement. That this school year, this job, this move these relationships. This moment, this season of life is not a setback, but really a set up and a chance for you to speak out a chance for you to stand up, to be bold in faith, to make a difference for His kingdom. Amen. And we can do that together by embracing his placement, by trusting his plan and by walking with his. So we can go into this new season with courage. And we choose, calling over our circumstance. Will you pray with me? Don't have any father. We thank you for who you are and what you've done. God. I pray that we can just be challenged and changed through the power of your spirit. God. As we remember now, we take communion together. But we just embrace this placement here in this community, in this church, in this family, in this job, God, we let you control the outcome and we will walk and trust your plan and your power to focus on our obedience and take a step. This week, we love you. God, help us to walk with courage in this new season. As soon as something we pray amen.