Remember

Esther 9:20 - 10:3
As God's people are saved, they respond with a celebration, the Jewish festival of Purim. It's a celebration of looking backward and remembering but also moving forward. All the stories of deliverance in the Bible, including Esther, foreshadow the ultimate deliverance of God's people through the salvation we have in Jesus. In this way, we can see that the whole Bible really is about Jesus and what he has done. May we remember this as we move forward in our lives.

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Esther: God Behind the Scenes

Esther is the only book in the Bible that doesn't mention God. On the surface, God seems absent from this story. Sadly, that's a familiar idea for many of us. Sometimes, we may feel like God is absent from our lives and world. But the story of Esther reveals that God is always present behind the scenes, often working with great power, even when He may seem albescent to us. Esther is the story of God's loving and sometimes hidden providence, the truth that He is over all things working out His will, and the amazing truth that he uses ordinary, flawed people to accomplish His plans. In the end, through a series of stunning reversals, we find that God is definitely not absent but is, in fact, the central character in this story and that He is always at work for the good of His people and for His glory.

Orchard Community Church
8180 Telephone Rd
Ventura CA 93004
www.OrchardVentura.org
Contact us at Info@OrchardVentura.org
Orchard's Streaming and Song Select CCLI# 160190

"Saved"

Esther 9:1-19

In another stunning reversal, the decree of life is carried out. People marked for death are spared and given a new lease of life. This reversal feels harsh to us, but it would have been seen as equal justice in the time. And yet this event foreshadows a much greater reversal, one in which life also came out of death—the Cross and the mercy and grace that come from Jesus' death on it.

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Esther

God Behind the Scenes

Esther is the only book in the Bible that doesn't mention God. On the surface, God seems absent from this story. Sadly, that's a familiar idea for many of us. Sometimes, we may feel like God is absent from our lives and world. But the story of Esther reveals that God is always present behind the scenes, often working with great power, even when He may seem albescent to us. Esther is the story of God's loving and sometimes hidden providence, the truth that He is over all things working out His will, and the amazing truth that he uses ordinary, flawed people to accomplish His plans. In the end, through a series of stunning reversals, we find that God is definitely not absent but is, in fact, the central character in this story and that He is always at work for the good of His people and for His glory.

Orchard Community Church
8180 Telephone Rd
Ventura CA 93004
www.OrchardVentura.org
Contact us at Info@OrchardVentura.org
Orchard's Streaming and Song Select CCLI# 160190

"A Decree of Life"

Esther 8:1-17

God's providence leads to another reversal. An irrevocable decree that brought death to the Jews had been given, but now a counter degree bringing life. In the same way, a decree of death stands against us for our sin that can't be revoked, but the counter decree of the gospel has been issued, bringing life. When we give our lives to Christ, we are united with Him, so His death becomes our death to sin, and His resurrection becomes our resurrection to new life.

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Esther

God Behind the Scenes

Esther is the only book in the Bible that doesn't mention God. On the surface, God seems absent from this story. Sadly, that's a familiar idea for many of us. Sometimes, we may feel like God is absent from our lives and world. But the story of Esther reveals that God is always present behind the scenes, often working with great power, even when He may seem albescent to us. Esther is the story of God's loving and sometimes hidden providence, the truth that He is over all things working out His will, and the amazing truth that he uses ordinary, flawed people to accomplish His plans. In the end, through a series of stunning reversals, we find that God is definitely not absent but is, in fact, the central character in this story and that He is always at work for the good of His people and for His glory.

Orchard Community Church
8180 Telephone Rd
Ventura CA 93004
www.OrchardVentura.org
Contact us at Info@OrchardVentura.org
Orchard's Streaming and Song Select CCLI# 160190