Sunday 24th May 2020 - Esther
Esther
Worship:
Focus on the promises of hope throughout this worship song by Jesus Culture ‘Your Love Never Fails’
Word:
How does Esther show that having hope and not giving up are important, even though things in life may be difficult?
Opening thought: What would you do if one of your friends is upset because they have fallen out with one of your other friends?
Sometimes, things are difficult and it is hard to know how best to help. In the Bible, the book of Esther tells how Esther found herself in some very difficult situations. We are going to look at how she coped and what she did.
This video covers most of the story of Esther in a fairly concise way (BUT it excludes the important part that prayer played in Esther’s preparation of going before the King, so please make sure you emphasise that in chatting the story through!)
Key points from Esther’s story:
- Esther didn’t have an easy start in life. Both her parents died when she was young and she was brought up by her uncle; Mordecai.
- Esther became a wife of the king of Persia; but she didn’t tell him she was Jewish.
- Esther lived in the king’s palace and Mordecai carried on doing good things, including saving the king’s life on one occasion.
- Haman was appointed by the king as a chief official, Haman was a cruel and unpleasant man who hatched a plan to kill all of the Jewish people in the land.
-Esther was scared when she found out about Haman’s plot, but with her Uncle Mordecai’s help and encouragement, she came to realise that this might be exactly why God had put her in such a privileged position.
- Esther didn’t lose hope. Instead she turned to prayer and fasting and asked all the Jews to do the same; for three days and nights.
- Esther organised two banquets and invited the king and Haman to both of them. The night after the first special meal, God prompted the king to wake instead of sleep and he read in his records how Mordecai had saved the king’s life.
- Then at the second banquet the king honoured Mordecai (which really annoyed Haman!). Then Esther bravely told the king about Haman’s plot to kill the Jews and that these were her people and her family. The king was furious and killed Haman. Mordecai wrote a new decree with the king’s seal to protect the Jews.
Things to chat about and reflect on together:
- Esther had a difficult start to life, but God still used her. She went from a place of weakness - a Jewish orphan and exile to becoming a favourite wife of the king of Persia! (Esther 4: 14 - for such a time as this)
- Esther faced a difficult choice when she learnt about the plot to kill all the Jews. She could have kept quiet and perhaps saved her own life (perhaps they would never have found out she was Jewish). Or she needed to do something, to risk her own life for the sake of many other people. Note how Esther asked her Uncle Mordecai for help and advice - someone she knew she could trust and rely on. Note also that Esther prepared by fasting and praying, talk about times in your life where you have prayed or fasted or both to intercede or to seek God’s direction and help.
- Because Esther had drawn near to God, she could face the king with God’s courage and hope. Remember, we can always turn to God, no matter how difficult the situation seems and ask God to help and to give us strength to keep hoping.
Activity suggestions:
Under 7’s - Make a crown and decorate it. (See template if required - separate PDF - will need strips of thin card/strong paper to create the headband too.) Encourage your child(ren) to dress up and to act out parts of the Esther story, why don’t you join in too?
7-11’s - Bible crossword about the book of Esther - you will need your Bibles to help with the answers (apologies for the American spellings!) (See separate PDF below)
Reflection:
Living with hope
Talk together as a family about what it might mean to choose to live with hope. Some things from Esther’s story that might help us:
- Wherever we start from/whoever we are, we can all bring hope to others
- We should aspire/aim to have hope , even when things are hard
- We should make space for prayer and seeking God’s will, to help us make wise decisions
To apply this to now, you could pray together for the things you are each hoping for right now and listen to how God responds to your hopes.