Esther - Chapter 1 - Calvary Baptist Church

Calvary Baptist Church - DE

Esther - Chapter 1

April 25, 2021

This week, we examine the first chapter of Esther. In this chapter, the narrator sets the stage for the entire book by introducing us to the kingdom of Xerxes. The king is a sovereign ruler with wealth and power beyond imagination. However, along the way, the narrator offers us three clues as to the real message of the first chapter:

1. The king’s displays of material wealth and power do not represent ultimate control (1-9)

2. The queen’s failure to comply with his command signals that the king’s actual authority is not as extensive as it first appeared (10-12a)

3. The king’s failure to control his anger leads him to make rash decisions, deposing his queen and making a laughable decree (12b-22)

In light of the book as a whole, this chapter functions to show the cracks in the king’s authority. He can’t control his house or even his own anger. Yet God uses even a rash decision made by the king to pave the way for Esther’s arrival and to position her within the royal house to accomplish His purpose. So while the first chapter doesn’t come out and say it, the narrator seems to be telling us that God is sovereign in the affairs of men.

Debunking Four Myths of the Church

July 18, 2021 • Dr. Peter Radford

Esther Narrative

July 4, 2021 • Dr. Peter Radford

This week we seek to capture the larger message of Esther in a single message. Pastor Pete wants to convey to you that while the sermon followed the general contours of the Biblical account, some details from this week’s message have been added to help the story move along. (For instance, Harbona is mentioned a couple times in the text, but we don’t know what his job was or if he was present for all the events presented in the message.) The goal of this week’s message is to help the story of Esther come to life.

Esther - Chapters 7-8

June 13, 2021 • Dr. Peter Radford

This text records for us the second banquet that Esther hosted for King Xerxes and Haman. At this banquet, Esther reveals her identity as a Jew and the plot of Haman is foiled. The lesson we draw from this text is that God watches over the righteous. We find three evidences of this in the text: 1. God positions the righteous according to his will to accomplish his purpose. 2. God brings the evil that the wicked intended for the righteous squarely upon them. 3. God answers the prayer of the righteous and protects them from harm.