IMAGE: IDENTITY TRAPS
Image: “The Festival of Esther” 1865 by Edward Armitage
WELCOME
Sunday, February 19, 2023
SERIES: IDENTITY TRAPS
LIVE MESSAGE: ESTHER’S TRAP – SECURITY THROUGH
PEOPLE
Scripture: Esther 1–10 ESV
Podcast “Living The Message”
Pastor Philip Miller
Scripture Reading Psalm 118:1–9 ESV
Psalm 118 ESV and Audio
His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
118 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7 The Lord is on my side as my helper;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
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“Rejoice! Rejoice, Believers” 1700 by Laurentius Laurenti
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LIVE 11:00 AM EST
Sunday, February 19, 2023
SERIES: IDENTITY TRAPS
LIVE MESSAGE: ESTHER’S TRAP – SECURITY THROUGH
PEOPLE
Scripture: Esther 1–10 ESV
Podcast “Living The Message”
Pastor Philip Miller
^Videos by Inspirational>1…
MESSAGE: ESTHER’S TRAP – SECURITY
THROUGH PEOPLE
Sunday, February 19, 2023
SERIES: IDENTITY TRAPS
MESSAGE: ESTHER’S TRAP – SECURITY THROUGH
PEOPLE
Scripture: Esther 1–10 ESV
Pastor Philip Miller
Scripture: Esther 1–10 ESV
Esther 1-10 ESV and Audio
SERMON NOTES
Sunday, February 19, 2023
SERIES: IDENTITY TRAPS
MESSAGE: ESTHER’S TRAP – SECURITY THROUGH
PEOPLE
Scripture: Esther 1–10 ESV
Pastor Philip Miller
In this sermon, we go back 2,500 years to the Medo-Persian Empire to discover Esther’s identity trap—seeking security through people. Through the story, we’ll see how God loves her out of her orphan-hearted identity and into the true security of living as a child of God.
Esther’s Secret
1) Esther’s Secret: The story begins with King Xerxes casting his queen, Vashti, aside and seeking a new queen. In the process, Xerxes uses power to exploit and use women for his own purposes. And Esther is caught in the rounding up or young women into the king’s harem as he looks for a new queen. As she enters the palace and makes her way to the top of the system, Mordecai instructs her not to reveal her Jewish background. Mordecai is not trusting God, nor is he behaving life a faithful Israelite or protecting Esther. He’s using Esther to get ahead in Persian society. And Esther just wants to be safe, so she goes along with his plan. Esther’s identity is formed around finding security through people. She’ll be whomever she needs to be to make the king happy and know the security of his protection. Esther ultimately pleases the king and becomes the Queen of Persia. Now she’s under the protection of the most powerful man on the planet. But Esther’s problem is that whenever we try to be whomever we need to be to fit in, we’re looking for security in the wrong place, and we become orphaned from the true King of the universe.
Esther’s Peril
2) Esther’s Peril: As the story continues, Haman the Agagite enters the scene and demands that all under him pay homage. When Mordecai refuses, trouble starts. Haman notices that a Jew is refusing to bow to him, and so he schemes to make a decree that all the Jews are to be killed in a state-wide genocide in 11 months. So, Mordecai pleads with Esther to intervene on his—and the Jewish people’s—behalf. Esther realizes that if she reveals Jewish identity, her security may be shattered. Esther’s orphaned-hearted identity strategy leaves her insecure and vulnerable. Where can she turn?
Esther’s Courage
3) Esther’s Courage: Esther realizes she needs protection beyond what the king can offer, and so calls a fast, seeking the protection of her God. She schemes a way to gain the ear of the king and to put Haman’s genocidal edict on the line. She finally owns her Jewish heritage, and in so doing, steps into the crosshairs to be annihilated along with her own people. Esther’s courage reveals she’s found a greater security through a better Protector. Her willingness to put herself at risk before the king means she’s looking for her security elsewhere. She’s begun to take refuge in God, seeking His protection, and identifying herself as a child of the covenant-keeping God. And God ultimately comes through for Esther and for His people.
Takeaway:
The security our souls seek is found in the protection of our Father.
IMAGE: NINE BIBLE CHARACTERS
Benediction
Psalm 46 ESV and Audio
God Is Our Fortress
46 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
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Living The Message
Episode 52: The Security of Our Father
Sunday, February 19, 2023
Podcast: Living The Message
Pastor Philip and Pastor Eric
Podcast Updated Weekly
Do you struggle to be yourself around others? If so, you may have fallen into the identity of trap seeking security through people.
In this conversation, Pastor Philip and Pastor Eric discuss Esther’s identity trap. They address key questions from the sermon, including:
1. What is Esther’s identity trap?
2. Esther was looking to the king for security. Are there other common ways we look to people for security?
3. How do we know if we’ve fallen into this identity trap?
4. How do we get out of the trap?
5. What resources in the Gospel help us with our deep identity need for security?
Questions about this SERIES: ~ SERMON, ESTHER’S TRAP – SECURITY THROUGH PEOPLE ~ Scripture: Esther 1–10 ESV Submit them to 312-682-1888 or by email to livingthemessage@moodychurch.org. Your submissions will help us shape the conversation for our Live Weekly Podcast, Living the Message.
PASTOR TO PEOPLE
When I was a kid growing up in church and attending Sunday school, I learned a lot of Old Testament stories and met some of my favorite heroes. I wanted to be like them.
I wanted to have integrity like Joseph. I wanted to be a leader like Moses. I wanted to be brave like David. I assumed the aim of these stories was to give me a pattern to imitate. They were heroes to model my life after. So, I put them on a pedestal.
Then, as I grew up and started reading these stories as an adult, I discovered that my heroes had flaws. Joseph had delusions of grandeur. Moses had an anger problem. David was an adulterer. In fact, every one of my heroes turned out to have feet of clay. They were all dogged by their selfishness, sin, and brokenness. I became disillusioned. How could my heroes be so messed up?
But there was one Hero who didn’t fail me. In the Bible, Jesus stands alone as the perfect Hero. He alone is without sin. He alone is worthy.
You see, I had to relearn how to read my Bible. The Bible does have some heroic characters in it, but every one of them is sinfully flawed, except One. There’s actually only One true Hero in the Bible, and His name is Jesus! There is only One who is righteous. There is One who is Savior. There is One who will never let us down. All the other characters we meet are desperately in need of grace and redemption. And while the other characters do have heroic goodness that is worthy of imitation, they also have deep sinfulness and brokenness as well. The goodness in these characters is meant to point us to the greater righteousness of Jesus, and the badness in these characters is meant to point us to the great mercy and grace that is in Jesus.
And the good news is that God loves deeply conflicted people who are marbled with the bad alongside the good. This is good news because that’s exactly the kind of people we are. There is great beauty and brokenness in all of us. We have good intentions and we make bad choices. Like the characters in the Bible, we are desperately in need of grace and redemption. And Jesus has come for us: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
So don’t let the frailty of your Bible heroes throw you off. Let them point you to the real Hero whose grace is the only hope for sinners like us. And that is good news!
Even in our brokenness, we are loved, more than we know.
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