An Introduction to Esther


Download (right click and choose save as)

In this message we launch into our new study through the Old Testament book of Esther.

In Acts 20:27 Paul told the Elders of the Ephesian church, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”

God’s people need the whole counsel of God, and this is one of the biggest reasons why we believe it is important to study our way through entire books of the Bible. We want to receive the whole counsel of God, not just snatch little snippets here and there. When Bible teachers only talk about topics or passages that interest them personally you are getting their take on things, but when we set out to unpack an entire book of the Bible verse by verse then we are going to find that God is allowed to speak.

I have known some preachers—I think of them as tour bus preachers—who love to just hit the highlights. There are certain verses and stories in the Bible that are more heavily trafficked than others. A tour bus in Paris will take you to the palace in Versailles, the Eiffel tower, and the Louvre. But At the end of the day did you really see Paris? No, not really. Tour bus preachers do something similar with God’s Word.

I have known other preachers—I call them city slicker preachers—because they never go “mudding” off road.

They avoid the difficult passages, the hard to understand, the controversial, messy, muddy, portions of scripture. The Bible has many difficult and confusing passages. When we work our way verse by verse through an entire book of the Bible there will be plenty of times where we’ll find ourselves stretched, challenged and struggling to understand what God is saying as we work our way verse by verse through that book.

When 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that all scripture is God-breathed that means that is all worthy of our consideration, and when we set out to study an entire book of the Bible that means that we won’t just be visiting those portions of the book that are well-known or easy or non-controversial, we are saying that we want to hear all that God wants to say to us.

Come join us as we begin unpacking Esther together.