Bridge Church Virginia Beach

0.000000 6.000000 Good morning everybody doing well what a powerful time of worship I want you to
6.000000 10.560000 take out your Bibles and turn to Esther chapter 4 it's in the Old Testament if
10.560000 16.600000 you don't know where that's at go to the book of Psalm go left couple books you
16.600000 21.800000 know in life we are called to make a difference and that's one of our core
21.800000 28.400000 values here is to make a difference many of you guys make a difference in many
28.400000 33.080000 different ways and you work different places some of your teachers some of
33.080000 39.560000 you are nurses some of your business owners some of you work in the media
39.560000 45.860000 realm some of you work in the political realm we're praying for you amen some
45.860000 49.600000 of you do a lot of things you make a difference a young man on the front row
49.600000 53.440000 that really makes a difference that David Cochran makes a difference by
53.440000 58.840000 coaching and he took his team yesterday to the championship game and that's
58.840000 65.160000 not that's not hard that's not easy to do and they didn't win the championship
65.160000 72.840000 almost man just a layup short of doing that but guess what they lost those
72.840000 76.680000 guys are winners because you're a winner David you're a winner man and you're
76.680000 82.920000 influencing people man all around this this region and he also runs David
82.920000 88.120000 Cochran basketball academy so if you've got a a young Michael Jordan and you want
88.120000 93.920000 them to get better amen sign them up for David Cochran basketball academy but I
93.920000 100.520000 said this to say I said that to say this that making a difference is possible for
100.520000 105.840000 all of us if we keep God at the center of death we make Jesus the Lord of our
105.840000 111.840000 lives because it's not just about winning awards here on earth it's about
111.840000 121.960000 hearing Jesus say one day well done like good and faithful servant and we make a
121.960000 126.200000 difference not for the audience of many but for the audience of one who is
126.200000 132.960000 Jesus our Lord amen and as we look at our text today in Esther we're going to
132.960000 138.720000 realize that Esther was put in a position for a unique outcome so we're
138.720000 143.920000 going to read Esther chapter 4 we're going to look at verses 12 through 14 and it
143.920000 150.000000 says this when Esther's words were reported to Mordekah which is her cousin he
150.000000 155.580000 sent back this answer do not think that because you are in the King's house you
155.580000 161.400000 alone of all the Jews will escape for if you remain silent at this time you need
161.400000 165.920000 to underline that if you remain silent at this time relief and deliverance for
165.920000 171.880000 the Jews will arise from another place but you and your father's family will
171.880000 180.200000 perish and who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a
180.200000 192.480000 time as this for such a time as this when Esther's words were ringing across the
192.480000 198.360000 empire of the Persian empire during her day she did not know that she had been
198.360000 205.400000 positioned for courageous acts see Esther's courage to act on her dream of
205.400000 211.880000 saving her people illustrates that God places us in strategic positions for his
211.880000 218.480000 purposes there was a book that came out in 2002 it was a book that really intrigued
218.480000 223.920000 people I think it captivated the hearts and minds of people because it dealt
223.920000 229.720000 with purpose because I believe in the heart of every person they want to
229.720000 235.040000 experience purpose and they want to live on purpose they want their lives to
235.040000 241.900000 make a difference in this world that book was called the purpose driven life it
241.900000 247.760000 was written by Rick Warren Rick Warren by writing that book scratched a niche for
247.760000 254.840000 many people so much so that that book sold 50 million copies worldwide I think I
254.840000 262.300000 need to write a book but that book dealt with purpose and in that book Rick Warren
262.300000 268.600000 says nobody's here by accident you're here by divine appointment by divine
268.600000 277.000000 purpose we are here on purpose for God's purpose God's purpose is real God's
277.000000 284.380000 purpose is unique we are here on purpose for God's purpose Rick Warren in that
284.380000 290.720000 book says this is not about you the purpose of your life is far greater than your
290.720000 300.040000 own personal fulfillment wow your peace of mind or even your happiness we live in
300.040000 304.960000 a world that has become self-absorbed and we think it's all about us and we
304.960000 311.760000 think God's purpose is about us no God's purpose is about him he is the author in
311.760000 319.420000 the finisher the perfector of our faith everything begins and ends with God now
319.420000 325.540000 when we begin to think about this story in the book of Esther I've come to
325.540000 334.360000 realize this God uses anyone he wants to use there's a generation coming up
334.360000 341.840000 called Gen Z Gen Z were they were born between the mid-1990s and 2010 they
341.840000 346.840000 represent 68 million people in the U.S. alone it's one of the largest
346.840000 352.720000 generations to live in the U.S. it's a generation that is young it's a
352.720000 357.240000 generation that is looking for authenticity it's a generation that's looking for
357.240000 363.920000 truth they are looking for meaning in life they're looking for the purpose of
363.920000 367.200000 God in their lives they're not looking for phony they're not looking for
367.200000 371.520000 shiny they're looking for real there's ever been a day for the church to be
371.520000 376.840000 real it's in this generation I never trust anybody if I can't see their
376.840000 384.040000 scars Jesus was willing to show his scars to doubting Thomas so the more
384.040000 388.560000 transparent you become with this generation and teach them and disciple them
388.560000 392.720000 they're not looking just for a decision they're looking for fathers they're
392.720000 398.380000 looking for people that are willing to disciple them into the image of Christ
398.380000 404.720000 and when I think about this story of Esther Esther in her day she was the
404.720000 411.240000 cousin of Mordeca she was an orphan her parents had died Mordeca took her in
411.240000 420.720000 and raised her as his own she comes to a moment in life where she is
420.720000 425.980000 entered into a beauty pageant now let me tell you something about the Bible the
425.980000 436.400000 Bible is a great read the Bible says she was beautiful and had a great figure God's
436.400000 443.700000 very descriptive amen sometimes you've got to use what you got she entered a
443.700000 450.740000 beauty pageant and God positioned her now you got to understand how old Esther was
450.740000 457.780000 if you go back and study the historical understanding of Persia most queens
457.780000 464.260000 entered into their positions between the ages of 14 and 16 so most commentators
464.260000 469.660000 believe that she was a young girl of of age she was probably between 14 and 16
469.660000 476.980000 years old that would put her in the age of a Jen Zier today Paul said in 1st
476.980000 485.140000 Timothy 412 don't let anyone look down on you because you are young but he
485.140000 492.620000 admonishes the younger generation to be an example of love of purity and
492.620000 503.180000 character and so God can use young people and God can use older people and so
503.180000 509.660000 history tells us at this moment in the Persian Empire that had 127 provinces
509.660000 518.100000 it actually in those days had about 15 million Jews scattered across 127
518.100000 530.980000 provinces of Persia the year was probably 486 BC to 465 BC king Zerksees was the
530.980000 537.980000 king of that day he ruled for 21 years in Persia the land of the Persian
537.980000 545.500000 empire covered all the way from the time of India the India that we know today
545.500000 551.380000 all the way to Kush which is Ethiopia so this was a big landmass this was a huge
551.380000 558.860000 place 15 million Jews are scattered and this girl called S Esther her name means
558.860000 568.500000 star her Hebrew name was Hadasa which meant murder which we understand is peace
568.500000 578.220000 and prosperity she finds herself in a position a position that was given to her
578.220000 585.020000 by divine province and and she comes into a position and she is coached by her
585.020000 594.540000 cousin Mordekai Mordekai was a Jew and he told her not to tell anybody that she
594.540000 604.600000 was a Jew he wanted her to hide her ancestry for fear of her life being taken
604.600000 611.580000 see anti-Semitism has been throughout history and over the last couple years or
611.580000 618.500000 so there has been a rise in anti-Semitism a hatred of the Jews because they
618.500000 627.140000 are Jews see what we call racism God calls hate to hate somebody based on their
627.140000 635.540000 ethnicity or their skin color is wicked I'm gonna call it out amen it's very
635.540000 646.260000 wicked because we are one human race with multiple ethnicities why did God
646.260000 653.820000 create multiple ethnicities because God is a God that loves variety he loves
653.820000 657.060000 things that look different just go outside there are different kind of trees
657.060000 661.260000 or different types of grasses different types of animals no one tree looks
661.260000 667.900000 exactly alike there is nobody just like you when God created you in your mother's
667.900000 676.900000 womb he said this I'll never do that again I'll never do that again I'm telling you
676.900000 683.940000 nobody has your fingerprint nobody has your iris scan nobody has your unique
683.940000 694.240000 detailed DNA it is it is uniquely you you have been designed by God and
694.240000 707.780000 Esther who is a rising star finds herself there in Persia she finds herself in a
707.780000 712.840000 place that God designed for her and there are three things we can learn from
712.840000 718.560000 Esther's life I want you to hang on we're gonna go a little fast number one the
718.560000 726.000000 comfort zone is the dead zone now I want you to understand what happened to
726.000000 734.160000 Esther Esther is put into a beauty page because Queen Vasty really made her
734.160000 739.600000 husband King Xerxes look bad when she would not come to the palace because he
739.600000 746.240000 wanted to show her off because he was giving a big party a hundred and eighty
746.240000 754.560000 day party to celebrate the Persian Empire Vasty said I'm not going he becomes
754.560000 763.720000 frustrated and he deposes of her as Queen he he brings her down so he's going to
763.720000 769.160000 pick another Queen and so Esther is in the running in the beauty page and for
769.160000 775.960000 one a year they went through the process of beautification all the ladies that
775.960000 785.240000 were in the page and I don't know if all of them need it one year when I first got
785.240000 789.640000 married I thought it took my wife a year to get ready I'm like why don't where are we
789.640000 794.720000 going I'm like what's happening anybody I don't raise your hand don't do that
794.720000 799.800000 that's that's terrible you wait on that woman man she's she's getting prepped up
799.800000 806.920000 and beautified and you know come on somebody so for one year she goes through this
806.920000 815.520000 beautification and she is selected by King Xerxes to be the next Queen she's put
815.520000 824.200000 in a position Mordekyte who's sitting outside of the gates of the courts of the
824.200000 832.200000 palace knows Heyman Heyman is a enemy of God he's an enemy of the Jews he is
832.200000 840.320000 promoted from being the King's advisor to being Prime Minister of all Persia
840.320000 849.840000 Mordekyte discovers that Heyman is concocting a plan to exterminate all the Jews
849.840000 861.960000 in Persia 15 million he gets word back to Esther of this plan and look what he says
861.960000 867.520000 when Esther's words were open reported to Mordekyte he sent back this answer do not
867.520000 873.120000 think that because you are in the King's house you alone of all the Jews will
873.120000 882.680000 escape Heyman is going to wipe out the Jews he comes to the King and hatches this
882.680000 887.480000 idea to the King and he tells the King hey if if there's some people that are
887.480000 891.160000 rising up they don't act like us are different than us they have separated
891.160000 896.400000 themselves from us I think we need to get rid of those people the King agrees
896.400000 903.200000 and Heyman says I'll give you this I'll give you 10,000 talents of silver that
903.200000 914.880000 doesn't sound much to you in that form but a talent was 75 pounds of silver he was
914.880000 921.160000 saying King if you let me do this I'm going to collect 10,000 talents of silver
921.160000 926.680000 I'm going to put it in the King's treasury that's 9 million ounces of silver in
926.680000 936.360000 today's money it would be around 700 million dollars some commentators believe
936.360000 941.840000 it was in the billions of dollars the King says go do what you want take those
941.840000 948.360000 people out but you keep the money Heyman knew he was in it for the money he
948.360000 956.640000 wanted to rob God's people of their possessions and take their lives but we see
956.640000 963.720000 this story that the comfort zone becomes the dead zone meaning this that the
963.720000 971.560000 Esther was living in the lap of comfort she had money she had food she had
971.560000 978.520000 servants she was elegant the Bible says she had a beautiful figure she had it
978.520000 986.800000 all working for her but Morcha challenges her to get out of her comfort zone
986.800000 992.760000 how many you know your comfort zone becomes a rut and a rut is a casket with no
992.760000 998.560000 ends in it meaning you live your life in a rut you live your life in a comfort
998.560000 1004.080000 zone and oftentimes we as believers we get comfortable in just doing church
1004.080000 1010.280000 and not being the church but when you start just doing church and not being the
1010.280000 1016.320000 church you lose your ability to make a difference in the world and so he's
1016.320000 1022.400000 challenging her get out of your comfort zone Esther go beyond where you're at
1022.400000 1030.080000 do something that will actually make a difference in your world your comfort zone
1030.080000 1035.080000 becomes your dead zone it's like the cowboys they've been in a comfort zone for
1035.080000 1040.240000 30 years they can't get to the Super Bowl are the in zone in the Super Bowl why
1040.240000 1046.560000 because they are comfortable with average you know what 8 and 8 is or 9 and 9 is
1046.560000 1056.080000 that's average nobody desires to be average don't be average make a difference
1056.080000 1062.280000 wherever you are at get out of your comfort zone some of you would do good if
1062.280000 1066.320000 you would just take a different ethnicity out to eat that would get you out of
1066.320000 1074.320000 your comfort zone some of you just need to ride into a different neighborhood
1074.320000 1078.120000 and see how other people live that would get you out of your comfort zone
1078.120000 1083.200000 sometimes we shield ourselves in our houses in our neighborhoods and we think
1083.200000 1090.440000 everybody lives like we live some of you need to get out of your comfort zone
1090.440000 1097.160000 today and stop giving 15% tips and give that waitress a 20% tip today
1097.160000 1103.320000 some preach and when you do go a little further give them 25% and say I got a
1103.320000 1109.260000 bridge church if you don't give a tip don't tell them you go to bridge church
1109.260000 1120.000000 repent change your mind and become generous amen so your comfort zone becomes
1120.000000 1130.560000 your dead zone number two in action in this story is action with a high cost see
1130.560000 1137.260000 action is the foundational key to all successes I'm gonna say that one more
1137.260000 1144.560000 time action is the foundational key to all successes if I'm going to excel if I'm
1144.560000 1150.640000 going to make a difference I've got to act Edmund Burke once said the only thing
1150.640000 1156.880000 necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
1156.880000 1163.700000 Esther is in a position where she can make a difference Mordeky is pushing her
1163.700000 1168.940000 her cousin is pushing her he is feeling the weight of the destruction of the Jews
1168.940000 1174.340000 he's pushing her in verse 14 he says for if you remain silent at this time
1174.340000 1179.740000 Esther relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place but you
1179.740000 1187.060000 and your father's family will perish he was saying Esther your inaction is
1187.060000 1193.700000 action now you got to understand what Esther was facing if she approached the
1193.700000 1203.340000 king without being invited by the king she would suffer death that was a
1203.340000 1213.580000 possible outcome so Mordeky was saying hey if you go before the king you might die
1213.580000 1220.080000 you might not die but if you don't do anything you will die your family will die
1220.080000 1225.980000 and you will die and many Jews will die but I'm not putting my trust in you
1225.980000 1231.860000 Esther I'm putting my trust in God if you don't do it help and deliverance God will
1231.860000 1236.000000 allow to rise from somewhere else meaning this church if we don't make a
1236.000000 1239.980000 difference God will use somebody else come on if you don't make a difference
1239.980000 1243.080000 coaching if you don't make a difference teaching if you don't make a difference
1243.080000 1246.180000 being a nurse if you don't make a difference being a businessman if you don't
1246.180000 1250.540000 make a difference as being retired come on retirement is not where you stop
1250.540000 1256.340000 retirement is refirement you get back up and you keep doing something for Jesus
1256.340000 1266.900000 saying man he's saying if you don't do it God will use somebody else next God
1266.900000 1274.320000 positions us for his purpose wherever you're at today God's position you they
1274.320000 1282.340000 say I thought I did the interview you did but he gave you the ability that's what
1282.340000 1289.060000 Providence is it's God ordering the natural affairs of your life to bring you
1289.060000 1298.100000 to a strategic point God ordered the natural affairs of Esther for a strategic
1298.100000 1307.340000 position to carry out his will he gave her the beautiful looks he gave her the
1307.340000 1320.860000 great figure amen he said I'm going to position you for purpose I'm going to
1320.860000 1327.460000 place you there for purpose Mordekot understood this well he understood that
1327.460000 1332.640000 that Esther was not just put there by chance she was put there by purpose it wasn't
1332.640000 1337.920000 an accident that she was there Mordekot believed that she was there by divine
1337.920000 1343.600000 appointment he believed that she was there by divine purpose he believed that she
1343.600000 1352.000000 was there by divine call to make a difference her name is some synonymous with
1352.000000 1359.320000 bravery encourage somebody who is willing to stand up her very name means star
1359.320000 1369.640000 that God was going to use her as a bright star in a dark time and Heyman hatched
1369.640000 1379.160000 this diabolical devilish scheme to destroy 15 million Jews and to scavenge
1379.160000 1385.400000 scavenge or collect their wealth and give it into the coffers of king the king
1385.400000 1392.880000 but the king said hey you can have it that gave him motivation but Heyman
1392.880000 1404.760000 overstepped and made a miscalculation he forgot about the plan I got he built this
1404.760000 1410.440000 pole on his property because he despised Mordekot he was going to impale
1410.440000 1418.680000 Mordekot on that pole but Esther who was positioned for purpose comes to the
1418.680000 1430.400000 king she holds a banquet and and Heyman is there and she begins to reveal what was
1430.400000 1438.000000 concealed and the same pole that Mordekot was going to be impaled on became the
1438.000000 1447.880000 pole that Heyman was impaled on and Heyman lost his life
1447.880000 1456.000000 a cure and who knows but you have come to your royal position for such a time as
1456.000000 1465.000000 this Esther was willing to take the chance she was willing to go in before the
1465.000000 1469.720000 king even though it would cost her her life she was willing to say hey I'm going
1469.720000 1474.600000 to take this chance I'm going to take this opportunity if I live I live if I
1474.600000 1479.600000 don't I don't but even if I live and Heyman's plan is carried out I'm probably
1479.600000 1484.480000 going to die so I'm just going to throw it all in I'm going to sacrifice my life
1484.480000 1490.920000 for the Jews I am going to get in the middle and become a person of destiny
1490.920000 1495.640000 become a person that makes a difference I am going to use what God has given me
1495.640000 1503.120000 he's given me position so I'm going to leverage that for the greater good and we
1503.120000 1509.520000 all have to do that we all leverage what God has given us for the kingdom of
1509.520000 1517.520000 God there comes a moment in your life where you stop having to make excuses
1517.520000 1523.340000 for not making a difference there comes a moment in your life where you have
1523.340000 1528.320000 this I hate man I'm just not here for myself I'm here to do the will of God in my
1528.320000 1533.680000 generation and like David over in Acts chapter 13 the Bible says David fulfilled
1533.680000 1538.720000 the purpose of God in his generation then he died don't die before you fulfill
1538.720000 1544.720000 the purpose of God in your generation do something with your life make a
1544.720000 1552.160000 difference help a single parent mom help somebody in need lead a small group you
1552.160000 1555.440000 don't have to be a philogen that knows all the eschatology and the right things
1555.440000 1562.880000 lead a group my God do something that will make eternal difference you're not
1562.880000 1568.360000 taking your home with you you're not taking your Tesla with you you're not taking
1568.360000 1573.200000 your air Jordan's with you you're not taking your new diamond ring with you the
1573.200000 1578.480000 only thing you're gonna take with you are the souls that you have won to Jesus over
1578.480000 1585.000000 the course of your life why do we live so self-absorbed we wake up thinking about
1585.000000 1589.720000 how we can gratify ourselves every day oh how can I get this new car how can I
1589.720000 1594.160000 get this new this new chair how can I get this new dining room set how can I get
1594.160000 1598.240000 this new carpet you know how can I get new tires from a car how can I get these
1598.240000 1603.800000 these new air Jordan's at $300 I want them so bad I've already got 50,000 pairs
1603.800000 1611.560000 but I just need one more pair I just need one more pair
1611.560000 1623.600000 Esther was willing to put her neck on the line to make a difference like
1623.600000 1635.520000 Esther and Jesus came to save his people Esther had an opportunity to save her
1635.520000 1641.820000 people the Jews Matthew 121 says that Jesus will save his people from their
1641.820000 1653.480000 sins Esther was willing to die for her people Jesus died for his people
1653.480000 1666.080000 Esther was willing to go before the King Jesus is at the right hand of the Father
1666.080000 1675.200000 right now interceding for you and me he's crying out our names before the Father
1675.200000 1680.960000 Jesus' main ministry today while he's at the right hand of the Father is one of
1680.960000 1687.080000 intercession one of prayer interceding Esther was an intercessor she stood in the
1687.080000 1694.400000 gap for her people and Jesus stands in the gap for his people Esther has become a
1694.400000 1700.600000 type of Christ in that way let me ask you this or you willing to make a difference
1700.600000 1708.360000 say we exist for such a time is this I believe bridge church has come into the
1708.360000 1713.160000 kingdom for such a time as this I know we've been going 28 29 years but I believe
1713.160000 1718.120000 more strategically than ever before God has raised his church up for such a
1718.120000 1727.760000 time as this people need to hear the gospel that Jesus Christ literally came to
1727.760000 1735.320000 earth born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem lived 33 and a half years died a
1735.320000 1741.440000 brutal death on a cross was buried in a borrowed tomb you know the reason it
1741.440000 1746.400000 was borrowed because he wasn't gonna stay there long he would he was in a borrowed
1746.400000 1752.320000 tomb and on the third day he was resurrected and ascended to the Father 50 days
1752.320000 1760.600000 later and he sits at the right hand of the Father the gospel is unique and it's
1760.600000 1767.480000 only the gospel that can change the heart I want you to stand
1767.480000 1778.440000 this power hits will I just thank you God you brought us to the kingdom for such a
1778.440000 1788.160000 time as this God it's not about us it's not about so much our ability it's about our
1788.160000 1800.080000 availability are we available like Esther hard you positioned each one of us in
1800.080000 1810.080000 action is action being silent is not an option God help us to maximize the
1810.080000 1819.280000 moment help us to maximize every moment in our lives with people God whether
1819.280000 1825.400000 we're nursing people in hospitals whether we're teaching kids in schools whether
1825.400000 1833.120000 we're working in the business world maybe we're lawyers doctors coaches teachers
1833.120000 1840.440000 small group leaders wherever we're at help us to leverage the position you put us
1840.440000 1846.720000 in for the sake of the gospel I pray over every person in here today that your
1846.720000 1854.280000 kingdom come you will be done in their lives God that our comfort zone will not be
1854.280000 1862.920000 our dead zone but we will arise out of the comfort and the complacency that we've
1862.920000 1868.364500 allowed ourselves to get into become all that you've called us to be