As we continue our journey through The Story, we see yet another illustration of God’s providential hand moving to save His people, using just the right person at the right time and place. Let’s discover the story of Esther and how it connects to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit reveal to each of us how we might see ourselves as God’s person sent today (the right time) and to the right place to carry out God’s good purposes, which are always right.

Esther 1:1-5

1 Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, 2 in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel, 3 in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, 4 while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days. 5 And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace.

Esther 4:11-17

11 “All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law - to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.” 12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” 15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” 17 Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

For Adult Homes and Groups

1. Share the “highs” and “lows” you experienced this week, and how you observed God at work. 

2. Ask someone in the group to retell the story of Esther in their own words. 

3. The villain in The Story this week was Haman. What drives a person like Haman and how have you had to negotiate a relationship with a person with similar motivations? What wisdom might you give a Christian who is forced to work, live, and exist around a Haman-like personality? 

4. Read Esther 4:12-17. When have you faced a situation that seemed hopeless, but God miraculously turned things around? What helped you see God’s presence and power at work as you walked through this situation? 

5. Read Acts 17:24-26. In the message, Pastor John spoke of being the right person at the right time and place to carry out the purposes of God. Can you describe a time in your life when Jesus, the Person of God the Son, broke into your life at the right time and carried out His loving purposes? 

6. Is there someone God might be calling you to share and be Christ to as the right person at the right place, for such a time as this? 

For Families with Kids

1. Read and memorize Jeremiah 29:11: I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 

2. God placed Esther in the right place at the right time to help. But it wasn’t easy. Esther was afraid. She knew she needed God’s help to give her courage. She drew courage not from herself but from God. Where does our courage come from? How does the Bible memory verse (Jeremiah 29:11) give us courage?

3. In what ways is God asking you to stand up for what is right and true? Pray and ask Jesus for the courage to stand up for others in His Name.