Give me one Moment in TIme

Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish. . (Es 4:16). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.Each day I live Give me one moment time.

I want to be A day to give The best of me I'm only one But not alone My finest day Is yet unknown

I broke my heart Fought every gain To taste the sweet I face the pain I rise and fall Yet through it all This much remains

I want one moment in time When I'm more than I thought I could be When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away And the answers are all up to me Give me one moment in time When I'm racing with destiny Then in that one moment of time I will feel I will feel eternity

God places an innate sense of what’s right inside every person. People often suppress this knowledge, opting for selfishness and laziness rather than acting on what they know to be right. Can you imagine doing something extraordinary that saves your entire race. Hopefully after today, all of us will be encouraged to do what’s right in every situation, going out of our way to honor Christ with all of our actions. Today we are faced with an opportunity ourselves that may turn out to be life changing. We are literally faced with 1000s of our people dying due to COVID-19. There are some who said we need to get back to normal open up the economy. Well they said that because someone has done the math. If we rush back it will be poor, elderly and people of color who will continue to die. Yet in this unjust world those lives don’t mean much!

Even the response we are seeing with our first responders. Doctors, Nurses, Hospital workers, Police Officers, Fire Fighters, Bus Drivers, Food Store Workers, Delivery workers. Those who came out of retirement. to care for the many who are suffering. To many of them this is there one moment in time. They feel like they are out here fighting a war.

Esther is the central figure in what is one of the most controversial books in the Old Testament because not once does the name of God appear in it. The book of Esther is also one of only two books in the Old Testament bearing the name of a woman around whom the narrative centers.

Some scholars call it a historical novel. The courage of Esther becomes the dominating factor in the salvation of her people. In this short book her name appears 55 times, the name of no other woman in the Bible is recorded so often. For my young people, what you need to know about Esther is she came to power by winning a reality show called, “Who Can Win the King’s Heart.” A year of preparation to be chosen Queen only to find herself faced with the most enormous decision of her excistance.

After winning and becoming Queen, the King set the royal crown on her head and changed her name from Hadassah, meaning “myrtle,” to Esther, meaning “star.” Now the second part of the reality show was once the woman was chosen as Queen, she also had to show that she could live by all the rules of the Kingdom. One main rule was no one could approach the King unless He asked for you, even his wife, the Queen. Yet with the news that an evil man named Haman had plotted and won the wishes of the King to destroy all the Jews in the 127 providences under the Kings control. All because one Jew by the Name of Mordecai would not bow down and honor him.

Ester teaches us a few things we will have to remember if we are to capture our Moment in time!

For tomorrow belongs to those that prepare today!

A. WE HAVE TO MAKE A DECISION TO ACT OR NOT ACT (ESTHER 4:8)

8 Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Es 4:8). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

1. WE HAVE TO KNOW THAT THE PROBLEM WON’T TAKE CARE OF ITSELF

2. WE HAVE TO IDENTIFY THAT THE NEED WON’T GO AWAY

3. WE HAVE TO ACCEPT THE FACT THAT NO DECISION IS A DECISION

TRANS: WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT ONCE WE ARE AWARE OF A KINGDOM ISSUE, GOD EXPECTS US TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT

B. WE HAVE TO ACT REGARDLESS OF OUR LIMITATIONS (ESTHER 4:11)

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.” (Es 4:11). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

1. WE HAVE TO REALIZE THAT GOD HAS NOT GIVEN US A SPIRIT OF FEAR

2. WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT IN OUR WEAKNESS, GOD MAKES US STRONG

3. WE HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THAT GOD WON’T TAKE US WHERE HE HASN’T PREPARED US

TRANS: LUKE 12:48 SAYS, FROM EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN GIVEN MUCH, MUCH WILL BE DEMANDED; AND FROM THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH MUCH, MUCH MORE WILL BE ASKED.

C. WE HAVE TO ACT REGARDLESS OF THE RISK (ESTHER 4:13-16)

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. . (Es 4:13–16). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

1. WE MUST BELIEVE GOD’S FAVOR IS OBTAINED BY PRAYER

2. WE MUST KNOW THAT GOD’S PEOPLE PRACTICE FASTING WITH PRAYER

3. WE MUST REMEMBER THAT GOD’S LAW, OVER RIDES MAN’S LAW

I've lived to be The very best I want it all No time for less I've laid the plans Now lay the chance Here in my hands

Give me one moment in time When I'm more than I thought I could be When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away And the answers are all up to me Give me one moment in time When I'm racing with destiny Then in that one moment of time I will feel I will feel eternity