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Blessed Hope Baptist Church

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Blessed Hope Baptist Church

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A small Baptist Church with a big heart where the full counsel of God's Word is preached and traditional Baptist Hymns are sung. G.A.R.B.C

10/27/2026

Oct 25, 2026
Telos: The Lord is sovereign
Scrip: Isaiah 6:1
Introd:
Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.
In order to understand Isaiah 6, we must know something of King Uzziah and when he died.
2 Chronicles 26:1-5 Uzziah was 16 when he became King.
He had a long reign - 52 years
He walked with the Lord
The Lord blessed his reign and kingdom
v6-11 The Lord gave him victory over numerous enemies, Philistines, Arabians, Ammonites etc.
v15 He had technology to protect his kingdom
v16-22 He went to burn incense on the altar which was the priest's responsibility. When reminded of this, he refused to back down. The Lord struck him with leprosy.
He ended his life with leprosy, in quarantine. Isolated.
His son became co-regent or king with him.
He could never go to the temple again. He was king in name, but not really in practice.
We don't know his age when this event occured.
King Uzziah had a great start, but ended badly. We want to finish well. To that end, we need to beware spiritual pride. This is what caused Uzziah's downfall. It is so very easy to become proud. We need to stay on guard against it.

My personal opinion is that he repented before his death. I know he walked with the Lord for a long time. I believe the Lord forgave him. The Lord doesn't always remove the consequences of our actions.
Isaiah 6:1 I think Isaiah would have been at least a bit apprehensive when King Uzziah died. He had been a good king. He walked with the Lord. The Lord had blessed Judah through his reign. He had reigned a very long time. The nation had been blessed because of King Uzziah, what happens now that he is dead?

Isaiah 6:1 Isaiah saw something that many people who were given glimpses in heaven saw. He saw the Lord sitting on His throne.
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Apostle John, David, Isaiah and others all record seeing the Lord sitting on His throne.
His train filled the temple - Train of His robe. A long train means a person is not prepared for action. The Lord sitting on His throne is a picture of His sovereignty. The Lord wasn't perched on the edge of heaven, anxiously looking at earth, wondering what to do. He is fully seated, relaxed because He is in complete control.
Which begs a question from us, Do we truly believe the Lord is in charge or not?
Do we act like He is on His throne or do we act like He is anxious and worried?
The reformer Martin Luther was greeted one morning at breakfast by his wife, Katie. She was dressed all in black. He asked her who had died. She said, God did. He asked what she meant. She replied, the way you have been acting, I assumed the Lord had died.
The Lord isn't perched on the edge of heaven, wringing his hands anxiously. He is seated on His throne, relaxed and in sovereign control over the universe.
When we are troubled - Worrying is rehearsing a future where God doesn't come through. But what if, instead of rehearsing every possible way things could go wrong, we started reminding ourselves of every way God has alreadly been faithful.

my personal notes - the Lord loves me
the Lord hears my prayers
I want what the Lord wants
The Lord already knows what will occur and will bring good out of it.

10/27/2026

Oct 17, 2026
Telos: Your King is coming
Scrip: Zech 9:9-17
Introd: A great leader is a blessing to a country.
George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill
Great leaders - know what to do
Strength to do what is necessary
Inspires hope to a nation
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice - your King comes to you
It has been approximately 86 years or so since Judah had a King.
Rejoice your King comes unto you
He is just - righteous, holy - no leader has been truly holy
He brings salvation - we usually associate this with spiritual salvation, but it also includes any kind of help that is needed.
He is lowly - humble, not brash, arrogant, proud
He is riding on a donkey
Matt 21:1-5 Jesus fulfilled Zechariah's prophecy during His first coming.
v6-9
Luke 19:37-40 The Pharisees recognized this event was the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. They and others should have recognized Jesus as Messiah.
Messiah would be from the tribe of Judah.
Messiah would be from the house of David
Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
Messiah would be born of a virgin - Isaiah 7:14 - Pharisees John 8:41 we be not born of fornication.
Messiah would have a healing ministry.
Messiah would have an individual heralding His coming - John the Baptist fulfilled that role from Malachi and Isaiah
Finally, Zechariah prophesied Messiah would enter Jerusalem riding a young donkey, to the shouts and rejoicing of the people of Jerusalem. Only Jesus fulfills all these prophecies.
Now Zech 9:9 Takes place at the time of Jesus first coming.
v10 - Messiah will get rid of Judah's army and rule the entire world in peace. This takes place during the Millennial Kingdom.
v11-12 This is a third time jump. These verses take place with the people of Zechariah's day. The Jewish people in Judah are pictured as Prisoners taken out of a dry cistern or well. Babylon was their cistern, God has brought them back to Jerusalem. He would reward them with the first born's inheritance - render double unto thee
v13 - Messiah would use Judah and Israel to defeat Greece. There is only one time in history we can find that this occured. After Alexander the great died, his kingdom was divided by his 4 generals. These men were Greek. One of them had a kingdom that included Syria and areas north of Israel. One of his descendants would invade Judah. He had a pig sacrificed on God's altar to the Greek god Zeus. He sent troops throughout Judah to each town and village. They forced priests to offer pigs in each town. One priest had 5 sons who killed the soldiers and started the Maccabeen Rebellion. They defeated the enemy and recaptured Jerusalem and cleansed the temple. From this victory comes the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah.
v14-17 The victory and celebration afterwards
practical considerations for us
1. Rejoice, Your King is coming
2. Messiah the King has accomplished the means to completely redeem the world and everything in it.
3. Messiah the King can redeem anything in our lives. If Messiah could fix the world, can't He fix our problems?

10/19/2026

Oct 18, 2026
Telos: Part 4 - Evil and Suffering
Introd: We are going to conclude our series on Evil and suffering this morning. I want to remind you of what we have addressed so far.
The original cause of evil and suffering in the world by the devil and Adam and Eve. We looked at the causes of evil and suffering in our world today, devil,demons, mankind, curse upon the earth because of sin.
The second week we saw that God is actively today restraining evil in this world. He is actively comforting those who are suffering. The Lord is also actively bringing good out of evil today.
Last week we answered the question, why does the Lord delay justice? We looked at 4-5 reasons God delays justice.
This morning I want us to answer critics Who believe that the Lord is untouched by evil or is detached from it. The critics believe the Lord is not impacted by evil and suffering directly, so He doesn't care enough.
Let's begin with the truth that the Lord knew what would occur. He knew that the devil would rebel. He knew Adam and Eve would sin. He knew every sin that would ever be perpetrated.
Rev 13:8 2 Tim 1:9 The Lord formed the plan of redemption before He ever created the world. In order to come up with a perfect plan, He had to know the details.
1. Jesus suffered for sin. 1 Peter 2:24 1 John 2:2
Jesus directly suffered for sin when He atoned for our sin.
2. Jesus suffered for much sin.
We often say, Jesus died for our sins. Yet we don't often really consider the enormity of sin. Jesus died for the sins of the whole world - 1 John 2:2
Gen 6:5 world before the Flood - wickedness of man was great
Jesus taught us that sin is not simply what we actually do, but sin is also what we think. Matt 5:27-28 commit adultery or look at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Connect Matt 5:27-28 with Gen 6:5 every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continuously. How many sins before the Flood??
Gen 13:13 Gen 18:20 this is just one city in a moment of time. Imagine every place on earth for all of earth's history.
We don't know how many sins have been committed, but it is too high to count. Jesus paid the price for all of them.
There are 73 million abortions every year worldwide. This is just one statistic. Start adding robbery, r**e, child abuse, domestic abuse, etc. How many sins are committed every year by the human race?
3. Jesus suffered common experiences in the incarnation.
When Jesus came to earth and lived among us, He experienced what we experience.
His neighbors didn't like Him. - Luke 4 - Jesus returns home, reads scriptures and proclaims He is the Messiah. The people Jesus grew up with and had seen Him the most closely, rejected Him as Messiah and wanted to throw Him off a cliff.
Joseph died during Jesus life. Jesus would have mourned for Joseph. Jesus would have seen the grief that Mary and his half siblings were experiencing.
Peter denied knowing Jesus 3 times.
Jesus was hated by the religious leaders.
Judas betrayed Him.
4. Jesus suffered knowing He would die for sin.
Since God knew mankind would sin and need to be saved, He came up with the plan of Salvation.
Jesus has known since before creation, that He would go to the cross and die for sin. Anticipatory suffering.
Not only did Jesus know that he would go to the cross, He knew the extent to which He would suffer.
physical pain - crown of thorns, whipping, nails, ex*****on
the pain of bearing our sin - He became sin for us
Abandonment - Matt 27:46 Eli, Eli lama sabachthani
Wrath of God poured out for sin on Him.

Heb 12:2 Jesus overcame suffering, by anticipating the joy when all would be made right.

Romans 12:21 don't be overcome by evil, overcome evil by doing good.

10/19/2026

Oct 17, 2026
Telos: Spiritual reality is taking place before us
Scrip: Luke 4:14-30
Introd: Some biblical events, we wonder how did people of that day miss them?
i.e. Jesus birth - angels announced His birth to the shepherds. Shepherds went to see Him. Then told others about Him. Wisemen told the people of Jerusalem that they saw His star.
Israel - saw 10 plagues in Egypt. Witnessed the Red Sea parting, manna, God descend on Mt Sinai, water coming from a rock in the desert. Yet refused to enter the Promised land.
Triumphal Entry - Zechariah 9:9 was literally fulfilled in their eyes on Palm Sunday. The Pharisees understood what was going on and denied that Jesus was Messiah.
Luke 4:14-17 Jesus returns to Nazareth on the Sabbath. He is given the honor of reading the appointed Scriptures that day.
v18-21 Jesus reads the Scriptures and then tells them that this passage was fulfilled that day. This is a Messianic prophecy. The religious leaders, the Pharisees, the people all acknowledge this passage is speaking of the Messiah of Israel. Jesus is claiming to be the Messiah.
He actually fulfilled it literally - Luke 4:14 He returns in the power of the Spirit. v18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me
Spirit has anointed Me - v22
Preach the gospel to the poor
heal the broken hearted
preach deliverance to the captives
give sight to the blind
liberty to them that are bruised
to preach acceptable year of the Lord - now
Jesus claims to be Messiah and the people understand this - v22 Is not this Joseph's son - how could he be the Messiah?
Jesus had credentials of Messiah
He had followers
performed miracles - water to w**e, healed many people
cast out demons
preached - people amazed by his teaching and wisdom
Jesus had lived a perfect life among these people up until He began His public ministry.
v23-27 Jesus understands that they have rejected Him.
v28-30 They attempt to kill Jesus. He walks away.
I. THESE FOLKS WEREN'T EXPECTING SPIRITUAL REALITY.
This day is this Scriptures fulfilled in your ears v21
They did not go to synogogue expecting to hear from God. They weren't in the right frame of mind.
We need to expect God to be at work in our lives everyday.
Phil 1:6 He Who began a good work in you, will perform it
Phil 2:13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure
Everyday the Lord is at work. We should be looking for His hand in our lives.
2. Believing or trusting Jesus has everything to do with our attitude, not evidence.
We tend to think that proof enables our faith. Rather choice enables our faith.
The people of Nazareth didn't want to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. They had some proof that He was.
Jesus teaching showed that it came from God.
Jesus had performed miracles - water to w**e at wedding at Cana. This was about 4-9 miles from Nazareth. Most likely people from Nazareth had been invited and witnessed this miracle.
Notice the attitude of the people - v23 Do here what you did at Capernaum.
When we don't want to believe, no amount of evidence will convince us. Think of Gideon and the fleece.
Let's contrast this with a Roman Centurion. The gospels record an incident. A Roman Centurion had a sick servant. He sent someone to ask if Jesus would heal his servant. When he found out Jesus was coming to his home, he sent a servant to tell Jesus that Jesus didn't need to come. Simply say the word and my servant will get well. Most people would have wanted to have Jesus come and pray or lay hands on the sick person. This man didn't need proof. He believed what Jesus could do.
The Lord gives us some evidence to trust Him. The Scriptures reveal what He is capable of, gives us promises to claim. Ultimately, faith is a choice we make. We choose to believe or we choose not to believe.
3. When the Lord speaks truth to us, we need to heed it.
v23 do here v24 Jesus truth to the people - No prophet is accepted in his hometown.
v28 they became enraged and attempted to kill Jesus.
Jesus was holding up a mirror to these folks. They refused to look in it.
Matt 13:58 Mark 6:6 These folks never believed in Jesus. At least not when He was alive.
We need to remember that our natural tendency is to justify our behavior rather than confess it and change. The Scriptures are a mirror showing us our lives before the Lord.

10/06/2026

Oct 4, 2026
Telos: If God is good #2
Introd: Many in the world reject the Lord because evil and suffering exist. If God was good, if He was all knowing and all powerful He would do something about evil and suffering. This is what the world thinks.
Yet here is something most who reject God for this reason don't consider. The bible provides a reason why evil and suffering exist. The bible gives us the source of evil in the world today. The bible provides a way to have victory over evil. Yet the rest of the world, all philosophies and other world religions have to deal with the problem of evil and suffering. None of them have an explanation for evil and suffering that is reasonable.
1. Everyone who suffers does so because of some evil they have done in life or a past life.
2. Evil and suffering don't exist.
3. For those who reject objective truth. Then there is no evil.
biblical perspective - God is all good, all powerful, all knowing. He hates evil and will ultimately judge evildoers and remove evil and suffering after accomplishing a greater, eternal good.
The bible doesn't ignore or pretend or sidestep the issue of evil and suffering. It tackles it head on.
Habbakuk 1:1-4 Many of the Psalms were written by people begging for God's help because enemies were oppressing them.
I. GOD ACTIVELY RESTRAINS SIN AND EVIL.
The Lord has preserved the Scriptures. The Scriptures reveal what is good and what is evil. The bible gives instructions on how to live and treat other people. How to respond to other people. The Scriptures are a means to restraining evil.
Family - Parents are to raise their children to be good and do what is right. Eph 6:4
Gov't has been given authority to punish evildoers - Romans 13:1-5
The biblical Church is to stand for righteousness and against evil - Ephesians 5:11
God intervenes and stops individuals from committing sin at times.
Joseph's brothers wanted to slay him. God did not let them.
Men of S***m were going to attack Lot, the angels prevented that.
II. GOD ACTIVELY COMFORTS THOSE WHO ARE SUFFERING.
People in the world are saying, God allows evil and does nothing for those who are suffering.
Matt 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn: for they shall be comforted
Israel suffered in Egypt - the Lord freed from enslavement - Ex 2:23-24
2 Cor 1:3-4 God comforts us so we may know how to comfort others suffering what we went through
Psalm 34:18 the Lord is near those that have a broken heart
God moves Christians and Churches to act so as to help those who are suffering - 2 Cor 8:1-4
The Lord causes governments to help in disasters - Why would the U.S. government or any country's government help another country by spending millions of dollars on another country's citizens if not the Lord causing this?
God alone comforts those who suffer
God uses His people to comfort those who suffer
God uses governments to comfort those who suffer

III. GOD BRINGS GOOD OUT OF EVIL AND SUFFERING.
Gen 50 - Joseph to his brothers - you meant it for evil, God meant it for good.
out of evil and suffering - safety regulations so others could be safe in working conditions - i.e. coal mines, working with asbestos etc.
Suffering may draw us close to the Lord - Paul and the thorn in the flesh. 2 Cor 12:7
Naaman's suffering with leprosy lead him to the Lord.

10/06/2026

Oct 4, 2026
Telos: The Lord is extremely merciful toward us
Scrip: Gen 19
Introd: Lot's wife was told to not turn back. She did and was turned into a pillar of salt - Gen 19:26. That appears rather harsh. Yet if we look at the full story, we see God's mercy.
Gen 13 - Abraham and Lot have to seperate. Their flocks have increased and there is not enough pasture land for both flocks to stay together in the same area. Abraham generously allows Lot to choose where he will go.
Gen 13:11-13 Lot chose the area around S***m despite knowing the reputation of the city.
Gen 14 - 2 coalitions of kings battle. The King of S***m and his side lose. All the people including Lot and his family are taken captive. The Lord enables Abraham to rescue Lot and his family. One would think that Lot would decide it isn't worth it living in S***m. Yet he remains living there.
Gen 18:20 S***m is a horrible city, incredibly evil. If only 10 righteous people had been found, God would have spared her. She had a large population. Remember, Abraham starts off with if 50 righteous people live there. There wasn't even 10 righteous found. Yet Lot was choosing to live there. We have to ask ourselves, how comfortable are we with sin?
How evil was S***m? Gen 19:4-11 gross sin
Men gathered publicly - no shame
shared bluntly what they wanted to do
enraged at being told no
the men refused to give up despite this blindness or distortion of their vision that struck them. Persistent sinners.
God's mercy - angels sent to rescue them. Gen 19:12-14 sons in laws are warned, family could be rescued. They refuse to believe, but the Lord was showing mercy.
v15-16 Despite warning to flee, Lot and his family linger. The angels literally grab them by the arms and lead them out of the city.
v17-22 Instead of being grateful, Lot negotiates to go to the town of Zoar rather than flee to the mountains.
v26 Lot's wife looks back
v30-32 Lot's daughters get him drunk. God showed mercy despite knowing after all of this, these daughters would turn to sin. He still showed mercy.
This family chose to live in an evil city. Went back to living in that evil city after being captured in a war. Lingered when told to leave. Brought out by the angels, yet looked back. Committed in**st. Yet through all of it, the Lord showed mercy.

10/06/2026

Oct 4, 2026
Telos: allow God to motivate you
Scrip: Zechariah 8
Introd: Sometimes it is difficult to be motivated in our Christian lives.
Sometimes we are tired physically or spiritually - Elijah
Sometimes we are facing difficult circumstances
Sometimes we are serving, but there doesn't appear to be fruit from our service.
The people of Zechariah's day were needing some motivation.
1. Jerusalem was sparsely populated
2. Jerusalem looked physically like a city in decline or decay
3. Jerusalem was struggling economically
4. Jerusalem was subjugated by the Gentiles.
5. They were building a temple which was inferior to Solomon's temple.
Yet the Lord wanted to motivate them. v9 v13
How does the Lord do this in Zechariah 8?
I. GOD IS FOR YOU.
v1-2 God says He is jealous for Zion or Jerusalem. We often think of jealousy as wrong. But in the right context jealousy is a good thing. God is jealous for Jerusalem because he cares for her. HE values Jerusalem.
A person living in Zechariah's day would be encouraged. God cares about our city. He wants good for our city, because it is His city.
for us - Romans 8:31 What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, Who can be against us.
God is for us. v31 is not a conditional verse. Replace the word if with since. v31 is saying Since God is for us, who can be against us?
Sometimes we doubt - look at Romans 8:32 God didn't spare His Son, but delivered Him up for us. What won't He do for us. What more proof do we need that God cares for us?
II. GOD GIVES US PROMISES
v3 I am returned to Zion
I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem - prior - Ark of Covenant, now the promise is God Himself would live in her midst.
Jerusalem would be known- city of truth
mountain of the Lord of hosts
holy mountain
v4-5 City would be filled with both very old people and children. This tells us that the city would be safe, peaceful and prosperous. If there was any war, both the very young and the very old would be the first to die.
v6 God delights in this future picture
v7-8 The Lord would bring His people back from various countries - Zech 7:14
v10-12 The Lord would bless their crops
v13 the Lord would make Jerusalem a blessing - romans 11:11-15
v14-15 God intends to do well by the city
The Lord has given us as believers, precious promises to help us in this present life. 2 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises
III. GOD SHARES FUTURE JOYS.
v18-19 fasts of 4th, 5th, 7th, 10th month dealt with various bad days connected to the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. Destruction of the temple, assassination of Governor Gedaliah, etc
The Lord will turn those days into days of joy and happiness. The Lord can take a day of great sadness and change it to a day of great joy. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
v20-22 This is during the Millennial Kingdom - Gentiles from around the world, will seek the Lord.
v23 10 men will ask a Jewish person to take them to the Lord.
We are believers will experience all these verses. We will be on earth to see people from around the world coming to Israel with a spiritual hunger to seek the Lord. What a joy that will be!

09/28/2026

Sep 26, 2026
Telos: dealing with the problem of evil and suffering
Introd: This morning we are going to start looking at a subject which is probably the biggest barrier to people believing in God. We are going to look at a subject which we are going to experience personally. We are going to look at a subject which will allow us to minister more effectively to more people.
Read excerpts from Randy Alcorn - If God is good - pg18, pg11
Some people have horrific life stories -
s*xually abused or physically abused children
people born in abject poverty and squalor
people born with severe physical or mental disabilities
These occurances seem to be random and unfair.
Since evil and suffering appear to be random, the world claims there must not be a god.
The bible does provide answers to the origin and purpose of evil and suffering. The bible gives us logical, rational reasonings about evil and suffering. Yet that alone will not comfort a person who has experienced great evil and is suffering. Only the Lord could provide comfort for that person.
What does the Bible say about evil and suffering?
Where does evil come from?
1. The devil sinned.
He was the first being who ever sinned in the world.
The Scriptures reveal why he did this - I want to be like the most High
The Bible does not tell us exactly when this took place. It does not tell us what he exactly did. It simply reveals that he sinned.
The devil then tempted Adam and Eve.
He tempts people still to this day.
2. Adam and Eve sinned.
As a result of their sin - they became sinners and passed on a sin nature to all their descendants. This is called inherited sin or original sin.
All people since then have committed acts of evil.
3. Curse upon the earth.
As a result of Adam and Eve's sin - the Lord cursed the earth. As a consequence - natural disasters, diseases
4. God does not tempt anyone
James 1:13 - God doesn't tempt anyone
the devil, Adam, Eve were not created defective by the Lord. They were whole; they were righteous when created by the Lord. They each made a deliberate decision to sin.
5. Evil was part of God's plan.
God had a plan - pg 41
Isaiah 46:9-10 God knew all His works from the beginning
Eph 1:9-10 Again, God had a plan. Ultimately in the future, the Lord will unite everything in the heavenly realm with everything in the physical realm through Jesus Christ. Did the Lord know that evil would occur before He created the universe? Yes, absolutely. While the Lord didn't cause the devil, Adam and Eve, or any being to sin, He included it in His plan.
Why would the Lord allow evil into His plan?
1. If the Lord was going to create us with autonomy, that leads to both good and bad choices. The result will be evil and suffering. We cannot have both autonomy and no evil and suffering.
2. Evil has to be seen, experienced to understand how awful it is.
God could have simply told us about sin and evil and suffering. Yet we would doubt how bad how awful sin is if we hadn't experienced it.
Consider, Eve doubted the Lord because she had never experienced evil and suffering.
3. Evil and suffering inspires great good.
Feed the poor
medical missions
Tim Tebow - devoting life to rescuing children who are s*x trafficked.

09/28/2026

Sep 27, 2026
Telos: The Lord has planned "disasters" that aren't disasters.
Scrip: Esther
Introd: A Swedish couple named David and Svea Flood were called by the Lord to be missionaries. They felt the Lord calling them to go to a place known then as the Belgian Congo. There they met another couple, the Ericksons. The originally served in the Missions main station in the Belgian Congo. After a while, they felt the Lord sending them to minister in a remote village. So both couples got permission and went to bring the gospel to this village. The village chief would not allow them to come into the village because that would anger their gods. The 2 couples built huts about a half mile away. The chief did allow a young boy to sell chickens and eggs to them every two weeks. Svea figured since the little boy was the only contact they had with the village, she would teach him the bible. In a short time, she had lead him to the Lord. At some point both couples were struck with malaria. The Ericksons decided to return to the Main Mission Station. The Floods remained behind at the remote village. Svea got pregnant. The local chief permitted the midwives to help with the delivery of her baby, which was a girl. Shortly after giving birth, Svea died. Her husband David was heartbroken. He dug a grave and buried his wife. He returned to the mission station with the attitude that "God had ruined his life". He gave his new born daughter to the Ericksons and returned to Sweden. Not too long afterwards, both of the Ericksons got sick and died. This little infant girl was now given to a third set of parents, an American Missionary couple.
This story appears to be a disaster. A couple gives their lives to God. They serve as missionaries. Yet their years of service produced one fruit, one little boy who had gotten saved. 3 of the 4 missionaries had died. The lone survivor had his faith crushed. A little girl was left orphaned.
I want us to look at another story which appears to be a disaster.
Esther 3:8-13 Haman is angered that Mordecai would not bow to him. Haman wants revenge and decides to murder all of Mordecai's people. He gets the King to pass a law which encourages everyone in the Persian Empire to attack and kill the Jews on a specific day. The people are allowed to keep the possessions of the Jewish people. So people have incentive to do this. The Government is against the Jewish people and they could keep their possessions.
In ancient Persia they considered their kings divine. So once the king enacted a law, he could not revoke it. Since the king was divine, he couldn't make mistakes. No law could be revoked. So now a horrible law calling for the death of all Jewish people in the Persian Empire has been passed and cannot be revoked. This is a disaster.
Why would the Lord allow this?
1. Haman ends up executed.
Haman is an evil man. He is proud, arrogant, and incredibly vindicative. Just because one man refused to bow to him, he was willing to kill thousands of people.
Read Esther 7:1-10 Haman is executed on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. It would not have been enough for Haman to be demoted or fired. He would have sought revenge. He had to be taken out completely. This situation provided for that.
2. Mordecai is elevated.
Esther 8:1-2, v15
Consider the contrast - Haman, evil heart, vengeful, petty, arrogant.
Mordecai was a kind man. He took in his cousin's orphaned daughter and raised her. He was a just man. He was godly. Mordecai's promotion wasn't good for the Jewish people alone, but for everyone in the Persian Empire.
3. Many people became Jews.
Esther 8:16-17 Many became Jews for fear of the Jews. This is why I don't believe that this situation in the Book of Esther was simply something God permitted, but actually planned. God didn't cause Haman to sin nor did he tempt him. Haman chose his own actions. God determined to use them.
Think about what it means that many became Jews. They had to learn the Scriptures. They would come to obey the Scriptures and change their ways. They would honor the Lord. They would teach their children the Scriptures.
4. Enemies of the Jewish people were wiped out.
Esther 9:2-5, v12-16
Consider - Everyone now knew that Queen Esther was Jewish. Mordecai was Jewish. The entire government now supported the Jewish people. Despite all this, 75,000 people throughout the Persian Empire still attacked the Jews. These folks were filled with hate.
Think about how much better the Persian Empire was with these folks gone.

Back to the Missionaries. The little girl Hanna who ended up with an American Missionary Couple, was brought to the United States. She would grow up and marry a Pastor. One day she received in the mail, a magazine written in Swedish. As she flipped through, she saw a picture of her mother Svea's grave. She took the magazine to someone who could translate the article. It said that the one little boy they had lead to the Lord, grow up and was able to lead the entire village to Christ, including the Chief. There were now 6,000 believers in that village. Hanna went to Sweden to find her biological father. He had remarried and had a family. He had been incredibly bitter toward God. No one was allowed to speak about God to him. Hanna came and told him what had happened. David repented and reconciled to the Lord weeks before his death.

Events that sometimes appear to be disasters in our lives, may not be a disaster at all. Instead, it may be the circumstance the Lord is using to bless us.

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8806 Casper Avenue
Hudson, FL
34667

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Wednesday	7pm - 8pm
Sunday	10am - 12pm
	6pm - 7pm

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+17278687482

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