Sermon Tone Analysis

I have a fear of heights.

I think we’ve talked about that before but just to remind you of how wimpy I am, that’s my greatest fear - followed closely by rats.

Anyway, I’m sort of a big talker sometimes.

You know the old saying, “Your mouth has written a check your rear-end can’t cash”?

Well, I’ve struggled with that.

Well, about 13 or 14 years ago, a good friend of mine, Brian Malone, and I made a deal with each other that before either of us got married, we would go sky diving together.

I was banking on the possibility that he’d forget or one of us would die or something - I really didn’t think I’d have to go through with it.

Well, come to find out as PROVIDENCE would have it, Brian and I both got engaged and were scheduled to get married in the same summer - 2007 - 10 years ago.

Well, May 2007 rolls around and I get a phone call from Brian Malone.

Daniel, do you remember our agreement?

Yeah.

So, Brian finds a sky diving company located in Hattiesburg, MS.

We get there and, come to find out, this sky diving place is in the middle of a COW PASTURE!

Not too safe.

Y’all, I was a nervous wreck.

I tried everything I could to back out.

The whole flight up to 14,000 feet, I interviewed the guy I was going to be strapped to just to make sure he had no reason in the world to end his life that day and take me with him.

I made sure he hadn’t been drinking that day, too.

I’ll never forget that bay door opening, me being strapped to the belly of some dude I’d never met but in whose hands I had to put my life, and then me dangling over the earth 14,000 feet in the air.

At that point, they don’t give you a choice.

You’ve got to jump.

And, in a moment of complete insanity, I jumped.

Well, he jumped and took me with him.

I’ll be honest with you.

It was one of the most exhilarating experiences I’ve ever had.

I want to go back to something that we spent some time on last week.

If you’ll remember, we talked about Esther coming to a crossroads of faith.

Would she obey?

Would she follow God’s calling on her life in what He had prepared her for or would she just play it safe?

Disobedience to God’s will in your life is costly.

We said that last week.

Remember what Mordecai said to Esther -

“You don’t have to know a lot of things for

Disobedience to God’s will in your life is costly.

We said that last week.

Remember what Mordecai said to Esther -

Many of us come to that crossroads and we choose the “safe” way.

We choose the “comfortable” way.

We choose to live the complacent, not going to rock the boat life.

We like the life of a 9-5 job, the comfortability of our life, coming to church for an hour or two a week, sitting, being fed, checking church off our list, and moving on when God has prepared and called us to SO MUCH MORE!

Maybe you’re at the crossroads and God has allowed you to go through a season of life where life doesn’t make much sense…you’ve struggled, you’ve suffered, you’ve been through the refiner’s fire and you’re finally making sense of the “what.”

You know what God is calling you to do.

You see how God is making your mess into a ministry and it’s scary.

You’re afraid to get out of the boat.

“But then I realize there is never going to be a day when I stand before God and He looks at me and says, 'I wish you would have kept more for yourself.'

I'm confident that God will take care of me.” - David Platt, Radical

“God beckons storm clouds and they come.

He tells the wind to blow and the rain to fall, and they obey immediately.

He speaks to the mountains, 'You go there,' and He says to the seas, 'You stop here, and they do it.

Everything in all creation responds in obedience to the Creator...until we get to you and me.

We have the audacity to look God in the face and say, 'No.”

You know, the story of Peter walking on water has always been a personal favorite of mine.

Think about how much faith Peter exercised, here!

If he had been overcome by the fear of “what if” he would have missed out on possibly the coolest experience a human has ever had.

He’s the only person - other than Jesus - to defy the laws of physics and walk on water!

He’s the one Jesus entrusted SO MUCH MORE TO!

I mean, I don’t find it too ironic that Peter walks on water in and then just two chapters later, Jesus tells him he’s going to use him to build the church!

Here’s the point:

NOT living in obedient faith costs me seeing God move in miraculous ways in my life.

What does that mean?

Well, let’s look back at Esther.

So, she’s been prepared - God has spent YEARS preparing her for what he had prepared for her.

She has prepared and proceeded in faith - decision to obey, fasting & prayer.

Esther 5:1-

Esther 5:5-6

3 Promises I want you to see:

I will see God open doors.

Xerxes allows Esther to come in.

This is a miracle that only God could accomplish.

When you and I choose to obey and step into a life of faithful obedience, we will see God open doors that we thought were impossible.

NOTHING will stop God from accomplishing His purposes.

Listen to me, now: You WILL see God open doors…when you are faithful to share Jesus/witness to someone, God will open those doors.

When you are faithfully obedient in other areas, God will give you opportunities, he will open doors for His glory that will blow your mind!

The question isn’t “Will God open the door?”

The question is “Will I walk through it in obedience when he does?”

Someone just this week - Thursday - saw a Facebook post by the church challenging us to witness to someone.

They did.

God opened a door for them while they were getting the oil changed on their car and they led a lady to the Lord!

Fill in the 5:9-14 gap - Haman gets full of himself, brags about how much Esther likes him, plans to hang Mordecai.

Two truths I want you to see from this passage…Not only will I see God open doors...

I will see God remove barriers.

Xerxes - sleep/insomnia...He will remove obstacles.

He moves mountains.

I can’t tell you how many times in my own life!

Joshua & Jericho…David & Goliath -

I will see God’s hand in my past become visible in the present.

Xerxes & the book of records…ONLY GOD! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE, ISN’T IT?!?! I mean, think about this, the guy Haman HATES and is preparing to execute is now being exalted by the king and Xerxes asks Haman to throw the parade!

Xerxes & the book of records…ONLY GOD! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE, ISN’T IT?!?! I mean, think about this, the guy Haman HATES and is preparing to execute is now being exalted by the king and Xerxes asks Haman to throw the parade!

Man!

Only God!

Only God!

Only God!

You will see how God’s hand has prepared you and brought you to this place.

The greatest blessing of obedient living is the TESTIMONY I have to tell of God’s FAITHFUL PROVISION.

Ending: Maybe you’re at the crossroads of faith.

Maybe God is leading you to something greater.

That’s our theme this year, isn’t it?

It’s Greater Things.

In our church…and if we want to experience Greater Things in our church, it only happens when we experience Greater Things in our individual lives.

Maybe God is calling you to surrender.