Week three in Esther, and we meet the final two protagonists – Mordecai and Haman. Mordecai is a Jew, living in exile in Susa, in the kingdom of Xerxes. He appears to have a position at the palace, working at the palace gate. When his aunt and uncle died he took in their daughter, Esther,…
In chapter two of Esther we are introduced to the namesake of this book, Esther. Esther, also known as Hadassah, is a young Jewish girl from the tribe of Benjamin. Following Queen Vashti’s refusal of his command to humiliate herself in front of his men, King Xerxes puts on a hunt for a new wife,…
The book of Esther is a short book in the Old Testament, set at the time when the Jewish nation had been conquered and many of its people taken away into exile. The first main character we are introduced to in Esther 1 is King Xerxes. Xerxes was a rich and powerful king who conquered…
‘Money makes the world go round’ – or at least, that’s how the saying goes! Certainly money – how much of it I have, whether it’s ‘enough’ and where I spend it – not only affects many of our daily decisions and choices but can be a source of identity for us, or an idol…
Being part of a church is like being part of a family. You don’t just go to church, like going to a club; you belong to a church, part of the family. This is great news. But we have to be honest and accept that many people have not had such a great family experience…
As we start Part 3 of A People Prepared we’re looking at what are the distinctive marks of a member – starting with believer’s baptism. Baptism has been inextricably linked with the life of Christians right from the first days of the Church, as described in Acts. But what is baptism, and why do we do…
“God does nothing but by prayer, and everything with it.” John Wesley It is easy for us, in the midst of our busy lives, to think that the things we do are the things that bring change. Whether in our circumstances, or in the lives of others, we are quick to think that our activity is…
During our Week of Prayer, we often talk not just of praying, but of ‘prayer and fasting’. So, just what is fasting and why do we do it? Fasting is a temporary season of denying some appetites for the purpose of activating others. 1. Fasting is a faith thing. By faith we deny ourselves, and place…
Well, what a couple of weeks it has been! Some painful lows and some wonderful highs! All topped off yesterday with the joy of welcoming a number of people into God’s wonderful family… It sometimes amazes me how God seems to own our calendars. I can’t think of a more appropriate time to gather the…
Over the past weeks we’ve taken some time to engage with a Biblical view of eldership in the church, and how we are seeking to move towards having an eldership team in place at Trinity Central. In this post I’d like to spell out a little more the details of what this process looks like:…