| JU Good Character: The Story of Ester and Mordecai |
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| Written by Jesus University | |
Preparation:
This is a story of a wonderful woman of character and the man who helped raise her who was also a person of strong character. God used these two people to save His people (the Jews) from being slaughtered by an evil man named Haman. This is a story that exemplifies the importance of one person and how God uses each of us in the lives of others. When we choose to follow God, others can see that and God sometimes uses us to affect their lives. (Please note, we cannot change a person…that is ultimately their decision as God works in their life, but often times it is through other people (i.e. US!!) that God is working in their life.) Activity: Sometimes it seems that the choices that we make do not affect other people. This is a spin-off of the “telephone game” that helps to show that each person’s actions have an effect on the results of a game and on other people’s lives as well. Do this activity twice. The first time through follow the directions as given below. The second time through tell one of the students (WITHOUT THE OTHER STUDENTS KNOWING—so it might be a good idea to pull one of them aside before class even starts to talk to them about this) to change the drawing in a fairly significant way. Make sure that this student is somewhere in the middle of the line. Have the students sit down on the floor in a line. Hand each of them paper and pencils. Whisper to the person on the end what you want them to draw. Have the person sitting next to that person draw what they see, and the next person the same and so on. They can only look at the picture of the person in front of them—no cheating!!! Compare the end product to the first drawing. Line up the drawings to see where any changes (major or minor) occurred. Point out where if one person changed something the next person’s drawing changed as well. Discuss:
OK, we are going to come back to the application of this activity, but now let’s look at a woman in the Bible who by being a person of character impacted the lives of thousands. Digging Deeper: (This is pretty long and a lot of reading, but it is in story form which makes it fairly easy to read.) First, a little bit of background: Xerxes, the king of Persia, threw a huge party and in the midst of this party, his wife, Vashti, refused to obey one of his orders. He was incredibly angry about this and banished her. But then…. Read: Esther 2:1-18
After that, King Xerxes appointed a man named Haman to a position of second in command and ordered people to bow down to him. Mordecai refused to bow down to him, however which enraged Haman. Haman wanted to punish not only Mordecai but all of his people, the Jews (remember that nobody knows that Mordecai is Esther, the new queen’s cousin). Haman convinces the king to order all the Jews destroyed….. Read: Esther 4:1-17 Even though Esther was married to the king, she still wasn’t allowed to go to see him unless he called for her (a little different from these days). Esther went to go see Xerxes in spite of that rule and he chose to see her (the other option was to have her executed!). She invited him and Haman to have dinner with her. At dinner, the king asks what she wants and says that whatever it is he will give it to her…even up to half the kingdom (wow, he really likes this girl!!). She invites them to dinner the next night…. Read: Esther 7:1-10 In the end, the king could not go back on his original order (I know that sounds weird, but not even the king could change his own law) but he did make a new order that allowed the Jews to fight back against the army. The Jews ended up destroying the people who were supposed to destroy them. Discuss:
Application: You have been placed on this earth at this time and in the lives of all the people that you know for a reason!! God has given you your personality and your gifts in order to better serve Him and also to influence those around you.
Give each student an index card and have them write the verse Esther 4:14b—have them replace the word “royal” with “this”. “And who knows but that you have come to this position for such a time as this.” They can be as creative as they want with this activity…decorate it with markers etc.
Encourage the students to put this verse somewhere that they can see it daily…on their mirror, in their backpack, in their car, etc. This will help to remind them that God has a purpose for them and wants to use them EACH DAY for his glory and in the lives of people around them! Close it out: Remember the story of Esther this week…how one man and woman with character saved an entire nation! If God can use them, he can use you. Look for opportunities where you can allow God to use you this week. Close in Prayer! |
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© 2007 Chapel Hill United Methodist Church
2717 West Hefner Road • Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73120
Office (405) 751-0755 • (405) 752-8919 Care Line and Fax
2717 West Hefner Road • Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73120
Office (405) 751-0755 • (405) 752-8919 Care Line and Fax