Built Different | From Hidden to Highlighted | Pastors Eddie Nesby and Caden DeWeerdt

You got a little surprise this morning, not who you thought it would be, Chocolate Thunders and the Biltons. I got the mic, okay? Hey, I'm a youth pastor here. My name is Pastor Eddie Nesbitt. I get to serve the next gen here at this church, and I'm excited this morning. And I just want to say God is in this this morning, and me and Pastor Kayden get to share this morning, and I want to preach God's word. But before I do that, we get to serve the next gen ministries, and we could not do it without you, family. So thank you for giving, for loving, for showing up, for some of you serving in our ministries. I just want you to make some noise for yourself, because our church stands up for youth. They love the next generation. They give to the next generation, kids, youth, young adults. And so thank you for that. But this morning, I got to jump right into this word. Everybody say, preach the word. This morning, I get to share a message that we prepared for you, and the title of it is this, From Hidden to Highlighted. Everybody say, From Hidden to Highlighted. Now, my youth are in the building.

You know I like a little talk back, so you don't have to talk to me today. Say, From Hidden to Highlighted. That's right, family. If we're being honest, we can all admit we've had moments where being comfortable felt more appealing than being courageous, where we'd rather blend in than stand out. But following Jesus has never been about hiding. God doesn't call his people to camouflage themselves into the culture. He calls us to stand out with courage, love, and conviction. Can I get amen? And today, when we get into the scripture, we're gonna meet a young woman that she has every reason to stay hidden, but God has something bigger in mind. And I wanna read from Esther chapter four this morning. But before we get into the text, I think it's helpful that we understand what's happening in the story, in the book of Esther, because it takes place 500 years before the story of Jesus. It happens during the Persian Empire, where God's people, the Jews, are living under a foreign king in the Persian Empire. They don't have their own government, army, or power. They're trying to stay faithful to a God in a culture that doesn't necessarily follow him. And then there's a moment that shifts that changes everything for them.

There's a powerful official by the name of Haman who becomes absolutely furious with this guy named Mordecai. Now, Mordecai is Esther's cousin, and Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman. And instead of just attacking Mordecai, Haman convinces the king to sign a law that will wipe out every Jewish man, woman, and child inside of the empire. And as chapter four begins, God's people are devastated. They begin praying and fasting and grieving, and it feels like there is no hope, but there's one position with a person in it who can help, and that's Queen Esther. The problem is, is no one knows that she's Jewish. And according to Persian law, if she walks into the king's throne room without being invited, she could be put to death unless the king chooses to spare her. Now we see the big dilemma. And that's the moment that we get to step into this morning that Esther has decided, she has to decide, will she stay silent to protect herself, or will she risk everything to stand out for God's people? Now we're gonna read Esther chapter four, verses 11 through 17. And this is the conversation we start out with. Esther is sending word to her cousin, Mordecai, and it says this. All the king's officials and the people of the royal province know that for any man or woman

who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned, the king has but one law, that they be put to death unless the king extends the golden scepter to them and spares their lives. But 30 days have passed since I was even called to the king. This is Esther talking to Mordecai. When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back his answer. Do not think that because you are in the king's house, you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows, but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this. Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai. Go gather all the Jews who are in Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it's against the law. And if I perish, I perish. So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions. Let's pray. Heavenly father, I pray that your word, God would bring life. It would challenge hearts.

And that through me, you would speak what you desire to speak for your. for glory and for our good. In Jesus' name we pray, we all say, amen. Man, family, I wanna ask you a question. Have you ever noticed that we are in a place, culturally, where people don't necessarily mind Christians? As long as we stay quiet. You can believe whatever you want, just don't let it affect me over here and how I'm living and what I'm doing. Keep your faith private, keep your convictions personal, don't make anybody else uncomfortable. See, the world has no problem with hidden faith because a hidden light won't change a dark room. And I wonder, I wonder, have we become so comfortable blending in that we've forgotten that we were actually called to stand out. As followers of Jesus, we were never designed to simply fit into the culture. We were built different, built to stand out. And as we revisit the text, we open the book of Esther and in verses three, I'm sorry, in chapter three, verse eight, before we even get to chapter four, there's a conversation that kind of kick-starts the response of chapter four. It's the conversation about God's people that changes everything

because Haman has to convince the king of something. Esther 3.8, then Haman said to King Xerxes, there's a certain people dispersed among the peoples in the province of your kingdom who keeps themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all the other people. Did you catch that? That the enemy could recognize they were different. It was clear and distinct. Their differences wasn't something that they advertised. It was something that they carried. Something about their lives made it impossible to ignore. And family, can I ask you this this morning? Would anybody at your school, in your workplace, on that team you're part of, in that friendship circle say the same thing about you? That there's something different about them. Different. Not weird, not self-righteous, not loud, but noticeably different. Our series is called Built Different and that's not just a catchphrase that we're using, but as followers of Jesus, it becomes a point of identity that we don't simply believe different things, we believe differently because someone different lives on the inside of you and I. First Peter 2.9 says this, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people.

And the King James says you are a peculiar people, God's own special possession. Second Corinthians 5 and 20, it says we are ambassadors for Christ. Family, we carry a different king. We carry a different kingdom and a different culture. We have a different hope and a different spirit lives on the inside of us. But here is the obstacle that I see. Many of us have become experts at hiding what God intended to highlight. This is Esther's tension. As we pick up in Esther 4, chapter one through four, verse one through four says this, when Mordecai learned that all that had been, when Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes and went out to the midst of the city and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry. The queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he might take off his sackcloth. When chapter four begins, Mordecai is in grieving. He's wearing sackcloth and covered in ashes because of his mourning and the people of God are under a death penalty. And Esther's first response is a little interesting. She sends him new clothes. In other words, hey, you represent me too, put something different on.

She wants to change how the problem looks. Many scholars point out that Esther had become so comfortable in the inside of the palace that she initially viewed the crisis as an appearance problem instead of a spiritual one. How easy it is for you and I, instead of confronting darkness, we manage appearances. We'd rather make things look okay than admit something is actually wrong. When our family and our marriages are falling apart and our child begins to be disobedient and begins to drift and we just keep acting and smiling as if everything is okay or there's someone in our life and they're asking big questions about faith or you've got a friend who is hurting and God's been nudging you to pray and speak life to them, but we're too afraid of looking awkward. We'd rather cover the symptom than deal with the sickness. We'd rather protect our image than pursue God's mission. Instead of standing for truth, we try to avoid awkwardness. awkwardness. And instead of speaking, we stay silent because silence feels safer. Jesus never said, you are a lamp going high. What he said was, you are the light of the world, a city on the hill that could not be hidden. Come on, family. And Mordecai has to respond to Esther, and he claps back with this. Do not think that because you're in the king's house, you alone of all the Jews will escape. In other words, you got it good now, but you might not have it later. And then he says, if you remain silent, God's got us, but you might miss it. Listen, sometimes the greatest danger isn't persecution, it's actually silence.

That sometimes we think because culture accepts us, we're okay and we're safe. But Mordecai says, no, your position was never meant for your comfort. It was meant for God's purpose, for such a time as this. This verse, my friends, is not about your greatness. We've turned this verse into a motivational speech that you were born for greatness. And I believe an element of that is true, but that's not what Mordecai is actually saying in the moment. What he's saying is God's and his sovereignty has positioned you. And the question isn't whether God has a purpose and a plan for your life. The question is, will you participate in it? God's mission doesn't depend on Esther. He simply invites her into the moment. Church, can I share with you this morning that God actually does not need us, but he still invites us to that school, to that team, to that office, to your family, to that neighborhood. Those places are not accidents for you. Those places are not accidents for you. They are an assignment that God has called each and every one of us to live boldly within. God's given you an assignment, but it requires boldness. And boldness costs, but the cost is worth it. Here's what I love about Esther. In verse six, she says to Mordecai, go gather all together all the Jews who are in Susa and fast for me. When this is done, I will go to the king. And even though it's against the law, and if I perish, I perish. She is not fearless. She hesitates, she asks questions, and she counts the cost because she knows she could die. And biblical courage has never been about the absence of fear, family. It's obedience despite fear. Boldness isn't confidence in what we can do and ourselves. Boldness is confidence in who God is. That's why, listen, that's why Esther's decision is admirable. Her willingness to step out changes everything. It goes from let me hide, instead it goes if I perish, then so be it. She moves from hidden to highlighted, from comfort to calling, and from silence to boldness, because that's what boldness does. Boldness doesn't always remove the risk. It simply reminds us that obedience is worth more than the comfort. Family, this morning, let me take a moment and turn your eyes to the screen of a story of a young man whose life has been changed being part of the young adult ministry here at City First. I'm Adan. My first and last name, which is my name. All right. I'm Adan. I'm 19 years old. I've been coming to City First for a little over two years. My life changed on October 19th when I got baptized. Well, I went to Thrive. I sat by myself, and then one of my good friends, Junior, he got me hooked up with one of my other good friends, Devin, and I went to their Monday Life group. Yeah, that's how I started coming to YA, and I love it. I feel like community was really what I was searching for.

I had friends, you know, they were really good friends, but they weren't the right friends for me and for my faith. YA, it's a great place where you can find people your age that are trying to grow their faith. Everyone here, you know, we dig into the Word. We really challenge ourselves, you know. When we come to a Wednesday night, we learn more about who God is, and not just that, but we surround ourselves with community who want that. They're hungry to grow, and they're hungry to know who Jesus is, even more. One of the main reasons why I wanted to serve First Impressions, when you first go into a church, especially when you don't know anyone, it is, like, really, like, something I look for. When I didn't know anyone, I tried to have a smile. Of course, we're all going through stuff, I'm going through stuff, but I feel like, at the end of the day, I feel like the joy of the Lord. It's really, it's just a beautiful thing. How you doing, sir? Thank you for coming. Today, we are out here serving at Ellis Elementary. We're out here with the young adults. There's 30 of us from the young adult ministry. We're giving out food to people who are in need. Serving, for me, is just a way of, you know, kind of showing the love of Jesus, and the love that He's shown me. And if I could do that for other people, to those who can't, who haven't heard of Jesus, I mean, I feel like that's what I feel like serving is. You know, serving, kind of like spreading the gospel. That's my definition of serving. Spreading the gospel to those who don't know. If I can shine that light that Jesus, like, you know, shines through us, that's just really important to me because I was there before.

When you really get to know the love of Jesus, and you really accept His love, it really changes people, just the way He changed me. Come on, church. Can we give it up for Adan's story? Love Adan. He is amazing. Love that he's a part of our young adult ministry. Well, my name is Pastor Kaden. I get the honor and privilege of serving as the young adult pastor here. You know, Pastor Eddie calls himself the young adult pastor of the church. I'm the young adult pastor here. You know, Pastor Eddie calls himself Chocolate Thunder, but he also calls me White Lightning. So we make a pretty good team, youth and young adults. Just kidding, he does not call me that. But in all seriousness, I love Adan's story because it really points to the truth that we're talking about here this morning, that following Jesus should lead to living with a greater boldness. But some of you guys, when you're watching that story, you're like, well, Adan just has it. He just has it. He's just a bold person. He lives how he lives because he was born that way. And we often believe bold people feel something

that the rest of us just don't feel. But what we have to understand and realize is this, that boldness is not a genetic trait. Boldness, city first, is not hereditary. It's not something you're either born with or you're not. Yes, some people are more extroverted or outgoing or direct, but that is not the definition of biblical boldness. And the Hebrew word in the Bible for boldness is batah. And it means to confide in or set one's hope and confidence in. And in today's world, I've witnessed many people, and even some of us as Christians, place our hope and confidence in things that result in a shallow boldness. I've seen humanity place our hope in success, but then when failure comes, our identity collapses. I've seen humanity place our hope in money, but when the economy changes, our security crumbles. And I've seen humanity place our hope in political power, but when the power changes hands, the boldness disappears. And it is very much possible, city first, for you to place your hope in things that are not of God and still receive some level of boldness. But here's the catch. Your boldness will only be as resilient as the thing you place your hope and your confidence in. If I place my boldness in my own strength, I'm only gonna be bold when I'm strong. If I place my boldness in my comfort,

I will only be bold when life is going swell and it's all butterflies and rainbows. And if I place my boldness in my peers, well, then I'm only gonna be bold when they are. And the world is not devoid of boldness, church, but we as Christ followers are called to have a different kind of boldness than the world. Boldness is not something you or I have to muster up or we have to manufacture or find within ourselves. Biblical boldness is what naturally rises within you and I when our confidence is placed in God. It's when our confidence is placed in God. Boldness is a by-product of developing a deeper understanding of who God is and who he created you to be. And here's the question that I want us to answer for the rest of our time together. How? How do I have boldness? How do we practically live bold lives as Christ followers and place our confidence and hope in the right things, not in the temporary or fleeting things like the world does? We are called to be built different. And I want to give us here today three ways that we can build boldness into our lives that are found within the story of Esther. And the first one is this, to remember those who were bold before us, to remember those who were bold before us. Esther did not become bold

simply by focusing on her present circumstances. She became bold because she knew she was a part of a people with a history. She was Jewish. She belonged to the same people who God delivered from slavery in Egypt, the same people God had led through the Red Sea, the same people God had won victory after victory for to give them the promised land. Esther was able to look back and recognize God has been faithful to his people before and he is gonna be able to be faithful to his people again. And boldness begins to arise when we remember what God has already done in our lives and in scripture and how his people have already responded to what he has done. And this is why God's word is so important, church. Like Charlotte talked about last week, that the Bible is chock full of people who were not perfect, who were not born more bold than others. They were the least likely people you or I would ever pick to be used by God, but God used them anyway. And Hebrews speaks to this in Hebrews 12, verse one. He says, therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. We are not the first Christian generation to live in a culture that does not understand us.

We are not the first generations to experience opposition and we are surely not the first generations to feel afraid in this world. We come from a long line of men and women, a cloud of witnesses, as Hebrews says, who lived through just as trying of times, but they also lived boldly because they knew God had been faithful to them before. So City First, my question to you guys is this, do you know your spiritual heritage? Do you live as if the same God who parted the Red Sea resides within you right now? That the same power that raised Christ from the dead resides within you, the Holy Spirit? Or do you need a greater and a deeper revelation of who God is so that you can receive a greater and deeper level of boldness in this life? Second thing that helps us build boldness in our lives is to surround ourselves with a confident community. Surround ourselves with a confident community. Esther did not become bold in isolation. Mordecai challenged her. He reminded her who she was. He reminded her who her people were. He reminded her what was at stake and that God had positioned her with those famous words in Esther, for such a time as this. And this right here is proof that who you surround yourself with in this life

directly speaks to the level of boldness you will have in this journey. You cannot continually surround yourself with people who place all of their confidence in temporary things and then wonder why your own faith feels weak. When everyone around you places their hope in things like popularity, politics, money, success, relationships, or even themselves, that shallow confidence they have will eventually begin shaping you. In Hebrews 10, verses 24 through 25 speaks to this. It says this, and let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another. The good news is this, that who you live closely to impacts your life, both good and bad. That when you live life closely with people who trust God, pray boldly, worship through difficulty, and remain faithful when obedience becomes costly, something will begin to arise inside of you, and it's boldness. You start not just seeing how God has worked in people's lives who lived thousands of years ago in scripture, you start seeing how God is working in the life of the person right next to you in church.

The person in your life group, the person who invited you here, and you start thinking, maybe I can trust God too. Maybe that boldness they exude in their walk with Christ, I can gain access to. And this is just one of the reasons why the church matters, just one of them, because we need to hear one another's stories, like Adan's. We need to hear testimonies of answered prayer. We need to worship beside people who have walked through hell and back, and still believe God is good. So who are you surrounding yourself with, City First? What are those people placing their hope and their confidence in? Because if you find yourself struggling with confident community, it's on you to find it. You can't just look. and be like, oh, it's not here. I look out into a sea of people, and I say, there is a confident community. People want a boldness, want a deeper relationship with Jesus. And just a shameless plug here, if you are struggling with finding confident community, I would encourage you, sign up for GrowthTrack. Get around a table with people who are also searching,

who are on the same path that you are, who are just desperate to understand who God is. And then if you're a youth or a young adult here, and you're not coming to Wednesdays, you need to. Because we have created ministries, atmospheres of people who are living boldly with their faith, who can encourage you, who can pray for you, who can go through this life with you so that you're not alone. There's a place for you here at City First Church. Here's the third way that we build boldness into our lives. We understand that our future is held by God. We understand that our future is held by God. Guys, can you give it up for that? Because it is. There's something fascinating about the book of Esther. I love theology, so I love diving deeper into scripture. And in the Hebrew text of Esther, God is never explicitly named. You do not read, and God spoke to Esther. You do not see a miracle like the Red Sea splitting and Moses walking through. There's no pillar of fire. There's no voice from heaven and no prophet ever declaring the word of the Lord in Esther. There's only two books in the entire Bible that are like that way, and Esther's one of them. But even though this is the case, when you read the story of Esther,

you cannot help but see God's sovereignty woven into the fabric of the story. And I would encourage you to read it sometime this week. Out of hundreds of women, Esther becomes queen. She just happens to be positioned inside the palace before the crisis even begins. The king extends his scepter. When approaching her, she knew could cost her her life. Haman builds a structure, the evil guy in the story, the enemy. He builds a structure intended for Mordecai's death, but he dies himself upon it. The decree intended to destroy God's people is thwarted and the Jewish people survive. And someone could look at these events individually and think it's coincidence. They could call it coincidence. But when you step back, you can see that an unseen God was authoring the entire story. It's like a red thread of his faithfulness throughout the entire thing. And the same is true for you. Esther teaches us that even when God is not obvious, he is still very much active. Esther did not know exactly what would happen when she walked into that throne room. She said it herself, if I perish, I perish. Her future was not secured through her own limited perspective,

but her future was secured in God. Her boldness did not come from knowing that everything would be painless. Her boldness came from knowing that regardless of the outcome, her life was ultimately in God's hands. So City First, as we close today, how boldly would you live if you truly believed your life was held by God? Your future was held by God. How differently would you speak? How much more boldly would you pray? What act of disobedience, or sorry, what act of obedience would you stop postponing? Because all of us have something that we know, man, God's asked me to do that, but I'm afraid. And you're afraid he won't give you the boldness, but he will. And I will say one thing that I believe God is calling each of us, not just the young generations, all generations here today, with no exception to anyone, what he's calling us to be bold in is our witness. It's our witness. And Revelation 12, verse 11 speaks to this. And they have conquered him, meaning the enemy, by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. Do you know how we fight our battles in this world, City First?

Not through Facebook comment sections. Not through standing on top of lunch tables and yelling really loudly. Through boldly proclaiming to those in our spheres of influence, Jesus' work on the cross, while also boldly proclaiming his work in our lives. The blood of the lamb and the power of our testimony. And there is a world out there, church, that is in desperate need of the message you have been told. You have not just received the gospel. You have not just experienced the gospel. You have been entrusted with the gospel. Paul says it in 1 Thessalonians, it's something you've been entrusted with. You have been entrusted with the greatest story, the greatest revelation, and the greatest news this world has ever been given. So church, what will you do with it? Will you keep it hidden? Or will you shine? Because God calls you the light of the world. for you is that you would share that news in your testimony and how God has worked in your life boldly. And as we close, my last question for you here, church, is this, what is God calling you to do today that feels like it's too big, too scary, or too much to ask? And I would encourage you to do what Esther did in this story, pray about it, seek godly advice about it,

and then act on it. Don't just keep it to yourself, bring it before God and others, and then act on it, knowing that the God of the universe is going to give you the boldness that you need. He's called you to it, and he has good plans for you. You do not have to know how the story will unfold to trust the one who's authoring it, the one who has good plans for your life, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you a hope and a preferred future. Let that encourage you today, church, that the God of the universe is gonna give you boldness for that thing. That situation in your mind that keeps coming up during this message, man, I need to be bold there. Never underestimate what God can do with a simple act of faith and a simple act of obedience, and he's with you in it. So let me pray over you today. Heavenly Father, we come before you today. God, I pray over the people in this room, the people watching online. God, we know areas of our lives where we need to be bold, where we need to be bold in our witness, we need to be bold in our love, we need to be bold in the joy of the Lord that you've given us. God, but we're scared, we're afraid,

but God, you promise us to go with us, before us, behind us, beside us, with us, through this life, and to give us a boldness that comes with that presence that never leaves us nor forsakes us. God, I pray that you would convict us where there needs to be conviction. Show us, God, how we can be bold in our families, bold in our schools, bold, God, to show generations in this world that we are set apart, that we are different, that we are peculiar, because we've realized something, that it is better for us to lose our lives and gain the plans that you have for us than to live according to our own desires or our own ideas of what we want our life to look like. So God, would we live with boldness? Would your Spirit empower us to be bold in this world? Would you do what only you can do in our situations and our circumstances? In Jesus' name, and everyone said, amen. Amen, church. Can you give it up for Jesus in this place? What an amazing message. You know, if you're watching today and you have not made the decision to make Jesus the leader and the forgiver of your life, we wanna give you an opportunity to do that right now.

And it all begins with just a simple prayer that you can pray after me. So if you wanna make that decision to follow Jesus today, pray this after me. Just say, dear Lord, I know that I've made mistakes and I need your forgiveness. I believe that you died for my sin. I now invite you to be the leader and the forgiver of my life. In Jesus' name, amen. We are celebrating with you. That's the best decision that you will ever make. And now that you've prayed that prayer, we have a couple of next steps for you. First, tell someone about the decision you made. We are not meant to walk alone. Secondly, we have a free resource just for you called New Beginning. It's a simple 14-day devotional. And as you start growing in your relationship with Jesus, this will help you to take those next steps. That's right. And when you sign up for this resource, you're also gonna receive a link to a few videos from Pastor Jeremy and Jen. And these videos are gonna guide you through how to pray, how to read the Bible, and how to build friendships that are Christ-centered. So as you start this journey, just please know that if there's anything

that we can do to help you, we wanna come alongside you. Shoot us a DM, shoot us an email, give us a call. We wanna help you in this journey of following Jesus. Then, after you walk through that New Beginning resource, a great next step to take is Growth Track. Growth Track starts on the first Sunday of every month. This is a great way to discover your God-given purpose and design. You can attend in person or online. If you'd like more information or wanna sign up, you can visit the app or scan the QR code. And finally, if you need prayer for anything, jump on the app and enter a prayer request there. We have people that are praying consistently throughout the week. The best thing you can do is to come back to church because when we gather together, we grow exponentially more. That's right. We love you and we're praying for you, church, and we will see you guys next week.