God’s Working Behind the Scenes | Made for the Moment | Ashley Wooldridge

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I'll take you at your word If you said it, I'll believe it

I've seen how good it works If you start it, you'll complete it I'll take you at your word You've always been faithful You've always been good Yeah I'll take you at your word Yeah I'm calling on the God of Jacob Whose love endures through generations I know that you will keep your covenant I'm calling on the God of Moses The one who opened up the ocean I need you now to do the same thing for me Come on, now let's claim our dependence on God Let's declare this together Come on, lift your voice and sing Oh God, my God Oh God, my God, I need you now I need you Yes, we need you, Lord Oh rock, oh rock Yes, we're standing on On your faithful name I'm calling on the God of Mary Whose favor rests upon the lowly I know with you all things are possible I'm calling on the God of David Who made a shepherd boy courageous I may not face good life But I've got my own trials Oh God, my God, I need you Oh God, my God, I need you now

How I need you now Yes, I do Oh rock, oh rock of ages I'm standing on your faithful name On your faithful name You have always been good You heard your children You hear your children now You are the same, God You are the same, God You answered prayers back then And you will answer now You are the same, God You are the same, God You were providing You are providing now You are the same, God You are the same, God You moved in power then God moved in power now You are the same, God You are the same, God You were a healer then You are a healer now You are the same, God You are the same, God You were a saviour then You are a saviour now You are the same, God You are the same, God

Oh God, my God, I need you Oh God, my God, I need you now ♪ How I need you, yes I do ♪ ♪ Oh rock-a-rock-a-baby ♪ ♪ I'm standing on your faithfulness ♪ ♪ On your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Here I stand on your faithfulness ♪ ♪ And on my own ♪ ["I Can't Stop the Feeling"] ♪ Hm, hm-mm-mm, hm, hm-mm-mm-mm ♪ ♪ Hm, hm-mm-mm, hm-mm-mm-mm ♪ ♪ Hm, hm-mm-mm, hm-mm-mm, hm, hm-mm-mm-mm ♪ ♪ Hm, hm-mm, hm-mm-mm, hm, hm-mm-mm, hmm-mm, mm-mm ♪ ♪ Father, you've done what you said you would ♪ ♪ Carried me through like I knew you could ♪ ♪ You have been faithful, so, so good ♪ ♪ You have been faithful, so, so good ♪ ♪ I know you've heard every prayer I've prayed ♪ ♪ My faith may have wavered, you stayed the same ♪ ♪ You have been faithful, so, so good ♪ Thank God I will trust. ♪ I will trust in your name forever ♪ ♪ You're my provider, my defender ♪ ♪ Here in your presence, I'm resting assured ♪ ♪ You've been nothing but faithful, nothing but good ♪ We will need that. ♪ I know the days ahead are troubled and trials yet to come ♪ ♪ You will be faithful, you're just that good ♪ ♪ You're just that good, we know ♪ ♪ Lord, I will trust in your name forever ♪

♪ My provider, my defender ♪ ♪ Here in your presence, I'm resting assured ♪ ♪ You've been nothing but faithful, nothing but good ♪ ♪ You've been nothing but faithful, nothing but good ♪ If you feel comfortable today, would you lift your hand and surrender with us? Release control, place all your trust in him for he cares for you, come on. ♪ I lift my hands, holy surrender ♪ We sing. ♪ Hallelujah, I lift my hands, holy surrender ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, I lift my hands, holy surrender ♪ His power is made perfect in our weakness. ♪ Hallelujah, I lift my hands, holy surrender ♪ His grace is sufficient. ♪ Hallelujah, come be praised, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Yeah, hallelujah, God I will trust in your name forever ♪ ♪ You're my provider and my defender ♪ ♪ Here in your presence, I'm resting assured ♪ ♪ You've been nothing but faithful, nothing but good ♪ ♪ You've been nothing but faithful, nothing but good ♪ ♪ Nothing but faithful and nothing but good ♪ ♪ We need nothing but faithful and nothing but good ♪ Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for singing with us. You can have a seat. Well, happy Mother's Day. My name is Rachel and I have the honor of serving as one of the pastors here. And I just wanna be the first to say thank you to all of our incredible moms, all that you do, all that you manage, all that you care for. We are so grateful for you. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. But I do know motherhood can be messy. I've got three kids and I have so many stories of the messes that they have gotten into and I'm sure you have lots to share with me too. But life can also be messy sometimes. And there have been seasons where I have had to lean into the words that we just sang in that last song, that God wants nothing but good, even when we're walking through really tough seasons. The last couple of weeks I've had the privilege of walking through some really tough things with a few women here at our church. And maybe that's where you are today. Maybe you're estranged from one of your kids. Maybe your marriage is struggling. Or maybe you've just had a recent diagnosis

and you're having a really hard time believing that there is good in that, that God will be good through it. But this past week, as I was reading through John nine, I was really encouraged. It's a story of Jesus walking past a blind man. And here in verse six, it says, "'Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva "'and put it on the man's eyes. "'Go,' he told him, "'wash in the pool of Siloam.' "'So the man went and washed and came home seeing.'" And I can only imagine what the blind man is thinking. He was probably hoping for immediate sight, immediate miracle, and instead he was covered with mud and spit and told to go. And I did some research this week that the pool was actually almost a half a mile from where he was. And he's probably literally thinking, how could this have gotten worse? I now am still blind. I now have mud and spit on my face and I've gotta walk almost a half a mile. But I think what the blind man learned is that just because it was messy didn't mean God wasn't working. And as he took those few steps, he was right in the middle of a miracle. And that's exactly what we remember when we take communion together every week here at CCV,

is that when Jesus went to the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, it looked like defeat, it did not look like victory. But we know that even when it seemed like it was the worst moment, God was doing his greatest work. So as we take communion together today, if you're discouraged, if you're tired, if you're anxious, if life is messy, know and trust that God is still working and that you might be right in the middle of a miracle. Will you pray with me? God, we thank you that you are good. We thank you that you are faithful. God, we know that you are working. God, help us to see that. Even when we don't see what you're doing, God, help us to trust you. It's in your name we pray, amen. Amen. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ It's me. I just called to say I love you. I can think of several times you've literally given the shirt off your back And you just serve everyone you meet. You're my biggest cheerleader. You always show up for people and you've taught me that And there's not a day that goes by that I don't thank God for you. I love you mom. Happy Mother's Day

Hey Misty, happy Mother's Day I'm just so grateful for you on this Mother's Day that You were brave enough to give me and my brother up for adoption when you were unable to care for us and Just what a selfless act that was and how hard that must have been for you. I love you. I miss you so much Happy Mother's Day Hi mom, I just wanted to call you to tell you happy Mother's Day and let you know how much I admire you I want you to know that growing up watching everything that you went through with my brother I don't think that I fully understood your strength back then But now as a mom myself, I see it so differently I see how hard that must have been and yet you never let it take away your love Your faith or the way that you cared for us I want you to know you've shaped me into the mom that I am today and I'm so grateful for you I love you so so much Happy Mother's Day, mom You Can we celebrate the moms one more time across all our campuses we celebrate you we love you Thank you so much for what you do I believe being a mom is the Toughest job in the world. Okay, and it's not even close. Can I can I prove it? Tell me a job where you have to work over a hundred and thirty-five hours a week All right, you're you're on call 24 7 you have regular 3 a.m. Meetings with an insomniac All right, you get no breaks. No bonuses. No sick days. No vacation days And apparently when you have little kids, you can't go to the bathroom alone ever. You know saying What skills do you need to be a mom like what's required on the job description? I don't know simply you have to be an expert in medicine nursing culinary arts You have to know the life 360 app really well You know saying you have to have conflict resolution skills You have to know counseling and therapy have to be a prayer warrior an uber driver a referee a crisis negotiator

sometimes with the terrorist and You run a full-time lost and found for little people that lose things while it's in their own hands, right? It's like you tell me a tougher job than that. So right up front I just want to say as I'm preaching on Mother's Day this weekend. I just want to say moms we see you we value you and the impact you have on all of us is immeasurable and I Also want to just acknowledge before I move on That I just know this is a hard day Also for so many people while we celebrate moms. There are people in the audience right now that just lost a mom There's people here like That you've been trying to be a mom for a long time This is a hard day We're just going through something tough. And so I just want to say we see you We're here for you And I want to open today just before we get into the message just praying for for all of us for God to just speak And move today. So let's let's pray together father. I thank you for moms and I thank you for those that want to be moms I Thank you for what you're gonna do today to just speak into all of our lives as we try to get into your word To just let you speak to us no matter what season we're in and would you just bless our time together in Jesus name? We all said Amen. Amen. Well crazy excited today because we're starting a three-week series starting today Walking through the Old Testament book of Esther if you don't know much about Esther Esther is a woman that is actually a hero of the faith Incredible incredible story. So very appropriate that we start on this weekend And I want to start our time in the book of Esther just asking you a question and here's just a question I want you to just ponder with an open heart. When is the last time? That you just couldn't see God in your circumstances Like you're going through something and you're just like God I can't see you I can't hear you I don't know where you're at. Like this is not making sense. In fact, you might even say to God God

It feels like you're on Not on it. Like you're you're asleep at the job. Where are you at? And my guess is Most of us have been there. I know I've been there more times than I want to count. And it could be that you're there today because you did just lose someone. You just got a health diagnosis that's really tough. And you're like, God, where are you in this? Or maybe you just got passed up for a promotion or your finances are really in a mess. There's so many ways in which we would look at God and say, God, I can't see you. I can't see you. And what if I told you that when it seems like God is absent, that may be when he's up to his greatest work in your life. That is the book of Esther. I mean, it's an incredible book because in the book of Esther, it's 10 chapters. It's not a short book. And it's the only book in the entire Bible where God's name isn't mentioned one time. There's no other book like that. And you might think, well, if God's name isn't mentioned in the book, then he's not moving. And if you thought that, you'd be dead wrong. Esther is one of the most miraculous moves of God in all of scripture. And so what I want you to see right up front, this is gonna be a big theme today.

It'll be a theme throughout this series. What the story of Esther teaches us is that God may seem invisible in the moment, but he will be undeniable in the outcome. Can I say it again for somebody today? God may be invisible in your moment right now, but you have to trust with everything inside of you that he will be undeniable in your outcome. And listen, if you can't see God today, this series is for you. The series is called Made for the Moment, and you were made for this moment. So let's get right into Esther chapter one. And what I wanna do as we get into Esther chapter one today, if you wanna turn there, is I wanna set the stage for the book of Esther. The history behind the book of Esther is epic. And as I give it to you, it's gonna help you understand really as we open the book of Esther where we're headed. Esther chapter one, starting in verse one, says this. This is what happened during the time of, say it out loud, of Xerxes. Some of you are like, I don't even know how to pronounce it. What are you asking, yo? Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over the 127 provinces stretching from India to Kush. I wanna remind you right up front, the Bible is not fiction. This is a real book. It's history, and it's not made up. In fact, there's not been one archeological find.

There hasn't been one historical find that has discounted what the Bible says. And so right up front, I want you to see, this is real history. If you're a history buff, I love history. This Xerxes is who you studied about in history. He's the ruler over the Persian empire at this point, the most powerful nation in the entire world. And Xerxes is a kind of epic figure. You may have heard of him. Does anybody remember the movie 300? Anybody remember this movie 300? Remember the Greek Spartans? It's like 300 Greek Spartans are gonna take on the entire Persian army against two. Xerxes, it's the same exact Xerxes. If you watch this movie, this is how Hollywood depicts him. That's the same Xerxes we're reading about in the Bible today. This is real history. Now, here's what's going on in the book of Esther that's kind of epic so you can understand what's happening in history, okay? Before Xerxes became the king of Persia, his dad Darius was king and he went to war because he wanted to conquer the Greeks. So he went to destroy the Greeks and he got blown out in the naval battle, the naval battle of Marathon if you're a history buff. So he gets defeated and he comes home and he's like,

we gotta go back and defeat the Greeks again. But when he comes home, he dies. He dies and his son Xerxes takes over and Xerxes is like, we gotta go back and defeat the Greeks, which that's the movie 300, that's what happened, right? As he's going back to try to defeat the Greeks and Leonidas and these 300. So what happens is the book of Esther picks up before the movie 300 as Xerxes is a new leader trying to rally the troops to go to war against Greece. So what Xerxes is doing, if you're a new leader in your work or job, sometimes there's insecurity. You're like, how am I gonna rally the troops? Xerxes is like, how am I gonna convince all the nobles? How am I gonna convince all the military commanders? We just got defeated that we should go back and do it again. So you know what he does to try to convince everybody to go to war? He throws a kegger. No joke. I mean, you're gonna see it really quickly. He throws a party to blow all parties off the roof, okay? Watch this, and that's the background. He's gotta convince everybody to go, so he's gonna throw a kegger, watch this. It says this in verse three. And in the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all of his nobles and officials, the military leaders of Persia and Media.

So here's all the people he's gotta convince, right? The princes, the nobles of the providences were present. And for a full 180 days, he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. So he's gonna throw a party for 180 days. And you're gonna see the alcohol flow in a minute. Just hold there, okay? So he throws a party for 180 days, 180 days is up. Now watch this party animal. What do you do when the 180 days is up? He says this, verse five. When those days were over, the king gave a banquet another seven days. So to celebrate the party, he throws another party for another seven days. This party would make any fraternity, sorority party you've ever been to look tame. Because watch this. It says in verse nine, wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other. And the royal wine was abundant in keeping with the king's liberality. And some of you are like, that's the kind of party I'm talking about. Guy's gonna bring the alcohol. He's got it everywhere, right? And then it says this, it's kind of crazy. Verse eight, by the king's command,

each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions. You know, sometimes you see like there's bands at like five drinks only. There's no restrictions at this party, zero. It says the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man as he wished. Have you ever been to a place where people are hammered drunk? Nervous laughter. You know what I'm saying? Has anybody ever been to the Waste Management Open at the end of the day? I told you earlier this year, I had this crazy cool opportunity to play in the Pro-Am on Wednesday. The Pro-Am's really tame by the end of the day. So many of you came out, which was so fun to see so many of you out there. And by the end of the day, those of you from CCV, we're not drunk. Way to go, you know? But I have been to the Waste Management Open at the end of the day on Friday and Saturday. Do you know what I'm talking about? People are like, I mean, people can't even stand up. They're like falling on the ground. They're stumbling all over themselves. They are wasted. Do you think after 180 days and then seven days of no limit drinking,

you think anybody's drunk? They're wasted. What happens when men or women get drunk over and over and over again? What happens is they make really, really dumb decisions. And this is probably just a point in the message to just pause, and if you just let me just kind of pastor someone today. Alcohol is really dangerous. I've never been a pastor that says don't drink, or I have never been that pastor. Very honestly, Jamie and I, we'll have a drink here, there's also wine, but I'm not saying don't drink, but what I am saying is this, is that some of you, alcohol is destroying your life. And you're making poor decisions. You're cratering a family. You're destroying the people around you. And I just wanna say, if you can't go a day without a drink, you have a problem. And we wanna help you. We have pastors, and our Next Step Center, we have resources and rehab centers and counseling places that would come alongside you and help. So if you need help today, I just wanna pause and say get help, because what alcohol does, we know this, when it gets abused, it can take even the best people and cause them to make horrible decisions. And we're gonna see this play out in this story.

Watch what happens in verse 10. It says, on the seventh day, this is the seventh day of this kegger party, when King Xerxes was high in spirits from wine, AKA wasted, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him. He says, hey, hey, bring before him Queen Vashti wearing her royal crown. Now pause. Wearing her royal crown, he doesn't say to wear anything else. You see where I'm going? He says, wear the royal crown. He doesn't mention anything else. In order to display her beauty to all the people and the nobles who he's trying to impress, for she was lovely to look at. This is a man who takes his own wife and objectifies her and brings her into a party like a cabaret to display her in front of everyone else. And what Queen Vashti does is she refuses to come, which is exactly what she should do. Because listen, no woman should ever have to be objectified in front of a group of men, amen? Like no woman should have to put up with that ever. And so what happens is like throughout history, women at certain times and in certain places have been objectified. They've been degraded. And I just want you to know the way of Jesus is never to degrade women, ever, ever.

Jesus took women and he elevated them and he respected them. And I just wanna say to the men of CCV, men, we should lead the way as men of CCV of never objectifying women, but lifting them up and making them the princesses and like children of God that they are. Can we be that kind of church, men? Can we like, can we be that kind of church? Can we wanna be that kind of church? So I just wanna set the stage for this is what's happening in the book of Esther. So God is gonna enter Esther into this environment and he wants to use her to do something miraculous. So if you're taking notes today, here's the first thing we learn from the book of Esther. God can use people in even the most godless places. I mean, you talk about a godless place. I mean, look what's going on. And here's the issue that some of you have. Some of you, you are in a godless environment right now. Like every time you walk into your workplace, it feels godless. Maybe your neighborhood, maybe some of the friendships, it just feels godless. Maybe the school you attend. For some of you, and this is really hard, the family that you're in or the home you live in, it's a pretty tough, brutal, you might say godless environment. For some of you, the godless environment

is just what happens inside your own head. Like every day, there's just kind of thoughts going on and it's just so tough. And you know what most Christians do? Or I should say a lot of Christians do when they get into a godless environment? They just freeze and do nothing. And sometimes they hide. And the reason why is because we think to ourselves, how could God use me in a godless environment? And if you think that, I want to challenge your thinking. Because I think God sometimes does his best work in the godless environments. When I first started working right out of college, you know, I worked in the business world for about 10 years before I became a pastor. And I just want to know, I've seen it, guys. I've seen what happens sometimes in business environments. I've seen it bad. I've seen it rough. I've seen it brutal. And what I have found is what many of you have found is that the light shines brightest in the darkness. So if you are designed to be that light, no matter where you are, why would you hide that light just because you're in a dark place? That's the place that God wants to use you and shine you the most. So one of the things we learned from Esther is God doesn't need perfect circumstances to use you.

God's not intimidated by evil leaders or broken systems or bad places. He can do his best work sometimes there. So we're gonna watch in Esther that Esther hits the scene in a godless place. And what happens is Queen Bashti is disposed because in that culture with women, you can't deny a man. Like in that culture, you're gone. So she is disposed as queen. And then this group of godless, drunken men come up with a crazier idea because that's what drunk people do. You know what they decide to do? We got to find a new queen. So here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna create a combination of Miss Persia and The Bachelor. They do this contest seriously. So here's what they do. Watch this, Esther chapter two, verse two and three. Then the king's personal attendants proposed, let's do a search, let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. Bring all these beautiful young women into the harem in the citadel of Susa. Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Bashti. So thousands of women. And then this ridiculous line,

I think this is like ridiculous. This advice appealed to the king. Of course it did. A bunch of sick guys sitting around going like, let's do this. So into this broken, toxic, male-dominated system steps a young woman named Esther. She's one of the contestants. As you read on in chapter two, and I really encourage you, we're gonna cover chapter two, or chapter one, a little bit of chapter two today. As you read on, what you're gonna see in Esther is you're gonna see her background, and we see her background, and what you see is her background is one in which you would never expect her to be used by God in this context. I mean, she's got everything going against her. Like strike one, strike one, she's a Jew. exiled from Israel now to this part of the world. So they've been exiled and people look down on Jews, like you're not elevated, like you're a nobody as a Jew. So she's a Jew, that's strike number one. Strike number two, she's a woman. It's hard for us to imagine how women were viewed in this culture at this time. Like picture how women are viewed in Iran right now, or parts of the Middle East. And it was 10 times worse back then.

Guess where, you know they said they're in Susa, this is Persia, do you know where this took place? Can I show it to you on a map? Where the book of Esther took place? It's in modern day Iran. And if you think it's bad in the Middle East or Iran today for women, imagine it being so much worse in Esther's day. They got no rights, anything? So you look at, this is happening in Iran, there's the Strait of Hormuz I put on there because we got the war going on right now, right? And I just think it's very interesting, by the way, that we planned this series last year. I think it's interesting how God intersects us in series with just kind of sometimes what's going on with world events, isn't that interesting? That's just how God moves. But here she is, she's a Jew, she's a woman, and lastly, she doesn't have a good background. Doesn't have a good pedigree. You know, what we learn about Esther is actually her parents died, likely when she was very young, who knows if she ever knew them. She's been maybe thrown into exile the most worst of circumstances, and we learn that her uncle, Mordecai, adopts her. And who knows how she's treated, who knows what's going on, but she has all these strikes against her.

In other words, if you were picking a new queen or someone that's gonna save God's people in this time, which is gonna happen from annihilation, Esther isn't exactly positioned as an impact player. She's not like the top of your draft list. And yet, the second thing we learn from Esther, and this is a theme throughout scripture, is God specializes in using the least likely people to do the most important things. Let me say it again for somebody. God specializes in using the least likely people to do the most important things. And when I say least likely, I'm talking about you. Those of you that would call yourselves like, I'm pretty unlikely for God to do something big in my life. I would've put myself in that category for so many years. I grew up never, ever, ever having some vision that God's gonna use my life in any way. Now, I don't mean on a stage, you understand? That doesn't mean God's using you. I mean just out there making an impact for Jesus. I just didn't see that with my life. And yet, I had a mom, if I can just call out my mom today, for all you godly moms out there, just moms that wanna be godly. I had a godly mom. I'll never forget the first time she told me this. I was standing next to a piano. She's a piano teacher. And she just turned over, I'll never forget it.

She said, Ashley, I just believe God has something special planned for your life. And I wasn't sure I believed it, but it was a seed planted in my heart. My mom had no, I didn't tell my mom what I was preaching today. And Saturday morning at 7.01 a.m., this is the text I got from my mom. She said, I always told you that God had something special for you. I'm praying for you every day. I also say for you moms and dads out there, don't ever discount the life that you can speak into your kids and the seeds that are planted that will grow. So, God takes very unlikely people and he uses them for the extraordinary. It's all through scripture. I mean, think about it. David is a shepherd. That's a nobody and he becomes a king. Rahab is a prostitute and God uses her and she's in the lineage. Jesus comes from Rahab's lineage. Moses stutters, he can't even barely speak and God uses him to lead his people out of slavery, over a million people out of slavery. And even the disciples. Did you know all the 12 disciples were kinda, most of them were just nobodies.

I mean, think Peter and John who became the leaders of the early church that changed the world. Listen to what we're told about then in Acts four, when they saw the courage of Peter and John, they realized they were unschooled, ordinary men. Nobodies, but they were astonished and they took note because these men had been with Jesus, which means when you give Jesus your life, he takes unschooled, ordinary people and does the extraordinary. So, don't you ever believe the lie that God can't use you. If God can use Esther to change history and she's like, nobody in this situation, he can use you. And so man, let me just lean in, whatever God's been nudging some of you with today, like it's time to step up. and serve, it's time to take a risk at work, it's time to do something in your family that's gonna be big that can change the trajectory of your family. Man, step up, do it, because God wants to use you and you might be thinking, oh, I don't know, I just can't see it. Let me remind you, God may be invisible in the moment, but he'll be undeniable in the outcome if you'll keep taking steps of faith. And you might be thinking, okay, well, how did God use Esther? What did he use her to do?

What amazing thing did he use her to do? You gotta come back next week. We're just entering the story, but what we see at the end of our time today, we're just gonna go halfway through chapter two, is we see that Esther's one of probably thousands of girls that are in this contest, and by God's providence, she wins. She becomes the queen, not just the queen, but God is gonna use her to save all of her people from annihilation, and I just want you to put yourself in her shoes. Her whole life, she's probably wondered, God, where are you? I don't see you. Maybe she's been abused, maybe she's been overlooked, maybe who knows what she's gone through, but she's had one of the hardest lives imaginable, and maybe that's where you are today. In fact, I know it is, because I'll read over, a lot of times, the prayer requests that come into CCV through our app and through our website. You can always submit a prayer request. We always have a prayer team at the front after the service, but I'll read over these prayer requests and pray over them, as we have a team and many people doing that to just lift up this church to God, and when I read those prayer requests, I think to myself, there's a lot of people, there's a lot of people, I'm sure,

wondering, God, where are you? I read the health challenges that are out there. I read about people that have loved ones that have health challenges and just wondering, like, God, where are you? I've seen so many people pray that they would be able to have a baby. I mean, it's just, I see it all the time, and I'm praying for those people that are just trying and had a miscarriage or something's going on. There's some of you have the prodigal child or your marriage is experiencing something tough. Maybe you just went through infidelity or maybe you're managing a blended family situation that's just really, really tough, or financially, you're not sure how ends are gonna meet. Last weekend, I was on our Levine campus, and I met a woman, her name's Loretta, and when I met her, she had three little kids in front of her, and she described, and she said, I'm a single mom doing it all alone, and I just, I saw the faith in her eyes of how she's just trying to move forward, but I thought to myself, man, it's gotta be tough some nights. It's gotta be tough some days when you're thinking, where is God in all this? And what I want you to know or just feel today is that just because you can't see God doesn't mean he's not moving.

The book of Esther is 10 chapters, over 5,600 words, a godless king is mentioned over 192 times in the book of Esther, and the name God is not mentioned once. And I've kind of thought to myself, like as I studied this book, I thought, God, why wouldn't you just insert it one place? Like, just once, and I really believe because God wants to show us that just because you can't see me doesn't mean I'm not moving in the most miraculous ways. God may seem invisible in the moment, but if you will lead with faith and keep stepping forward, he will be undeniable in the outcome. So let me just summarize today. God can use people even in the most godless places, don't you deny it. I don't care where you're at today, God can use you. God specializes in using the least likely people to do the most important things, and man, just because you can't see God doesn't mean he's not moving. Some of you today have no idea what hangs in the balance of you not giving up just because you can't see God. In fact, I wanna make it a little weighty for you. Some of you have no idea, not only the legacy that you will have to give to your kids, but the legacy of generations of kids watching you go through with faith what you're going through and not giving up.

and they see you wrestle, but they see you stand strong. There's a woman in our church that I know her story pretty well. And she has an incredible story of just living a lot of her life, not seeing God, but eventually choosing to trust God. And her journey is a lot like some of you. It's a journey of pain and really deep abuse. And wondering, and so I'm gonna show you her story in just a moment, but before I do, I wanna remind all of us that every weekend we have a prayer team up front, we have pastors to serve you, because as you watch this story, this story may spur something in some of you that you just need to talk to someone. You need prayer. And I just know that God wants to bring healing today because just because you can't see God doesn't mean he doesn't have an outcome. That will be undeniable. Let's watch this. In my childhood, when I was very little, it was good. We didn't have a whole lot, but it was good until people started making choices where they thought alcohol was the answer. And as soon as that entered our life, it became a nightmare. It was hard all the way around because when you smoke two and a half packs

of cigarettes a day and you have a bottle by your chair and you're off to the bar and you're drinking on and off all day long, how is there enough money to take care of your children? How do you feed them? How do you clothe them? Those things are expensive. Those are poor choices made by people and the children suffer for that. And so my brother went to work very, very young at like 14 and tried to supplement that. And so did I in any way we could help take care of all the younger children. I would shovel snow, cut grass and babysit all the time. My aunt caught. My mother anointed me to babysit for her little babies. And my mother said, sure, she'll come and help. So I went to babysit and they always said, we live too far across town. So she needs to spend the night. I was very young. And my aunt and uncle sexually molested me for many years. It was very difficult, very hard. But in order to protect my mother because my aunt was her best friend, I chose to continue to babysit when I was 15. My aunt called on the phone and she said, can Sheila come and babysit the kids tonight? And I could hear my mother. And she said, yes, she'll come.

And when she hung up, I said, I'm not going. I'm never going again. I was hoping that that would end everything and it would all be over with. But an hour later, my aunt called back. She said, can my 10-year-old sister come and babysit? I knew then I had to protect my sisters no matter what. And it all came out and it was ugly. It was swept under the rug, never to be talked about again, but I would protect my sisters. I was in high school, 18 years old. I met a man, he was pretty amazing. He got to see me as a person. He didn't know my background. He didn't know anything. He just met me as a worker. I really liked him. And a few months later we were married. So I had two very difficult pregnancies. The first daughter and I both almost died, but God was so gracious. He allowed us both to live. Five years later, I was pregnant again with my second child. Would be a little tiny baby girl and both of us almost died once again. So in both cases, my heart softened. I was so angry and my heart softened a little bit each time knowing God was there and he was so good. I decided it was time for me to commit myself fully to God. So a couple of weeks after my...

Second child, I prayed and asked God to forgive me. Help me forgive those who hurt me. Help me make a difference in my children's lives so that they would never know the pain and suffering that I had to go through. I would give them a new life with God as their center. Sometimes we feel like God has left us and He's not there because sometimes He can be very quiet. It doesn't mean He's not working in the background. It doesn't mean that at all. But in the end, He is building something and working towards the end goal, and the end goal is greater than anything that you can even imagine. We went from two people to now 22 of us, and each one has a blessing that has been added to our life by God. One by one, He just continues to bless this family. We continue to try to show kindness and generosity because we love our Lord. Can we thank Sheila? Thank you. Some of you know this. Some of you don't. Sheila's my mother-in-law. This is Jamie's mom. This is Larry. They are founding members at CCV. Incredible family. Shawna, Jason. I want to just say a couple things to Sheila today. First of all, thank you for being so brave,

not just to tell your story, but being so faithful that even when you couldn't see God in those moments, you didn't stay bitter. You didn't stay angry. You turned your life over to God. And now what God has done is even though you couldn't see Him, now He's created something that is undeniable. And when I look at this stage, I see a legacy of faithfulness. Like our whole family. There isn't a couple people, but this whole family has faith. And by the way, we're big forgivers in this family. Like we're big forgivers. That's a core value of ours, and it comes from you. So I just think what hangs in the balance, and I just wonder if there's someone here today, that you have to see what hangs in the balance if you don't keep taking steps of faith even when you can't see God. This is a woman who God seemed invisible, but now His work is undeniable. And so I thought it'd be very appropriate if you would close our service praying not just for moms, but for everyone that needs that same faith and movement. Would you close us out in prayer? I'd love to. Okay. Would you pray with me? Father in heaven, on this Mother's Day, we thank you for every mother here. The new moms, the moms with teenagers, the empty nesters, the single moms, the moms waiting and trusting to become mothers.

But Father, we know that for many this is a hard day. Some are grieving. Some are struggling. Some are carrying the weight of abuse or trauma. Some are wondering, God, where are you? Today I want to remind you just because you can't see God doesn't mean He's not moving. I know what it's like to feel invisible, to question you, to wonder if you see my pain. But, God, you were there all along. You were working when I couldn't see it. I am living proof that love heals the brokenhearted, that forgiveness sets the captives free. You can take the darkest parts of our story and turn them into a testimony of your grace. Today, Father, I pray for every person who feels invisible. Help them to know that you see them. Help them to trust that you are working even when they can't see it. For the woman who's been hurt, help her to forgive so you can begin a new life in her. If I can forgive, so can they. If I can heal, so can they. If I can break the chains for the next generation, so can they. Help us to choose love over hate. Help us to choose forgiveness over bitterness. Help us to choose healing over hiding. And Father, let them know that CCV loves them. They are not alone. In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, can we thank Sheila one last time?

Yeah, yeah. Hey, everybody, happy Mother's Day to all you moms. We'll see you back next weekend as we continue our Esther series. Be blessed out there. We'll see you back next week. We'll see you back next week. We'll see you back next week.