A Story of Renewal

The Work of God – A Story of Spiritual Renewal takes us into Esther 4, where Queen Esther faces a crisis that forces her to choose between comfort and courage. Mordecai’s plea confronts her—and us—with a sobering truth: there are worse things than dying. To reject our God-given identity and mission is to lose our true selves. This sermon draws a sharp contrast between physical death and spiritual death, warning that insulation from risk and pain leads to apathy, numbness, and the slow erosion of our faith.

Drawing from the story of Esther, the prophetic words of Joel, the teachings of Jesus (Matthew 16:24–26), and the insight of C.S. Lewis, we see that spiritual renewal always comes through death—death to self, comfort, and self-preservation. Like Esther, we are called to step into the danger of obedience for the sake of God’s people and God’s glory.

The sermon addresses the Western church’s tendency toward comfort and compromise, quoting Michael Goheen on the dangers of consumerism and cultural accommodation. We are reminded that our fight is not against people but against spiritual forces that seek to lull us into apathy while the world remains enslaved to sin.

Esther’s turning point comes when she calls her people to three days of fasting, mourning, and prayer. In this act of dying to self, she finds the courage to intercede for her people, pointing forward to Jesus—the One who set aside heavenly glory, embraced suffering, and triumphed over death for our salvation.

This is a call to personal and corporate renewal. It is a summons to choose the way of the cross, to lose our lives for Christ’s sake in order to find them, and to embrace our true identity as God’s people. In a culture of sedation and distraction, God is calling us to wake up and follow Him into the costly, joy-filled work of His Kingdom.