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Esther 4 I've always been tall. I reached what turned out to be my adult height of 6' by age 13, and all through middle and high school, I was encouraged to play sports. All the sports! At my height, everyone assumed I'd be an asset to any team; even my performance in regular gym classes wasn't a deterrent. (Trust me, it wasn't pretty!) Many voices tried to influence me, ...
Keep Reading"And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14b) When parents go on vacation or do projects around the house, they include their children. When friends meet for lunch or to help others, they include their friends. When God planned a mass rescue of His people, He included His children and friends, the Jews Esther and Mordecai...
Keep Reading"Who knows but that you have come to a royal position for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14) Even if you don't play chess, you understand the basics. To win, you move pieces strategically, in a specific way, and for a specific purpose: capture others; surround the king. If you keep moving pieces around but never capture others, your pieces fail at their designated purpos...
Keep Reading"...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 together 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..." (Esther 4:14-16) Heading into fall, we ar...
Keep Reading"If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lameand are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel:It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth." (Acts 4: 8-10) On any given weekend, I do things connected to our Church. My family joins others for a small group Bible study on Friday. I might ...
Keep Reading"To stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, the rulers,elders, and teachers commanded Peter and John not to speak or teachat all in the name of Jesus. [They had already] seized them and put them in jail." (Acts 4: 17-19, 3) Recall a time you tried to effect some positive change. Did that go smoothly? Maybe you suggested a clothing or hair style chan...
Keep Reading"By what power or what name did you do this?" (Acts 4:7b) In Acts 3, some days after the Pentecost crowd had dramatically encountered God, Peter and John healed a man crippled from birth. Acts 4 opens with the local powers-that-be "greatly disturbed" (Acts 4:3) by this. They wanted to know "By what power or what name did you do this?" (4:7). After all, they were the ones...
Keep ReadingActs 4:1-31 Toward the end of the last school year, I hatched a master plan to teach our children how to cook entire meals from start to finish. They started by planning their respective meals together so we weren't eating pancakes three days in a row. Then they made a list of ingredients and helped shop their lists, followed by cooking, serving, and cleaning up. Voila! L...
Keep ReadingPeter and John replied, "Which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to him?... As for us, we cannot help speakingabout what we have seen and heard[The believers] raised their voices together in prayer to GodNow, Lord,consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness." (Acts 4:19-20, 29-30) After a month-long break for our fant...
Keep ReadingThank you to all our readers! Our writing team very much enjoys crafting these daily readings for the beloved community of Chatham Church. It's a joy and privilege to serve in this way, and we deeply appreciate the positive comments and feedback we receive from you. We'll take a brief break for the rest of July, but we'll be back at it come early August. We're already m...
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