Esther - Part 3: In The Future

November 1st, 2026

MICRO CHURCH GUIDE
November 01, 2026

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

OneLife’s Angel Trees
This year OneLife is continuing our partnership with the McNabb Center’s Dear Santa program. The Angel Trees are up in the lobbies at each campus, so check them out and be sure to grab a tag! Gifts need to be returned to both campuses by Sunday, November 15th. Tags and more information will be available at the table next to the tree in the lobbies. Let’s work together to help make this a great Christmas for families across our community!

OneLife Students United Friendsgiving - November 18
Our Middle and High School students from both campuses are coming together for a Friendsgiving on Wednesday, November 18th! We’re creating space for students and leaders to gather around the table, share a Thanksgiving meal, and grow in meaningful community with one another. Invite your friends, and join us at the Ball Road Campus from 6:30–8:30pm.

Baptism
If you’ve given your life to Jesus but haven’t gone public with your story through baptism, now is the time to take that step! Baptism is an opportunity to publicly declare your faith, celebrate God’s work in your life, and take the next step in your journey with Jesus. We would love to walk with you through this process, answer your questions, and help you experience the joy of declaring your faith through baptism.
Mark the baptism box on your Connection Card, and we’ll help you get started!

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GIVE BACK
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Bottom Line: Today’s mess doesn’t define your future, God does.

Esther 3:1-6 NLT

Some time later King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite over all the other nobles, making him the most powerful official in the empire.All the king’s officials would bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by, for so the king had commanded. But Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect.Then the palace officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you disobeying the king’s command?”They spoke to him day after day, but still he refused to comply with the order. So they spoke to Haman about this to see if he would tolerate Mordecai’s conduct, since Mordecai had told them he was a Jew.When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage.He had learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.

1. Disobedience today impacts tomorrow.

Esther 3:8-9 NLT

Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live.If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.”

Esther 3:12-15 NLT

So on April 17 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king’s highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces, and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring.Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day.At the king’s command, the decree went out by swift messengers, and it was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion.

2. God sees the future that today’s mess is hiding.

Esther 4:1-3 NLT

When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail.He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning.And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.

3. God wants to walk with us through today’s mess.

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START TALKING:

This week we continued our journey through Esther and looked at how easily the messes we face can make us believe that our future has already been decided.

Sometimes our messes are the result of our own decisions. Sometimes we're dealing with the consequences of someone else's choices. And sometimes life throws things at us that we never saw coming.

In Esther 3, Haman's hatred leads to a decree threatening the destruction of the Jewish people. By the end of the chapter, it looks like their future has been decided. The city is in confusion, and God's people are facing a crisis they cannot see a way out of.

But the story isn't over.

We were reminded that even when we can't see how God is working, we can trust Him with our future. We can be honest with Him about our struggles, take the next faithful step, and allow others to walk alongside us.

The big truth from this message is:

Today's mess doesn't define your future, God does.

Discussion prompts:

Have you ever faced a situation that felt like it would define your future? What happened?

Why do you think we tend to assume that a difficult season will last forever?

What are some ways people allow their mistakes or circumstances to define who they are?

START THINKING:

Read Esther 3:1–6
What do we learn about Haman and Mordecai in these verses?
How does Haman respond when Mordecai refuses to bow down to him?
Why does Haman's response reveal that this conflict is about more than just one person?
How does the connection between Haman the Agagite and the story of Saul and Agag in 1 Samuel 15 help us understand the historical background of this conflict?
What does Saul's disobedience teach us about the potential consequences of our choices?

Read Esther 3:8–15
How does Haman manipulate King Xerxes into approving his plan?
Imagine being a Jewish person living in Persia when this decree is announced. What emotions might you experience?
In verse 15, the king and Haman sit down to drink while the city of Susa falls into confusion. What does this contrast reveal about the situation?
How might the Jewish people have felt forgotten or abandoned by God during this moment?

Read Esther 4:1–3
How does Mordecai respond when he learns about the decree?
What does his response teach us about grief and expressing our emotions?
Why is it important to understand that being faithful to God doesn't mean pretending everything is okay?
How does the larger story of Esther remind us that God's apparent silence doesn't necessarily mean His absence?

START SHARING:

The sermon reminded us that we often take what we're experiencing today and turn it into a prediction about tomorrow.

Have you ever allowed a mistake, failure, or difficult season to shape how you view your future?

What is the difference between taking responsibility for our past decisions and allowing those decisions to define us?

Why can it be difficult to trust God when we cannot see how He is working?

Have you ever experienced a season when you wondered where God was in the middle of your circumstances? What helped you navigate that season?

What makes it difficult for us to be honest with God or others about what we're really going through?

How can our church become a place where people feel safe sharing their struggles instead of pretending everything is okay?

START DOING:

The sermon challenged us to respond to our messes in three ways: be honest with God, do the next right thing, and don't go through the mess alone.

What is one situation in your life that you need to be more honest with God about?

What is one faithful step you already know you need to take, even if you don't know how everything will work out?

Who is one trusted person you can invite into your current struggles instead of trying to carry everything alone?

Is there an area where you've allowed your past mistakes or present circumstances to convince you that your future is hopeless? How can you begin changing that perspective?

What is one practical way you can help someone else who is walking through a difficult season?

What would it look like for us, as a church, to become people who trust God in the middle of the mess and help others do the same?

START PRAYING:

Pray together as a group:

Thank God that our past mistakes and present circumstances do not have to define our future.

Ask God to help you trust Him even when you cannot see how He is working.

Confess any areas where you've been trying to hide your struggles or handle everything on your own.

Ask God to give you the courage to take the next faithful step in the situations you're facing.

Pray for those in your group who are experiencing difficult or uncertain seasons, asking God to give them comfort, wisdom, and hope.

Pray that OneLife would become a church where people can be honest about their struggles, walk faithfully through difficult seasons, and carry one another's burdens.

Thank Jesus for entering into our brokenness and giving us lasting hope through His death and resurrection.

Remember: Today's mess doesn't define your future, God does.

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CONNECTION CARDS
Be sure to fill out the online Connection Card to let us know next steps, prayer requests, or other information you'd like to share, click here.
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MULTIPLICATION
Share spiritual/missional conversations you've had where you live, work, and play:
- Who did you have a conversation with that took a spiritual/missional turn this week?
- What questions did you ask to discover where God is at work in their life, even if they are not aware?
- How were you able to share your story of life change or how you have experienced Jesus?
- How can you be intentional this week with people where you live, work, and play to have spiritual/missional conversations if the opportunity arises?
- Who in your life do you think could be disciple-able or open to spiritual/missional conversations?
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WHAT'S NEXT?
- Discuss the next step for your micro church. When will we gather again, and which purpose will it fulfill (missions, fellowship/care, growth, worship, multiplication)?
- Discuss the next step for your micro church. When will we gather again, and which purpose will it fulfill (missions, fellowship/care, growth, worship, multiplication)?

Posted in Micro Church Guides