ESSENTIALS PART 2: BOLDNESS AND CONVICTIONS
Here is a recap of Sunday’s message from Pastor Steve, “Biblical Boldness, Conviction that Won’t Shrink Back”
We opened with a hard truth, there is a version of Christianity that costs nothing, requires no courage, takes no risks, and never meets resistance. You can attend church, sing, believe the right things, and still never be tested. But that version is foreign to the Bible. Biblical faith has always required conviction, and conviction has always demanded boldness. Pastor made it plain, most believers do not struggle with knowing what is right, we struggle with having the courage to stand by it when it starts costing us something, relationships, reputation, comfort, control.
Pastor reframed boldness, the Bible does not treat boldness as a personality trait, it treats it as fruit that grows from the Spirit’s work in a surrendered life. Which means when boldness is missing, it is not because you lack confidence, it is because something is competing with conviction, fear of man, desire for approval, love of comfort. This message was not just for pastors and missionaries, it was for parents raising kids in a confused world, employees pressured to stay silent, and students navigating classrooms hostile to truth. At some point every Christian faces the moment where silence feels safer, but faithfulness is required, and the early church did not pray for safety, they prayed for boldness.
We then stepped into the context of Esther, God’s people were in exile, not in the promised land, not in power, living as a minority under Persian rule. Pastor defined exile as more than a location, it is the result of covenant breaking and it feels like bondage, darkness, and God’s absence. Many believers know that feeling, “Where is God?” Yet the core encouragement was this, God has never abandoned His people and He is not starting now. One of the most striking realities of Esther is that God’s name is never mentioned directly, yet His hand is everywhere. God often does His best work when we feel He is far.
The story moved quickly through a series of uncomfortable moments that exposed how fragile comfort driven cultures are. King Xerxes removed Queen Vashti after she refused to be displayed, and then in his wounded pride, he allowed oppressive lawmaking to follow. Pastor highlighted the point, comfort driven hearts cannot stand conviction. Then Esther enters the story, an orphaned Jewish girl in exile, raised by Mordecai, not a sheltered life, but one formed through loss, displacement, and pain. God often prepares His servants through unseen faithfulness before public influence.
When Haman rose to power and demanded honor, Mordecai refused to bow, and that conviction triggered rage, not only against Mordecai, but against all the Jews. A decree was sealed to kill every Jewish man, woman, and child and seize their property. Mordecai called Esther to act, and Esther faced the cost, approaching the king without being summoned could mean death. Pastor emphasized that boldness does not have to be loud, but it must be resolved, obedient, and willing to trust God no matter what. Mordecai’s words landed like a trumpet, if Esther stayed quiet, deliverance would come another way, but she and her household would not escape the fallout, and maybe she was made queen for such a time as this.
Esther’s response became the model of Spirit empowered courage, she called for fasting, committed herself to obedience, and said the words that define conviction, “If I must die, I must die.” Pastor pressed the warning and the invitation, conviction without boldness leads to condemnation, and that condemnation is never only about you, it impacts families, friends, and everyone connected to your obedience. The message closed by showing God’s reversal, the king remembered Mordecai’s overlooked faithfulness, Haman was publicly humbled, and Esther’s bold appeal exposed the enemy. In the end, the very instrument Haman prepared for Mordecai became the instrument of his own downfall, and God’s people were spared.
Practical takeaways:
• Boldness is not a personality trait, it is Spirit fruit grown through surrender and obedience.
• Conviction becomes real when it starts costing you something, comfort, approval, reputation, control.
• Silence can feel safer, but faithfulness is required, the early church prayed for boldness, not safety.
• Exile seasons do not mean God is absent, God’s name may feel unspoken, but His hand is still active.
• Comfort driven cultures resist conviction, do not be shocked when standing for truth brings pushback.
• Boldness does not have to be loud, but it must be resolved obedience that trusts God no matter what.
• Your “yes” to God is never only about you, it impacts your family, your city, and the people connected to your obedience.
• God specializes in reversals, what the enemy builds to destroy you can become the platform for his defeat.
Images that stuck:
• A cost free Christianity that never gets tested, contrasted with biblical faith that always demands courage.
• God’s people in exile, feeling like God is missing, yet watching His providence unfold quietly in the background.
• Mordecai refusing to bow, a single act of conviction triggering a crisis, then exposing the true cost of compromise.
• Esther calling a fast, stepping toward the king, and saying, “If I must die, I must die.”
• The seventy five foot sharpened pole meant for Mordecai, flipped by God into judgment on Haman.
Below are the verses that were read during the message.
Esther 1:10–12 (NLT)
On the seventh day of the feast, when King Xerxes was in high spirits because of the wine, he told the seven eunuchs who attended him, Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, to bring Queen Vashti to him with the royal crown on her head. He wanted the nobles and all the other men to gaze on her beauty, for she was a very beautiful woman. But when they conveyed the king’s order to Queen Vashti, she refused to come. This made the king furious, and he burned with anger.
Esther 2:5–7 (NLT)
At that time there was a Jewish man in the fortress of Susa whose name was Mordecai son of Jair. He was from the tribe of Benjamin and was a descendant of Kish and Shimei. His family had been among those who, with King Jehoiachin of Judah, had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. This man had a very beautiful and lovely young cousin, Hadassah, who was also called Esther. When her father and mother died, Mordecai adopted her into his family and raised her as his own daughter.
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.
Esther 4 (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.
When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed. She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it. Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed as her attendant. She ordered him to go to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him and why he was in mourning. So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the square in front of the palace gate.
Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews. He asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her. He also asked Hathach to direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.
Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai, “All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.” So Hathach gave Esther’s message to Mordecai.
Mordecai sent this reply to Esther, “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai, “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.
Esther 7 (NLT)
So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet. On this second occasion, while they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “Tell me what you want, Queen Esther. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”
Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared. For my people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. If we had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trivial a matter to warrant disturbing the king.”
“Who would do such a thing?” King Xerxes demanded. “Who would be so presumptuous as to touch you?”
Esther replied, “This wicked Haman is our adversary and our enemy.” Haman grew pale with fright before the king and queen. Then the king jumped to his feet in a rage and went out into the palace garden.
Haman, however, stayed behind to plead for his life with Queen Esther, for he knew that the king intended to kill him. In despair he fell on the couch where Queen Esther was reclining, just as the king was returning from the palace garden.
The king exclaimed, “Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace, before my very eyes?” And as soon as the king spoke, his attendants covered Haman’s face, signaling his doom.
Then Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Haman has set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy five feet tall in his own courtyard. He intended to use it to impale Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination.”
“Then impale Haman on it!” the king ordered. So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.
A closing encouragement from the service, God is still forming a people who will not trade truth for comfort. If you have conviction but no courage, you will shrink back when the pressure comes, but when the Holy Spirit strengthens you, boldness rises. Like Esther, you may be positioned for such a time as this, not to stay silent and stay safe, but to obey God with resolve. Comfort may feel like protection, but obedience is your covering. The same God who turned Haman’s weapon back on his head is still the God who defends His people when they stand, speak, and refuse to bow.