Daniel 6:1-5

Daniel 6:1-5 

English Standard Version (ESV) 

  The world needs more Daniels.  

  There have always, and will always be, plenty of high officials and satraps, people who look at the success of others with hatred and jealously in their hearts, seeking any possible way to tear them down.  Too often, our leaders give them those reasons, in some ways validating the efforts of those who seek out the destruction of others.

  What we need are more Daniels -- more people who are faithful.  I don't expect anyone to be perfect.  I'm certainly in no position to guilt trip anyone.  But faithfulness, the daily effort to seek God and live out faith in everything one does, this is the goal we should strive towards.  The life's work of setting the Kingdom of God before your eyes and heart each and every morning and pursuing everything in light of that goal.  The opportunity to express one's love for God by selflessly serving others and using one's gifts to the fullest extent.  

  May we endeavor to be a people whose enemies struggle to find grounds for complaint due to our faithfulness.

Daniel 3:26-30

Daniel 3:26-30 

English Standard Version (ESV) 

  If I sit too close to our fire pit, my clothes will smell like fire for days.  Singe some hair, and you'll know it by the smell.  However, these three walk out of a roaring furnace hot enough to kill the people throwing them into it and they don't even smell of fire.  They are miraculously unharmed, and Nebuchadnezzar takes this all in and praises God.  Not too long ago, he was willing to kill anyone not worshiping a false idol.  All of a sudden, through this dramatic act, Nebuchadnezzar is willing to fight to the death for anyone who speaks against the one true God.

  Our lives are transformed by God.  Hearts can change, minds can change.  We hear stories about dramatic transformations that still go on today -- I was listening to an old speech by Ravi Zacharias earlier and he was talking about a dramatic transformation at a chaotic prison due to the influence of one faithful disciple.  We love to hear these stories, and some people I talk to feel somewhat envious for not having a dramatic story.

  To answer that, I point to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  The King here undergoes a dramatic transformation, but it's only after seeing the steadfast faithfulness of these three.  They quite simply trusted God in every situation, and through their witness, others were brought to believe in God.

  There's a place for everyone in the story.  God never gives up on anyone, and God uses each of us to tell a dramatic story of grace and love.

Sermon for June 28, 2020 -- Romans 10

Today's sermon is from Romans 10, reaching back to Deuteronomy 30.  It focuses on how our words matter.

 

Daniel 3:19-25

Daniel 3:19-25 

English Standard Version (ESV)

  Everything we see is not always the full picture.  This is certainly true today, especially in a world where videos are edited in order to support agendas and details are sometimes omitted. It takes work to determine the entire scope of events.

  King Nebuchadnezzar was accustomed to knowing everything he needed to know.  He was king, after all.  But he failed to grasp there was a greater power than himself.  Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego, through their humility and faith, were vehicles through which God demonstrated a greater power.

  Prayers are not always answered in the way we want.  Events in the world are often beyond our understanding.  We usually have big questions for God.  Just because we don't see or grasp how God is at work, let us work to have a faith that trusts that God is present and at work in the world around us and in our lives and relationships, and may we pray for the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our hearts to better see the world and God's actions within it.