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Standing Strong | Part 2

Renewal
January 26, 2020

Standing Strong | Part 2

A Matter Of What Matters
How do we stand strong in a fast flowing culture that is trying to lure our trust and devotion to things that will ultimately bring death? Daniel understood that worship matters; who we place our trust in, our hope in, matters. Knowing that God is sovereign; the sense of comfort, that comes to those waiting for the arrival of His promises, the balm in the middle of uncomfortable surroundings and when everything seems lost, God is still working his purposes out. Worship matters in the midst of Sovereign matters.

Standing Strong
The book of Daniel is an active encouragement to give your life to Jesus, and to be courageous representing him in your generation. We have a clarion call not to lose our nerve, or let our faith be diluted amidst huge cultural pressures. We want to equip you to go against the flow. Daniel, through active faith, silent and prayerful wisdom, shows us how to stand strong.

To stand strong in the world today means to be on the solid foundation of the name of Jesus. To live for him in a culture, that feels like you are swimming against the tide, you’ll need the right values, the right food, and to know who you are. You’ll need wisdom, to be bold, to maintain integrity and hold to a strong witness. You’ll need Prayer, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit. Let’s be a Daniel, rise our heads above the parapet and resolve not to get swept away. Part One is Six Messages from Daniel chapter one, all looking at the changing world of Daniel, one that displaced God, built a contrary way of living but demonstrates the kind of person God calls each one of us to be.

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Renewal

January 26, 2020
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Transcript

  1. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his

    hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Daniel 1:2 (ESV)
  2. Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his

    Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Isaiah 44:6–8 (ESV)
  3. Let them declare what is to come, and what will

    happen. Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.” Isaiah 44:6–8 (ESV)
  4. What is an idol? It is anything that absorbs your

    heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give. Tim Keller
  5. lure our trust He prays to it and says, “Deliver

    me, for you are my god!” Isaiah 44:17b (ESV)
  6. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and

    the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half- hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. C. S. Lewis – The Weight Of Glory
  7. demand devotion And the rest of it he makes into

    a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. Isaiah 44:17a (ESV)
  8. bypass our reflection They know not, nor do they discern,

    for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” Isaiah 44:18–19 (ESV)
  9. deludes my heart He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart

    has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” Isaiah 44:20 (ESV)
  10. There is a great market for religious experience in our

    world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of christians called holiness. Eugene Peterson
  11. Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set

    your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:13–16 (ESV)
  12. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his

    hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Daniel 1:2 (ESV)
  13. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his

    hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Daniel 1:2 (ESV)