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Challenging the Culture

How Daniel make an impact in his day

November 25, 2015 • Benham Brothers

• Daniel refused to compromise his convictions by not eating the king's meat.
• They were like chocolate chips in cookie dough, they mix in but don't blend.
• Daniel changed the culture for everyone because he challenged it.
• He threw out a challenge - watch me and then compare.
• This is the same mindset as Paul.
• vs 20 - the world is constantly comparing, so are we up for the challenge?
• Dr. Falwell - "if it's Christian it ought to be better."
• They received God's favor because they resolved to honor Him whatever the cost.
• We don't need to focus on being better, we need to focus on being faithful and God will handle the better.
• Changing the culture is a three-step process:
1) Throw out the challenge - let people know that God's ways are best.

2) Live faithfully - like chocolate chips in a batch of cookie dough, staying true to our form whatever the cost, even when the heat turns up. We mix in but don't blend in. This is the part that takes time. For Daniel it lasted 10 days but for us it will last much longer.

3) Allow for comparison - recognize that the world is watching and they need to see that what you're doing is better than what they're doing.

The Foundations of Church

January 15, 2013 • Benham Brothers

* Covenant with Noah (8:20) * Covenant with Abe (Gen 12) * Description of Covenant (Gen 15) 15 years later he had Isaac 1000 years later Moses came 2000 years later Jesus came Gen 9 - Civil Govt Gen 9:20-24 - Covering Nakedness * Ham - cursed because he didn't cover Noah (father of Canaanites) * Shem - father of Israelites * Japheth - father of Gentiles Gen 12 - First thing's first * The first thing Abe did when he came into a land was build an altar to show honor to the maker of the Covenant * When Abe told Sarah to lie he had not yet built the altar - he failed to do it first!

Huddle Up

January 10, 2014 • Benham Brothers

God's command was to multiply and fill the earth, but the people wanted to huddle up God's plan was for us to possess and take dominion, and we can't do that in a crowd They also wanted to build something that would make their names memorable They wanted to build something so tall they couldn't be flooded out again God confused their language, which was the opposite thing He did on Pentacost God waited until they spent a lot of time and money before He busted it up - He gave them time to repent Our natural tendency will be to huddle in a comfortable group and not go into all the world (our neighborhood)

The Cost of the Covenant

January 12, 2017 • Benham Brothers

* When God made a covenant with Abraham He required Abraham to honor it. * It was going to cost Abraham something in order to enter the covenant. * For him, he had to cut his junk. * He had to remove the needless skin from his unit. * Can you imagine this? He was 99 years old at this time. * The first blessing from God to man was procreation. * Now, the sign of the covenant required pain to enter it. * If Abe didn’t want the pain he didn’t get the covenant. * For us, to be in covenant with God it cost Jesus His life. * The price we have to pay is the same - to give up our lives. * But to remain in the covenant we have to endure the pain. * Are you willing to pay that price?