Daniel 2
April 10, 2016 • Shane Sikkema • Daniel 2
Daniel 1
April 3, 2016 • Daniel 1
You ever feel like living a faithful Christian life is an uphill battle? Like the deck is stacked against you? Like you're Sisyphus, pushing a massive boulder uphill, and when you're almost at the top, you gas out and the stone comes tumbling down the hill, almost crushing you in the process? There are so many temptations in this world, and so many more in the city. How in the world can you remain faithful and flourishing, instead of faithless and languishing? You ever feel like you're the absolutely only Christian in your circles of influence? Maybe one of the only Christians in your whole school, company, and or community? Perhaps in your whole city? Well, you feel like that, because in Boston, it's statistically true. Sometimes, the Christian life feels like you're living in a den with lions, who are ready to devour you alive. Sometimes, it feels like there are lions on the outside, and lions of the heart on the inside. Join us as we start a study through the epic book of Daniel and learn some timeless (and therefore, timely) lessons of how to live in the lion's den.
Daniel 3
April 17, 2016 • Daniel 3
Today we have the blessing of studying one of the most famous and beloved stories in all of Scripture: the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thrown into the fiery pit. It's a phenomenal testimony of the unwavering, ironclad, immovable faith of three young men, in the face of the most dire of circumstances. This text is chock-ful of faith-building and live-giving lessons. A primary question the text poses before us today is: am I going to declare the Lord to be my God, my primary allegiance, come what my, or will I bow to the multitude of glittering idols that the world present to me? The same battle these men fought, is actually waged daily in our hearts over much lesser issues. Furthermore, so many questions arise from the text: ~How can Nebuchadnezzar force everyone to worship this image he's built, immediately after he just proclaimed to Daniel, "Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings." ~Couldn't Shadrach, Meshach, and Abelnego have bowed down to this image in public, but still worshiped Jesus in their hearts? Why the brouhaha? ~Why didn't God save them before they are thrown into the fire? Didn't he cut it a little close there? ~Who was the fourth person in the fire pit with them? Join us as we answer these questions and more.
Daniel 4
April 24, 2016 • Shane Sikkema • Daniel 4
Do you ever feel like your own worst enemy? We’ve been walking through the book of Daniel, and we’ve seen how God is able to deliver us from our enemies and the trials of life. We’ve also seen how, at times, God chooses to not deliver us from our trials, but to deliver us by walking with us through our trials. Before any of this, however, God first needs to deliver us from the greatest enemy of all. Ourselves. The danger facing Daniel and his friends threatened their bodies, but the danger facing Nebuchadnezzar threatened his very soul. The threat of his own pride. Our culture sees pride as a virtue, but scripture tells us it is the deadliest sin. Pride is what made the devil the devil, and it led to the fall of mankind. Pride is at the root of every sin, every vice, and every evil the world has ever seen. It is also ironically humiliating. The great irony of pride is that while attempting to make ourselves into something more than human, we inevitably make ourselves into something less than human. Pride dehumanizes us and causes us to dehumanize others. It warps our desires and puts enmity between us and everyone else. Daniel 4 is one of the strangest stories in all of scripture. Pride was dehumanizing Nebuchadnezzar, so to address Nebuchadnezzar’s pride, God turns him into an animal (or at least causes him to think he is one for 7 years). Join us as we see how this played out in the life of King Nebuchadnezzar, and as we search for the key to unlocking the prison of pride and experiencing the freedom of humility!