GOD IS GOD AND I AM NOT (5 OF 5)
Scripture: Daniel 4:1-37
This content is part of a series.
God Is God and I Am Not (5 of 5)
Series: Resident Aliens
Dave Gustavsen
Daniel 4:1-37
Open to Daniel chapter four…
How do you deal with the tension of being a follower of God...in a culture that doesn't respect God or honor God? That's really the question that Daniel and his friends were trying to figure out.
And you can relieve that tension by going in two different ways, right? You can pull out and become like the Amish-and some Christians have chosen that route, right? Set up our own Christianized version of everything, so we don't get tainted by the world. Or, you could go to the other extreme and just blend in like a chameleon-and some Christians have gone that direction, haven't they? They just keep quiet about the gospel and they try to be really nice people.
The problem is, both of those ways cause us to lose our voice and lose any influence…and we know that Jesus has sent us into our culture to have an influence!
So our main model is the example of Jesus. But we can look through the Bible and find other examples of people living out that tension of being in the world, but not of it…and Daniel is one of those great examples. So we're focusing on the first four chapters of Daniel in this series; today is the last message from this series.
And here's a question for you: as we join God in building his kingdom in places like Babylon, or Northern New Jersey-what is the biggest thing that gets in the way? And some people would say, ''Oh-it must be Satan. Or it must religious pluralism.'' But it's not! The biggest barrier to God's kingdom being built in Babylon, or North Jersey, or in your own heart, is…you ready? Pride. It's pride.
And Daniel four is one of the great passages in the Bible that helps us to understand pride.
I can remember a Monday morning in November 1984…I was a senior in High School, and my alarm went off, and I swung my legs over the side of the bed, and all I felt was pain. All through my legs, deep in my muscle ...
Series: Resident Aliens
Dave Gustavsen
Daniel 4:1-37
Open to Daniel chapter four…
How do you deal with the tension of being a follower of God...in a culture that doesn't respect God or honor God? That's really the question that Daniel and his friends were trying to figure out.
And you can relieve that tension by going in two different ways, right? You can pull out and become like the Amish-and some Christians have chosen that route, right? Set up our own Christianized version of everything, so we don't get tainted by the world. Or, you could go to the other extreme and just blend in like a chameleon-and some Christians have gone that direction, haven't they? They just keep quiet about the gospel and they try to be really nice people.
The problem is, both of those ways cause us to lose our voice and lose any influence…and we know that Jesus has sent us into our culture to have an influence!
So our main model is the example of Jesus. But we can look through the Bible and find other examples of people living out that tension of being in the world, but not of it…and Daniel is one of those great examples. So we're focusing on the first four chapters of Daniel in this series; today is the last message from this series.
And here's a question for you: as we join God in building his kingdom in places like Babylon, or Northern New Jersey-what is the biggest thing that gets in the way? And some people would say, ''Oh-it must be Satan. Or it must religious pluralism.'' But it's not! The biggest barrier to God's kingdom being built in Babylon, or North Jersey, or in your own heart, is…you ready? Pride. It's pride.
And Daniel four is one of the great passages in the Bible that helps us to understand pride.
I can remember a Monday morning in November 1984…I was a senior in High School, and my alarm went off, and I swung my legs over the side of the bed, and all I felt was pain. All through my legs, deep in my muscle ...
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