This past Sunday I started teaching a series in the book of Daniel—God’s character in our chaos.
You can listen to the lesson here.
The goal will be to try to understand more about God’s sovereignty in both seeing the big picture of prophecy but also in see how God providentially engages with individuals—who lived in difficult, antagonistic circumstances. So that we can learn how we are to live in a pagan land as we trust and wait for God to act.
In Daniel 1 we see how God was involved but also we were able to see Daniel’s character, conviction and courage as he dealt with a situation that challenged him. One element of this challenge required Daniel not only to act courageously but with great tact—wisdom, discernment and positive shrewdness.
Let me encourage you to go back over Daniel 1 and then engage with your small group with these questions.
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Small Group Questions |
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Engage—connect with each other 1. What worries you more the future or your present situation? Why? 2. What about your present situation makes you worry about the future? Encounter—read God’s Word to get to know Him 3. As you read the Daniel 1, look for what the author specifically credits God with. What does this show about God? Examine and Explore—what the passage says before you decide what it means, the begin to discuss the implications of this passage 4. Why were Daniel and his friends selected by the Babylonians? 5. What, specifically, did the Babylonians do to Daniel and his three friends? What were they hoping to accomplish? 6. What steps did Daniel take to try to get his way? Embrace—What is the one thing you need to know or do? What is your next step in response to this passage? 7. Daniel and his friends excelled in what they were taught. What does this teach you about being “in the world but not of it”? 8. Compare and contrast yourself to Daniel. How are you preparing not only to survive living in an ungodly culture, but thrive as an influence? 9. What about Daniel’s approach to the problem can I learn from and apply in a specific situation this week? |
In preparation for this coming Sunday let me encourage you to read Daniel chapter 2 (it’s a long chapter).
You may have heard the story—and there are biographical elements about Daniel we can learn from. But we will also focus on the big picture of prophecy (part 1)—to see what we can learn about God and His plan.
