The Secret to the Christian Life

To get us to start thinking today, I want to start with some big questions.  Was seeking after God modeled for you growing up?  Was it normal for you to see the adult in your home put God’s kingdom first?  Was it normal in your home to see your Mom and Dad pray, read scripture, that led to becoming emotionally and spiritually healthy?  Did your parents prioritize God and the church?  That’s where we go today, we will get back to those questions.

Let’s jump into Daniel.

Dani

When Those You Love Push God Away

I want to start with a quote today.  

“If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” – Mother Teresa

We will come back to that quote.  

Real quickly, let’s look back at last week.  I wanted to bring up a huge point Sam gave us last week.  Daniel wasn’t a preacher.  Daniel wasn’t a king.  Daniel wasn’t a social media influencer.  Truth was, Daniel started out as a prisoner of war.  However, because of how Daniel lived, the king demanded that everyone serve G

Let's Talk About The Heart Of The Christian Life

Over the last few weeks, we have been diving into Daniel 6; you could say we have spent the last few weeks with Daniel in the Lion’s Den.  This allowed us not only to dive into one of the most epic and popular stories of scripture, but it has also sent us into a challenging conversation about our faith and how we live our lives as Christians.  That may have snuck up on you as we move into this story, but it shouldn’t.  Life, pressure, adversity, gut-wrenching pain, these

What Has Been Your Christian Experience?

Today, we start off with a question to get you thinking.  What is it like for you to be a Christian?  What has been your experience?  I want to see if you connect with one of six possible Christian experiences.  Nothing scientific.  These may not apply to you.  Ready?

First.  Do you feel like you are trying to be a good person?   Some days are good.  Some days are not so good.  And you have noticed that over time, when it comes to religion, you feel tired and guilty becaus

Overcoming Like Daniel - The Importance of Inner Healing

Today, we continue our study of the book of Daniel, where we are learning to thrive, not just survive, in this challenging world.  Last week, we moved into Daniel 6, which leads us to the story that probably comes to mind when you think of Daniel in Scripture: Daniel and the Lion's Den.  Today is going to be a little different. We will discuss Daniel 6, but I want to take a step back and share something about Daniel’s life that struck me as I began preparing for this talk

Daniel 5 - Knowing What To Do Versus Doing It

Welcome back to our summer Bible study on The Book of Daniel, called Thrive. In this study, we are learning that regardless of what life throws at us and how difficult our circumstances may be, we can thrive, not just survive, in this challenging world.  Last week, we worked our way through Daniel Chapter 4, a beautiful chapter which is quite literally King Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony.  It is also a crucial warning for us about pride and the dangers of success, comfort, an

Daniel 4 - The Test of Success and Dangers of Pride

Welcome back to our summer Bible study on The Book of Daniel, called Thrive. In this study, we are learning that regardless of what life throws at us and how difficult our circumstances may be, we can thrive, not just survive, in this challenging world.  Today will be a lot of fun because after four weeks working our way through Chapter 3 and the epic tale of Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and the fiery furnace, we move into Daniel 4.  While this particular story isn’t told

If The Crisis Didn't Change You, It's A Tragedy!

Preparing for this message, I had to laugh a little.  Sam and I, last week and this week, are sharing things you probably don’t hear a lot.   We share them because we care deeply about you.  You probably won’t hear this kind of message in a church that is heavy on liturgy or theology.  You probably won’t hear this message in a church that believes that if you are positive and give money, God will give you success, health, wealth, comfort, and happiness.  You probably won’

Trusting God In The Fire

Welcome back to our summer Bible study on The Book of Daniel, called Thrive. In this study, we are learning that regardless of what life throws at us and how difficult our circumstances may be, we can thrive, not just survive, in this challenging world.  Today marks our third week in Daniel Chapter 3.  We are taking our time and working our way through the incredible story of Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and the Fiery Furnace.  We are working through this chapter very int

How To Deal With Insane Pressure

Have you ever felt pressure in life?  The kind of pressure that screams at you, ‘There is no way out of this, do what everyone else is doing, do the easy thing.’  Maybe you are in school and you have felt the overwhelming pressure from the kids and from social media.  Maybe you are in the workplace and you feel pressure to go along with something that is wrong.   That’s what we talk about today.   How do we stand against and walk through pressure?

We are in chapter three o

Idol Worship Is Taking ALL and Making it Some, Most, or None - Studying Daniel 3

Welcome back to our summer Bible study on The Book of Daniel, called Thrive. In this study, we are learning that regardless of what life throws at us and how difficult our circumstances may be, we can thrive, not just survive, in this challenging world. This is a massive truth, and the deeper we dive into this study, the clearer it becomes just how relevant and helpful this book is for our lives today. 

Over the last two weeks, Ken has taken us through Chapter 2, where we

How to Tap Into the Supernatural Power of God

The book of Daniel is the bible study that we are in.  The major theme of this book is how to thrive, not just survive, as you walk through the problems of life.   Remember the context of Daniel?  Daniel was fifteen years old, a prisoner of war, forced to go to Babylon, and in a three-year program to erase everything about his culture.  And get this, the reason everything in Daniel’s life was thrown upside down was because of God.  I want to read it to you.  

Daniel 1:1 Du

How Do I Walk Through A Crisis?

Specifically, in the area of problems and challenges, how did the grown-ups in your life respond to problems?  What was modeled for you?  Chances are, how you were raised has deeply impacted how you respond to problems and challenges today.  For example, if blaming others was modeled for you, then you probably, without thinking about it, blame others for your problems.  If being a victim was modeled for you, then you probably find it easy to be a victim.  If being positiv

No Pain, No Gain - 4 Things God Wants To See In Us When We Are Tested In Life

Today, we continue our big summer Bible study on the book of Daniel called Thrive.  It’s funny because we have only covered around seven verses so far, and I think you can already see how relevant this book is and how much we can learn from it.  Remember how we met Daniel?  He was a 15-year-old boy, ripped from his home, never to see his family again. The Babylonians conquered Jerusalem; they even desecrated God in the process, and he was part of the 25% of people capture

Understanding How to Thrive Through Your Problems

Today we talk about problems.  Do you have any problems or struggles in your life?  You probably feel like you have so many problems that you could divide them into different categories, right?  Maybe even alphabetize them.  Everyone has problems.  I think one of the biggest challenges people face today is understanding our problems.   We spend our lives trying to avoid them, and yet they seem to find us.  We have so many questions about our problems and struggles.  Quest