Thriving as Agents of Hope in Chaos

1) "He enters in and incarnationally. And he takes it on. And he bears the burdens. And he enters. And he, the image of him on the cross is the kind of culture that he has called his people to engage in. To not do this, but to engage, to see it and yet not be overwhelmed by it. Because he has conquered it. Because it is finished. This is the call to the church. And so when we say today is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it. You know what that statement says? It's a reminder. Reminder, I trust him. He's good. He's sovereign." [03:58] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "What we see in the scriptures is that God is not just calling us to check out. He's calling us to be reminded of who he is, whose we are, and to now live as agents of living hope even in the midst of a hopeless world. Light in the dark. Life in the face of death. Joy in the face of tribulation. So this morning, in this series, as we kick it off, we're going to dive in here. But before we do, I still, I want you to get this. A lot of this is going to be kind of an intro into this ancient book. But I want you to know this book is about living life as agents of hope in a hostile world." [05:38] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "And so, I'm thankful for the way that the church has come together and providing supplies, really. And so, we've got a slide. Yeah. So, these are just some needed items that are here. So, if you have these or you want to grab these, you can get baby formula, paper towels, toilet paper, towels, and hand towels, hygiene kits packed in a Ziploc bag to include toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, and a washcloth. If you filled out that Connect card, you'll get an email. You'll get an email about this this week. If not, just take a picture. And so, there is a drop-off station. A drop-off site for these is going to be anytime this week at Discover Church." [09:02] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "This is not just a story about a guy in the Old Testament. Right? Daniel is this epic masterpiece that was written almost 2,500 years ago. A long time ago. I mean, even if you don't believe this is God's inspired word, it's still pretty cool. Right? But this is not just a book. It's God's word. It's filled with the Holy Spirit. It's why it has been passed down through time and transcends time. And as we're going to see this morning. It speaks directly to us this morning in our current situation. This is a book that's filled with prophetic and even apocalyptic visions. Visions about the end times." [13:09] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "And so this book is right on time. And we live in a society that puts most if not all of its hope in things like the economy. Political leaders. Financial stability. Comfort. Control. And so even though history's proven over and over and over and over again. That all of those things are just shifting sands. And will eventually lead to just anxiety and despair and hopelessness. When you think that this world is all there is. It's easy to get sucked into those patterns of thinking. But Daniel, this book, pulls back the proverbial curtain, so to speak. And it reveals the real story. It reminds us even of the true story that's playing out all around us." [15:26] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "And so like Babylon, the whole world is being transformed from the inside out by the same testimony, the testimony of living hope. So here's the question. How did they do it? What did that look like? That's a good question. So for the rest of our time, we're going to walk through the first chapter. Then we're going to drop back. And some three points of application here. Three ways that Daniel and his friends sort of operate as agents of hope and redemption, even in the midst of a hopeless and hostile world. And so we're going to see these three themes throughout this whole series." [21:56] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "We are not called to be a subculture hiding from this world, nor an anti-culture raging against this world. We've been called and empowered as God's cross-culture to infiltrate and redeem this world from the inside out. Say this again. We're not called to be a subculture hiding from this world, nor an anti-culture raging against this world. We've been called and empowered as God's cross-culture to infiltrate. We've been called and empowered as God's cross-culture to infiltrate and redeem this world from the inside out." [22:41] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "And so, you know, I'd always wondered, just as an example here, I always wondered why they give the personal name of the chief eunuch that Daniel's talking with here, that he's trying to reason with, Ashpenaz. Like, you could have just said chief eunuch. Why are you trying to make me pronounce Ashpenaz, right? But why is his personal name in here? The Bible doesn't do things for no reason, ever. So what is it? It's like they go out of their way to make sure we know his personal name. And then it hit me. Daniel's humanizing him. Ashpenaz isn't just a project to Daniel. He's not just a means to an end." [53:21] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)