Introduction to Daniel: Kingdoms in Conflict How does a follower of Christ remain faithful in a culture that rejects him? Jesus preached the good news of the kingdom of God but the kingdoms of men do not seem to be interested in God’s kingdom agenda. How do we live confidently in and among nations who…

Daniel was snatched into exile in Babylon, but he responded by finding a way to continue in God's service, and that made all the difference, not just to him, but to his captors. We, too are in exile. How can we learn from Daniel in our exile to make a difference in our world?

Introduction: Our Scripture text today contains one of the most beloved promises in the Bible: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Sadly, a quick internet search will reveal that there is no shortage of scholars…

when something causes all the right things in my life to bend in the wrong direction, my response should be to pause and consider all the wrong things in the world that I should be bending back in the right direction

Could it be that this moment of exile for all of us is a time to correct our direction and correct our purpose to once again align with the direction and purpose of God’s covenant plan of redemption—a plan of redemption launched into this world through Christ and handed off to his disciples and down to us in the church still today?

Zechariah 1v1-6 Call to Repentance Introduction The 50,000 Jews who returned, under the governorship of Zerubbabel and the High Priesthood of Joshua, immediately began to build the new temple, although they soon became discouraged and stopped. Then, in 520 bc, God sent two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah.…

Isaiah challenges us to look forward with hope, as we look back and know God is faithful to his promise

Introduction Have you ever had one of those embarrassing moments in a store or in public? You know, that moment when you hear that child that is absolutely losing his mind, yelling, screaming, stomping his feet. You feel for the parent. You’re frustrated by the disturbance? Or, have you ever been the…

In exile Daniel never lost hope in God’s plan for his people and his provision in both prosperity and persecution.

Introduction You have all the time in the world until the deadline. Deadlines are the hard stopping point. I grew up being a crastinator and into late teens and early twenties I became a PROcrastinator. The longer away the deadline the more I delayed working and moving towards accomplishing whatever…

Proclaim His Excellencies Exiles By Design Exile; Proclamation; Purpose 1 Peter 2:9–10 1 Peter 2:9–10 ESV 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.…

In helping to prepare the residential program at the Transformation Project, I was introduced to Restorative Justice. This is an approach to criminal justice that places more emphasis on restoration of a criminal offender to a fruitful life in their community rather than retributive justice that can…

Malachi - intro Could we all turn to the book of angels, please? What? It is not in your Bible?! Am I teaching some heresy from some extra canonical book? No, it is in your Bible – the Hebrew for angel is מַלְאָךְ - simply a “messenger”. Malachi means: “My messenger” – although I am sure that it was…

Introduction this being my first time to deliver a message to you all I wanted to take the opportunity to express my deep compassion for each of you and all of us as the body. Paul’s opening to the letter of Romans say’s it better than I ever could. So I ask you to listen to how Paul fills about the…

During the COVID-19, believers can lean on the rich history of biblical wisdom for living in exile. We must move forward, not keep yearning for the past.

Sovereignty of God 8 (A tale of two kings) What do you do these days if you want to find out about something? – you Google it! [P] Even at work, if we come across something obscure and want to find out about it, we say, “Ask Dr. Google.” The internet has the answer to everything! Right? It is omniscient!…

It’s easy to believe God when times are good, but how do we find faith in difficult times? We learn from what has happened before and we recognize that patterns as they happen again. We put all of that into the perspective of the greater spiritual battle which has been from the beginning and will be won in the end. More than that, we know God and His eternal purpose. Time and Providence will purify us until we shine.

Title "Prospering During Exile." Passage: Jeremiah 29:4-14 (King James Version) Main Point: God's desired outcome is that we PROSPER in SHALOM (Peace) Shalom: -Peace that come from a knowledge and sense of well-being. -Peace that comes from a sense of soundness; strength, substance, sound in reason,…

We let go of the ghosts of the past and future to find a home in the present, where we live out our call.

Neil talks about guarding your heart when things aren't going as we want them to because God is in control of all things, all the time.

Haggai 1. Intro: Please turn to Haggai chapter one [P]. For those of you who are newer to this fellowship; I have, over the past few years, been working through the Minor Prophets. In fact, I note that it was in 2007 that I started with the book of Joel. So we have had a fair dose of doom and gloom and…