Monday, May 02, 2011

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Click here to download the sermon, which is about 32 minutes in length.

Recap of the sermon from May 1st (Daniel 2:1-23)

1. “Though we never read of Daniel preaching a sermon, that’s precisely what he did with his life—in the choices he made, the wisdom he demonstrated, the priority that he gave to prayer, and the diligence he demonstrated toward every task set before him.” (Wilkinson)

2. Two things stand out about Daniel in the Bible and are illustrated in Daniel chapter two. Daniel was a man of wisdom (Ezekiel 28:3) and a man of prayer.

3. Daniel’s response to this challenging circumstance in his life is an illustration to us of how to deal with the challenges we face (even life and death challenges)

-He didn’t panic, he knows that God is able to handle the situation, so he responds with wisdom and does what he can humanly do, leaving room for God to work

-He didn’t try to handle the situation alone; he enlisted the aid of other believers (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah)

-He prayed for God to provide a solution for the situation

-He took time to praise God for the answer, to thank Him

-He uses the situation as an opportunity to witness to God’s power