“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Join us this Sunday as we discover the kind of fellowship God has in mind for those He calls: Gospel Partnership (ft. Brandon Addison).

I hate getting my blood drawn. I don’t really mind anything else medical, but I dread blood tests. And I don’t dread the actual test, but simply the thought of it; I can’t stop thinking about it. I actually had this thought that I wish a blood tech would just show up at my door unannounced while I am eating dinner or watching TV and just draw my blood. That way I wouldn’t have to anticipate it. That would be far less traumatic for me than to anticipate it all week. Now imagine if we knew all of the unavoidable trials that are to come in our life and exactly what they would look like. It would be hard to live life every day. We are closing out our series on Daniel over the next few Sundays, and this morning we are in Daniel 10, and God has been doing just that. For some reason, God needs Daniel to know all of the trials that will come to His people in the ages to come, even beyond his lifetime. And it is filling Daniel with crippling fear. So, what is the one thing God tells Daniel to help him to be able to stand up again even in the face of these trials that are yet to come? And could it also help you as you face trials today and trials that you know are coming? Let’s find out together in Daniel 10.

When we pray, what do we pray about? Studies show that prayer is by far the most common spiritual practice among Americans; just about half of Americans pray regularly. The good news is that the highest percentage of what Americans pray for is other people; for family, friends, and their community. This is what the Bible calls prayers of intercession, going before God on behalf of the needs of others. And almost half of those who pray also pray for their own sins, or what the Bible calls prayers of confession. As we are going through the book of Daniel together, Daniel 9 is almost entirely a prayer of confession and intercession. Daniel 9 teaches us how to intercede for people in our lives, and specifically to confess on behalf of and pray for those who aren’t praying or for those who need help. Let’s see what Daniel 9 can teach us this morning about the importance of confession and intercession.

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. It’s a unique chance to spend a week thinking about the death and resurrection of Jesus and all that it means. Just like any other holiday, it’s easy for the meaning and wonder of Easter to be lost. I don’t think we mean to forget the impact and depth of what Easter means; it just happens. I think it partially happens because Easter is about resurrection. And it is easy to think of resurrection as something that only happened to Jesus, or to think of resurrection only as something that changes our life at the very end of it. I think we treat Easter as a memorial service for the past deeds of Jesus, rather than a celebration service of the ongoing work of Jesus in our lives! There is a saying out there that you may have heard, “live with the end in mind.” And the idea is that if you do that you will seize the day, live better, be kinder and all of that. And usually that saying means to live each day as though life has a final ending. But what if it doesn’t? Does that change how we live today? In order to live with the end in mind, we need to make sure we know the right ending! The Bible says that the ending is not finality but resurrection. And if that is true, then how do we live with resurrection in mind not just this week but all year round?

Today is the Sunday that we call Palm Sunday, when we remember the day that Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem as King by crowds waving palm branches and shouting Hosanna! We read in John 12 that the crowds were there because they had seen the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus. So how is it that this same crowd that proclaims Jesus as the King who is able to raise the dead is clamoring for His death only several days later? We are in Daniel 8 this morning, and what we find here will help us understand why the crowds crowned Jesus on Sunday and crucified Him on Friday.

The first six chapters of Daniel are narrative history; the following six are a type of biblical writing called apocalyptic prophecy. There are some keys to understanding apocalyptic prophecy in the Bible. First, apocalyptic writing isn’t an attempt to give us some hidden meaning that only the clever or spiritual can understand; apocalyptic writing is intended as Biblical mystery. In fact, the entire New Testament’s ideas on mystery, revelation, and fulfillment of prophecy come from what God reveals to Daniel in Daniel 7 specifically, and also in Daniel 8-12. Daniel 7 sets the stage for how Jesus speaks about Himself and His return, for how John writes about the end times in Revelation, and about how the Jewish people understood the end times. Apocalyptic books are not given for us to sleuth out some new mysterious truth on our own but to know that God is in control and that He reveals exactly what He wants us to understand in the current age and keeps the rest a mystery until its proper time. The goal of apocalyptic prophecy is to give us hope, but to also make us humble before God and to drive us to pray in our helplessness to change the future. So, let’s get into the details and history as best we can of these amazing chapters of Scripture!

“Desire haunts us. In its deepest sense, it is a God-given dimension of human identity. Desire is what powers all human spirituality. At the heart of Christian spirituality is the sense that humanity is both cursed and blessed with restlessness and longing that can only ultimately be satisfied in God.” Desire forms your moments of greatest joy and darkest grief. Desire will cause you to submit to the King or set yourself up as king. Desire can cause you to fight for freedom or can be the very thing that causes you to be addicted. Desire is your biggest problem and one of God’s sweetest graces. There is one thing for sure: your life is always shaped by desire. Join us this morning in Mark 10 as we see Jesus ask one of the most important questions, “What do you want?” (ft. Brandon Addison).

The first six chapters of Daniel are narrative history; the following six are a type of biblical writing called apocalyptic prophecy. There are some keys to understanding apocalyptic prophecy in the Bible. First, apocalyptic writing isn’t an attempt to give us some hidden meaning that only the clever or spiritual can understand; apocalyptic writing is intended as Biblical mystery. In fact, the entire New Testament’s ideas on mystery, revelation, and fulfillment of prophecy come from what God reveals to Daniel in Daniel 7 specifically, and also in Daniel 8-12. Daniel 7 sets the stage for how Jesus speaks about Himself and His return, for how John writes about the end times in Revelation, and about how the Jewish people understood the end times. Apocalyptic books are not given for us to sleuth out some new mysterious truth on our own but to know that God is in control and that He reveals exactly what He wants us to understand in the current age and keeps the rest a mystery until its proper time. The goal of apocalyptic prophecy is to give us hope, but to also make us humble before God and to drive us to pray in our helplessness to change the future. So, let’s get into the details and history as best we can of these amazing chapters of Scripture!

No matter how familiar you are with the Bible, Daniel and the Lion’s Den is one of those stories that almost everyone in our culture has heard. We often think of it as just a children’s story. If a Bible story contains animals, it’s almost guaranteed to be in a Children’s Bible. An Oklahoma newspaper interviewed some kids about the lesson of Daniel and the Lion’s Den. Elizabeth, age 11, said, “The lesson for the lions is to keep your mouth shut and to trust in God in every way and every day.” Adrian, age 9, said, "Sometimes, God will not answer your prayers, but that does not mean He does not love you. He just doesn’t think it is time to do what you ask sometimes.” Jenny, age 7, said, "The king learned that he needs to learn a big lesson and a good one.” Whether kid or adult, let’s find out what we have to learn from this story.

Have you ever been able to “see the writing on the wall?” Maybe you saw the coming of a drop in stock price or impending doom at your job. The phrase, “the writing on the wall” has become a much used idiom in our culture. It has come to mean someone who is able to see the signs of something bad that is coming, presumably in order to avoid it. The idiom comes from our chapter in Daniel this morning, but our current use of it actually misses the point of what God was trying to tell the original king who saw the writing on the wall. Unlike the idiom, King Belshazzar saw the writing on the wall, but without God’s help, without the witness of one of God’s people, he would never have known what it meant. God uses His people to show the world His writing on the wall. Written plainly in His Word and in His creation. Let’s read the Word of God this morning.

Is there someone in your life or in the world that you can’t imagine ever turning and following Jesus? Alice Cooper was known as the Godfather of Shock Rock; his father was a Presbyterian pastor, and after God continued to pursue him through addiction and the lifestyle of a rock star, Cooper gave his life to Jesus in 2006. The Chicago Tribune called Brian “Head” Welch’s rap metal band Korn “perverts, psychopaths and paranoiacs” because of their dark and explicit lyrics; in 2005, fans were shocked when Korn parted ways with guitarist Brian Welch because Brian had “chosen the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior.” More famously, 250 years earlier, a mutineer, thief, and slave trader named John Newton also gave his life to Jesus. Newton had joined the slave trade at the age of 21 until one day he picked up a copy of Thomas a’ Kempis’s The Imitation of Christ; he had never read anything like it and in 1748 he surrendered his life to Christ. After forty years of following Jesus, Newton published Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade, describing the horrors of slavery, repenting of his personal responsibility for it, and calling for its abolishment. Newton would later write one of the most famous hymns in history: “Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound.” All of these were some of the last people you would imagine that God would get ahold of, but God continued to pursue them despite their sinful and rebellious lives. In our study of Daniel, we see God pursuing King Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful king in the known world. He conquered God’s people, boasted that no god could stop him, and tried to kill the only faithful servants of God in his empire. No one could ever imagine Nebuchadnezzar bowing the knee to anyone, let alone the God of heaven. Until one night he had a dream.

In 1798, the shattered remains of a statue of Pharaoh Ramses II, also known as Ozymàndias, were found in the Egyptian desert, upon which was the inscription: “King of Kings Ozymandias am I. If any want to know how great I am and where I lie, let him outdo me in my work.” By 1798, the Pharaoh’s “works” were nowhere to be seen and his statue reduced to rubble in a forgotten desert wasteland. In Daniel 2, the God of heaven called King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon the king of kings, whose power and glory were unmatched on earth. But He reminded the king that he only had power, glory and authority because God had given it to him for a time. In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream of a colossal statue made up of gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay—the kingdoms of the earth—all of which would be reduced to chaff and blown away by a rock cut by no human hands—by the kingdom of God which would fill the earth with the rule and reign of Almighty God. If you remember, King Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom of Babylon were the head of gold. Let’s take a look at his response to this dream in Daniel 3.

There are times when we want to know how things end, and there are times when we want to be completely surprised. We are in Daniel this morning, going through this amazing book of the Bible together as a church, and in chapter 2 King Nebuchadnezzar wants to find out the final score. He is afraid; he is trying to hold on to his kingdom, to hold on to control, power, glory, strength and splendor. And God showed him, and shows us His people this morning, the final score. Not to annoy us or cause us disappointment, but to give us uncrushable hope!

We all want to know the future; we all want to solve the mystery of what will be. If only we knew the future we wouldn’t be anxious; if only we knew the future we could save ourselves pain and suffering; if only we knew the future we wouldn’t have to pray or have faith. We like mysteries, but only mysteries that we can solve. Mystery comes up a lot in the Bible. There are things that God knows and we don’t know, until and unless He chooses to reveal them. Mystery is why our life lived here is lived by faith. The idea of mystery found in Daniel shapes much of the meaning and understanding of mystery and God’s will throughout the rest of the entire Scriptures. Mystery helps us understand why Jesus speaks in parables to the crowds. It helps us understand more of who God is and how we can trust Him even when we don’t know what He is doing. We are in a series looking at the Book of Daniel together, and in Chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar has a problem. He is confronted with a mystery only God can reveal.

It’s a terrible feeling to feel out of place. Maybe you have felt out of place at a new job or a new school; maybe traveling abroad. My family lived in China for ten years and every day was a reminder that we were out of place. But you don’t have to live in a foreign country to feel like a stranger and exile; oftentimes you can feel like an exile in your own land. And that is what it can feel like as a follower of Jesus or a person of faith in a culture like ours. Exiles ask different questions than people in their own homeland, like: how did we get here? Will we ever feel at home? How do we keep our identity in this land of exile? We are starting a series on the Book of Daniel as a church. The name of the book makes us believe that it's a book about Daniel. But really, from start to finish, the book of Daniel is a book about Daniel’s God. Who is He? Where is He? And what is He up to? It’s about the power, mercy and sovereignty of Daniel’s God and our God. And it begins with God’s people living in exile in a foreign land.

Join us this Sunday as we look at the competing forces of wisdom and folly in Proverbs 9, discovering how Jesus and His example are the ultimate expression of God’s wisdom for our lives (ft. Colin Campbell, Member at Elevate Hope Centennial).

It’s the last day of 2023; the dawn of 2024! It has likely been a year full of both the ordinary and the unexpected I imagine; a mixture of unforeseen blessings and trials. How have you grown or changed? We like to think about change and resolve to change on the last day of the year. So what would you like to change this year? Change can make us hopeful if we are in control of what changes we make, or it can make us anxious if we are not in control of what changes come this year. Wouldn’t it be nice if we knew exactly what changes this new year would bring, if we knew the future? We all want to know what the future will bring; what changes will occur and how we should respond. And I want to predict the future for you today to help you avoid some anxiety for the coming year; there are three things that will absolutely happen in 2024. The world around us will change in some way. You and I will change in some way. But God will not change and will remain the same yesterday, today and forever. No matter how you feel about change, you can know for certain that in this coming year, God will not change. And that helps us in two ways: it helps us dwell secure amid all the changes around us and it helps us to truly change all the things about ourselves that we want to. We have an unchanging God even in our ever-changing world. Even amid all the crazy things we saw this past year, even as we face down the uncertainty of 2024, He will not change.

The best gifts are those that totally take us by surprise, but with a surprise gift comes the risk of disappointment. Have you ever been disappointed with a Christmas gift? Maybe you didn’t get the thing on your list but got something else instead? A surprise gift makes a great Christmas; a disappointing gift can ruin a Christmas. That’s the great thing about Santa Claus, right? He gets you exactly what was on your list. He doesn’t deviate, he doesn’t try to get creative or sentimental or go out on a limb and improvise; Santa never disappoints you. But he never really surprises you either. But when it comes to gifts, I think that the sweetest and best gift is actually the gift that you never knew you needed, a gift you didn’t even know to put on your list. But someone who knows you best gives it to you, knowing deep down that it is exactly what you need and want. And that is exactly the kind of gift we celebrate at Christmas. The record of the events of the very first Christmas tell us that those who came to the cradle and the manger were seeking something, but they found something they never expected. And ultimately, that is our question on this Christmas. Do we want a Heavenly Father who doesn’t always give us everything on our list, who risks disappointing us in the short term in order to surprise us with a gift we didn’t know that we desperately need?