The Story of God: Daniel

Listen along as we see how to engage exile well.

Notes/Quotes:

Daniel 1:8-21
Daniel Chiasm Picture

Daniel 3:16-18
Daniel 7:13-14

We would like a church that again asserts that God, not nations, rules the world, that the boundaries of God's kingdom transcend those of Caesar, and that the main task of the church is the formation of people who see clearly the cost of discipleship and are willing to pay the price. - Stanley Hauerwas, Resident Aliens

1 Peter 2:9-12 

A father disciplines his own kids, not someone else’s. It’s the same in the spiritual realm. God’s discipline always begins with those he calls his own. It was true of Israel and it’s true of Christians today. Yet for many of us that can be confusing. At times, those who mock him, deny him, or high-handedly sin seem to do so with impunity. We assume God’s judgment should begin with those who do the greatest evil. But it doesn’t. It never has. It begins with us. And that’s been perplexing to God’s people throughout the ages. - Larry Osbourne

1. To form a resilient identity, experience intimacy with Jesus.
2. In a complex and anxious age, develop the muscles of cultural discernment.
3. When isolation and mistrust are the norms, forge meaningful, intergenerational relationships.
4. To ground and motivate an ambitious generation, train for vocational discipleship.
5. Curb entitlement and self-centered tendencies by engaging in countercultural mission. 
David Kinnamen, Faith for Exiles, Forming Resilient Disciples

Self sufficiency to dependency
Absence to presence
Isolation to community
Fear to love
Fragility to strength
Apathy to courage 
Fatalism to hope

The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future. The next step discloses itself only out of a discernment of God acting in the desert of the present moment. The reality of naked trust is the life of the pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? Because God has signaled the movement and offered it his presence and his promise. - Brennan Manning