How Not To Conform Without Being A Religious Jerk

This podcast is brought to you by GrantHartway Father.

Helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.

For more information about Grant Harkway, visit GrantHartway.org.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we understand when we say that Christ be magnified, that there's a there's a consequence to that for us.

So we confess with John the Baptist that he must increase and I must decrease.

And so we read last week in Daniel how your kingdom is getting bigger and bigger, and one day it's going to fill the whole earth.

And so we don't have a problem with you getting bigger, and we don't have a problem with us getting smaller.

That is a good thing.

And so we're breathing today so that Christ can be magnified in our attention and in our affections.

We are not breathing today to be more religious people.

Religion will do nothing for anybody, it's only a relationship with Jesus Christ that changes everything.

It's the Holy Spirit.

Lead us into that understanding today.

God nourish us from your word and by your spirit.

So when we get put in the furnace, we don't compromise.

We don't cave in.

We don't bow down.

We don't just give in to get along.

We just kind of stand up.

Not as a bunch of religious jerks, not as angry people on Facebook fighting every political battle.

No, we just stand, we occupy our space out of our identity and with authority.

And we trust you.

Let us be a God-worshiping people.

Lord, this is our prayer.

Make it our experience.

We pray in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

You can have a seat if you got a Bible.

I invite you to take it and open it up to Daniel chapter 3.

Daniel 3 · chapter mention

If you're a guest, we're preaching to the book of Daniel, which is our custom.

We preach the books of the Bible.

We typically do the New Testament and Old Testament.

We're in Daniel.

I want to talk to you today from Daniel 3 about how to not conform without being a religious jerk.

How to not conform.

Not that any of you would be that.

Without being a religious jerk, I am not on social media.

And that's not like a spiritual thing.

I'm just not interested in it.

But people continue to like paste things from Facebook and send them to me.

And they always say this, be glad you're not on social media.

This is what you miss.

And so from what I can deduce, it seems like everybody on social media in America is angry these days.

Pump the brakes, okay?

And so we're going to read.

Typically, when you say Daniel 3, it's the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

They get put in the fiery furnace.

And we'll get to that part next time I preach.

But today we're going to read the first part of the chapter because there's some formative and foundational things that are in the chapter.

Now, before I read the text, I want to read a quote from a man named Eugene Peterson.

Peterson was a great pastor, writer, thinker, because it's easy to read these words this morning and think, man, those guys are special.

They're just better than me.

No, they're not.

They're ordinary.

Best we can tell, they're between the ages of about 16 to 18 when this episode happens.

Peterson says this.

He says, in the way of faith, we do not escape because it is too much for us.

We plunge into it because we are commanded and equipped.

It is not our feelings that determine our level of participation in life, nor our experience that qualifies us for what we will do and be.

It is what God decides about us.

God does not send us into the dangerous and exacting life of faith because we are qualified.

Hear that last sentence, just the last part.

He chooses us in order to qualify us for what he wants us to be and do.

And so we're going to read now and see what God has chosen these three young men to be and to do.

Daniel chapter 3, verse 1 says this King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was 60 cubits, and its breadth was six cubits.

Daniel 3:1

He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

When King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the providences to come and to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Then the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the providences gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and that herald proclaimed aloud, You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the trigon, the harp, the bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.

If you haven't caught on yet, King Nebuchadnezzar set this up.

Just want to point to the obvious.

Anyway, verse 6 and whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning, fiery furnace.

Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the trigon, the harp, the bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Therefore, at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews.

They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever.

You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the trigon, the harp, the bagpipe, and every kind of music shall fall down and worship the golden image.

And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the burning fiery furnace.

There are certain Jews whom you've appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

These men, O king, pay no attention to you, and they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.

Then Nebuchadnezzar, in furious rage, commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought.

So they brought these men before the king.

Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?

Now, if you're ready when you hear the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the trigon, the harp, the bagpipe, and every kind of music to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.

But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.

And who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands?

Now, by the way, whether you realize it or not, you and I get asked some form of that question on a daily basis.

That last question there in verse 18.

And who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands?

And we'll get to that in just a minute.

You usually, if you're familiar with our church, we preach, then usually we put some questions on the screen for what we call mental worship.

And we'd like to think about that.

I want to flip the script on you today, and I want to preach the questions that I would normally put at the end because I think the text, on the way to the familiar, I think the text invites us to think about some things today.

And so I want to preach five questions.

I want to point out five questions from the text that help us not conform, but also it to the culture around us, but also it helps us not just to be these angry people who happen to go to church every Sunday.

And here's the first question that the test text asks us, and it's this What is your legacy?

What is your legacy?

Uh now, by way of definition, a legacy is a summary of who you are and how you will be remembered.

Your legacy is a summary of who you are, your actual lived life, and how you will be remembered.

Now, as someone who does a lot of funerals, uh I it's on display at your funeral what your legacy is.

Because it's what people say about you.

Like I had a lady say to me a while back, she said, I mean, I'm sitting there talking, and I just said, I'm sorry about your loss.

And she looked at me and she said, My grandmother was the most unforgiving person you would ever meet.

And I was like, Yeah, this is kind of awkward all of a sudden.

Uh and I said, Well, I'm sorry for your loss.

I mean, I mean, she would never forgive you.

She reminded me, the lady said, I'm 34 years old, and she reminded me about things I did when I was in high school.

Okay, I'm moving over here now.

Uh I also heard somebody said one time, hey, by the way, uh, my dad, one man said, I said, Hey, I didn't know your dad.

Tell me about your dad.

He said, My dad was an undisciplined drunk who took his anger out on everybody.

Okay, this is awkward.

Uh, but there's also on the other end of the scale, those people had a great legacy.

Like I said to this one, I said, Tell me about your grandpa, tell me something.

What are you gonna miss about your grandpa?

And she said, I was in rehab twice, and my grandfather was my biggest advocate.

He cheered for me.

He said, Hey, baby, you're not sick, so you no longer need this medicine.

And I was just like in tears streaming down her face.

And she said, I don't know what I'm gonna do because no one believed in me like my grandpa.

Again, your legacy is a summary of who you are and how you will be remembered.

Now, if you remember, you say, Where does this question come from in the text?

If you remember the last chapter, chapter two, we saw that Nebuchadnezzar was a, he had a dream, and this was this image was a statue made out of four different kinds of metal: gold, silver, and then bronze, and and and then iron.

And Daniel interpreted the dream, uh, and that that that the head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian empire.

And he realizes, hey, there's one coming after me.

In other words, my kingdom is not going to last because all earthly kingdoms are going to be destroyed, and only the kingdom of God is going to last forever.

And so it's not just going to be destroyed, it's not going to be remembered.

And by the way, this is the faith the Bible teaches of all of the wicked.

And you say, Well, I don't know what you mean.

You can just glance back if you want, chapter two, verse 35.

This is where he spells it out.

He says, Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all these kingdoms all together were broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, so not a trace of them could be found.

The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found.

Now, when you hear the word chaff, that's not a word that you use this weekend.

Amen.

None of you said to your wife, hey, do we got any of that chaff?

I'm kind of got a little hunger going on here.

And so it's hard for us to have a frame of reference.

Chaff was like when they would press wheat, they would throw it, have it in a basket, they would throw it up, and the wind would blow the husk away.

Probably the modern equivalent, if you eat sunflower seeds, say amen.

And the part that you work so hard to get to is a little seed, and then you spit out the shell, that's the chaff.

And when I read in Daniel, I think about in the Psalms where it talks about, uses the word chaff in Psalm 1, where it says, uh, it talks about the righteous and the wicked.

It says the righteous are like a tree planted by rivers of living water, and and it yields its fruit in due season, and whatever it does, it prospers.

And then it turns quickly on its heel and says this about the wicked.

The people that do not believe in God, it says this, it says, uh, not so the wicked.

They are like the chaff that is blown away.

And so all through the Bible you see that people that live a wicked life, their legacy is going to be simply this: they're not remembered.

They die, they go on the ground, and it's all over.

And people just continue to just move on with their life.

And so we ask ourselves today, what is our legacy?

And now I stopped and said, have you noticed that Nebuchadnezzar set this up?

It's really a play on words that Daniel's using because seven times he uses a phrase and set up and set up and set up that Nebuchadnezzar set up, and we're like, okay, we've got it.

Nebuchadnezzar set this up.

Why does he say it seven times?

Because back in chapter two, about verse 21, Daniel establishes of God that he changes the times and seasons, he removes kings, he sets up kings, he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.

And so what Nebuchadnezzar set out to do is something that only God can do.

He wants to establish, God has said, your kingdom is going to come to an end, and then someone's gonna come after you.

The only kingdom there's gonna be no one after is the kingdom of God.

So your kingdom is gonna come, you're gonna live your life and enjoy it, and it's going to come to an end.

And so also notice in verse two and three, they repeat over and over all the different people that are there the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers.

And then he says it again the next verse.

Why?

Because the Bible wants us to understand this is a big deal, okay?

This is like Burning Man, Bonnaroo, and Coachella all rolled into one.

Everybody is there and everyone's playing along.

Why is that a big deal?

Why is this happening?

Because a man in authority wants to ensure his legacy that he's remembered, that he's not blown away like the chaff.

This is what neurotic insecurity does to people in power.

And so you got to ask yourself, how will you be remembered?

Today is Sunday.

God forbid you drop dead on Wednesday.

What will people say about you?

Or said differently, what will your legacy be?

People give, get toward the end of their life, people have money, get to them in their life, and they give a lot of money because they want their name to put on a building.

Because they want to be remembered.

That's their legacy.

What is your legacy?

Second question the Bible asks us is what do you fear?

What do you fear?

Look at verse six and seven.

After they spell out this is what Nebuchadnezzar has established.

They say, and whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the burning fiery furnace.

Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the trigon, the harp, the bagpipe, every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages.

Hear that again.

All the peoples, nations, and languages.

I mean, wherever people were, they all participated.

They all fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Here's what we don't say in church enough, and we should there are going to be moments where you feel very lonely in your faith.

There are going to be moments, like when you were in youth group and you were like, here's the 10 qualities I want in a guy, and you go to college and you realize, huh, there's not that many godly guys out here.

This is a little disconcerting.

You graduate, you get your first job, and by the time you're 24, if you're still single and you still love God, you're just kind of like that.

Because you have it's hard to be lonely.

I mean, look at this.

Here's all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the image.

And you got three guys that are just kind of like, hello.

You gotta answer the question, what do you fear?

You don't conform.

People conform because of their fear.

Let's be clear.

This is not about all these peoples, nations, uh uh tongues, tribes, whatever, all these people that are bowing down.

This is not about they want to worship this golden image.

This is about what they fear.

They fear, and I would fear too if I were them, being thrown into the fireplace and just burned up.

Why is that a big deal?

You need to understand what you fear because once people have clarity around what you fear, this is what they use against you to get you to do what they want you to do.

Let me stop and say that again.

Once people understand what you fear, this is what they use against you to manipulate you to get you to do what they want you to do.

Like for a lot of time, you see, it's crucial you understand fear because for a lot of men, let me say it like this for a lot of us men, anger is the costume that fear wears in order to feel acceptable.

Let me say that again.

A lot of times for men, I mean for women every once in a while, but especially for men, women are typically more self-aware of their emotions.

Men are just like cussing and kicking and slamming and punching holes in the wall.

And what happens is anger is the costume we wear in order for our fears to feel safe.

In other words, when you're angry, you should ask yourself three questions.

What am I afraid?

What do I fear?

What am I what am I afraid is happening right now?

What am I afraid is going to happen in the future?

And or what am I afraid is never going to happen?

Because typically anger is connected to some form of fear.

I don't know what you fear, I don't know how you fear it, I don't know why you fear it.

It doesn't always make sense.

But if you trace fear, usually, I say it like this in counseling all the time.

Anger is like the check engine light on the dashboard of your truck.

It tells you something's wrong under the hood.

It's the same way in this situation.

What do you fear?

For these three guys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the controlling fear of their life was that it wasn't really a fear.

They didn't fear the furnace.

What they feared was we're not going to worship God.

And so they just they just decided we're not gonna conform.

We're not gonna cave in, we're not gonna look around and kind of be like, you know what?

We're the only ones.

This is kind of lonely.

You are going to find yourself in circumstances where you're just surrounded and you are the minority.

It happened to me at Dillard's a while back.

I went to buy a shirt at Dillard's because they were having a great sale.

Put the thing up there, and the guy said, How are you doing today?

I said, Good.

And then I said, How are you?

He said, I'm good.

I'll be better when we get these politicians, these preachers out of the White House and get a politician in the White House.

And then it was five minutes of a political commercial.

And I'm like, Do I tell him?

Do I say anything?

And there's people in line behind me.

And I'm just like, I said, and so I just thought, I want to, I don't want to be a jerk.

I don't want to go, I'll tell you what, boy, Donald Trump.

I just said, hey, I said, can I just kind of give, I respond to that?

He goes, Oh, yeah, yeah, go ahead.

I said, what you just described is the situation where everybody else is responsible for your well-being except you.

And that while that feels good, it robs you of personal power.

And the lady behind me is like, ooh, that's good right there.

And the guy's like, well, you know, I again, I just think about to get these preachers out of the White House and get a real politician in the White House.

And I said, So your hope is in a politician.

I just want to make sure I'm hearing you correctly.

And he looked at me and goes, What do you mean?

I said, I'm I didn't say that.

You said that.

I mean, I turned around and did, yeah, yeah, you said that.

Yeah, I got witnesses.

And all of a sudden, it's just like, I said, and again, I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm not trying to win an argument.

I I get emails, I got an email the other day.

Somebody's like, hey, you always make fun of Democrats.

We're thinking about not coming back to church because you mock Democrats.

It's like, I don't mock Democrats.

I and the next day I get an email from someone, hey man, frustrates me, you're always mocking Republicans.

And I'm like, I think I'm doing a good job because everyone's frustrated.

Here's the thing my hope is not in the Democrats, my hope is not in the Republicans.

Now I have beliefs, and actually I keep them to myself because I'm your pastor.

I got all kinds of people in my church, okay?

I got a guy in my church who's never voted ever in his life.

And I'm like, Do you feel lazy?

He goes, Yeah, I just I got better things to do.

And so there and the guy's hand me my bag and he says, Well, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you.

I said, You didn't offend me.

I just wanted to hold back up to you and reflect back to you that what you're saying is that your life is dependent on other people giving you stuff versus you earning and experiencing the dignity of contribution.

And the lady behind me, my, my.

Oh my god, don't say anything.

And the guy's well, you're not gonna tell my boss, are you?

I'm like, I just want to share it because it's 65% off, okay?

Just that that's as big as my agenda is.

I'm such a vain person.

And I walked out and I was like, oh man.

But it's slowly because I mean there were people in line that were like, like coming from his perspective.

That's great.

I don't fear being the minority.

Again, when people figure out what you fear, that's what they use against you.

That's why political ads that are inundating your TV right now are always designed to gin up fear.

Did you know this person believes this?

Do you know if this person gets elected, they're going to do that?

What do you fear?

Because Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not fear dying, they did not fear Nebuchadnezzar.

Not at all.

Third question that the Bible asks us who are you jealous of?

Who are you jealous of?

Verse 8.

Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews.

They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, O King, live forever.

You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the trigon, the harp, the bagpipe, and every kind of music shall fall down and worship the golden image.

And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace.

Now that we understand the ground rules, right, King, that's exactly what it is, right?

Notice verse 12.

There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon.

Remember that?

Chapter 2 ended by Nebuchadnezzar promoting Daniel, and Daniel said, What about my friends?

And so they all get promoted and put in charge of the affairs of the entire providence of Babylon.

He says, There are certain Jews you have appointed over the affairs of the Providence of Babylon.

And these men, O king, pay no attention to you.

They do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.

And so when I say, Who are you jealous of?

Okay, I uh I just want to say a couple things about jealousy.

Number one, jealousy is a form of hatred built upon insecurity.

Jealousy is a form of hatred built upon insecurity.

Secondly, jealousy is rooted in comparison.

And comparison does two things it kills community because you're jealous of people because you really want a relationship with them, but you never see yourself actually having it.

You don't see yourself as an equal with them, you see yourself as inferior, so you try to tear that person down to your level.

It kills community, and secondly, it justifies sin.

Have you realized how easy it?

It is to sin against people you're jealous of.

It's really easy when you get around somebody else who's also jealous of that person.

And then it's like that's why when we see somebody has more money than we do, we think things like, they probably made a deal with the devil.

They probably sell drugs.

Someone asked me recently, they said, Hey, are you friends with so and so?

And I said, Yeah.

And they go, man, they seem to have a really good life.

I said, Yeah, I think they're drug dealers.

And the person said, Back, I've wondered.

Why do you think about these things?

But here's the thing: look at verse, here's the question.

If you want to lance the wound of jealousy, ask yourself this question: What is really the issue, and who is my issue with?

What is really the issue, and who is my issue with?

Look at verse 12.

Where do you get that?

He says there are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon.

That is the issue.

The issue is that these guys, these Chaldeans, are like, we've worked here for years, and these punks come along and they go through this three-year process, and then they can interpret a dream, and all of a sudden they're running things.

And so in their minds, they're so eat up with jealousy, they've got to find a way to get Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

And so they say, Oh, these people that you promoted, that's what drives them.

That's the real issue.

And now who's my issue with?

With their issue is with Nebuchadnezzar.

Sometimes when you're when you find yourself being jealous, let's just maybe I'm talking about an emotion you never had, so let's just check.

If you've ever been jealous of anybody else, say amen.

There's one real sinner back there.

The rest of y'all mumbling, amen.

And God's like, amen.

This morning.

Yes.

When you ask yourself, hey, what is really the issue and who is my issue with?

When you're jealous of somebody else, your issue is not with them, your issue is with God.

But it's safer to make it all about them because then you can feel like an equal or have an explanation for why your life is not turned out and why.

But when you when you embrace that, oh, my issue is with God.

God has not provided me with that, or better said, God has not trusted me with that.

Well, it's just easier to focus on that person.

Here's the fourth question that the Bible asks us this morning.

Who do you pay attention to?

Who do you pay attention to?

Look at verse 12.

There's certain Jews whom you've appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, Adabed and Go.

These men, here's the accusation.

These men, O king, pay no attention to you.

They do not serve your gods and worship the golden image that you have set up.

Look at me, beloved.

The problem in America is that too many Christians pay attention to what the pagans are doing more than you pay attention to what God is doing.

I mean, you got all the latest scoop and scandal and all this kind of stuff.

Remember this: without attention, things die.

Let me give you a case study.

Years ago, Disney World in Orlando wanted to figure out hey, what is it that attracts the attention of small children when they come onto our property, whether it's a Disney resort or a Disney hotel?

Now listen to this, okay?

This is not nefarious.

This is just good business because Disney wanted to figure out what is it that hooks the kids' attention?

Because when we get the kids' attention, then we get the parents' credit card.

Amen?

And so they said, is it the costume characters they have out at the entrance?

Is it uh uh is it the snack shops that they have?

Is it the souvenir shops?

Is it the restaurant?

Is it the beautiful uh floral arrangements of Mickey Mouse's head or the monorail going over?

And so they sent a cultural anthropologist, psychiatrist, and a psychologist just to stand unobtrusively and observe.

Here's what they came up with.

The one thing that dominated the children's attention was their parents' cell phone.

And the reason it dominated their attention is because kids realize what has their parents' attention and they want their parents' undivided attention, and so they wanted what had their parents' undivided attention so they could get their parents' attention.

Are you confused yet?

And so they were just like, dude, we spent millions of dollars on designing this entrance, and these kids were transfixed by their parents' cell phone.

Oh, absolutely, absolutely.

And and then here's the progression.

Hear this, okay?

Here's the progression of these conclusions that they come up with.

Number one, whatever you pay attention to or not has a huge effect on how you see the world.

Whatever you pay attention to.

Like if you spend all day watching CNN, you think a certain way, you feel a certain way.

Spend all day watching Fox, you think and feel a certain way.

Whatever you pay attention to or not, has a huge effect on how you see the world.

Secondly, how you see the world determines how you feel about it.

And thirdly, what you feel determines your level of hope.

That's why, have you noticed here lately that a lot of good Christian people are kind of sad and they feel a little bit hopeless?

It's kind of like, wait a minute, our God may not win in November.

Let me ask you a question.

Can your candidate lose an election and God still be sovereign?

Just checking.

Now, don't send me emails.

I'm just trying to say what the Bible says.

See, what you feel determines your level of hope.

Mary Lemia said this about hope.

She said, hope structures your life in anticipation of the future and influences how you feel in the present.

Hope structures your life in anticipation of the future.

It's hard when our kids feel hopeless to get them excited about what comes next.

And it all starts with what we allow our kids to pay attention to.

Because this has a huge effect on how they see the world.

How you see the world determines how you feel about it.

What you feel determines your level of hope.

And so if you let your kids just pay attention to things they shouldn't be paying attention to, you forfeit the right mom and dad to say, hey, be hopeful.

God's good.

Your kids look at you kind of like, yeah, you're kind of like a clown.

Be quiet.

I lay in my bed every night and I'm paralyzed by this low-grade anxiety.

Is anybody in charge of the world?

And can any good come of this?

Here's the last question the Bible asks us, and this is the best question of all.

Does your life introduce people to God?

I mean, after he gets all livid, he calls to me and he's asks me, he says, Is it true?

Is it true that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?

Verse 15.

Now, if you're ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the trigon, the harp, the backpipe, and every kind of music, if you're ready to fall down and worship the image that I have made.

By the way, the culture will not just give you one chance, they'll give you another chance.

They'll say, Hey, now, this may just been a Freudian slip.

Maybe you got a little liquored up on caffeine and you took a stand and acted like you had convictions.

You said in a board meeting, hey, this doesn't have integrity.

I don't think we as a company should do this.

I mean, we'll give you that, but you you didn't knock that off, okay?

We're all about that bottom line.

Now, if you're ready to think like us, pay attention to what we pay attention to, worship and serve what we worship and serve, then well and good.

But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning, fiery furnace.

And here's the question, beloved.

And who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands?

And every day, culture and people are asking you and me that question.

It's all through the Bible, it's not just a one-off here.

If you go in the New Testament, Acts chapter 16, they got Paul and Silas, they beat them.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

The Bible says they were severely flogged.

Have you been flogged lately?

2020 has left us feeling a little bit flogged.

I heard someone say this weekend, if 2020 ever slows down, I'm gonna get off.

Then he says this about verse 22 of Acts 16, and about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.

And hear this, and the prisoners were listening.

This is why this earthquake hits the prison, their chains fall off, and now everybody can run free.

And the Philippian jailer comes in and he's gonna kill himself.

He just can't live with it.

And Paul's like, Relax, dude, we're all here.

Remember what the Philippian jailer said next?

What must I do to be saved?

Their life introduces this man to God.

Nebuchadnezzar asks the question who is the God who will be able to deliver you out of my hands?

Ask yourself today, does your life introduce people to God?

Does your life, not your bumper stickers, not your voting record, your life?

Does it answer the question?

You realize that people are asking this question.

Not only, hey, who is this God, but what is he like?

Here's what these three boys, here's what their God is like.

He's first of all, he's able.

He's faithful.

Our God is able to save us, He's faithful, He's trusted.

We don't just appreciate Him, we actually trust Him.

Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar appreciates God.

He says there's no God like Daniel's God.

Yay, I'll my collection of gods.

But he doesn't worship and know this God.

He appreciates him.

Some of you in this room appreciate God, but you don't know and worship him.

And I'm not mad at you.

I'm just trying to name for you why is it that despite your best efforts, you can never really change these sinful patterns.

You can never really experience these things that the Bible talks about.

It's because you appreciate this.

It's like going to a golf tournament.

You give a little golf clap.

Oh, that's awesome.

Oh man, that was not bad today.

And you go right back to your everyday life you've lived in your entire life.

Nebuchadnezzar appreciated, but these people knew him.

They said, our God is able, he's faithful, he's trusted, here's this.

He's not obligated.

He's not obligated.

Because they said, hey, if this be so, verse 17.

First of all, verse 16, they said to him, Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

Can you imagine?

We so don't pay attention to you, dude.

You're kind of a political putz, okay?

You're just a politician.

Who cares about you?

Your kingdom's gonna be blown away.

Sunflower seeds.

If this be so, verse 17, our God, hear this.

Our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O King.

But if not, being known to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.

Their God is able, faithful, trusted, he's not obligated.

Let me ask you a question.

Can God not answer your prayers and still be worthy of your worship?

Can you want something and not get it and then just be like, oh man, now I gotta sing these songs like I mean them?

Yeah.

Do you worship God or do you just manipulate God?

They talk about God's ability, but they don't make God responsible.

They don't say, Oh, God's gonna get us out of this, or we're gonna post on Facebook, this God thing ain't working for me no more.

Church is just a bunch of hypocrites.

No.

No.

They're like, our God is able.

And even if He doesn't rescue us, we're not going to bow down.

Here's why.

Because we don't fear what you fear.

We don't worship what you worship.

We don't serve what you serve.

Let me draw your attention.

I'll be done this morning.

You still with me?

Here's the question that he asked, okay?

Look at it.

He asked him there in verse 13.

Here's the question.

Furious with rage, he asked him, Is it true?

Blah, blah.

And then he says, And who in verse 15, and who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands?

Look at me.

It's those two little words, my hands.

Here's the problem Nebuchadnezzar has.

He thinks the whole world is in his hands.

He thinks these men are in his hands.

And they're like, We've never been in your hands to be delivered out of your hands.

You think a little bit much of yourself there, Skippy.

Remember, I didn't grow up in church, but every once in a while my dad and stepmom would get liquored up and fight each other, and then we had to go to church, Christmas and Easter.

I knew we were going twice a year.

And one time they all the kids are singing.

And I was like, Oh, I'm like seven.

I come from a crazy family.

I don't know any songs.

I learned the song in Sunday school before we sang it in church.

Really complicated lyrics.

We stood there in front of the whole congregation.

We said, He's got the whole world in his hands.

He's got the whole world in his hands.

He's got the whole world in his hands.

And then we had hand motions because we were down with dancing back then.

We would point to the congregation and say, He's got you and me, brother, in his hand.

And I had a little swerve because I was in the club back then.

I mean, I was just standing there.

I was putting a little sauce on mine.

And here's one of the first times.

Because I remember looking at my dad and my crazy stepmom who used to fist fight.

And I remember I was comforted as a seven-year-old by the fact that my life's not in their hands.

Oh, maybe there is a God in this world.

No disrespect to my father.

He just wasn't a good man.

I remember riding home back to the den of dysfunction, nothing had changed except it got lodged in my brain like a thumbtack.

My life is in the hands of somebody besides these people who can't even afford school supplies.

And so I didn't, I wasn't mad at them.

I just stopped looking to them.

Because I stood in front of a church and sang a silly little simple, profound, beautiful song.

Let me ask you a question this morning.

Whose life are your hands?

Whose hands are your life in right now?

You say, well, not Nebuchadnezzar.

No, but maybe yours.

It's like you trying to lift yourself up.

That's tough to do.

Let's pray together.

If you're a guest, just relax.

We like to teach the Bible and then give you some soul space to just think about it.

It's our voice of prayer, and then we'll just kind of be still for a moment as we think about what the Bible said to us.

Father, thanks for the truth of your word.

We want to give some consideration to it now.

And so, Holy Spirit, brood over us.

The Bible says you would lead us into the truth.

And so just cause us to think about what we most need to think about during this time.

Father, we're mindful this morning that we have a legacy, whether we realize it or not, we're going to be remembered.

So deliver us from trying to manage people's impressions.

Deliver us from the fear that we choose.

Deliver us from the smallness of jealousy, God.

Deliver us from the smallness of living life in our own hands.

When there's a good sovereign King who's one, and He's got the whole world in His hands.

This is the reality we were created for.

And so, God, we choose that today.

We do so in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

If you're a guest today, let me say thanks for being here.

Look at me.

You're always welcome.

You don't have to know the words for the songs.

You can be like, hey, I don't know about this whole God and Jesus thing.

That's great, okay?

You're always welcome.

Your questions are welcome.

Young lady came up to me after the first service and said, Hey, I got a question.

Can I absolutely?

We'd love questions here.

Uh, and so know that, okay?

Uh, hopefully you've had a chance if you're our guest uh to pull those guest cards in your seatback pocket row in your row in the seatback pocket.

If you would fill that out and when you're dismissed here in just a minute, just drop it on the wooden boxes by the door, okay?

That's also where we uh, if if today's the day you worship God through obedience or generosity, that's where we practice our stewardship as well.

We have some things going on in the life of our church we want you to be aware of and hopefully be a part of.

So let's give our attention to our video announcements this morning.

Good morning, church family.

My name is Travis Dunham, and I'm the Connecticut's pastor here at the church.

This morning I want to update you on a few things.

First, our men's weekend is next weekend, October 16th and 17th.

If you're a man and we want you to be there, it'll be a great chance for you to be encouraged, to get to meet some of the other men in our church, but most importantly, to worship Jesus and to hear from his word.

On Sunday, October 25th, we are gonna have starting points.

Starting point is a chance for you to come and learn about the vision, values, and beliefs of our church.

It's also a place to come if you're experienced about church membership and how to get engaged in our church.

That's on Sunday, October 25th, immediately following the second service.

At Grant Parkway, there are several ways for you to get engaged, to get to meet people and serve one another.

One way is to serve on our first impressions or fit.

If you like meeting people, if you're energetic, if you like to smile and you can remember people's names, I would love to have a conversation with you about serving on our fifth.

If you have any questions about what you've heard today, or if you'd like someone to pray with you, our pastors and elders will be here at the front at the end of the service.

By the way, our men's weekend next weekend, Jared Wilson is our guest speaker.

Uh, he is just a great, authentic, down-to-earth man.

Uh, so I'd love you guys to be a part of that, okay?

We'd like to finish our service with a spoken blessing.

So stand to your feet if you would.

Hold your hands out.

Your God has the whole world in his hands.

He always has and he always will.

Therefore, you can let go.

And still be safe.

He's that good.

His goodness exceeds your badness.

And so you cannot be in charge and still be safe.

Depart now into these realities and come to enjoy them.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.