Your Gift, God’s Grace to Save
Your Gift
God’s Preparation
God’s Grace
Daniel 2:1-19
In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. He declared to Arioch, the king's captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king. Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
Your Gift
*God was speaking to Nebuchadnezzar before Daniel
Purpose of prophetic gifts according to I Corinthians 13.
1 Corinthians 13:2
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
You will be positioned by God in your everyday work life, friendship group and community living to interpret dreams leading to the gospel.
God’s Preparation
Daniel had to be prepared with his gift.
This means you must have a vibrant Word and prayer life on your own to be prepared for it and confident enough to seek answers when the opportunity comes.
You must, like Daniel, be in a lifestyle rhythm that has your thoughts, faith and activities turned towards heaven and oriented to the purposes of God. Otherwise, you will miss the eternal, soul saving opportunities that are presented to you and suffer the fate of those who surround you.
*Daniel cultivated his focus and his gift with his brothers Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
Statistically, American church-goers show up 1.5 times/month - Ben Crawshaw of The Rocket Company
It is hard to develop any momentum for winning souls, discipleship, growth, giving or community impact with a lack of commitment. The church is not meant to be interacted with as you interact with your Amazon, Netflix, Google or Instagram accounts.
Hebrews 10:19-25
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
*Don’t just show up when you are serving. That is no way to be a disciple or make disciples. It takes consistency, faithfulness (which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit).
You must learn to choose God’s blessed life vs. My #best life now.
God’s Grace
The gift was meant for the saving of lives.
Daniel 2:46-49
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king's court.
Tech Team Vision:
Our vision for tech team is to remove any distractions to help enable the congregation to worship Jesus freely. We also aim to serve the worship team and assist with any technical needs. Our overarching vision is to magnify Christ through behind the scenes service so that our church can experience Christ during our Sunday service, be further knit into community with other believers, and go out into our weeks engaging the culture!
And this is true of every area of service in the house of God, whether you are on the worship team, in the children’s ministry, a community group leader, hanging curtains, greeting the newcomer to church or bringing the Word on a Sunday.
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Second City Church - In It Not Of It - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2018