27 Oct
2024

He Lifts Up the Humble

Passage: Daniel 4:1-8, 19-27

   “There is no fault…which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others…The vice I am talking about is Pride or Self-Conceit…Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind…..In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself.
Unless you know God as that and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison, you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud person is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you….For Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.”
—C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity 

SERMON OUTLINE:

1.The City of Pride
2.The Mindset of Pride
3.The Consequences of Pride
4.The Healing of Pride

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Define what pride is. What does it look like in one’s life? Discuss the impact it has on one’s self and others.

Read Daniel 4:1-8, 19-27. What challenges, encourages, or sparks questions for you in these passages? What phrases stand out to you that help shape your understanding of God’s character and your identity as a child of God?

In verse 27, Daniel gives a final warning to Nebuchadnezzar against his pride. How does this warning encourage and challenge us to respond today to leaders in our city exhibiting pride? Consider 1 Timothy 2:1-2. How can we specifically pray for those in authority in our lives? Spend time together praying for leaders in your life by name.

We all must wrestle with the sin of pride in us. Psalm 10:4 describes the effect of sin as “no room for God.” To consider what pride looks like in our lives, here are three self-evaluation questions: Do you struggle to care or have empathy for others? Is your default posture one of survival where everything is a competition? When you experience suffering, are you hopeless or driven towards God? Spend time discussing with the group how you have wrestled with sin in your own life. How have you seen God’s goodness break through the chains of pride? Are there places in your life where you could “renounce your sins by doing what is right” (Daniel 4:27)?

Jesus shows us the strength and power of true humility. Read Philippians 2:6-11. This passage captures what Jesus did for each of us. We can boast in his humility – what from this passage can you praise God for? How does your identity in Christ equip you to deal with pride in your life?

PRAYER

Share with your group how they can be praying for you: what is weighing on you from this past week? What are you praising God for from this past week?

Romans 12:2 / “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”