03 Nov
2024

Steady Through Chaos and Change

Passage: Daniel 5:1-8, 13-31

“Belshazzar’s story begins like Nebuchadnezzar’s, with a flourishing monarchy in royal majesty. A banquet is a sign of honor appropriate to a king.  But the temperate streak in Jewish thinking is reserved about such occasions…. Things tend to go wrong at royal banquets.”  – John Goldingay

SERMON OUTLINE:

  1. The God who does not change
  2. The story that cannot fail
  3. The banquet that is better

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

When you experience sudden change, what is typically your natural reaction?

Read Daniel 5:1-8, 13-31. What challenges, encourages, or sparks questions for you in this passage? What phrases stand out to you that help shape your understanding of God’s character and your identity as a child of God?

God does not change and He is in charge. In verse 22 Daniel makes it clear that Belshazzar knew the truth about God, but in verse 23 it is also made clear that he set himself against the Lord. He knew the truth but he did not receive it or acknowledge that God is in charge. In what ways are we prone to act like Belshazzar? Where in our lives does this passage invite us to humble ourselves?

Hebrews 12: 28 says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,” When we recognize that God is God and we are not, we receive lasting hope and life in the truth of who Jesus is and what he’s done for us. When our circumstances are uncertain or unstable, how does this Hebrews verse and Daniel’s example invite us to respond and live in faith?

Daniel knew the salvation story represented in the gold and silver goblets from the temple. This story that cannot fail is marked by God’s faithfulness and covenant promises to his people. Consider where Daniel is placed in the great salvation story (his past, present, and future). In what ways does the past, present, and future of salvation history give you perspective on our present circumstances?

Belshazzar threw an impressive banquet feast, impressive by human standards, but all its celebration and success was gone in a night. Read Revelation 19:4-9 and Isaiah 55:1-3. We are invited to a better banquet that is everlasting and richer, greater than we can imagine but one we can taste now in communion. In what ways are you mindful and intentional about anticipating this future joyful celebration? How does it’s promise and everlasting nature encourage you in daily rhythms and interruptions?

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?

Pray for our government, elections this week, peace and unity in the church, a greater vision of God that acknowledges his sovereignty and greatness, gratitude for our identity in Christ, and freedom from the pull of idolatry.

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