This week, Pete continue our teaching series, “Faithfulness in a New Normal”, speaking from Daniel 3, where Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego face the choice of conforming to the world’s pattern of worship, or to be thrown into the fiery furnace. In faithful disobedience, they stand up for God, declaring that God we serve can save us, but even if He doesn’t, we will never serve your gods of worship the image of God you have set up.
This service was recorded live on Zoom at 10:30am on Sunday 18th September 2020, and is now available to watch.
If you haven’t watch it yet, watch the Bible Project video on Daniel, which gives an short overview of the whole book. I also encourage you to read through Daniel in your Bible, or listen to it in an Audio Bible.
Read the first part of chapter 3 in our book for the series, Faithful Discipleship in a Foreign Land by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson. Read it online for free, buy it as a paperback from Amazon or read it on a Kindle (and if you’ve got Kindle Unlimited, it’s free).
The Enduring Word Commentary on Daniel 3 gives lots of additional information and good quotes for other sources.
Read about the persecution of Pastor John Cao’s, and listen to his poem.
Increase your awareness of the 1 in 8 Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith, through the websites of organisations such as Open Doors, Release International and Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
Read or listen to the The Prayer of St. Francis – Make Me an Instrument!.
1
Read or listen to Daniel 3.
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Which part of the story resonates with where you are in life at the moment?
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What questions do you have about the passage? (Chapter 3A from Faithful Discipleship in a Foreign Land might help to answer your questions).
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Why do you think King Nebuchadnezzar commands everyone bow before the image of gold?
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Why do you think Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego refuse to bow before the image?
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How do Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego face their fiery furnace?
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What impact does God’s act of salvation have upon King Nebuchadnezzar?
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Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23, and read in context in Luke 9:18-26) How do these words of Jesus speak into your everyday frontline.
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Pete spoke about three kinds of fiery furnaces that we might face in our everyday lives – ones prepared by human hands, one fired by Satan, and another which is a purify, testing and faith building fire. Have you experienced, or are you experiencing a fiery furnace at the moment? If you are, pray with others, asking the Lord for his presence and his protection.
10
Pray for those around the world who are facing persecution for their Christian Faith. You might like to use Open Door’s World Watch List to guide your prayer.
For more worship videos recorded by our musicians,
check out our Worship @ Home playlist on YouTube.
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Pete Dibdin2020-11-20 10:31:312020-11-22 17:16:58The End is Not the End
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Pete Dibdin2020-11-13 09:51:052020-11-15 18:53:50Am I Bothered?
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Pete Dibdin2020-11-05 16:57:262020-11-08 16:44:56Spiritual Warfare