A NOTE FROM PASTOR MARGE
We are in our fifth week of our summer sermon series called, “Heroes,” in which we have been looking at some inspiring heroes in the Bible, both men and women, who faced what seemed like impossible circumstances, yet they found courage, strength, and most importantly faith in God, who helped them conquer whatever mountain they faced. This week we are studying Daniel, who lived a life for God, and he lived it without compromise. Daniel showed us how to live for God in a time of exile and in a land that worshiped idols. In 605 B.C., King Nebuchadnezzar, the great king of Babylon, besieged the city of Jerusalem. He then took the best and the brightest Hebrews, including Daniel, back with him to Babylon to teach them in the ways of Babylonian culture and religion. So, Daniel was taken from his home in Jerusalem, a place where the people worshiped the one true God and Daniel was forced to live in exile, in Babylon, in a place where the people worshipped all kinds of false gods. Daniel lived in a culture that was hostile toward everything he held near and dear to his heart and he lived in a culture that tried to tell him who he was: that he was not Daniel, the worshipper of God, but rather he was Belteshazzar (Daniel’s Babylonian name), a worshipper of a false god. The Babylonians tried to dictate to Daniel who he was, but Daniel did not compromise. He stood like a rock and God used him in a mighty way. Daniel realized that only God could tell him who he was. He was determined to remain true to the Truth Teller rather than listen to the lies of the enemy, the lies this world tries to tell us over and over and over again.
Brothers and sisters, the world you live in today tries to tell you who you are all the time. You live in a world that tries to label you. This world wants to label you by your ethnicity, by your race, by your socioeconomic status, by your academic status, by your job, by your marital status, and, even worse, our world wants to label you by something you have done; that you are an adulterer, a liar, a failure, fill in the blank. But the good news today is that Jesus Christ is the only One who gets to tell you who you are. That you are not a dead dog. That you are an adopted son or daughter of the Most High King and because of Christ, He looks at you and He says over you, "Behold my son, behold my daughter, whom I love. In you, I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17), and one day, you will hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 3:17). So, who is going to define your identity? The world around you or Jesus Himself? God has an invitation for every one us and that invitation is this: don't look to this world but look to Jesus Christ instead. He is the solid rock on which we stand.
— Pastor Marge
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