Thursday, September 27, 2018

Daniel Chapter 5- Small Group Questions


Our church is currently studying the book of Daniel. For ten-weeks we're walking through the book and talking about living a courageous life. For this series I volunteered to write the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions
A Bad Night in Babylon
Daniel 5

Nebuchadnezzar had passed from the scene; Belshazzar was now ruling Babylon. We have a history gap. We don’t read all the linage of the king but the author wants us to focus on the faithfulness of God. The events that play out in Daniel 5 are a fulfillment of the prophetic announcement that Daniel gave in response the King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2. Take your time to work through Daniel 5 paying close attention to the need to worship the Lord and his faithfulness.

1) Share about a time you had a bad night. What made the night and how did things improve or degrees in the morning?

2) Read Daniel 5:1-4 and 1 John 2:16. Talk about how the party in the Old Testament was an event that didn’t honor the Lord. What does the Apostle John have to say about such type of actions?

3)Read Daniel 5:5-6. In what types of situations do you hear people say, “The handwriting was on the wall?” Did they listen to the handwriting or fail to heed it and learn a lesson the hard way?

4) Throughout the book of Daniel we’ve seen the author communicate the futility of idol worship (read Daniel 2:5-6, 3:15, and 5:7-9). An idol is anything we place above the Lord our God. Discuss how we allow idols to distract us from seeking the Lord.

5) Pastor Neal said that we need to set ourselves on the side of God. What are you doing this week to intentionally set yourself on the side of God? What patterns have you established to help you do this and what personal patterns do you need to break (reading the paper, watching TV, checking your phone, etc)?

6) Read Daniel 5:18-24. Daniel gives the king a historical account of how his predecessors didn’t seek the Lord. What do you think the king was thinking while hearing Daniel give this prophetic denouncing?

7) Daniel 5:30 has an ominous ring to it. Read Luke 12:13-21. Both the rich fool and Belshazzar had focused more on selfish desires than helping others. What can we learn from these men about living our lives for the Lord?


Close your time in prayer

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Daniel Chapter 4- Small Group Questions


Our church is currently studying the book of Daniel. For ten-weeks we're walking through the book and talking about living a courageous life. For this series I volunteered to write the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions
Do what is right
Daniel 4

Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream and his third miraculous encounter with Israel’s God is recorded in chap. 4. Daniel did not date the dream and subsequent events described here, but clues in the text point to the close of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. For example, his building operations seem to have been concluded (4:30) and there was peace throughout the empire (4:4). The king’s illness began a year after the dream (cf. 4:29) and probably lasted seven years.

1) Describe a lesson that you or somebody you know learned the hard way? It could be a lesson from your childhood, college years, or any time in your life.

2) Nebuchadnezzar turned his life around and started out by praising God. What is something you can praise God for in your life right now? What time have you gone through that you can praise God for?

3) Read Daniel 4:17. Talk about the sovereignty of God. Think of some of the things stated in this text about God’s power exercised over all creation. Where do you see God sovereignly working in you?

4) Read Daniel 4:5-8, 19. Do you think the wise men had an inclination about the dream but didn’t say anything to the king so they could keep their own head? Think about the risk Daniel took in sharing the meaning of the dream with the king. Where is God asking you to take a risk?

5) Pastor Neal shared about the pride Nebuchadnezzar had in thinking he built Babylon. It was a sin he struggled with and needed to repent of. What sin are you currently struggling with that you need to repent of and leave?

6) Read Daniel 4:34, 36. Did you notice that twice Nebuchadnezzar says his sanity was restored to him? This is a small mercy from God. It’s not small in application but that we are small in comparison to God. Share a time when God has mercy on you.

7) Pastor Neal talked about being a person who expresses the grace of God, being a blessing to those around you, and making worship a lifestyle. What one of those are you working on this week and how is it going?

Close your time in prayer

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Daniel Chapter 3- Small Group Questions



Our church is currently studying the book of Daniel. For ten-weeks we're walking through the book and talking about living a courageous life. For this series I volunteered to write the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions
Trail by Fire
Daniel 3

No specific time is given for this incident, and some scholars maintain that it took place long after the events of chap. 2. The probability that the king received the idea for the image from the dream in chap. 2, and the likelihood that the image was constructed to test the loyalty of the king’s officials to his new administration. The king’s construction of a large statue and the demand that the Hebrews worship the monstrosity is the occasion for the trial. The refusal of Daniel’s friends to follow this mandate results in the wrath of the king and a great demonstration of the reality and power of Yahweh God.

1) Share a time that you stood for God when no one else was willing to. It can be a recent experience or something that took place decades ago. Think about how the examples of faith you just shared increase your faith.

2) King Nebuchadnezzar created a large idol. In the first three verses the author makes it clear that the king made the idol. What is so important about that?

3) The king used music while people fell down to the worship the idol. In what ways does music help build our allegiance to something or someone?

4)Read Daniel 3:13-19 and discuss the difference in demeanor between king Nebuchadnezzar and the three Hebrew men. Share about how you can respond kindly when people in your presence are furious.

5) There are times when people stand for God and loose their life. In Hebrews 11 we read about a list of people who loved God and lost their lives (read Hebrews 11:32-38). Share about people who are being persecuted for following God.

6) Obviously there were thousands of people who bowed to the idol. What do you think made the difference between the Jews who bowed and the three who didn’t? What are some idols in your life that you need to eradicate so you can worship the Lord?

7) Talk about how the impact of the three Jews who didn’t bow must have effected those who were in attendance? How does their power to stand strong for God impact you to stand for God this week?

Close your time in prayer

Monday, September 10, 2018

Daniel Chapter 2- Small Group Questions


Our church is currently studying the book of Daniel. For ten-weeks we're walking through the book and talking about living a courageous life. For this series I volunteered to write the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Clarity in Chaos
Daniel 2


Nebuchadnezzar’s first dream, imparted to the monarch early in Daniel’s experience in Babylon, is recorded in this chapter. The dream is significant because it provides a history of the world through four successive Gentile empires. During the final phase of the fourth empire, all earthly dominions will be destroyed, and the kingdom of God that will endure forever will be established. Moreover we learn about the faith of Daniel and his three friends, their commitment to God, and desire to serve the Lord.

1) Did you know that studies show the average person has three to five dreams a night? About 95% of our dreams are forgotten. Share a fun dream you recently had and what made it so special.


2) King Nebuchadnezzar had a vivid dream but wouldn’t tell anyone about it. The Bible tells us about another leader who had a troubling dream (read Genesis 41:1-40). Discuss the similarities in the story of Jospeh and Daniel. How did God help these men in both cases?


3) When we think about Daniel 2:1-11, it helps show the futility of trusting in anything except for God. Share about how you’re currently trusting in God during a confusing situation or how you’ve trusted in God in the past.


4) In Daniel 2:18, we read that Daniel immediately went to his friends and they “pleaded for mercy from the God of heaven…” Who do you have in your life that goes to God in prayer for you?


5) Read Daniel 2:20-23. Take some time in your group to praise God. How can you make praising God a part of your daily life?


6) In Daniel 2:27-30, Daniel makes it clear that God gave the answer to the dream. How can we make sure to give God the glory in our daily lives? Share some practical ways to implement this on a weekly basis.


7) How do we become part of God’s effort in the world to help more people find and follow Jesus?


Close your time in prayer

Thursday, September 06, 2018

Daniel Chapter 1- Small Group Questions


Our church is currently studying the book of Daniel. For ten-weeks we're walking through the book and talking about living a courageous life. For this series I volunteered to write the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Counter-Cultural Living
Daniel 1

The book of Daniel was written to be a testimony to the sovereign, enduring glory of God. Since our lives are to be that too, there is much here we should learn. Since Daniel and his friends were able to make that glory known in an entirely secular environment, there is also much we can emulate. The first chapter of Daniel serves primarily as an introduction; it sets the scene for the other stories that make up the rest of the book. History tells us Babylon besieged Israel in 605 B.C. Daniel was approximately fifteen years old when he went into training for Nebuchadnezzar.

1. In the introduction of the sermon Neal shared about Roger Huang and his experience of transitioning to a foreign culture. Share a time when you went to a foreign country, or location, and felt like you didn’t fit in.


2. The Babylonians captured the Israelites and took the articles of the temple of The Lord (Daniel 1:2). They put those articles in their temple in an attempt to show they conquered God. Read 1 Samuel 5:1-5 to see how that worked for other nations that attempted to the same thing.


3. Thinking about Daniel 1:3-5, why do you think king Nebuchadnezzar required all the young men to be trained this throughly before entering his service?


4. Daniel had the close friendship of three people, who do you have that stand for God with you as you walk through the daily struggles of life?


5. Daniel and his companions had to decide what parts of the Babylonian culture they would adopt and what parts they would reject (see Daniel 1:8-14). How do you make that same determination in the culture we live in?


6. The presence of God is clear in Daniel 1. Verse 2 tells us: “The Lord delivered Jehoiakim kit of Judah into his hand…” Verse 9 says, “Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel.” and Verse 17 tell us, “God gave…” What does the fact of God’s sovereignty mean to you in everyday life?


7. What do you think gave Daniel, and his friends, the resolve to stand for God?


8. Close your time in prayer