Placed For Purpose: The Lions Den

Recordings, notes and application questions

Each week, we produce notes, discussion points and application questions for the Sunday talks — helping you go deeper into everything we’re looking at together and resourcing our Small Groups during the week. Our current series explores the life of Daniel, and how he lives in a place of exile knowing that he is uniquely placed to know, enjoy and reveal God. Use the embedded player to listen to the talk, or click here to visit Soundcloud and download it on a PC.

Key Passages

  • Daniel 6

Notes: The Lions Den

Trials of many kinds can come upon us without warning in life. We tend naturally to think that they must be outside of the will of God, indicating a problem that we must work to resolve in order to see an end to the trial. Yet, the Bible shows us again and again that God’s gracious and kind purposes are often worked out through trials and sufferings. His plans are worked out even in the moments when it feels as though life has fallen apart (like going from the success and influence Daniel had, to being thrown in the lions den). Though for Daniel it must have been confusing, distressing and frightening, he found that God was with Him in the midst of that trial in a unique and powerful way. The trial was the context for meeting mightily with God and seeing His faithfulness revealed. Perhaps you are experiencing trials and cannot understand where they have come from. Know this, God is with you and his purposes for you are always good — not just for you, but also for those around you! There are a number of particular things we can learn from this story:

Enjoy the Big Story

  • The story of Daniel is the story of Jesus, an faultless life lived, a righteous man unjustly condemned in a conspiracy, sealed away in what was thought to be his tomb with a stone rolled in front.

Seek Influence, not Power

  • It’s crucial that we distinguish between these two: Power is the ability to make someone else do something they don’t want to do; Influence is where you are able to appeal to someone to change how they think about something. Power forces someone to do something, influence shows them why it’s necessary.

Persist in Prayer

  • Daniel values prayer more than life — he grows into the meaning of his name (Daniel = “God is my Judge”) as one who values what God thinks and does more than what anyone else things and does.

Expect Opposition

  • Daniel was totally faultless in all the he did in his public and private life, and yet he was still opposed. We too should expect this, but not fear it — even in that place God has purpose for us.

Witness Boldly

  • Culture is constantly telling a story to people about the ‘big story’ of the world and their place in it — a story that says you must have success and fame and beauty and power and wealth, and that even if you do get those, your life is ultimately meaningless; here today and gone tomorrow.

Application Questions

  1. What struck you most from Sunday’s talk?

Oasis Church Birmingham

We’re about two things: Loving God, and Loving People

Oasis Church Birmingham

Written by

Oasis is a community of ordinary people from Birmingham and the surrounding area who are passionate about loving God and loving people

Oasis Church Birmingham

We’re about two things: Loving God, and Loving People

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