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Introduction
Identity, a name carries much of who we are, right
when we are born much of our identity is formed.
First and foremost for much of our lives our identities
are rooted in our parents in fact, our parent’s
legacies follow us forever. Our names are something
our parents bestow on us at birth. More than that,
names carry meaning, and for many of us the
meaning of our names rings true. My name is Andrew
which means quite simply man, and well it rings true
right? In the modern world our identities are more
than just our names, there is much more behind it,
and there is no better example than a group of 4
mates in the bible.
Open with me to Daniel Chapter 1
Read Dan 1: 1-6
-
Name is an essential part of ones identity
•
In verse 6 we see 4 names of Daniel and his
friends, they are as follows
•
These names are in many ways their identities,
not their entire identities but defi nitely a part of
their identities
Daniel
God is my Judge
Hananiah
God is Gracious
Mishael
Who is like God
Azariah
God is my helper
-
Our identities are in God just as Daniel and his
friends identities are in God.
-
Read Daniel 1:7
•
Their identities had been shifted by Babylon and
the kings court to fi t Babylon’s traditions, their
identities were being shifted.
-
Similarly their hope has been destroyed by the
captivity and oppression of Jerusalem, this is
symbolic of their hope in the coming of the
messiah,
-
Their hope has been delayed.
•
Their identities even to their own nation has
been separated by Babylon.
Read Daniel 1: 7-
-
Humanly speaking there was no point in keeping
their old identities.
•
What is the point of keeping faith in this
situation?dscvdsdv
-
There is no worldly point to hold onto their
faith
•
Their faith is all that is left of their identities.
-
Psalm 100:5
-
The fact they held onto their old identities, their
faith, and God it meant they were 10 times better
than their counterparts.
Belteshazzar
May Bel protect his life
Shadrach
Follower of Aku (Sumerian Moon god)
Meshach
Who is like Aku
Abednego
Servant of Nego/Nabu (god of wisdom)
•
They did not follow the crowd
-
Illustration, High School, wanting to be
‘popular’
•
Daniel, Hananiah, Michael and Azariah show us a
healthy pattern for our church today
-
What does this look like?
•
Wholistic
•
More than just the spiritual
•
Includes all of life in our physical realm
-
What is our modern Babylon?
•
Consumerism
-
The ‘I’ Generation
•
The book Sticky Faith by the Fuller Youth
Institute highlights this issue,
-
We as a society believe the idea that
You
can be saved from a life of insignifi cance
and despair. When you fi nd yourself in a
struggle for happiness, dissatisfi ed with
life and who you are, your search will
ultimately lead you to a purchase.”
Personal acquisition is the way to
fulfi lment
, happiness, and meaning in life.
But that is not all to the story. It also tells
us that our identity lies in what we buy.
And our task as adults is to nurture a new
generation of consumers-because that’s
who we are.
•
The Daniel story paints a very different
picture
•
Read Dan 1:18-21 again
-
Verse 19 interviewed, often translated as
walked with them.
•
The king was interested in what set them
apart, He had never come across people
that were so different.
•
He was truly interested in what set them
apart
Conclusion:
Today I challenge myself and I challenge you. What
sets you apart, have you lost site of it. Is your faith
your identity, further to that does your spiritual walk
transcend into the physical realm. In a book I have
been reading recently I was challenged by something
that the author John Ortberg said concerning
christians including himself “ periodically they may
try to get their spiritual lives together, by praying
more regularly or trying to master another spiritual
discipline. It is the religious equivalent of going on a
diet or trying to stick to a budget…. The truth is the
term spiritual life is simply a way of referring to one’s
life.
I challenge you, What are you going to do with your
one life, move the one day a week christianity we
might have to 7 days a week christianity.
