Ambassador Presbyterian

Shining Light on Dark Days Ahead - Daniel

No one likes to hear that there are dark days ahead.  Especially when you're just coming through a long period of trouble that you are expecting to end soon.  Daniel is given another difficult and disturbing vision by God of continued hardship and trials for God's people for many years to come, and it understandably upsets him.  But even hearing the bad news is good news in that it points to God's sovereign power and purpose to rule over his enemies, redeem his people, and restore his kingdom.  In Daniel 8:1-27 we look at God shining his light on dark days ahead.

The Son of Man - Daniel

Chapter 7 of Daniel is a pivotal point not only in the book of Daniel, but in the whole of the Bible. In it, God pulls back the curtain of world events to reveal to Daniel and to his people in exile what is going on behind the scenes of history, and in particular, who is in control of all the scenarios. Here we consider the tyranny of worldly powers and the triumph of God's kingdom through One like a Son of man to whom is given eternal dominion over all things.   

Rescued from the Lion‘s Den - Daniel

When Daniel, as a result of a conspiracy against him by evil men, finds himself lowered into a den of hungry lions, he does not open his mouth in complaint, nor raise his hand in resistance, but he entrusts himself to God who is sovereign over all and can deliver him from the lion's mouth.  Here we consider from Daniel 6 the powerful truth of the gospel revealed in the familiar account of Daniel in the lion's den.   

The Writing on the Wall - Daniel

In Daniel 5, we see the great kingdom of Babylon brought to an end through God's judgment upon King Belshazzar. God's judgment begins at an idolatrous feast and ends with the death of the king and the fall of his kingdom. Such is the "writing on the wall" for all sinners save for the judgment of God being laid upon another King, Jesus Christ, who humbled himself before God and in his death bore the wrath of God for our sin.  Through King Jesus, the kingdom of God is established forever, and redeemed sinners are now welcomed to the holy banquet of the true King of kings. 

 

The Lowliest of Men, Our Exalted King - Daniel

In Daniel 4 we hear a story of an exalted king, humbled by God, told "that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom He will and sets over it the lowliest of men." And who is that, but Jesus? He is the Most High God who became the lowliest of men. His obedience, His willingness, His humiliation, in God's will became His exaltation - and ours, too. Let us hear testimony of God's sovereignty from this pagan king, but even more from the King of kings Himself.

The Way of Deliverance - Daniel

As Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah emerge from the flames unharmed, the king exclaims of their God "There is no other god who is able to deliver in this way." Their sovereign LORD, able and willing to rescue, is the same God we worship today - revealed in Jesus Christ. He is the Way of our deliverance. Join us to hear, in Daniel 3, how Christ delivers us not from flames, but through them, with Him, redeemed for glory! 

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Recipe and Remedy for a Restless Heart - Daniel

When King Nebuchadnezzar finds himself troubled in spirit and unable to sleep because of a recurring dream, he is desperate to know what it means. When his wisest counselors fail the king, the young Daniel turns to the Lord who knows and can reveal all things. When God reveals to Daniel the king's dream and its meaning, we find both the reason as well as the remedy for the king's restlessness, and it's a message that is meant for us as well when we find ourselves up at night with a restless spirit.  We continue in Daniel 2 and look at the recipe and remedy for a restless heart.   

 

Resolute Faith - Daniel

To stand firm in the faith when everything in the world around you is working to deconstruct that faith and to shape you into its mold is one of the greatest challenges we face as followers of Christ. It comes at great risk, but it promises a great reward.  As exiles in Babylon, Daniel and his friends found themselves under great pressure to shed their faith in God and conform to the ways of a pagan king and kingdom. Their resolute faith reveals the faithfulness of God to protect and provide for his own as we seek to serve him in this world, while not being of this world. Here we look at Daniel 1 and the risk and reward of resolute faith like that of Daniel.

Changing Times, Unchanging God - Daniel

We live in a world of constantly changing leaders and shifting cultures, and as believers we find ourselves caught in the current of an increasingly worldly, godless culture that is pulling us in a direction we do not want to go. As citizens of God's kingdom, we are called to live as aliens and strangers in this world, to be in it but not of it. Such was the case for Daniel and his friends after Israel was conquered and carried off to Babylon. The book of Daniel gives us a historical as well as an eternal perspective that points us to the true hope we have in the providential grace and power of our sovereign God, as well as the true change that comes when we stand resolutely by faith against the strong currents of worldly culture. Join us as we introduce our study of the Book of Daniel: Resolute Faith in the God Who Reigns.   

Standing Firm: The Encouragement We Have - Ephesians: Grace in Christ

Ephesians 6:18-24

God, through the apostle, has reached the end of his letter, and we the end of our sermon series. For his very last impression, his dying words, he wants us to know this: encouragement. Encouragement from intimate knowledge of how God is and what He is doing. Encouragement to persevere in His love through prayer. So listen and be encouraged by love in prayer.