Daniel (Season 2): Not Of This World (Week 2)
Preacher: Pastor Daniel Erasmus
Worship:
As you spend time in worship this week, listen to the song Our Father by Bethel Music. Reflect on how the song echoes the words of the Lord’s prayer, “On earth as it is in heaven.” Ponder on how we should be fixing our eyes on things of heaven; things that are eternal.
Check-in:
Share with the group how you applied one of the lessons from last week’s sermon in your day-to-day life.
Synopsis of message: Not Of This World
This past Sunday, Pastor Daniel started his sermon by recounting a passage from Daniel 5. This chapter described how during a feast, King Belshazzar, his wives, concubines and nobles were praising their idols while drinking wine from the golden cups taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem. As this was happening, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the wall.
After the king couldn’t find anyone to interpret the writing, Daniel was brought in to do it (Daniel 5:11–13). Daniel stated that the message was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN (Daniel 5:25). Pastor Daniel translated these words to mean the following, explaining them within the context of our culture:
- MENE means “God has numbered the days of your reign.” Our days on earth are numbered. Everyone is destined to die (Hebrews 9:27). However, when we are living with an eternal perspective, this should encourage us because it helps us to navigate culture.
- TEKEL means “You have been weighed on the scales.” Our lives will be weighed (judged), and we will have to stand before God to account for how we spent it. Did we only praise Jesus on a Sunday, or did we have a personal relationship with him, giving our lives to him?
- PARSIN means “Your kingdom is divided.” This refers to how our earthly belongings stay behind and are divided when we move on to eternity. This means that we can’t put our faith in the things of this world, because we are not of this world. Yet, when our hope is anchored in heaven, we become unshakable.
Pastor Daniel encouraged us with the words, “You’ll navigate the ups and downs of our changing culture much better when you remember that you’re not of this world.” (John 15:19)
To navigate the culture of this world, Pastor Daniel ended with the following three points to keep us grounded:
- Look up and not around. We endure this shifting and changing culture by keeping an eternal perspective. We’re called not to be intimidated by earthly things, but to have the hope of heaven.
- Focus on the unseen, not the seen. Invest your life in what matters eternally. We need to focus on things that are bigger than ourselves, enabling our present troubles to achieve for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them (2 Corinthians 4:17–18).
- Live by faith, not fear. We need to focus our hearts on faith, not only by coming to church, but by being in God’s Word, which feeds our faith each day.
Discussion questions:
- Reflecting on your daily life, have you been living from a place of having an eternal perspective or from a place that is more concerned with worldly things?
- When considering the truth that we are not of this world, share with the group one thing that encourages you about living with eternity in mind.
- From the three points that Pastor Daniel gave us at the end of his sermon, which one can you apply in terms of cultivating an eternal perspective in this next week.
Additional resources:
- Jesus in All of Daniel (RightNow Media)
- The Life of Daniel (bible.com)
- Book of Daniel Summary | Watch an Overview Video (bibleproject.com)
