Sermon Notes courtesy of Sis. Tamala R. Maddox, Ph.D.

45 Convictions – Praise Him

II. Daniel’s First Response: Prayer Last week we saw how when Daniel was threatened to be killed when he couldn’t interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams, Daniel prayed along with his circle of close friends

He prayed and God answered

III. Daniel’s Second Response: Praise
After his prayer was answered, he praised him

Praise Him

Sometimes we don’t understand what God is saying to you.  He’s tapping it out like SOS but you don’t understand.  Someone with more spiritual maturity, with more discernment

Daniel tapped into the Holy telegraph line and found out what Nebuchadnezzar’s dream meant.

Best friend – should be able to pray with them; don’t have someone that close to you that doesn’t know how to pray with you

When God answered Daniel’s prayer, he praised God.

Is that our first response when God answers our prayer?  Spiritual maturity will make us pause

Daniel said, Praise is what I do when I want to be close to you; Praise is who I am, I will praise Him while I can, I will bless Him at all times; I vow to praise Him, through the good and the bad whether I’m happy or sad; I’ll praise you in all that I go through because praise is what I do

Daniel did not hop up and run to Nebuchadnezzar to say he knew the answer to the dream; he stopped and praised God

Give God what He’s due when He blesses you
He doesn’t need it
God is self-existent

Praise – to extol in words or song; to magnify; to glorify on account of perfections or excellent words

Can any of us tell of a time when God failed?  He always gives us what we need.

Many manners of praising The Lord.  One of those ways is “Your Way.”  You need to develop your own way.

Prayer started it out and praise finished it out

A. Praise is a cure for pride.  Reminds you that you can’t take credit.  Who can be prideful enough to take credit for what God has provided.

God is opposed to pride but gives grace to those who praise Him.

B. God wants praise to be a source of stability for you in the face of your trials.  He wants praise to be a constant for you.  When you can’t do anything else, you can praise.

God answers your praise with His presence.  He lives in the praises of His people.  If you open the door of praise He will step in and bless you.

God never stops talking or blessing….it’s just a change in your perspective that is needed.  The very fact that you can complain means that God is blessing you.

Jay Moss
There’s a praise on the inside, I can’t keep to myself, a holler springing forth from the depths of my soul.  So excuse me if I get a little giddy or maybe even strange, praise is the way I say thanks.

Sermon Notes courtesy of Sis. Angelique Sharpe

Conviction in an Age of Compromise Series

“When the Bottom Falls Out”

(‭Daniel‬ ‭2‬:‭1-18‬ NIV)
In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means. ” Then the astrologers answered the king, “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.” The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.” Once more they replied, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.” Then the king answered, “I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.” The astrologers answered the king, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans.” This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death. When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him. Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel goes to the king to interpret the king’s dream and to spare him and his friends’ life.

Daniel gives us a prescription for dealing with our issues…

A. You don’t have to be involved to be ensnared.
– sometimes being connected to situations or people makes you involuntarily involved
B. Pray as your first defense not just before your final defeat.
– we normally turn to our resources, relationships, and/or refunds before praying
– we don’t result to prayer first becomes it takes spiritual maturity to admit that we’re inadequate
C. If your best friend is not a part of your prayer team, you need a new best friend.
– you shouldn’t have friends that you can’t pray with or talk about Christ to

 

 

Sermon Notes courtesy of Sis. Tamala R. Maddox, Ph.D.

45 Conviction in an Age of Compromise – Sermon Series
Old Testament

Daniel 1:1 – 9

conviction – to be stopped where you are

Once faced with the authentic Word of God, you will be arrested (convicted); stop exactly where you are

We’re compromising on a lot; on who we think The Lord loves; Bible says “whosoever will”; it doesn’t give circumstances under which He loves you

Compromised on teaching our children what thus saith The Lord; we’ve compromised on reading the Word – The Daily Break is not the Word; we forsake the assembly by using the internet – convenience is not always good

How can I love The Lord and live in the world.  Too many of us have compromised.  It is difficult to tell those who are in the world and those who are of the world.  How do we live with convictions.

Today’s Title – DETERMINED

We are so far away from God that it is easy for the enemy to get to us.  The lure to compromise is there.  The enemy is looking for the weakness in our perimeter.

I. The Strategies Designed to Bring About Compromise

A.  Isolation – he will pull you away from everything you know that is familiar; you are isolated so that you can be controlled; Daniel was set up in high form, he was put in the palace and fed from the king’s table

B.  Indoctrination – took these bright Jewish boys and tried to turn them into cultured Babylonians; some of us are black from birth and try to become culturally something else; the enemy finds a way to make you hate who you are; you are stripped of who you are when you are indoctrinated; Daniel was put into a three year training program; they changed everyone’s name – Daniel did not allow them to change his name to Belteshazzar; the other three are only known by their Babylonian names (each name was linked to a Babylonian idol) – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are the names we know instead of Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah

C.  Immorality – cover you in immorality (entice you); put stuff in front of you that you will like; these boys were devout Jews who didn’t eat pork therefore eating the king’s food was against this; Daniel snuck over and asked that he not have to eat the food or drink the wine – The Lord moved on the man’s heart and he agreed to help Daniel

You have to be determined to stand on your faith.  Daniel did that.

God can validate faith without you doing things the way man wants them done.

Sermon Notes courtesy of Sis. Tamala Maddox

45 New Horizons
Isaiah 43:16-21

We must be mission oriented

Have you pondered your resolutions for this year; what will you do differently

The most difficult thing in life to do is to change; stop believing that the way I am doing things is the right way

Isaiah is writing to the children of Israel.

Can’t get to New Horizons unless you’re willing to Let It Go.  God is trying to do a new thing in your life.  You can’t get to the new thing while holding on to the old.  You can’t make progress going forward if your perspective is backwards.

Do you have enough faith to get to the next level that God wants for you?

I. Change your focus – stop looking behind start looking ahead
A. Don’t count on past victories to sustain you. Children of Israel left Egypt, they conquered land, they had fought off perspective conquerers….when they get in the Promised Land, they look back.  The momentum of success couldn’t sustain them.  Some people are afraid to succeed.  If you want to be successful, you have to be success minded, be with successful people.

B. Don’t allow past failures to paralyze you….Let it go. Don’t get stuck in a rut.  Move on….get up and do something different.

C. You cannot live on yesterday’s faith.  Move beyond joining the church.  Where is your faith today, has it grown from yesterday.  You have to do something to grow your faith.  Mom and Dad can have great faith in you but you can’t live on their faith.

II. Clarify your focus – discover what God wants for you; lift your cup up so He can fill it up; some don’t want The Lord to be in charge because you want to be in charge.  Don’t have to depend on my weakness and failure.
A. You must first see yourself as God see you.  He sees you without condemnation.
B. You must see your possibilities as God sees them. Sometimes the limit is too far when man looks at your possibilities.

III. Commit yourself to God’s Plan
With God there is no barrier.  God opened the Red Sea and allowed them to walk through before.
When will we be ready to do what God is doing.  Commit yourself to God’s plan.