First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge

Things of Note from Daniel 2: 31-42

The stone (Jesus Christ) will come in and shatter all the world’s kingdoms, inaugurating a New Kingdom, God’s Kingdom, which supersedes all that came before and will never be destroyed.

1 Peter 2: 5: “You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Jesus was the stone that shattered the statue, inaugurating God’s kingdom, and now. We are the living stones being built up in God’s eternal kingdom. How encouraging to know that we are used by the Lord to build His Kingdom!

“There will come a day when all of our little triumphs and glories will lie in the dust and we will stand before the great Creator to give an account. When that day comes, what will count will not be our standing in the statue but our standing on the rock.” Iain M. Duguid

Reflection Questions:

What kingdoms have you built up for yourself that need to be broken down and carried away?

In what ways are you building kingdoms for your OWN glory rather than building up God’s kingdom for HIS glory?

Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle!

A powerful reminder of who Jesus is. God's Son who was present at the very Creation.

Gerrit takes a deeper look at the philosophy underlying “critical theory,” more popularly known as cultural Marxism or Cancel Culture. He considers the Christian worldview in comparison and also ways to recognize and respond to this philosophy in daily life. For a detailed comparison, please consider watching his August 9, 2020 sermon, "Walls of Salvation."

The Psalmist, David, recognizes a dirty little secret about us. We find afflictions to be gross. Needy people can disgust us. Don’t dare sneeze in a public place or you will be shunned. If you’ve ever been fired, you know the weird feeling that it seems like people everywhere know about it. The cashier at Whole Foods is not really sure you should be shopping there. The bank teller you’ve known for months checks your i.d. twice. It’s like you have a smell about you. If you’ve ever been dumped by someone, it seems to be written on your face. They get your order wrong at your favorite restaurant. They lose your appointment at the doctor’s office. When we’re crying ugly tears of loss, people don’t want to hug us because we’re all hot and reeking of sadness. We can smell like our sickness or the sweat of our stress. Even our dogs know something is wrong. Affliction can make us repellent to others. And worst of all, we can think we deserve it. We can think God views our suffering as a moral failure. It’s a sign of his judgment.

But David has discovered that’s a lie. God has not despised the affliction of the afflicted. He thought God had forsaken him. God had not. He thought God turned his face away from his prayers. God did not. He heard. He delivered.

Take aways from this passage:
• Nebuchadnezzar was troubled, restless, panicked and furious because he doesn't trust his gods. Daniel was poised, calm, confident and brave because he DOES trust his.
• "There's a difference between believing that prayer is important and believing that prayer is essential. Believing prayer is essential is believing things will not happen without it."
• What truths about God do you need to believe (and experience) in order to have the kind of peace Daniel has?
• Nebuchadnezzar's gods are inaccessible, incapable and impersonal. Daniel's God (our God!) is fully capable and always accessible to us, sharing his wisdom, power and knowledge with us.
• Reflective Question: How can you take Daniel's hymn of praise (in verses 20-23) and make it your own this week?

After the gut-wrenching abandonment of the first half of Psalm 22, we have a dramatic change of mood beginning with verse 22. Praise and proclamation. Victory and blessing.

It’s almost impossible to read Psalm 22 without thinking about Jesus. He quoted the first verse from the cross, “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?” And there are another half dozen direct connections between Psalm 22 and Matthew’s account of Jesus’ passion. So this psalm connects deeply to our redemption. It takes us to the inner heart of our Redeemer and what he went through for us.

Have modern American politics left Christianity behind?