Frontier Church

(*We apologize that the first few minutes have been edited out due to technical issues)

Christian continues our series from Daniel and the "Living in Babylon" series as we look at the bizarre encounter with the "handwriting on the wall" from Daniel 5.... It provides a challenge to allow our exile (Exile= our second choice world) to prove what's in us, to expose what we trust in, and to examine the warning signs that God desperately desires us to receive. We'll encounter a God that is magnificently patient, powerful, and worth letting Him "re-story" our exile stories...

DANIEL INSPIRES US WITH 3 TESTS TO BREAK FREE FROM PRIDE + EXILE:

1. THE "WEIGHT TEST" (Is there substance to my ways?)

2. THE "SECURITY TEST" (Am I trusting in false security?)

3. THE "WARNING TEST" (Are there warnings in my life/Where's the handwriting on the wall?)

Questions to ponder:

- In what ways has God warned you that it's time to take back that lifestyle "bent" more seriously?

- How is God leading you into something new?

- What are the warning signs in your life?

- Are you learning from them or are they tormenting you?

Ajay Samuel is on the senior leadership of the Pasadena International House of Prayer (where we meet on Sunday mornings). Ajay carries a unique combination of humor and scriptural depth, always imparting a relatable and inspiring lifestyle of intimacy with the Lord.

There may be no more crucial theme ignored in the American church than the subject of exile... As we increasingly live in a post-Christian city + culture, exile gives us the vision of hope to thrive despite circumstances.

Prepare to be convicted... and filled with a consuming hope to thrive as a "Creative Minority".

"Becoming a Creative Minority paints a compelling picture of the way the church is called to participate in these challenging and demanding times - seeking neither to control nor abandon the world, but to love it to new life through redemptive participation. In applying the idea of a Creative Minority to a Christian community, I describe it as follows: A Creative Minority is a Christian community in a web of stubbornly loyal relationships, knotted together in a living network of persons who are committed to practicing the way of Jesus together for the renewal of the world." -Jon Tyson

Last Sunday Christian launched a new series on "Living in Babylon: Thriving in LA as Disciples in Exile"...

As we increasingly live in a post-Christian city + culture, exile gives us the vision of hope to thrive despite circumstances. Last week we talked about how exile is "our second chance world"... that we all have realities where our first choice, our hopes, dreams, plans ("what should have been") have not happened... whether justly or not, and exile is the invitation to thrive, but with the cost of losing our first choice dreams.

Israel learned in exile that the dream of an empire shaking Kingdom was waiting for them, they just had to lose their Jerusalem dream to receive it. Even the limitations of exile become a kind of liberation, as God frees us from the prison of our own small ambitions.

This message addresses the cultural idol of a false pluralism + false tolerance, and when we need to "draw a line in the sand" to live faithfully under fire, even when the outcomes (our security, safety, jobs, relationships) are uncertain.

Perhaps one of the best examples of how pride blinds us to its presence in our lives is that

what we perceive to be humility, the complete opposite of pride, can be in reality just a different

form of pride.

Nebuchadnezzar’s pride began in contentment and prosperity, but he had no peace of mind. It caused him to take credit for everything he’d achieved. God dehumanized him in a reflection of what pride had done to his heart. Only when he recognized his debt to God – and that he was the object of God’s mercy – could he be humbled and healed of his pride. we'll look at 1) the Problem of Pride, 2) God's Response to pride, and 3) The Freedom of a life without Pride.