God has attached His name, honor, and reputation to His people; and that reality cannot help but shape our prayers—and our expectations of God. "O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, give heed and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay...," Daniel 9:19 (LSB). As Daniel realized Israel's exile was nearing its promised end, he also recognized that God's people were not ready to receive the renewal God had promised. Unrepentance and complacency characterized many in exile when humble, penitent loyalty was in order. So Daniel prayed. In the opening verses of Daniel 9, we saw how Daniel's private character led him to pray. This week, we'll see specifically how he prays—and what his prayer teaches us. His prayer, recorded in Daniel 9, is a model prayer for God's people, especially those experiencing His discipline, longing for His deliverance, and seeking renewal from His hand. This Lord's Day, we'll return to our study of Daniel 9, focusing on what to pray when God's people have drifted from Him, are slow to acknowledge their sin, and seem unprepared to receive the renewal He has promised. Join us as we consider, "Back to the Future: How to Pray in the Dark." Prepare for Sunday: Read and meditate on Daniel 9:4-19. How, specifically, should the church pray as Daniel prayed? What does this prayer proclaim about God? What does this prayer acknowledge about His covenant people? Why do you think Daniel included himself in this prayer of corporate confession? What anchors Daniel's confidence in God's response? Note: This Sunday we'll also come to the Lord's Table and rejoice in the very promises Daniel's prayer highlights. Let's prepare

Do you need to be encouraged? Do you find yourself on social media or watching the news and easily becoming discouraged? Take heart, our God has provided a way of encouragement, and He is our ultimate source of love for one another. What does Jesus expect from His bride, the Church? Jesus has left His Spirit to move and act for God's glory. The Spirit is utilizing His people to accomplish the task of discipleship, encouragement and loving one another. Sharing the truth of the Gospel and making Christ known by making disciples is our primary mission here at HBC. But how is this accomplished? What does it look like to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ? We only need to look to Christ Himself for the answers. Jesus left His Holy Spirit to not only be in our presence, but to actually abide in our soul. The Spirit of God through His Word will encourage us this coming Sunday as we look at Philippians 2:1-11. Jesus is our ultimate source of joy, hope and love. What does it really mean, to "be humble of mind, regarding one another as more important than yourselves"? (Phil 2:3b). Anticipate this coming Sunday, when you come into the building, to take part in and observe the hands and feet of Jesus working through His church the Bride of Christ. How are your hands and feet moving in the direction of love towards one another? The song by Sovereign Grace, "Jesus Thank You," has a lyric that states: "Once your enemy, now seated at your table, Jesus, thank you." No greater love has ever been demonstrated than Jesus' death on the cross at Calvary for you and for me. One day we will gather around the banquet table of our King. Are you not encouraged by that future hope? H

How God's people respond to prophecy—especially prophecy portending hardship—reveals where ultimate priorities lie. Some respond in fear to warnings of coming tribulation, while others respond with speculative diagnoses that match today's headlines with Bible prophecy. Daniel responded with faith in God's character and confidence in His promises; he prayed in the direction of both. "So I gave my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes," Daniel 9:3 (LSB). God gave Daniel prophetic visions of Israel's scary future not to satisfy his curiosity, but to realign His people to His priorities, and strengthen their faithfulness to Him. That's why Daniel's prayer in Chapter 9 shows the same pattern we find in the apostles praying Psalm 2, in John's vision of heaven, and in Christ's instruction to His disciples concerning prayer. When God promises His people something, we're meant to think and pray in the direction of those promises, letting His word direct our petitions, and then our lives. This Lord's Day, we'll begin our look at Daniel 9, starting with a prayer that precedes one of the Old Testament's clear prophecies of our Lord's first advent, Calvary, and the inauguration of His covenant of grace. Join us as we turn to Daniel 9:1-3 and consider "Back to the Future: When Prophecy Prompts Prayer." Prepare for Sunday: Read Daniel 9:1-19, meditating on verses 1-3. What historic setting is described in verses 1-3? What specifically was Daniel reading? What was Daniel's immediate response after understanding God's promise? What does Daniel's attention to Jeremiah's prophecy reveal about his view of Scri

When it comes to Bible prophecy, we mostly want to know: "Are we almost there? Is the end of the age near?" And plenty of voices are quick to insist, "Almost... the end is just around the corner. See how you can match today's headlines with your Bible? Surely the Lord will return in our lifetime." Daniel 8 will not let us settle for that kind of reasoning. Daniel's troubling vision of a ram, a goat, and a little horn reminds God's people that a long journey—often marked by opposition and persecution—lies ahead before Christ's return. "But as for you," Daniel was told in verse 26 of Daniel 8, "conceal the vision." What Daniel concealed, history has since revealed: a pattern of rulers who oppose God and persecute His people, a pattern that points beyond itself to the final enemy of Christ yet to come. Whether Christ returns today or generations from now, His people are called to faithful endurance. Until that day, God's people are to be busy with their King's mission, confident in His sovereign control over even the scariest circumstances. Daniel himself modeled that response: "Then I rose up again and did the king's work," verse 27. We are called to the same response: "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful," Hebrews 10:23. On Sunday, we'll turn to Daniel 8 and discover why God gives prophecy—not to fuel speculation, but to strengthen His people for faithful endurance. Join us as we consider, "Back to the Future: God's People Under Pressure." Get ready: Read Daniel 8:1-27. What animals appear in Daniel's vision in verses 3 through 5? What, specifically, does the "little horn" do? Why

A hero is defined as someone whose actions are courageous in the face of danger and whose character is noble (even when no one is watching), making personal sacrifices and performing selfless acts of kindness to help others in need. A hero puts the needs of others before their own, even risking their life to save the lives of others. Oftentimes, although heroes deserve honor and respect, their service goes unnoticed or their sacrifice is forgotten because the world moves on and people are easily distracted from remembering what is important. This coming Monday is Memorial Day, a day to remember those brave men and women, heroes, in the American armed forces who gave their lives in service to their country. This Sunday is the Lord's Day, a day to remember and honor the Lord Jesus Christ, the ultimate hero, who bravely endured human injustice (although He lived a perfect and righteous life without breaking God's Law), suffered shame, torture and crucifixion and laid down His life in order to save the helpless and the undeserving, even those who were His enemies. And by His sacrifice, all who trust in His death and resurrection have been set free from the power of sin and death. Those who hope in Christ are free to live life now, without the fear of condemnation or of being rejected by God. Only, remember Jesus Christ and the ultimate cost He paid and let the life you now live show that you understand what a precious gift you have been given. Join us this Sunday as we study Romans 5:6-11 and "Remember the Life Given to Save Others" and worship the God, "who so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (