City Life Church San Diego
Welcome to the City Life Church Podcast, where faith meets action in the heart of Mt. Hope. We are a diverse family of God, united by Jesus, led by Scripture, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are committed to caring for both the spiritual and tangible needs of the lost and hurting. Through inspiring messages and practical lessons, we seek to equip and encourage you to live out God’s calling in everyday life. Join us as we grow in faith, serve our community, and share the hope of the Gospel with the world.
City Life Church San Diego
Daniel 1:1-7 Whats in a Name
What happens when God's people find themselves in Babylon? Daniel and his friends were taken from their homeland, given new names, and immersed in a culture designed to erase their faith. Yet in this hostile environment, they remained steadfast, demonstrating that faithfulness isn't about escaping difficult situations but thriving within them.
This powerful message challenges our modern understanding of Daniel's story. Rather than focusing solely on the miraculous shutting of lions' mouths or rescue from fiery furnaces, we explore the deeper miracle – remaining faithful when the world demands compromise. Through Daniel's journey, we discover that God never promises to remove every threat, but He does promise to never leave us when the heat is turned up.
Three vital truths emerge for believers living in today's cultural "Babylon": First, sin has consequences even for the faithful – Daniel wasn't personally responsible for Israel's exile, yet he lived with those ramifications. Second, faithfulness may take you to uncomfortable places – Daniel learned the ways of Babylon not to compromise but to effectively represent God. Finally, while the world tries to define us with new names and identities, only God truly determines who we are.
The message speaks directly to anyone feeling marginalized for their faith, anyone struggling with their identity, or anyone wondering how to engage with a culture that seems increasingly hostile to Christian values. It offers hope not through promised escape, but through God's faithful presence in every circumstance we face.
Ready to discover what it means to live with authentic faith in a world that laughs? Join us as we explore Daniel and the Upside-Down Kingdom, where true power is found not in domination but in faithful obedience.
The stories of the prophet Daniel are riveting, full of adventure and the miraculous. But what if we're telling these stories the wrong way? Yes, god saved his people and shut the mouths of lions, rescued those thrown into the scalding furnace. But maybe it's less about stopping wild beasts and power-hungry, egomaniac kings and it's more about humbly following our God when the world around us laughs. Maybe it's more about being faithful and kind when not promised deliverance from every king and executioner who threatens us, because our God never leaves us when the heat is turned up. He will never forsake us when the world demands we deny him. Daniel was obedient when he expected to die for his faith. Jesus obediently chose death for us. Today, the word of God challenges us to humbly follow our good and loving God, no matter what happens next. You may already be in the lion's den, but God will always be with his children. Join us for Daniel and the Upside-Down Kingdom.
Speaker 2:So a pretty cool video, and Kishani in our church, she did the voiceover on that and, as you know, she's Jamaican and I'll just tell you I wanted to like. There were certain words that she says that I just love. So I was like man, how could I include butter and water, cause it's always butter and water? She has just such a beautiful speaking voice, though, and she's out of town today, so I feel like I can, I can praise her without her her having to feel embarrassed. So good to be with you today. Can we turn my voice down just slightly? I'm a loud guy.
Speaker 2:We're going to be in Daniel 1 today, so if you have your Bibles, we would love for you to turn there. Also, we have Bibles in several languages. We have them in Haitian Creole. We have them in Spanish and English. We have them in Tagalog.
Speaker 2:Let me say that Tenemos biblias bilingües disponibles al costado de Solón. Bonjour, buen satsin cantar nueve avec buen isidla. Nueve en biblio. Creo ayer por no gratis. No samson o creo, all right. So today we're going to be talking about names. Names in the Bible. Names matter. Names in the Bible, names matter, like Native Americans give names that illustrate who the person is or who the person is destined to become. So we know of these names like Brave Thunder man that's a cool name, right. Crazy Horse Little important, beautiful names. Names tell stories.
Speaker 2:In June of 1982, 43 years ago, my mom was sitting in the back of a station wagon in Corcoran, california, singing weird hippie songs that my mom likes to sing, probably by like Bob Dylan or Buffy St Marie and other people, probably by like Bob Dylan or Buffy St Marie and other people, and she was there's like one. Yeah. So she was traveling to the central California city of Visalia to give birth to me, and the sky was blue, she told me, and the hills were rolling and green. And she said that as they were traveling along these rolling green hills, seeing the peaks of the hills and the valleys, or otherwise known as the Dales, she said, oh, dale, I'm like cool, okay, I guess you named me after a valley, thanks, but that's how she got my name.
Speaker 2:I didn't love having the same name as, like a cartoon chipmunk, um, especially like uh in middle school. Um, I didn't love having the same name as male strippers, but it happened. Um, but you know what? You know, I really want to be called Scott. I was like Scott, I want a normal name.
Speaker 2:I feel like any of any of the people in the room that has like kind of a a not a typical name. Y'all want to be called Mike, right, or like Lisa, but if you have a typical name, y'all want to be called something different, don't you? It's kind of that weird thing. I had a friend when I went to Grossmont Junior College and he was a Hasidic Jew and the first time I met him he's like hey, my name is Shaquille and I was like, okay, shaquille, like Shaq, all right. And then, as I got to know him, I learned that his name was actually Shahar. But he was like I'm not going to deal with people trying to pronounce my name, and it's like that was one of the ways we can respect and show love to Shahar.
Speaker 2:Um, names matter. What if our church was called country life church? Would that name matter? Would that? Would that make a difference? Um, would that maybe? Like have some people think that they're going to get something a little bit different? Like if you see Country Life Church, you might imagine you know, cowboy boots. Cowboy boots like hoedown worship, you know, like bales of hay or something like that. It's just different.
Speaker 2:Sometimes a name may help inform you of a person's race or ethnicity or background. So if somebody is named Jose Gutierrez, you might know what their background is. If someone is named Muhammad Razdi, you might know what their background is. If someone is named Muhammad Razdi, you might know what their background is, maria Gonzalez. Or how about?
Speaker 2:I had somebody in my Pacific Islander class when I was in Anthropology of Pacific Islanders. His name was Ka'oi Ta'ofo, like it sounds, pacific Islander. It tells you where he's from. Steve Smith you might think, oh, that's a white guy, but actually it's a black receiver that played in the NFL. Laquan Harrison, or Hingle McCringleberry that's a made up name from Key and Peele. Now let me ask you this Do you know what the most common first name of a dentist is? Does anyone know Dennis? It is Dennis. It is actually there are twice as many Dennis's that are dentists as the second name on that list. And my father-in-law was a dentist, and guess what his name was? Dennis. Yes, names matter. Do you know what the most common name for doctors in the United States is now? It used to be Smith, it's Patel now. It actually tells you a story about the way our country is changing and diversifying North Americans.
Speaker 2:We put our identities in lots of things. Sometimes we put them in names. I'm so glad that I didn't decide I was going to be a valley of a person, but we put our identity in our jobs. We put our identity in our background, our sexuality. But the question becomes what really matters? Where do we really need to put our identity? Are you just going to be known as a gangbanger? Is that your identity? Are you just a drug dealer? Are you just a computer programmer? Are you just a chef? Is that who you are? Names matter. I just heard yes, chef, thank you. But the only name that really matters in this world is what God calls us and God calls his children. Child Daniel and his friends were given new names by an occupying force, but it never changed who they were, and it never changed who they were in the eyes of God. And so today, let's open up Daniel one and let me read you Daniel one, one through seven.
Speaker 2:In the third year of the reign of King of Judah, king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. The Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God. Should I switch mics? One day we're going to figure our mics out. I don't know when that day is, but it's going to happen. Check One, two, all right. Ooh, that sounds better on my voice anyway. Mm got some bass in there. Okay, verse three Nope, nope, nope. Let's go back to verse two. Daniel one. Verse two the Lord handed King Jehoakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God, so think cups and things like that. Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon, to the house of his God, and put the vessels in the treasury of his God.
Speaker 2:The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family and from the nobility, young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom, knowledgeable, perceptive and capable of serving in the king's palace. He was to teach them the Chaldean language and the literature. The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years and at the end of this time they were to attend to the king. Among them, from the Judites, were Daniel, hananiah, mishael and Azariah. The chief eunuch gave them names. He gave them the name Belshazzar to Daniel, shadrach to Hananiah, meshach to Mishael and Abednego to Azariah.
Speaker 2:This is God's word. Would you pray with me, father? I am grateful that you put us in a place that resembles Babylon, god, I am grateful that we are in a city where Christians are not in a position of power. I am grateful that to follow you doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to be more popular, that to follow you doesn't necessarily mean we're going to be more successful, that to follow you doesn't necessarily mean we're going to get more power. And so I'm grateful, lord, because I know that when we follow you and when we suffer, it brings you honor and glory, and that when we speak up about you, it brings you honor and glory, because when we speak up about you, there is some inherent risk. And so, god, today we say we love speaking up about you. We're scared sometimes, and you are good, and we thank you that, even when we fail to speak up for you, even when we fail to glorify you in our actions, you will still be glorified and you are still good and you still love us. God, I thank you for this moment. We love you and we pray this, all in Jesus name, amen, all right. So you're in a church where you might hear somebody shout Sometimes. You're in a church where you might hear somebody a kid cry. You're in a church where you might hear somebody have their cell phone go off. Um, let me just say, uh, I would rather people feel welcome and loved in here. So I hope that those of us who consider ourselves Christians if you ever see somebody who's struggling, who's loud, or a baby who's crying, thank God, that they feel welcome enough to still be here. Okay, all right.
Speaker 2:So Daniel, the book of Daniel. We know that Daniel was written by Daniel. Okay, good, I'm glad that we covered that. But to understand what's going on in Daniel, we have to go back. A Daniel Okay, good, I'm glad that we covered that, but to understand what's going on in Daniel, we have to go back a bit.
Speaker 2:Now, first, I'm going to tell you Daniel is a type of literature. The first half is called a narrative. It's a story, okay. The second half is called I can't say the word now apocalyptic literature, and this is going to talk about, like end times, things that are going to happen. It's exciting and it gets weird and it's super fun. I can't wait to go through.
Speaker 2:I love this book, guys, especially because I think you know, sometimes it feels like we live in Babylon and what's weird to me sometimes is like I don't want to live in. If any of you are associated with history, I don't really want to live in Constantinople. I don't want to live in the place where Christianity was demanded of people. That's not my gig. No, I want to live in a place where you follow Jesus because you want to follow Jesus. You follow Jesus because he did everything for you and no other reason. So I told you who wrote Daniel, and here we go.
Speaker 2:Some history there was a king, a king of Judah, which is there was kind of like Judah, and then there was there was the rest of Israel. You had kind of two kingdoms going on at once and you could lump them into Israel, but Judah was like kind of the most faithful one. And you had King Manasseh. King Manasseh and you had King Manasseh. King Manasseh, he built altars to sacrifice to other gods. King Manasseh worshiped the stars. King Manasseh practiced witchcraft and divination. Here's the worst thing that I can tell you about King Manasseh he sacrificed his own son in the fire to his god. So if you want to talk about like a bad dude, king Manasseh, that's a guy, and the Bible says Manasseh set up carved images of Asherah, which he made in the temple that the Lord had spoken about to David and his son Solomon.
Speaker 2:He said I will establish my name forever in this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to wander from the land I gave to their ancestors if, and only if, they will be careful to do all I have commanded them the whole law that my servant Moses gave them. This is going to be important, isn't it? But they did not listen. Manasseh caused them to stray, so that they did worse evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites. So, yes, god made an agreement with Israel in his temple, in a city called Jerusalem, and he made that agreement that I will protect you, I will take care of you, just make me your number one. So the king is like hmm, you know what? Actually, what I'm going to do is I'm going to sacrifice the other gods in the temple that you gave me.
Speaker 2:It's like the king is bringing his side chick to the exact place that he made his marital vows. Like how disrespectful he's taking his affair. Um, he's taking his mistress to the place that he went on his honeymoon. That's seriously messed up, juju, isn't it? But after him, this dude comes around named King Josiah, and he renews his covenant with God. He stood by a pillar and he made a promise to God. To quote follow the Lord and keep his commands, to follow God with all his heart and soul. He got rid of the cultic sex idols that had been brought into the temple by the weaker kings. Wow, things are going to be all right, we're okay.
Speaker 2:Then Jehoaz comes in and he's king for for three months and he does what is evil in the Lord's sight and he ends up being sent to prison by a Pharaoh of Egypt named King Necho. I promise you I'm not going to do all this every time. Then Eliakim became king and then Pharaoh is like yeah, I just changed your name, you're Jehoakim again. So he was also a bad dude and the Bible says he did evil of his grandfather, manasseh. So God sent the king of Babylon to destroy Judah and their puppet king, king Jehoakim. And it said because of the sins of Manasseh Remember Manasseh dude who threw his own child into the fire to sacrifice to his fake God. So then you have the king of Babylon, nebuchadnezzar.
Speaker 2:He came in and he destroyed or took almost everything, even the holy objects of God's temple. These matter, and what I love is later we'll get to read about what happens with those holy objects and it's cool, I love that that have been put there by King Solomon and he cuts up the golden things into small pieces, which, it's like these are holy objects, and he cuts them into small pieces so that he can have them for what he wants. I just feel like, once again, so disrespectful to God. Um, and he left only the poorest people of Israel to stay in the land. Okay, that's your background. That was the world that Daniel inherited.
Speaker 2:Okay, um, to my friends who believe that the current government of Israel is the same Israel as the Bible, let me just remind you this uh, the Israel in the Bible did some whack things. So, no matter what your views are, israel can mess up. Okay, like, if you're like Israel's perfect, it's like do you read your Bible? Cause Israel is not perfect and they've never been perfect, even when it says King Josiah was a good dude. Um, he, he was the one that actually, when the King of Babylon sent some people, he was like hey, check out all my cool stuff, look at all my gold.
Speaker 2:And then God says to Josiah yo, why are you showing off your things to this guy? Why are you not practicing humility? You know what. You know what I'm going to take, I'm going to take your stuff from you, is what he's saying. And so, um, josiah is like, oh, no, you're going to like destroy my people and take my stuff. He's like, yep, as soon as you die. And Josiah is like, wait, oh, so like, I'll still be, like I don't have to deal with it. He's like, oh, I'm cool, I'm like Jos Daniel is taken away. He's called to be faithful.
Speaker 2:And so I have three points today for the faithful. My first point is this sin has consequences even for the faithful. Sin has consequences even for the faithful. In verse one it said in the reign of King J O came of Judah, king Nebuchadnezzar Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. He handed King J O came of Judah over to him. Alongadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. He handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God. See, god had done what he had promised. Like God was consistent the entire time. He told them you need to change, there will be consequences. And they refused to listen to him. And so they fell into the hands of a ruthless army.
Speaker 2:And I'm just telling you a lot of times we think God is some jerk. God's like hey, you need to do this thing. Hey, you have to show kindness to this person. And you're like God, can you just get off of me? Like, hey, there's a like, but there's a reason why God has rules. And guess what that is? He absolutely loves you. God has rules, and guess what that is? He absolutely loves you. And so when he's like, hey, don't cheat on your spouse, you're like don't tell me what to do. And he's like I'm just letting you know. Like bad things are coming. It's going to ruin your marriage. Even when you get back together, if you do, it's going to be difficult. It's going to be harder because of it. He's not saying it because he's a jerk. He's saying it because he loves you. And for those of you who didn't cheat, but someone else cheated on you, you are still feeling the effects of someone else's sin, aren't you? So that's the thing that happens. God wasn't being mean. God was being consistent and kind and loving and saying I have a better plan for you than you do.
Speaker 2:Every time, though, I see someone in power who is unstoppable, they feel like they're. Nothing is going to ever stop them. And then I remember the book of Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah once said look, the nations are like a drop in the bucket. They are considered a speck of dust on the scales. Guys, we have to remember this, whatever season you are in, like power, corrupt power will not last forever and will be found out no matter where you are at, and there's corrupt power all over the place. I'm not picking on anyone today. See, powerful people are all powerful, though, until they aren't, they may think that they have no repercussions for their actions. They may feel all powerful because nobody can stop them right now, but they will be stopped One day. They will lose power. One day, their hearts will stop and their lungs will lose air, and they will have zero power.
Speaker 2:And once again, the Bible shows us that God has a way of humbling the proud and lifting up the poor humbling the proud and lifting up the humiliated. See, we don't always suffer for our decisions right away, though, do we? Israel made poor decisions for hundreds of years without respecting God, but God can wait. God can wait. Israel was commanded to let the land rest every seven years. That's what he was command. He commanded them to do, and you know what they did not. They did not let the land rest, so guess how long they were going to be gone? All the time that they didn't let the land rest. That's how long you're going to be gone. All the time that they didn't let the land rest. That's how long you're going to be gone, because the land needs to rest anyway. So the people who were deported, though, the refugees of Israel. They may not have individually sinned against God, but they were suffering for the decisions of their predecessors, of their ancestors.
Speaker 2:Now, there is a racial divide in this country that has festered since almost the beginning. The United States was founded to free us from the oppression of King George of England. Right, like taxation without representation, nah, equality. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, but it turned out that when we said mankind, we meant like dudes. Right, that inequality somehow still shows up in pay wages across the United States. We also, it turned out, meant white dudes, and so we had slavery right, and that still has repercussions today. We have internment camps for people of Asian descent.
Speaker 2:In my parents' lifetime there was a time in the 1950s when our agricultural needs were so big that there were not enough people in the United States to work our fields. So what did we do? We reached out to Mexico and we said we need your help. But then in 1954, president Eisenhower noticed that people were being afraid, that the Mexicans were scaring them. So I'm going to say a word that is a racial slur right now. I'm sorry, but I want to tell you this. Dwight D Eisenhower instituted something called Operation Wetback, our president of the United States. It was the largest mass deportation in American history.
Speaker 2:If you don't think that that has repercussions, that you're not listening, and it's not like everything we've done recently has been fully just. Just as Israel did some good and some bad, so do we. But when we see rage on the streets of LA over deportations or we meet second generation immigrants or African Americans that still feel unwelcome in their own country, it's because our actions have had consequences. You may not have done any of those things, but we have to understand that what happened before us still echoes, still goes on, and you know, right now you may be on my side and be like, oh yeah, and the other person's like, no, well, I'm going to talk about other things that you're going to be like, oh no, no, sorry, but I'm pretty sure nobody in this room has owned another human. I'm pretty sure no one in this room has actually physically deported someone.
Speaker 2:But in life we often have repercussions and consequences for past sins and we also pay for the sins of others. Those of you who have been abused. You still pay for the sins of others. Do you deserve it? No, many of us have come from addiction or abuse and you figured, once you came to faith in Jesus it would all go away. Well, guess what? God sometimes can totally release you I've seen him do it but you will still often have consequences, whether they are because of your actions or not. It sucks. If you abuse people before you were saved by Jesus, many people will still distrust you. That's not their fault, it's yours. So all you can do is be faithful and kind today and seek to earn back their respect over time, lots of time, and they don't always owe it to you. We live with the consequences of our actions and the people who come before us, but now we live for Christ. Sometimes you will have to live with the consequences of abuse done to you because we're in a broken world. You may not deserve those consequences. You are in good company, though. Jesus didn't deserve his abuse either.
Speaker 2:But, friends, there is hope. God uses you to make the world a more beautiful place. God is using some of you to change and undo generational curses. You were the first person in a long line not to abuse your children. I am so proud of you. You are the first person in a long line of your family to not cheat on your spouse. I am so proud of you. You are the first one to go to college. You are the first Christian in your family. You are the first person in your family to stop drinking. I am so proud of you. You're the first person in your family not to overwork like your parents did. Because of the hope of Jesus in your life, you've decided to work hard at your job, but not at the expense of knowing your own kids and your family. You are breaking generational curses. Yes, there are consequences, but you are also given the Holy Spirit of God to do the miraculous. You are bringing hope to people around you and when you look at the racial and ethnic trauma in our country, when you look at that, when you look at the violence and the divide between gangs within a mile of here, many of you are changing the world by your faith.
Speaker 2:Sundays in this room are already a miracle. I don't know if you noticed that Everyone in the room is dying to themselves and putting other people first. That's a miracle. You have chosen to be uncomfortable so that someone different from you might be comfortable. Oh my gosh, how cool is it to be uncomfortable so that someone different from you might be comfortable? Oh my gosh, how cool is it to sing in Haitian Creole? Thank you for that, ruben. I appreciate you, and I'll just say one way you can be uncomfortable is by seeking to say hello to someone who speaks a different language than you. I know that if I spoke the lowest language on the totem pole in the room, my goal would be to leave as soon as possible, but I hope that over time, people would find you to be safe, that you would seek out people who speak other languages. I know that, even some people in our family, I won't say who are on Duolingo for Haitian Creole, because they want that. Duolingo is free. Download it Now. Guys, we are a miracle and when we are faithful, people who even disagree with us still want to talk to us. People value integrity and may put you in places that are uncomfortable, places where you will have to speak up and risk your reputation, and that's our second point. Faithfulness to god may take you to places. Faithfulness to god may take you places. Stay faithful. Faithful there, too. Stay faithful there, too.
Speaker 2:The king ordered Ashpenaz this is verse three. The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family and from the nobility Young men without any physical defect, good looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom, knowledgeable, perceptive, capable of serving in the king's palace. He was to teach the Chaldean language and literature. The king assigned them daily provision from the royal food Reuben will talk about that next week, from the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years and at the end of that time they were to attend the king.
Speaker 2:Basically, what it sounds like to me is these are the three wise men that we know in the story of Jesus, or, if it helps you, these guys are like, maybe a non-evil version of Jafar in Aladdin. You got me. Everybody's like, oh, I got that. But guys, these men were noticed by royalty for a few reasons. Number one, they were young Young. You know the saying you can't teach an old dog new tricks. It's not true, but these were young dogs. Okay, they might've been as young as 13, 13. Many assume they were closer to 16 or 17, but either way, they're probably a lot younger than you were imagining. Right, like, if you know this story, do you imagine them as young when you read it? Like I don't. I picture them with, like the biggest, like Santa Claus, looking beards, like that's what I picture.
Speaker 2:But these were young kids and God would use their faith to change the world. So we know, I know I have young people, teens in the room right now. Stop thinking you're too young to do great things for God. Daniel and his friends were probably teens. Mary, the mother of Jesus, she was a teenager. At least some of Jesus' disciples were probably also teenagers. We don't think about that, though, do we? So God can use you now and if you're someone that's come out of addiction, you've come out of prison, you still cuss a lot. God can still use you. He's changing you guys. Don't think that just because you struggle with some things that God can't still use you, god can use you now.
Speaker 2:Now there were some other things described about Daniel and his friends. They came from nobility, most likely, and they were more educated, probably, than the common man. They were also good looking. I just find that interesting. Like King didn't want to look at ugly people, apparently, I don't know Teachable, teachable, teachable, teachable, able to serve Um guys a lot of times, if you have integrity and you have faith, you will have chances to speak in important rooms. But integrity and faithfulness, um, they don't take breaks in influence. Um, if we want influence and a solid reputation, we have to follow Jesus when nobody is looking but God. We have to be willing to say we are wrong and we have to follow Jesus when nobody is looking but God. We have to be willing to say we are wrong and we have to be willing to apologize often. And I hope that my kids could listen to this and say, yes, my dad apologizes often to me. My dad seeks to change, to be a better dad. My dad seeks to be the guy. He is in the pulpit that he is at home. I hope that they would say that.
Speaker 2:But, guys, how much do we know about the history of the people around us? Because Daniel and his friends knew a lot, they learned a lot. They spent three years at UCB, university of California, babylon. In the same way I wanted to learn when I moved here. So our first thing I did is I like, read census information. Okay, cool, this is what's going on here. I learned very early that the graduation rate from middle school was like 60% here when I first moved here. That's a stat I can't believe. It's hard to believe.
Speaker 2:I would talk to people and ask questions in the neighborhood and everybody would be like, were you a cop, why are you asking me all this stuff? And so, instead, what they did is they just all those dudes just went on YouTube and talked about their gangs and I was like, okay, cool, I could just, you know, watch like hours of video on, uh, the gangs locally because they talk to YouTube. Um, but, like, asking questions is a good thing. Okay, like, um, make sure you do your research before you ask a lot of questions when you're trying to care for people and know them. But we are called to learn about the people around us, like Daniel was learning about the culture, the history of the people around him. Now, when I was asking questions out here, some people were accusing me of being a cop. But it's like, dude, I'm asking you about your childhood, not if you robbed a liquor store last night, just like, don't worry about it.
Speaker 2:But once I learned about this community I was able to start understanding the ways that people suffer. That I didn't know and I'm still learning. But sometimes I find that because I'm here, I'm suffering myself too. So I understand better. I've suffered to sleep the last two dang nights, probably with some of you in the room, so I understand. Like, why are y'all putting your fireworks at 2 am? Like, help me out. Fireworks are worse, I don't know. Last night at 11, man, the helicopters just surrounded the neighborhood, just going forever, man. And, like you know, I hadn't slept real good the night before, like I woke up at 1.30 and never went back to sleep. So last night I was like too Benadryl, too melatonin, so I was like up, like trying to figure out what was going on, like, but, like you know, other people's problems won't be your problem until it's your problem. So it became my problem. The things that happened in Mount Hope when there was an outdoor shooting range that would keep my kids up at night, that became a problem for me. And so that's what's happening. Daniel is in the middle of it. He's learning about the people, but also their problems are becoming his problems. When a school in Mount Hope has a problem, that's my kid's school, my grocery stores, my friends were being sent to jail for unjust reasons. I was having to listen to the police outdoor shooting range at night and it's my problem now. So we'd be educated. Then the problems of Babylon become ours and then we can speak truth and kindness and love and justice ourselves out of the power of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:Now the prophet Jeremiah. He spoke to Israel at this same exact time when they're stuck in Babylon. He didn't tell them to hide. He didn't tell them to set fire to Babylon every five minutes. Here is what God said to the prophet Jeremiah in 29, 4 through 7. He said this is what the Lord of armies, the Lord, god of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon. Think this is Daniel and his friends. Build houses, live in them, plant gardens, eat their produce. Find wives for yourself. Have sons and daughters. Find wives for yourself. Have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons. Give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, do not decrease. Now here's the important verse, verse 7. Pursue the well-being of the city. I have deported you to Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive. So they're learning about the place that they've been sent to, and then they're praying on behalf of the place, and then they're speaking up to the king. You'll see, it comes.
Speaker 2:Friends, do we pursue the well-being of our city, of our community? Do we learn enough to where we can even speak for justice? Do we pursue the people around us? Do we ask enough questions to know why our next door neighbor is so grumpy, or do we just get mad at them? Do we just call the cops on our neighbors? God, the Father, has given us his son. Jesus died for us to give us his spirit so we might do greater things than him, and yet our neighbor is annoying us and we just get mad at our neighbor rather than learning their story? How are you praying for your neighbors? How are we praying for our city? How are we seeking its well-being? Are we demanding justice for our neighbor, like on their behalf, not just that they would stop playing their music at two? Do we know their story? Your neighbor might be a total jerk. Why? Why have you learned? Why have we sought to understand why?
Speaker 2:When Daniel was taught under the king, you will see that he was still devoted to God, though he just learned about the people where he was. He chose not to do anything that would bring shame on God's name. That's okay, guys. If you're tempted, though, to sin around certain people, don't hang around them. Guys, if you have a sexual addiction excuse me, a sexual addiction God is not probably calling you to share the gospel at strip clubs. If you are an alcoholic, you may not be ready to minister to people at bars. That's okay. Don't go there to those people if they're going to drag you down, but God is still calling you to people. Wherever you are, god is calling you to people. But if there's a sin, if they sin in a way that doesn't tempt you, you can be a light to them, you can spend time with them. You can listen to them. You can learn from them. I have no problems with sherm, so I can spend time with people who have, who smoke sherm. It doesn't really tempt me. Daniel spent time with people who had sins different than him and he turned out okay.
Speaker 2:Does anyone know what the Stonewall uprising is in the room? Some call it the Stonewall riots, but there was a time, even in liberal New York City, when those who identified as LGBTQ plus were being arrested and even abused by the police for their sexuality. It was basically illegal to be gay and the police raided a gay bar in Greenwich Village and people fought back. They got sick of it. They were tired of being arrested and abused for their sexual orientation, not to mention the fact that regular citizens were beating and killing those who identified as LGBTQ plus community.
Speaker 2:Here's the thing, guys. I don't really care what you think about sexuality. What I care about is do you know the story of the people you disagree with? Because if you don't know their stories, if you're not committed to learning about people, then how can we speak to them about the goodness of God If we don't even care to know what they came through? We don't even care to know what hurt them If we don't even care to know Like it doesn't matter to me what your view is of that, but my point is that we have to know their stories. How can we love gay people in our community if we don't know the most pivotal events in their history? We don't need to have opinions on people that we haven't taken any time to learn about. I had a lot of opinions about gang members before I learned here, before I came here and learned about them. I did, and I was wrong about a lot of them. Are you trying to share the gospel with people you don't know anything about? Stop Learn, ask some questions If you learn about the people you disagree with.
Speaker 2:People may judge you, though they may be. Oh, oh see, you're hanging out with that person, but if you're doing it with a sincere heart and a full assurance of faith, if you do not neglect the word of God and do not neglect his church, god is not going to be mad at you. Even if people misunderstand you at times, he is putting you there for a reason to be a light. People misunderstood Jesus, but be a light in person. Oh my gosh. Let me just tell you this real quick Don't be all your lightness on social media me. Just tell you this real quick Don't be all your lightness on social media, cause let me just tell you this If you post a really strong opinion about something on social media, there's this little button called ignore. No one will see it anymore, except for the people who agree with you.
Speaker 2:My encouragement to you is to build relationships. Get to know people. We overestimate what we can do for God on social media and we underestimate what we can do for God in person, and so I hope that we continue to pour into personal relationships, because I'm just letting you know there's something called an algorithm and if, if, people don't like what you're saying, they will never see it again and they'll never get to hear the truth of Jesus and that really important thing to you. They won't hear that either. It's a very common thing. That's how the algorithm works.
Speaker 2:But, guys, we want to be a light in person. Have someone over for dinner, take someone out for coffee, ask them to go on a walk, learn their story. If you learn about other people different from you, it doesn't mean you become them by association. Yes, be a light in dark places, speak up, but make sure you educate yourself and you ask questions. Daniel was educated. Daniel was educated. Daniel was honest and so people listened to him. Daniel had integrity, so people listened to him, and he was given the chance to do some beautiful things for the kingdom of God. And because he was in the darkness of Babylon, a place that was anti-God, daniel shown even brighter.
Speaker 2:Many in San Diego government don't love the Christian church Did you know that? But because they need some votes and because we often do so much good for those around us, they will work with us. They will come here and they will say we love your food pantry, and I know they don't love a lot of our views. They will work with us, but they will also try to define us, and that's our third point for the faithful. The third point is this the world may try to define the faithful, but only God defines us. The world may try to define the faithful, but only God defines us.
Speaker 2:Verse six among them, from the Judahites, were Daniel, hananiah, mishael, azariah. The chief unit gave them names. The name Daniel meant God is my refuge, or some people would say God is my judge. Belshazzar was his new name, though, which is a choice. But it meant Bell, protect the prince. Bell is another way to say Baal, which was a Middle Eastern god of like sex and war. Sometimes it could also mean a god named Marduk, not Maraduk Marduk. Then you had Hananiah's name. It meant the Lord is gracious. God had to find him. The Lord is gracious no-transcript.
Speaker 2:They knew they needed to begin with his identity, so they removed from him any reference to God. Every aspect of Daniel's education and identity, in fact, was designed to remind him that he needed to operate from a Babylonian worldview. The Babylonians wanted to change the identity of these young men. But that's not how it works, does it? The world doesn't define you. God defines you. You are not a murderer. That's not your definition. You are a saved child of God. You are not a drug addict. You are a co-heir with Christ Church. You are not defined by having special needs or health problems. You are not defined by your age. You're not defined by your doctorate degree or your illiteracy. Those things have consequences, but they never define you. Only God defines you. These guys were young and they had to stand up to this, and the king believed he could make them in his own image. He thought he could define them. He thought he could change their identity, but only God changes our identity.
Speaker 2:Israeli Christian. Amir Safati I said farty Safati, I can't say it. Sarfati, thank you it. Sar Fati, thank you, I got this. He says this. He says a young person can persuaded with a harsh word or, better yet, an incentive.
Speaker 2:The first part of reprogramming was rebranding. These young men were no longer Jews, they were Babylonians. Thus they needed Babylonian names. Their names would still elicit praise, but to a different deity.
Speaker 2:See, if you consistently speak up for the rights of the gay community, friends, some people might call you an ally and they're going to define you by that allyship, but it might be a different definition than God has. Or they might call you gay. They might think you approve of sex outside of Christian marriage in general. But, guys, all you're doing is being a Christ follower. That's all you're doing is being a Christ follower. That's all you're doing.
Speaker 2:If you talk about race and injustice, if you speak up on behalf of the oppressed, people will call you a cultural Marxist, they will call you woke. But if all you are doing is following Jesus, you're being a Christ follower. If you learn the stories of gang members, people might think you're okay with the crimes they commit, but you are just following Jesus and learning about them. If you talk about Jesus all the time, people might call you a bigot, people might call you closed-minded or stupid, but you are a faithful child of God. Don't let them define you. They can name you whatever they want. Don't let them define you. All that matters is what God has to say about you, and he calls you child and he calls you by your name In the Bible. I love when Jesus is resurrected and Mary is looking all over for God and she can't find the body of Jesus and he says Mary, and it wakes her up.
Speaker 2:He calls her by name. Guys, you don't belong to anyone but God. Neither did Daniel and his friends. Now Wendy L Witter, she says. For three years they were immersed in Babylonian culture. It's food, it's traditions, it's religion, it's language.
Speaker 2:By the time the training was complete, nebuchadnezzar intended to own these men mind, body and soul. Church Babylon doesn't own you, though, do they? Today we are baptizing like eight to 10 people. Baptism is symbolic. Oh, yeah, let's do that. Yeah, put your hands together. Baptism is symbolic of the death of that person and the resurrection of that person with Jesus. When we baptize you, we say buried with Christ in baptism, raised to walk in newness of life. Many of you have heard that term. It's from the Bible. Basically dead person, you are now alive in Jesus Christ. That becomes who you are.
Speaker 2:Friends, some of you feel trapped in Babylon. I encourage you be faithful. If you're doing it right, people will be mad at you. People will be mad at you for wanting Israel to exist without being destroyed by the countries around them who hate them. If you're doing it right, people will be mad at you for wanting Palestinian people to live peacefully without being destroyed. If you're following Jesus, people may judge you for feasting with sinners. People may judge you for having old values, but you're in the sweet spot.
Speaker 2:I once was one of those people who hated God. I was dead in my sins. I allowed other things to define me, but God put a few true believers in Bonita Vista High School who cared about me as a person, who loved me as a person. They weren't always arguing with me about theology, they were showing grace and compassion to me and the people around me. For some of you, god sent believers to your prison cell and for the rest of you, god sent somebody to you as well. They may have even dragged you here today Someone's about to laugh. They wanted you to know the beautiful gospel because they loved you.
Speaker 2:But what is the gospel? The gospel is that we had this relationship with God that had been severed, that we had perfection and it had been ruined, that we chose our own way. But God himself sent his son, who is God. If you can understand that, we're on our way. But it's hard to understand. God himself died on the cross for you, rose again, showing that he was bigger than sin and death, and that is what we celebrate, because now, when we give our lives to God, something changes, something foundational changes. But it doesn't just mean we're saved. It means we're saved for something. It means he sends us back into Babylon. Now we become a big word, an emissary of his kingdom. We go to the people with his love and his grace and his compassion, by the power of his Holy Spirit. It starts with us being alive and it continues all the way till we meet him face to face. This is the beauty of the gospel he saves us from our sins for something.
Speaker 2:See, israel suffered deportation because of the sins of their people. Israel suffered for suffered deportation because of the sins of their people. Israel suffered for hundreds of years because of the leadership failure before them, the ancestors. They suffered because of what someone else had done. Israel wanted a fallible man to be king instead of God. They suffered for the sins of someone else. Today we have another option. Jesus didn't deserve to suffer, yet he suffered because of our sins. He didn't deserve to be punished and yet he was stricken for our sins. The Bible says he took our grief and carried our sorrows and was afflicted by God. For us, man, the great reversal right. Daniel and Israel were taken into captivity for their ancestors' sins, we were freed from sin, freed from our sins. Jesus was taken into captivity for our sins. And now you're faced with an option After hearing the gospel of Jesus.
Speaker 2:It's going to be difficult to turn back, because some of you know it's true and you have yet to speak up and say god, I'm all in. Some of you are holding off giving your life to jesus because you know it's going to change everything. And I'm like, yes, it's going to change everything. And you know what. There's a part of you that you think is you that's going to die and you're afraid of that. And for the rest of your life you will continue to die. You will continue to die to yourself. God's Holy Spirit is going to move in and he's going to start tearing down walls in your heart. It's like when I needed to help my parents get rid of junk in their house and I was like just dragging everything out onto the curb, and my dad was like, oh, I kind of want that back. Like it's going to happen to you. You're going to be like, okay, I'm going to let the Holy Spirit do his work and things are going to be pulled out of you. That you said was your identity. And now, your identity is not Babylon, your identity is son of God, and yes, that applies to you, women as well, because sons get the inheritance. It's so good.
Speaker 2:If you are like me, though, person who is afraid of giving your life to God today, if you are like me, I just want to tell you one thing I have never regretted it, never once regretted giving my life to God. I've never regretted it. And so I say to you, why are you waiting? God wants to do something good in your life, god wants to do something amazing in your life, but you just have to give your life to him. And let me just tell you, as we read the rest of the stories about Daniel and his friends they're going to be loyal to God in the face of everything. But do you know why we tell these stories? Because they were miracles, and sometimes those things won't happen for you. Sometimes you'll be thrown into the furnace because you were faithful to God, and you'll wake up and you'll be in the presence of the Lord in paradise.
Speaker 2:For those of us who live in Babylon, I cannot promise you that God will deliver you from the king or the president or the mob. You may do the right thing and find yourself in paradise sooner than you plan. It's not a bad thing. You may do the right thing and not have a job because of it. You may follow Jesus and end up in an Iranian prison for the rest of your life. But you won't suddenly regret following Jesus, the only one in the Bible who promises you money, fame and power. Well, that's the devil. Jesus offers you a cross, he offers you suffering, he offers you death and a new, better life. Jesus offers you him. Jesus offers you grace, jesus offers you forgiveness, he makes you family, he changes your name and he promises you a greater future than you could ever happen to imagine beyond this life. And so City Life Church.
Speaker 2:We live in a world much like Babylon today, the Babylon of old, with ideas and laws that contradict the word of God. But let us understand them, be curious, ask questions, learn about them, show kindness to people who disagree with you. The world wants to tell you who they are. The world wants to tell you who you are, but only God names us and he calls us beloved child. He makes us an heir to the greatest inheritance imaginable and gives us the ability to bring light to the darkest of places.
Speaker 2:Let's pray, father. I thank you for this moment that we can come before you and just acknowledge your goodness and your love and your kindness. But, god, we are. We're messed up. We have been looking around at Babylon, we have been seeing what Babylon does and we've been kind of wanting to duplicate that Even in our churches.
Speaker 2:God, I want to pray your blessing on our friend, tiffany, who's struggling today. I pray that you would encourage her, god. I do pray for the day that she's able to sit, the day that she's able to tell her story to people, because she's been delivered by you. Encourage her, lord. But, god, in this moment we got enough of our own stuff that we would like to confess to you, and so we ask that, as we bring you our sins in the silence of our hearts, that you would be good to receive them. Lord, we thank you and we love you. We know that as far as the East is from the West, so our sin is from your sight. We thank you that when you look upon us, you see the righteousness of your son, jesus. Lord, be glorified in us, not because we deserve it, but because you are just shining through. We love you, lord, and we pray this all in Jesus' holy name, amen.