Summit Life with J.D. Greear

What was it that gave Daniel so much courage in the lion’s den? Is there a way to have that same courage in our own lives? Pastor J.D. tells us what the source of Daniel’s confidence was—or rather, in whom Daniel’s confidence was placed in.

The most famous story in the book–Daniel in the lions’ den. Daniel provides an incredible example of courage in the midst of adversity. But as much as we make of Daniel’s night with the lions, his courage was actually forged long before that fateful night. Courage is not summoned in a moment; courage is developed through a lifetime.

Have you heard the phrase “The writing is on the wall?” It usually means that something bad is about to happen; that your fate has been sealed. That phrase actually comes from Daniel, Chapter 5. Belshazzar is hosting a party when suddenly a mysterious floating hand appears and begins to carve a message into the plaster on the wall. Talk about terrifying! It begins etching 3 mysterious words into the wall, and then just disappears? The 3 words were “numbered,” “weighed,” and “divided.” And they brought in Daniel to help interpret what these words could mean.

Today on Summit Life, we come to another story of God taking down a prideful, rebellious, selfish king. You’re like, wait, didn’t we JUST hear this story on the program? Hang on, today we come to Belshazzar, the grandson of King Nebuchadnezzar. We’re going to see that this problem is much bigger than just one king.

Last week on the program we talked about the roots of pride. The first root is the failure to recognize everything—everything, every breath you take—is a gift of God; and the second root is, the foolish assumption that it will last forever.

It’s a tricky thing, pride. Just when we think we’ve overcome it, we’re super proud of ourselves for accomplishing it! In fact, scripture is pretty clear about it when it says, “Pride comes before a fall…” Just when we think we’ve nailed it, it creeps in and can destroy us.

GOD IS BIGGER. It’s one of the most basic principles of our faith that we’re going to dive much deeper into. We’re going to talk about bold faith—faith both for when God delivers us, and faith for when he chooses not to.

Through the famous story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we will see an example of courage that could only come from faith in God. These three young men knew that God was bigger than anything life can throw at us. And more importantly, that God was better than anything death could take away. So what does courage look like in your life right now?

We learn that what was true for Daniel is still true now: “There is a God in heaven.” Where human strategies fail, God begins to work. Don’t you want to be part of what God is up to in your community, in your family, in your world?

As we continue our teaching series through the book of Daniel, we’re walking through Nebuchadnezzar’s confusing dream in Daniel, Chapter 2. Through this wild and startling story, we learn to view our culture the way Daniel viewed his—not through assimilation, not through separation, but through transformation.

The world we live in, like Daniel’s, is often very dark and hostile to the message of God. But thankfully, he doesn’t call us to escape this world. He calls us to transform it.

We begin working our way through the Old Testament book of Daniel--and it’s about a lot more than just lions. This book is about how to shine, how to thrive, in a very dark and hostile world. Unlike most of the other books in the Hebrew Bible, this one is not set in Israel, but in the heart of an enemy, pagan empire where God’s people have been taken captive.

Today, we conclude our series called, Instead of Me. Every message in this series, Pastor J.D. has shown us how Matthew places people in the story of Jesus that give us possible ways we might respond. Which ones describe you?

If you had been present during Jesus’ crucifixion, how would you have responded? There are four different characters and responses Pastor J.D. is going to walk us through to give us pictures of how we might have responded then and how we can still respond to Jesus today.

If you had been present during Jesus’ crucifixion, how would you have responded? There are four different characters and responses Pastor J.D. is going to walk us through to give us pictures of how we might have responded then and how we can still respond to Jesus today.

The events surrounding the trial of Jesus are recorded to show us that we are the ones who are actually on trial. In these stories we should see ourselves—and they should make us consider how we are responding to Jesus. We are Judas. We are Peter. And today, we’ll see we are also those involved in the trial of Jesus.

The events surrounding the trial of Jesus are recorded to show us that we are the ones who are actually on trial. In these stories we should see ourselves—and they should make us consider how we are responding to Jesus. We are Judas. We are Peter. And today, we’ll see we are also those involved in the trial of Jesus.

We are marching toward the cross in our series titled, Instead of Me. Our prayer during this series is that you will see these days that led up to Jesus’ death with fresh eyes. Feel the weight of the resurrection so that you can make Jesus the center of everything in your life. Today, Pastor J.D. takes us through the trial of Jesus in a message he titled, Accused for Me.

Have you ever thought that the cross must have been a scary place? Even for Jesus? But he went, when he could have fled for us. He took it all—all of the suffering for us—because there is only one way for us to have salvation, and that’s through the blood of Jesus. God’s wrath against our sin is like a toxic poison, and Jesus drank it for us. Pastor J.D. is teaching from Matthew 26.

Jesus was well accustomed to getting a clear response from God when he prayed. But there was once where God was completely silent. Pastor J.D. continues our new series, called Instead of Me, and shows us how necessary it was for Jesus to be abandoned for me and for you and to take on the full wrath of God in our place.