Using Daniel 1:8-21

There are some specific tips for groups who are NOT doing sermon based studies at the  end of this post.

But Daniel MADE UP HIS MIND...  (NASB)
But Daniel RESOLVED...  (ESV)

In verse 8, Daniel decides to be faithful to God in every situation before a specific situation arises.  There were a lot of things that did not fire Daniel up,   

"Daniel had no outward resistance to attending the University of Babylon, erasing their culture or changing his name. Rather, he is all about the teaching of God's Word."

Commit now to serve the Lord so that you will know better how to respond in challenging situations.

"Not eating meat seems so trivial or small in many ways."

Your faithfulness to God in the big things begins with faithfulness in the small things.

Some discussion helps/questions to use with your group:

• Towards the end of the sermon, "Over 500 years later magi came to worship Jesus because of who Daniel was regardless of where he was."  What does that mean?
• Can you remember a situation in which you were prepared to take a stand and what happened when you stood?  What did you resolve, and what did you do?
• How have you been, are you, and will you prepare yourself to live life for God's glory in this land?

AN ABSOLUTE NECESSARY part of this preparation must be PRAYER.

Take time to pray for your Gospel witness.  

One way you can do this is to have people pray for specific areas of life...

work

neighborhood

Church

family

FOR GROUPS NOT DOING SERMON-BASED

In your study, whether it is Mark, Ephesians, Leadership, or Women in the Bible,  your group should be challenging one another to live counter-cultural, God-glorifying lives like Daniel. 

How does your study this week and every week help you know God more deeply and live for God more dependently?  

  

  

Using Passages for Discussion

As we think about sermon-based small groups, I want to remind you the sermon-based small group is really PASSAGE-BASED small group.

Your group is discussing the passage that was preached that week.

This post lists Do's and Don'ts for sermon-based small groups.

1. Read the passage aloud as a group.
2. Use the sermon and your sermon notes as a resource to discuss the passage.
3. Don't repreach/reteach the whole passage.
4. From the last post, look at the summary of the passage and have group members do the same.  You can have group members think about and write down a summary in your group.  Then, have group members share their summary.
5. Be sure to give people the opportunity to talk.  Being the small group leader does not mean you have to speak the most.
6. As you consider questions, remember HEAD (What does God want me to know?), HEART (What does God want me to desire?), and HANDS (What does God want me to do?).  

Romans 16:25 - 27.

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. 

Head:  What is the Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ?  What do these do?

Heart:  What do I need to be more passionate about?

Paul's use of "my gospel" does not suggest there is Paul's gospel, Apollos' gospel, and Peter's gospel.  "My gospel" is the divinely revealed message of Jesus Christ that Paul is passionately holding on to and sharing with others.

What do I need to be more passionate about?  I need to be more passionate about the gospel.  My gospel, my life-changing hope found only in Jesus Christ.

This passage begins with "to him" and ends with "to [him]" - the only wise God be glory.
We need to be more passionate and focused on God.  What does this look like?

Hand:  In these verses, what action is needed?

Using Passages to Pray

I want to help each of us encourage one to grow in two competencies throughout the rest of 2024.

Competency 1:  Praying prayers that glorify God using the passages of Scripture studied or preached.

This video talks about how to pray Romans 16:1 - 16.

Another prayer tip for you and your group is DON'T SHARE PRAYER REQUESTS. 

O.K., let me clarify that statement. Don't share prayer requests the way you usually do.  

Competency 2:  Asking questions that make the Bible passage studied or preached more applicable.

Here is an article, 8 Tips for Taking Good Sermon Notes, at www.crossway.org/blog/2017/01/8-tips-for-taking-good-sermon-notes/, that could prove very helpful in developing Competency 2. While some of the article promotes a journaling Bible, the whole article has good tips.

Numbers 6, 7, and 8 are especially helpful for sermon-based small groups (and even other studies).

Tip #6.  Before the sermon ends, write a one-sentence summary of the whole message in your own words.

Pastor Dave's Small Group Leader Tip: Pastor Brett often does this.  A good way to implement this tip in your life and the lives of your group members is to use Pastor Brett's summary in your own words.

Tip #7.  Remember that the goal of sermon note-taking is communion with God, not detailed or beautiful notes.

Pastor Dave's Small Group Leader Tip: Your group members need to see your love for God, not only your knowledge of Him. I want to suggest two ways to grow in this.   

First, at the beginning of the meeting, privately ask someone in your group to check your passion level as you lead.  What causes your voice to rise or your speech to quicken 

Second, before your group meets, write down a brief summary statements that passionately communicate the truth of the Bible and your love of God.

#8.  Revisit your sermon notes throughout the week.

Pastor Dave's Small Group Leader Tip: Prayerfully read through your sermon notes as you prepare to lead your group.  You may even want to write some of these prayers down.   Some of these statements may be what you share with your group (see #7).  One of these statements may be your summary statement (see #6).