Hear God call you to worship through his word:

¹³ I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, ¹⁴ to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

     -1 Timothy 6:13-16

Song 1 – Great Are You Lord

Song 2 – Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Song 3 – (offering) Behold Our God

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him, all creatures here below
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Amen. 

Confession of Sin

Let us remain standing and together, with one voice, confess our sins to God:

O Lord, in whose hands are life and death, by whose power I am sustained, and by whose mercy I am spared – look down upon me with pity. Forgive me that I have until now so much neglected the duty which you have assigned to me, and suffered the days and hours of which I must give account to pass away without any endeavor to accomplish your will.

Help me to remember, O God, that every day is your gift, and ought to be used according to your command. Help me to repent of my negligence, that I may obtain mercy from you, and pass the time which you shall yet allow me in diligent performance of your commands, through Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Assurance of Pardon

Receive these words of comfort from God:

The Lord, the Lord, is a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding ins teadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. 
       -Exodus 34:6-7

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In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.³ Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, ⁴ youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. ⁵ The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. ⁶ Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. ⁷ And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

⁸ But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. ⁹ And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, ¹⁰ and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” ¹¹ Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹² “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” ¹⁴ So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. ¹⁵ At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. ¹⁶ So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

¹⁷ As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. ¹⁸ At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king.²⁰ And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. ²¹ And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.

Living Distinctly When its Slippery

God’s People are to Live Distinctively in Light of His Rule

Points:

1. Keep Your Footing by Remembering God Rulesvv 1-2 
2. Keep Your Footing by Understanding the World’s ´Slippery’ Tactics vv 3-7
3. Keep Your Footing by Resolving to Live Distinctively vv 8-16 
4. Keep Your Footing by Trusting God vv 17-21

Song 4 – Be Still My Soul

Song 5 – Living Hope

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name;

your kingdom come;

your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation 

but deliver us from evil.

For yours is the kingdom, and the power, 

and the glory, forever. 

Amen.

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Study Questions: Daniel 1:1-21 

1. Introduction
2. As Christians we live as exiles in the world (1 Pet. 1:1). In light of the fact that God rules, God expects us to live distinctively, showing our allegiance to Him. From a first reading of the chapter, how are we encouraged and inspired to do that? 

2. Into the Text
3. What was Nebuchadnezzar’s tactic in bringing these young men to his training college in Babylon? (vv. 3-4) 
4. Living in Babylon, Daniel and his friends were exposed to a culture that challenged their faith (vv. 3-7). What particular pressures to conform did they face? What opportunities were they being offered? 
5. The phrase ‘among these’ at the beginning of verse 6 is significant. Of the group of young men taken to Babylon, how do you think the group divided in terms of their allegiance to God? 
6. Daniel took the decision to be open about his faith, making his allegiance clear (v. 8). What do we make of the fact that he said ‘no’ to the royal food and wine, but said ‘yes’ to a number of other things (e.g. his place in the training programme and his change of name)?  
7. Daniel was well aware of the risks, but what motivated him to make his allegiance to God known?  
8. What evidence is there in the text of God’s intervention? (vv. 9, 15-16, 17) How does God advance His Kingdom through these events? (vv. 18-21)  

3. Application
4. As Christians, what pressures to conform do we face in our culture today? What particular (and increasing) pressures are young Christians experiencing today? 
5. God expects us to live distinctively, showing our allegiance to Him. What’s our motivation for doing this? What stops us doing it? 
6. Part of what it means to show our allegiance to God is simply being open about the fact that we are Christians. How open are you about your faith with work colleagues, classmates etc.? 
7. Practically, what does living distinctively and showing our allegiance to God look like in terms of what we say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to? How do we know where and when to draw the line?E. Having made his decision not to take the royal food and wine, the way Daniel went about it is striking. What can we learn from his manner and approach?  
8. Living distinctively, showing our allegiance to God, can be costly in terms of the consequences we face. What can we expect from God? viii) If we live distinctively and show our allegiance to God, how will God use our witness to advance His Kingdom?