Sermon: "A Window to the Future", Daniel 2:29-45 (August 4, 2024)

Over the next five weeks of worship, we’ll be doing a deep dive into the book of Daniel. Daniel is best known for the classic church school stories of the Fiery Furnace and the Lion’s den (and we’ll definitely get the chance to dig into those in the next month) but there’s a lot more to this book than we often realize. It’s made up of a collection of writings largely concerning Daniel, a young Israelite man brought to the Babylonian court to serve the king during the 6th century Jewish exile. As usual, context is really important: having been written 400 years after its setting, Daniel is very much about remaining faithful to God while living among non-Jews (a topic that was yet again relevant to the community by the 2nd century). Its first half is largely narrative (including those two stories I mentioned before) while the second half focuses more on apocalyptic writings (remember: apocalypse is Greek for “revelation” or “unveiling”; it’s not a synonym for “cataclysmic”).

Liturgy: 11th Sunday After Pentecost, Daniel 2:29-45 (August 4, 2024)

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Hymns

Hymn GTG #30, “O God, in a Mysterious Way”
Hymn GTG #507, “Come to the Table of Grace”
Hymn GTG #376, “When All Is Ended”

Sermon: “The Literal Kindom – Metaphorically Speaking”, Acts 16:9-10, 13-15/Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5 (May 22, 2022)

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Visions are relatively common in scripture. Usually, they’re described as if the person experiencing them were watching a movie play out in their mind. As a result, we tend to equate divine visions with literal instructions from God. It seems unfair that people like Paul and John of Patmos receive such clear direction, while we’re stuck praying and discerning. But biblical visions aren’t necessarily what they seem – and they aren’t necessarily just for those who receive them.