EDGE Summer 2007 – Daniel 2 (chapter 3)

Introduction: Well, this is good timing… the 100th set of EDGE group notes coincides with the Church anniversary and one of the verses this session will focus on is this year’s motto for the Church.

Welcome

Who has had the weirdest dream? What would happen in your dreams if you didn’t wake up in time?

Word

Explain what has happened in chapter 2 with the King having a dream and wanting people to interpret the dream, but then forgetting the dream (possibly / probably) and asking that his magicians should tell him his dream and then interpret it otherwise they will be torn to pieces and their houses ripped down. Daniel and his friends ask God to tell them – he does, they give all the glory back to God and tell the King of his dream and what it means. Then we come to the end of the chapter

Read Daniel 2:46-3:7 then ask how a person who proclaims what he does at the end of Chapter 2 do what he does at the start of chapter 3?

Are there people like that today? How is this seen?

What are some of the 90ft statues that the world builds today and wants everyone to worship? (eg fame, ipods etc) –

* if your group is an artistic one – get them to draw their own modern day 90 foot statues that the world is asking us to worship

Read Daniel 3:8-18

What excuses could they have offered to bow down to the statue?

Warren Wiersbe gives us this summary – but how many can you think of?

The three men could have compromised with the king and defended their disobedience by arguing, “Everybody else is doing it,” or “Our office demands that we obey,” or “We’ll bow our knees but we won’t bow our hearts.” They might have said, “We can do our people more good by being officers in the king’s service than by being ashes in the king’s furnace.”

What excuses do we offer when everyone is doing something? (Be practical and as real as possible)

But what does true faith look like? Does it compromise?

Wiersbe: “But true faith doesn’t look for loopholes; it simply obeys God and knows that He will do what is best. Faith rests on commands and promises, not on arguments and explanations.”

The 3 friends proclaim to the King “The God we serve is able…” what is God able to do?

Make a list.

Perhaps take a look at 2 Cor 9:8, Heb 7:25 and Jude 24-25

Worship

Thank God for some of the things he is able to do.

Witness

Read Daniel 3:19-30

Pray for one another to stand up strong for our Lord, and pray for God to do good things and for good things to happen to us because we are standing strong.