What do we do when our world is falling apart? 

How can we carry hope and live wisely in the midst of political turmoil, spiritual warfare, and personal tragedy?

What does faithfulness to King Jesus look like as exiles in Babylon today?

Join us for the next ten weeks as we study the story of Daniel, an ancient prophet who experienced his homeland’s brutal downfall at the hands of an enemy empire, the temptation to compromise with the newly dominant culture, and the spiritual struggle to trust God and love others in the midst of it all.

DISCUSSION GUIDES

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    OVERVIEW:
    Spiritual formation (discipleship) happens within spiritual family (community), and every family has values. While we will typically dive into the sermon, study the scriptures, and pray for one another during our time together, tonight will be a bit different. As we begin gathering again after a summer apart, many of us welcoming new friends into our communities, we think it wise to set apart the first gathering to refresh ourselves on the All Saints community commitments. 

    Read through each of the five family values and commitments one at a time, along with the accompanying scriptures. For each value, take a few moments to answer the following question:

    How has discipleship within community cultivated or matured this value in your life? Or, where do you most want to grow?

    Note: Not everyone has to answer every question, but we all should share at least once!)

    Purity – We commit to pursuing personal wholeness through devotion to Christ alone.

    Honor – We commit to value and make much of others with our words, actions, and intentions.

    Accountability – We commit to regular rhythms of confession and confrontation.

    Harmony – We commit to embracing our embodied differences while pursuing Christ-centered unity.

    Mission – We commit to Jesus’ mission of making disciples and spreading the gospel, together.

    After you’ve gone through the values, take turns sharing: 

    What makes you excited, hopeful, or nervous about trying to live this way in community?

    Finally, close with a time of corporate prayer. Invite the Holy Spirit to bless and guide your time together over the next ten weeks. May he use this community to make us more like Jesus and help us love one another more deeply!

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    OVERVIEW:

    If we’re going to remain faithful to Jesus in Babylon, we need to get really good at recognizing and refusing the ways the dominant culture tries to woo our hearts and win our loyalty. What's at stake is the core of our identity as those who belong to God, along with any ways God wants to use our lives as a witness to those around us. Daniel's answer? Don't eat the king's food.

    READ Daniel 1
    Then answer the following questions:

    1. Daniel 1 establishes the big picture view of the spiritual and political events that led to Judah’s exile before exploring the personal drama of how these events play out in personal lives of those caught up in the chaos.
      What has surprised, challenged, or encouraged you from these first two sermons?

    2. Daniel and his friends experienced tremendous trauma from things outside their control, yet they found ways to remain faithful to God under pressure, even in their grief, doubt, and longing.
      How has Jesus met you in painful, perhaps even unfair moments? What has remaining faithful looked like in your spiritual journey?

    3. The king’s food is anything that makes us forget our identity, deny God’s authority, or uses provision, power, and pleasure to win our ultimate loyalty. Sunday’s message challenged us to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal where we’ve been “eating the king’s food” in our personal lives. We can think of the Spirit’s work in terms of conviction (God cuts my heart) and consecration (I set myself apart).
      Where have you been compromising (or eating what’s not good for you)? Which spiritual practices are God inviting you to replace it with?

    PRAYER PRACTICE:

    As Christians, we live in the tension of the “now and not yet”—God’s kingdom is present and advancing, conquering evil and darkness with love and light, but it is also yet to come and won’t be fully realized until Jesus’ return. While we wait, we trust that God both grieves with us and moves towards us to rescue and comfort, because he loves us. 

    Divide into groups of 2-3 and read Jeremiah 8:21-9:1 and Daniel 9:23. 

    Take turns sharing a current struggle or tension you are experiencing. Then, spend a few moments in listening prayer for one another, speaking God’s truth, encouragement, and comfort into each other’s lives.

    Below are a few helpful guidelines if you’ve never practiced listening prayer before.

    • Take a few moments to wait on God in silence, asking him if there is a specific word, image, or phrase he wants you to pray over the one receiving. If you don’t sense anything, that’s totally normal and okay! As Paul reminds us, “we know in part and see in part” (1 Cor 13)

    • If you do sense something, ask the Spirit to help you interpret the meaning. We always share in humility (“I sense…” vs. “God says…”). 

    • Share any specific scriptures or Bible stories that comes to mind as you listen, and pray into them.

    • Speak encouragement, comfort, and God’s truth from the heart (2 Cor 3:18, 1 John 2:1-2)

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    OVERVIEW:

    Babylon may not be home, but it is our assignment. Daniel 2 shows us what it looks like to faithfully live the places God sets us, even among people and systems that may not share our values. When trouble comes, Daniel shows us two sides of faithful life with God in Babylon: pray, don’t just act; act, don’t just pray. And as we pray, God invites us to use the gifts he has given us to seek the good of the people and places where he has set us.

    READ Daniel 2
    Then answer the following questions:

    1. Daniel and his friends didn’t choose Babylon; they were carried there. Yet Scripture invites us to see that God was still at work in where they had been placed. In the mysterious providence of God, we too find ourselves in particular families, workplaces, and communities.
      Where has God currently “set” you? What is one place or group of people where you sense God may be inviting you to see yourself as being there on assignment, rather than simply by circumstance

    2. When Daniel faced an impossible situation, his first response was not panic, outrage, or trying to figure everything out himself. He got on his knees, invited his friends in, asked the God of heaven for mercy, and spent time thanking God. 
      How is your prayer life? Which part of "Daniel's prayer blueprint" do you want to lean into more? (We'll practice together in a moment; see below) 

    3. Daniel didn’t use the gifts God gave him only to save himself. He used them for the good of his friends, the wider community, and ultimately his enemies. We are called to be life-giving people who seek the good of the places where God has planted us, while we bless without bowing (see Jeremiah 29:4-7).
      Where do you see an opportunity to “make yourself useful” for the glory of God? (Ask the Holy Spirit)

    PRAYER PRACTICE:

    Daniel gives us a simple blueprint for praying when we face trouble in Babylon:

    1. Hit your knees.

    2. Invite friends in.

    3. Ask for mercy.

    4. Say thank you.

    Divide into groups of 2–3. Each person briefly name one situation in your life, workplace, family, or community where you need God’s wisdom and intervention; perhaps it's an "impossible" situation you've been carrying that God is inviting you to bring to him.

    Then apply Daniel’s blueprint together:

    Hit your knees: If you’re able, physically kneel or bow as a way of embodying dependence on God

    Invite friends in: Have others in the group offer simple prayers for you. 

    Ask for mercy: Pray simply, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy." or simply "Lord, have mercy." 

    Say thank you: At the end, spend a few moments thanking God that he sees what we cannot see, knows what we do not know, and is at work even when we cannot yet see the outcome.

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    OVERVIEW:

    God calls us to friendships that strengthen our faithfulness to him, without asking those friendships to fulfill the deepest longings of our souls. Jesus is the one friend who will never abandon us, even in the fire.

    READ Daniel 3
    Then answer the following questions:

    1. What stood out to you most from Sunday's sermon? Was there anything that challenged, encouraged, or surprised you?

    2. The sermon described Babylon as competing for our attention, affection, and worship.

      Where do you see these same pressures at work in our culture today? Where do you feel them most personally?

    3. The sermon described a "friend for the fire" as someone who makes it harder for you to bow to Babylon. 

      Who has been that kind of friend in your life? What made that relationship spiritually formative? 

    4. One of the sermon’s central insights was that even our closest friendships cannot bear the full weight of our souls.
      Have you experienced disappointment when a friend couldn't meet your expectations or needs? How might placing our deepest hope in Jesus change the way we approach friendship, disappointment, and forgiveness?

    5. The sermon concluded with three invitations: Find your friends for the fire and hold them loosely. Sing the other song. Remember you are precious to God.
      Which invitation do you most need to respond to this week? What is one concrete step you can take?

    PRAYER PRACTICE:

    Get into groups of two or three and share about any “fires” you're currently walking through, whether suffering, relational difficulty, temptation, or a challenging act of obedience.

    Pray for one another to grow in courage, trust, and faithfulness to Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit to deepen your friendships while rooting your ultimate hope and belonging in Christ.


  • Two Nights of Seeking God's Face, Together

    This week (5), we will not meet for our usual Discipleship Community gatherings. Instead, we'll come together with other DC's across the city for a special night of prayer!

    We're bringing back The Hours, in a new two-hour format, from 6:30–8:30 p.m. We are offering these on two different evenings next week, Tuesday and Wednesday. We encourage you to attend the night your community would normally meet, but everyone is welcome at either gathering! (Thursday groups, choose either one )

    •  Tuesday, October 20: Bishop's house

    •  Wednesday, October 21: Sokolowski's house

    What can you expect?

    The first hour will be an opportunity to encounter God through tactile, interactive prayer stations that you can explore at your own pace, similar to The Hours in the past. All the stations are kid-friendly, and we think adults will enjoy them just as much! Each station will focus on a different aspect of the Lord's Prayer, our theme for the evening. You'll receive more instructions when you arrive.

    The Five Stations:

    1. Our Father — Lectio Divina coloring

    2. Your Kingdom Come — prayer flags for others.

    3. Our Daily Bread — playdough prayer

    4. Forgive Us — dissolving tablets

    5. The Lord’s Prayer — prayer bracelet-making

     The second hour will be a time of corporate worship and prayer together, led by members of our worship team, with prayer facilitated by Pastor Meghan or David.

     We look forward to a beautiful evening of refreshment, worship, and intercession in God's presence together. We hope you can join us!

  • Listen here: Podcast | Spotify

    OVERVIEW:

    God is patient and gracious toward those who humble themselves, but those who persist in pride and rebellion will eventually face judgment. In the meantime, God's people are called to remember his faithfulness, remain loyal to his kingdom, and hold fast to his promises.

    READ Daniel 5

    Opening Question (5-10 mins)

    What stood out to you most from Sunday's sermon? Was there anything that challenged, encouraged, or surprised you?

    Discover Bible Study (20-30 mins)

    Tonight we’re going to practice a Discovery Bible Study (DBS). DBS is a communal way of reading scripture together that allows us to place ourselves in God’s story, and invites God into our stories. It asks four simple questions, and is designed to be easily reproducible with your families and friends—especially those who are curious about Jesus! (Note: We recommend reading Jesus stories when doing a DBS with nonbelievers.) 

    Read Daniel 5 together, slowly. Pay attention to any words or phrases that leap out at you. Then answer the following questions.

    1. What does this story tell us about God?

    2. What does this story tell us about people?

    3. If this is really God’s word, what changes would I have to make in my life?

    4. Who am I going to tell?

    PRAYER PRACTICE:

    Divide into groups of 2-3. Share your answers, then pray for one another. If you feel led, anchor your prayer time in Jesus’ promise from John 10:28-30:

    I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” 

    John 10:28-30

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • God created humanity to bear his image and rule his world under his good reign. But humanity rebelled, and the result was disorder, death, and exile from God’s presence.

    God then called Abraham and made a covenant with him: through his family, God would bring blessing to all nations. Abraham’s family became Israel, whom God rescued from slavery in Egypt and called to be his covenant people—a kingdom meant to reflect God’s rule among the nations.

    Israel eventually became a kingdom under David. God promised that David’s house and kingdom would endure, pointing toward a coming king whose reign would be established by God.

    But Israel repeated humanity’s rebellion. The kingdom divided, injustice and idolatry spread, and despite the warnings of the prophets, Israel broke covenant with God.

    The northern kingdom fell to Assyria. Then, in 586 BC, Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and carried Judah into exile.

    Daniel begins here.

    God’s people are living in exile. Jerusalem has fallen. The temple is gone. Babylon appears to rule the world.

    But the question of Daniel is not simply, How will God’s people survive in Babylon?

    It is: Who truly rules the kingdoms of the world—and will God remain faithful to his covenant?

  • The Bible was written primarily in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, reflecting the changing world in which God’s people lived.

    Hebrew is the primary language of the Old Testament and the language of ancient Israel. Most of the Old Testament, from Genesis to the Prophets and Psalms, was written in Hebrew.

    Aramaic became an international language across the ancient Near East. Under the Assyrian, Babylonian, and especially Persian empires, it served as a lingua franca, a common language used among peoples who spoke different native languages.

    Daniel reflects this multilingual world. The book begins in Hebrew (Dan. 1:1–2:4a), shifts into Aramaic (2:4b–7:28), and then returns to Hebrew (chs. 8–12).

    By the time of the New Testament, Greek had become the common language across much of the eastern Roman world. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, the widely shared Greek of its time.

    The Bible’s languages reflect its story. God’s word moves with his people, from Israel, through exile and empire, and outward among the nations.

  • Daniel moves through two major sections: court tales (chs. 1–6) and apocalyptic visions (chs. 7–12). But underneath that division is a carefully arranged structure.

    Daniel 1 — Introduction: Exile in Babylon

    Daniel 2–7 — Aramaic Chiasm

    Chapters 2–7 form a chiasm—a mirrored literary structure in which themes introduced at the beginning are repeated in reverse order.

    A — Daniel 2 — Four kingdoms → God’s eternal kingdom
    B — Daniel 3 — The faithful threatened → God delivers
    C — Daniel 4 — Proud king humbled
    C′ — Daniel 5 — Proud king humbled
    B′ — Daniel 6 — The faithful threatened → God delivers
    A′ — Daniel 7 — Four kingdoms → God’s eternal kingdom

    The mirrored structure places Daniel 4–5 at the center, where two kings learn the same lesson: earthly rulers hold power only because God permits it.

    Daniel 8–12 — Hebrew Visions

    8 — Vision of kingdoms
    9 — Prayer, exile, and restoration
    10–12 — Final vision of kingdoms, conflict, and deliverance

    Daniel’s structure reinforces its central claim: kingdoms rise and fall, but God remains King.

  • Many of the stories in Daniel 1–6 can be described as court tales, stories about people serving kings and living within the world of royal power. These kinds of stories were common throughout the ancient Near East. They often feature a wise adviser who faces an impossible problem, political rivalry, false accusations, or even death. In the end, the faithful or wise person is vindicated, while the king and his court discover that their own power and wisdom have limits.¹

    Joseph and Daniel

    We have already encountered a story like this in the Bible.

    The story of Joseph in Genesis 39–41 has striking similarities to Daniel. Joseph is taken from his homeland and brought into a foreign kingdom. He eventually stands before Pharaoh, whose wise men cannot interpret his troubling dreams. Joseph succeeds where they fail, but he refuses to take the credit:

    “It is not I; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
    Genesis 41:16

    Daniel finds himself in a remarkably similar situation. He is taken from his homeland and brought to Babylon, where King Nebuchadnezzar has a troubling dream that his wise men cannot reveal or interpret. Like Joseph, Daniel insists that the answer does not come from his own wisdom:

    “There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.”
    Daniel 2:28

    The similarities go beyond the basic plot. Genesis and Daniel sometimes use similar words and descriptions for dreams, royal officials, wisdom, and the Spirit of God. This suggests that the story of Joseph helped shape the way Daniel’s story was told.²

    The connection also helps us understand Daniel. Joseph and Daniel both show us what faithfulness can look like when God’s people find themselves far from home and living under the authority of foreign rulers.

    Living Faithfully in Babylon

    The court tales in Daniel usually place Daniel and his friends in one of two situations. Sometimes there is a problem no one can solve. The king has a dream or encounters a mystery, his advisers fail, and God gives Daniel the wisdom to understand it.

    At other times, there is a conflict that threatens their faithfulness. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to worship the golden statue and are thrown into the furnace. Daniel refuses to stop praying to God and is thrown into the lions’ den. In both stories, faithfulness leads to danger, God delivers his servants, and even the king is forced to acknowledge God's power.³

    These stories are not simply telling us to “be like Daniel.” They are exploring a much bigger question:

    How do God's people live faithfully in a kingdom that does not worship their God?

    Daniel and his friends do not simply reject Babylon. They learn its language, serve within its government, advise its kings, and seek its good. Their lives reflect Jeremiah's earlier instruction to the exiles to “seek the welfare of the city” where God had sent them (Jer. 29:7).

    But their participation has a boundary.

    They can serve Babylon, but they cannot worship Babylon.

    When serving the king conflicts with serving God, their allegiance to God comes first.

    This is one reason scholars have described these stories as offering a “life-style for diaspora,” a picture of how God's people can live faithfully when they are far from home and surrounded by a culture that does not share their faith.⁴

    That makes these ancient court tales surprisingly relevant. Most of us will never stand before Nebuchadnezzar or be threatened with a lions' den, but we still face the same basic question. How do we participate in the world around us without allowing that world to determine who we worship, what we value, and where our ultimate allegiance belongs?

    Daniel's answer begins with remembering who is actually King.

    Empires rise and fall. Human rulers gain and lose power. Babylon itself will eventually disappear. Yet through every change of kingdom, God remains sovereign.

    Footnotes

    1. John J. Collins, Daniel: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel, ed. Frank Moore Cross, Hermeneia (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), 42–46.

    2. Collins, Daniel, 39–41. Collins notes numerous similarities between the Joseph and Daniel stories, including their foreign court settings, dream interpretation, God-given wisdom, and eventual promotion to positions of authority.

    3. Collins, Daniel, 46–49. Scholars sometimes distinguish between stories of “court contest,” where the wise courtier succeeds where others fail, and “court conflict,” where the faithful courtier faces opposition, condemnation, and eventual deliverance.

    4. W. Lee Humphreys, quoted in Collins, Daniel, 50. Collins develops this idea further, describing the tales as presenting active participation in life under foreign rule while refusing compromise with idolatry and the distinctive demands of faith in God.

  • The Book of Daniel sermon series art grew out of a close reading of Daniel and the ancient world in which its stories and visions take place. Rather than illustrating a single scene, it carries a visual language drawn from across the book: the kingdoms of Daniel 1–6, the beasts and horns of Daniel 7–8, the architecture and imagery of Babylon, and the Son of Man coming with the clouds.

    At the center is Daniel’s vision of “one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven,” who is given “dominion and glory and kingship,” and whose dominion will never pass away (Dan. 7:13–14). Centuries later, Jesus draws directly from this vision when he stands before the high priest: “you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Matt. 26:64). His accusers immediately condemn his words as blasphemy and declare him deserving of death (Matt. 26:65–66). Daniel’s vision therefore becomes a pivotal image in the Gospel account, as Jesus identifies himself with the Son of Man whose kingdom will outlast every earthly empire.

    The surrounding imagery reaches further into the world of Daniel’s exile. The horned beasts are inspired directly by the aurochs, extinct wild bulls associated with Adad, the Babylonian god of storms and rain, whose images once lined Babylon’s Ishtar Gate. In this way, Daniel’s apocalyptic beasts are brought into conversation with the actual religious and imperial imagery of Babylon. These paired beasts frame the composition like guardians of a sacred realm. But what they guard is a false Eden, an empire constructing its own vision of sacred order, security, and permanence. Their position deliberately echoes the cherubim stationed at the entrance of Eden, guarding the way to the tree of life after humanity’s exile (Gen. 3:24).

    That echo makes Babylon more than a historical setting. It becomes another human attempt to build sacred space and bring heaven to earth on its own terms. It is humanity’s version of order and kingdom, beautiful and powerful, yet ultimately unable to overcome exile. Daniel’s visions expose what lies beneath that order. Human kingdoms rise and fall, beasts threaten, and empires claim permanence, but God remains King. Dominion ultimately belongs to the Son of Man and to the kingdom that will never pass away.