St. Nebuchadnezzar

GREETING ONE ANOTHER:

  • Take some time as a group to gather and socialize.

PRAYING TOGETHER:

Consider focusing opening prayer on VCC and/or community needs such as:

  • Pray for our faith and attitude during the continued delay in gathering indoors (Alameda County now says it will be another 4-6 wks)

  • Spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being of VCC congregation during this long period of isolation

  • Pray that we will exhibit the hope of Christ throughout so those in the community will want to know why such hope?

STARTER QUESTION

What do we know about Nebuchadnezzar’s character and behavior from our reading of Daniel chapters 1-4? [see Notes]

REVIEW QUESTION

What are some of the ways pride can be blinding based on what we read about Nebuchadnezzar in the beginning of this chapter?

IN THE BOOK

Below there are three different types of questions, so we encourage you to seek a balance if possible. In addition, there is a Leader Study Notes section for further study!

  1. The Understanding questions are designed to refresh your group's memory about the text. These can be answered fairly briefly without a need for longer discussion.

  2. Application questions are structured to draw out the ways the text, as preached, calls us to live. You should make a strong effort in your group to point people to Scripture as they’re discussing these.

  3. We’ve built out Personal Sharing questions that connect with the sermon, but make a more conscious effort to allow the members of your group to know each other better. These help to build a sense of trust by giving people a chance to share their lived experiences.

We pray that as you consider which of these questions work best for your group that God blesses your time together so that the Word of Christ “dwells in you more richly” and you become “knit together in love” as a community.

Daniel's Lesson

READ: Daniel 4:19-23

UNDERSTANDING:

Heath explained the idea of “schadenfreude.” What does it mean and how does it relate to this passage? [see Notes]

APPLICATION:

Pastor Heath: “How we relate to our enemies is at the heart of the gospel.”

v. 19 - Given Nebuchadnezzar’s history how/why could Daniel respond to the dream by being “dismayed?” What heart attitude or character trait lay beneath Daniel’s response of “dismay?”

How do both God the Father and Jesus model this attitude toward enemies. Where is this taught in Scripture? [see Notes]

PERSONAL SHARING:

Share an example of how you responded when seeing an enemy “getting what’s coming.”

What is the experience of being the recipient of compassion as opposed to schadenfreude?

As Christians, we’re called to pray for “restoration” rather than “ruin.” Can you describe a time when you saw this dynamic at work in your life?

Nebuchadnezzar's Lesson

READ: Daniel 4:24-27

UNDERSTANDING:

v. 27 - What is Daniel’s counsel to Nebuchadnezzar in light of the dream?

APPLICATION:

v. 24-27 - Was there any hope for Nebuchadnezzar? How?

v. 27 - What is involved in true repentance? [see Notes]

v. 27 - What does the practice of true “righteousness” look like given the definition of tzedakah as “right relationships with others based on the fact that human beings are image bearers of God”?

PERSONAL SHARING:

“Repentance isn’t just mental assent or personal profession … it includes practice of righteousness and mercy.” What experiences in your life have made this distinction in what repentance looks like challenging?

“We are called to seek the good of our enemies because this is what our God is like.” Describe a time when practicing this kind of love was a challenge. What makes it challenging for us to have this kind of God-consciousness in our minds when relating to our “enemies”?

LEADER STUDY NOTES:

What do we know about Nebuchadnezzar from Daniel so far?

He is the villain at the beginning of the story. — He invaded and destroyed Jerusalem and Temple; took many Israelites captive into exile; created a golden image of himself to be worshipped under penalty of a fiery furnace; three Daniel’s three friends in fiery furnace -- and that’s just in three chapters.

What is “schadenfreude?” How is it related to this passage?

Schadenfreude is a German word that means “the experience of pleasure that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another.” This is one alternative for how we might relate to our enemies (in the flesh). Another alternative is the opposite of “schadenfreude” which is compassion. How we relate to the welfare of enemies is at the very heart of the Gospel.

How do both God the Father and Jesus model this attitude toward enemies. Where is this taught in Scripture?

  • Ezekiel 33:11 “... As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live … turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel.”

  • Proverbs 24:17-18 “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.”

  • Proverbs 17:5 “Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.”

  • Jesus taught in Matthew 5:44 that loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you is not optional, but a Gospel essential.

What is involved in true repentance (4:27)?

The markers are a change of loyalty, mind/heart, and direction, not just an internal change, nor just an external change, but a change of behavior motivated by a change of heart.

  • “Break off your sins” - right relationship with God

  • “Practice righteousness” - right relationships with others

  • “Do justice” - rectifying justice; giving others what they are due; care for widows, orphans, immigrants, the poor. Jeremiah 22:3 “... Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor hi who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place”

  • “Show mercy” - Micah 6:8 “ … And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”


ONE ANOTHERING:

Whether you are meeting together or not, check in with one another to make sure that everyone is cared for and has what they need. Does someone in your group need help with grocery shopping, childcare, or caring for themselves? Keep a list of the ways you can provide care as a comGroup.

Remember that the Benevolence Ministry is a resource for our comGroups.

  • How can we love or serve one another this week?