WHOSE
LIFE IS IT ANYWAY? - - WEEK 4
Welcome.
If you
had no restrictions and could have any job in the world, what would it
be?
Worship.
Have a
time of worship based around one or more of the key verses from the
previous chapters. E.g. 2:20-23, 3:17,18, 4:34,
Word. Daniel chapter 6 – The pressures of work.
Read Vv
1-5
1. Daniel has worked in the same environment for years and except for
Nebuchadnezzar decades before he’s not made a convert that we know of!
Is Daniel a failure as a Christian example?
2. Why,
if Daniel was so very good at his job didn’t anyone seem to like him?
How does this translate to someone in a work environment today?
3. For
those of you who go out to work, what does it mean for you to do a
“perfect job” where you are?
4. If
you work/did work, do you/did you see the place you spend most of your
waking life as a place to do a good job in the eyes of your employers or
your fellow employees. If this conflicted with your Christian values how
do you cope with the extremely difficult but very real balance of
possible compromise in the workplace?
5. In
response to peoples’ answers, what can you as a group do to support
people in the group in their workplace? If you have no one who works in
a secular environment how could you support someone in the church at
their job of work?
6. To
what extent would you agree that it’s important to have Christians in
decision making roles in as many industries as possible?
7. I
had a friend in a senior management position in a television company. He
had to allow some things he found objectionable into certain programmes
in order to have a say on other issues and broader policy. He felt it
was vital to keep a Christian presence in that industry even though he
was offended by some of his company’s output. Was he right to stay?
Read Vv
6-16
8.
Daniel found himself set up by his enemies. By continuing to pray openly
three times a day, both believers and unbelievers witnessed Daniel’s
consistency. From observing you, what can unbelievers determine about
your life?
9. If someone who knew my innermost thoughts rated my ethics,
I’d score:
|
At work |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
|
At home |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
|
With outsiders |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
{Mark
the above with the invisible pen of your own conscience! If anyone feels
a burning desire to share their own scores, please feel free.}
10.
Darius offers a prayer for Daniel {v 16}, not to the king’s normal gods
but to Daniel’s God. What do you think Daniel might be making of the
whole situation at that point?
11.
What saved Daniel (his faith, his innocence, God’s faithfulness,
sleeping lions, the king’s prayers)? Think about this before answering.
12.
Because of the Persian custom of vindication, Daniel’s accusers received
the same punishment that they demanded that Daniel receive. How do we
view this in the 21st Century?
Extra
13. In
your own life, have you ever experienced God in the midst of a “lion’s
den”
Witness.
Pray
for those persecuted for their faith.
Is there anybody who falls into the category of our “enemy” - - and can
we pray for them as Christ requests us to?
|
