Facing the Furnace
Life will bring seasons of trial that feel undeserved and impossible to escape. The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel chapter 3 speaks directly into those moments. When King Nebuchadnezzar commanded all of Babylon to bow before a massive gold statue, these three men refused. Their boldness did not come from religious routine or borrowed faith. It came from a genuine, personal history with God. They had pursued intimacy with Him long before the furnace arrived, and that relationship gave them the confidence to stand firm even when the cost was their lives. Their response to the king carried two powerful truths at once: God is able to deliver us, and even if He does not, we will still serve Him. That kind of surrender is not weakness. It is the deepest form of trust.
When they were thrown into the fire, something unexpected happened. The king looked in and saw not three men but four, and the fourth appeared like a son of the gods. God did not remove the trial. He entered it with them. This is one of the most profound realities of the Christian faith. The furnace is not always taken away, but it is never faced alone. Inside the fire, everything that distracts us from God is stripped away, and what remains is what is truly real. His presence becomes most clearly revealed not before the trial or after it, but right in the middle of it. Isaiah 43:2 promises that when we walk through fire, we will not be burned, and when we pass through deep waters, we will not drown. That promise has not changed.
The invitation today is to stop striving in your own strength and to surrender the burdens you have been carrying alone. Seek God not just for what He can do but for who He is. Build a relationship with Him that is genuinely your own, not borrowed from someone else’s devotion. And when the furnace comes, trust that the fourth man is already in the fire with you. His name is Jesus, and He has overcome everything you are facing.
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Facing the Furnace: What to Do When Life Puts You in the Fire
There are seasons in life where no matter how faithful you have been, no matter how hard you have prayed, you find yourself in the middle of a trial you did not ask for and do not deserve. The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel chapter 3 is not just an ancient account of three brave men. It is a timely reminder that God has a purpose for the furnaces we face, and that He never leaves us to face them alone.
What Is the "Furnace" in Your Life?
Furnaces in our lives can look very different depending on the season. Some feel inescapable, like there is no way out. Others leave us feeling isolated and alone. Some want to destroy everything we have built, while others simply distract us from what God is calling us to do.
You may have been faithful to God for years and still found yourself asking, "If You love me, why would You let this happen?" That question is honest, and it is human. But there is something deeper God wants to show us inside the fire.
The Story of Three Men Who Refused to Bow
King Nebuchadnezzar built a 90-foot gold statue of himself and commanded everyone in Babylon to bow down and worship it when the music played. The penalty for refusing was simple: be thrown into a blazing furnace heated to an extreme temperature.
Everyone complied. Except three men. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were Jewish men living in exile, but God's hand was upon them. When brought before the king, they did not protest loudly or fight back. They simply said what they believed with calm and unshakeable confidence.
"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, 'O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn't, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.'" - Daniel 3:16-18 New Living Translation (NLT)
Their response holds three powerful truths that are just as relevant for us today.
Truth #1: You Need Intimacy With God Before the Fire Comes
Why a relationship with Jesus matters more than knowing about Him
The boldness of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not come from memorizing scripture or attending religious gatherings. It came from a genuine, personal history with God. They had already made decisions to trust Him before this moment arrived. When the furnace came, they were ready.
In Acts chapter 19, seven men tried to cast out a demon using the name of Jesus, the same name the Apostle Paul used. But the evil Spirit responded, "I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?" They were operating on borrowed authority, and it cost them dearly.
You cannot live your life borrowing someone else's devotion to God. Intimacy with the Lord cannot be copied. It must be personally pursued.
Are you seeking God's hand or His face?
It is easy to treat God like a vending machine, coming to Him only when you need something. We see breakthrough in other people's lives and we want a piece of it. We look for a formula. But there is no formula. There is only a relationship.
Do people see how much you love the Lord in your workplace, in your home, in the quiet moments? Or do they just see that you know a few verses? Our lives tell a story, and that story must begin with seeking God daily.
A relationship with Jesus will not remove every trial. But when you have a genuine revelation of who He is, you can face the furnace with confidence, knowing He is with you.
Truth #2: You Need to Surrender Inside the Fire
What does "even if He does not" really mean?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego carried two powerful revelations at the same time. First, they were completely confident that God was able to deliver them. Second, they were completely surrendered to the possibility that He might not, and they chose to serve Him anyway.
This is one of the most difficult tensions in the Christian life. How do we respond when God does not do what we hoped He would? When prayers for healing go unanswered? When the outcome is not what we believed for?
His ways are higher than our ways. We should be fully confident in God's ability to heal, to transform, and to change a situation in an instant. But we must also be surrendered to the truth that His plan may look different from our desires.
True strength is not about how much you can carry
Society often defines strength as how much weight a person can handle, physically, emotionally, or spiritually. But Scripture challenges that completely. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not fight their way out. They surrendered. And in that surrender, they found peace.
Jesus Himself said it plainly to His disciples before going to the cross: "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." - John 16:33 New Living Translation (NLT)
Peace is not found by pushing harder. It is found by remaining still before Him. He offers it as an invitation, not a command. He says, "In me, you may have peace." Will you receive it?
Truth #3: You Can Find Freedom Inside the Fire
Why God does not always remove the trial
After being thrown into the furnace, something remarkable happened. King Nebuchadnezzar looked in and saw not three men, but four. And the fourth looked like a son of the gods.
Only three men went into the fire. But the king saw four.
Sometimes God does not remove the trial. Sometimes He steps into it with you. And it is inside the fire, not before it, where the presence of Jesus is most clearly revealed.
True freedom is not the absence of problems. It is the truth of knowing who is on your side.
The fire reveals what is real
Sometimes a trial is not there to punish you. It is there to remove everything that distracts you from God and to reveal the person of Jesus within the fire. When everything else is stripped away, what remains is what is real.
God's promise has not changed: "When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you." - Isaiah 43:2 New Living Translation (NLT)
The enemy can have no foothold over your life when you walk in intimacy, surrender, and freedom. No weapon formed against you shall prevail. He is with you in the fire, in the victory, in the pain, in the quiet and lonely places of your soul.
What Keeps You in the Furnace When Everything Tells You to Quit?
It is not your own grit or strength. It is keeping your eyes fixed on the One who paid it all for you. It is receiving the truth of who God says He is and who He says you are.
He says you are more than a conqueror. He says you are not forsaken. He says you are loved, chosen, and redeemed. He says He has a plan and a purpose for your life.
Would you receive that this morning?
Life Application
This week, identify one area of your life where you have been striving in your own strength rather than surrendering to God. It might be a relationship, a fear about the future, a burden you have been carrying quietly, or a trial you have been trying to manage alone. Choose one specific moment each day to stop, be still, and bring that thing before the Lord in prayer. Not to ask Him to take it away, but to surrender it to His will and trust that He is with you in it.
Ask yourself these questions as you reflect:
Am I seeking God's face, or only His hand? Do I come to Him only when I need something, or am I pursuing a genuine daily relationship with Him?
Is my faith my own, or am I living on borrowed devotion from others around me? Would the people closest to me say they can see how much I love the Lord?
What do I need to surrender to God right now? What am I still holding onto that I have not fully placed in His hands?
Do I truly believe that God is with me inside the fire, not just waiting for me on the other side of it?
The fourth man is in the fire with you. His name is Jesus. You do not have to face the furnace alone.
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A discussion guide for this sermon can be found here.
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Let me get set up here. If you don't recognize me, I wouldn't blame you. I'm not wearing a hat this morning. So I was challenged by a co worker yesterday.
They're watching the live stream this morning. They said, you know, every time you preach, you wear a hat. I think you hide behind your hat. So I said, fine, I won't hide behind my hat this morning.
I won't hide behind my hat this morning. Well, it is an honor to be with you, to share the Word and it's a true honor. And Jesus is so, so good and he's just so beautiful. And my prayer for each of us this morning would be that we would see more of his beauty and more of his grace in your life.
And if there's one thing that you leave here knowing this morning, let it be this, that Jesus loves you. Let it be this, that Jesus loves you. Why don't we pray and then we'll get into the word. Lord, we invite you into this place, Lord, I pray that right now, as we gather in this room, Lord, that you would soften our hearts and open our ears so that we may be in position to hear what you need us to hear this morning, Lord.
Come, Holy Spirit. Lord, I pray for anyone that's walked in feeling weary. I thank you that you are our rest. I thank you that anyone that's walked in carrying burdens that your yoke is easier.
Lord, I thank you that anyone that has walked in feeling hopeless. I thank you that you are our hope. Lord. I thank you for anyone that is feeling anxious or alone that you are.
Love and peace. Dear Heavenly Father, we just say, come Holy Spirit. Lord, our desire is to know more of you this morning so that your name may be exalted on high. We give you all the glory and let the words that I share this morning not be my own.
Not be a nice speech, Lord, but let it be your word, your truth, so it accomplishes your purpose. In the mighty name of Jesus, everyone said, amen. Amen. The title of my sermon this morning, if you're taking notes, is Facing the furnace.
Ooh, facing the furnace. And if you have your Bibles, I'd love if you'd turn with me to the Book of Daniel, chapter three. It's a well known story, it's a well known piece of scripture that I'm sure you've heard before. But I believe that it's a timely reminder and a timely challenge that each of us need to receive this morning.
We're going to read from verse 13. But up until this point, we join the story as we meet a few different people that have some pretty crazy names. Probably the most difficult names to pronounce in the Bible. But I'm going to do my best to pronounce them perfectly this morning, so you have to bear with me.
But we have King Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar, who is the king of Babylon. And he is a mighty, strong, powerful king. He's what you would call a great dictator that he strikes fear into all the people that were under him.
And he just desired nothing more than to have power over everyone and for everyone to submit to him and to listen to him. And so this was a very noble and a very humble quest in his kingdom. And so of course, like any great leader, he thought, why not build a 90 foot statue of of myself out of gold so that everyone can see it and everyone can worship it. And so, you know, it was a very humble request.
And what would have been, what would have been A bit like an Olympic, an Olympic opening ceremony. He invited everyone in the kingdom to come and say, hey, I've got something to show you. Say, come and take a look at this great statue that I built of myself. Isn't it wonderful?
And he says, come and worship in a moment. Behold it. And then he adds a little bit on the end and he says, but if you refuse to do those things and when you hear the music and you don't worship it, then I'm going to throw you straight into the fiery furnace. Because I don't deal with disobedience.
And so naturally, all the people probably fear in their hearts thinking, oh, gosh, I don't want to be burnt to a crisp. You know, it's one of these state of the art pizza ovens, one of these wonderful things. And so naturally, they all conformed and they all listened to King Nebuchadnezzar and they said, okay, we better be obedient so that we live to see another day. So everyone heard all the music, heard the harps singing, and they bowed down before the statue and worshiped it.
Except for three men that I want to explore their actions this morning. Morning. And Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And these were Jewish men who were exiled in Babylon, but God's hand was upon them and they were given positions of leadership and authority in the city of Babylon.
And I just want to dive into how they responded, how they chose to not conveniently conform to everyone else, but chose to stand for what they believed in. And so we'll pick up from verse 13 and it says this, if you have your Bibles, it'll be on, on the screen it says, furious with rage. This was just after King Nebuchadnezzar found out that they disobeyed. Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
So these men were brought before the king. And Nebuchadnezzar said to them, is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I've set up now, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, quite a lot. If you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace, then what God will be able to rescue you from my hand?
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him and this is what we need to grab a hold of for ourselves this morning. King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves against before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it. And he will deliver us from your majesty's hand.
But even if he does not, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will not serve you, serve your gods, or worship the image of gold that you have set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious, naturally, with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude towards them changed. He ordered the furnace heated up seven times hotter than usual, and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army, what would have been the SWAT team, to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace.
The king's command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. That's pretty warm, a bit like the air conditioning in this, the room just before, during worship. And these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace. I want to ask you this morning, church.
Have you ever found yourself facing a fiery furnace when it wasn't your fault, when you didn't deserve it? Many of you may know my story and my family. I've grown up in the church. My family, we've been here.
I think you've been here for like 34 years. 34 years, my dad and we've been serving in the church and grown up in the youth ministry and loved it and worshiped God. But many of you may know that almost three years ago this year, in September, my mom passed away from a hard and long journey with cancer, with breast cancer and brain cancer. And during that time, we saw many miracles and many breakthroughs.
And God's hand was upon the whole situation. But it was a period of time where for my family, it was quite confusing. Wondering God, we've served you and been faithful our lives and we surrendered our lives to you. And we want to you thank serve you yet.
Why would something like this happen to our family? Why would this great pain and loss and suffering happen? This unexplainable thing that we just can't make sense of. And so there was a situation for my family and for me that gave every reason to doubt, to question, to disappear, to Lean into my emotions and hide and become bitter.
And for me, I wanted nothing more than to just go and find comfort and satisfaction in other things. To make sense of it all. That maybe God isn't all it's talked up to be. Maybe he's not as powerful as he is.
Every reason to doubt, every reason to try and escape the furnace that I didn't deserve. And there are moments that we face in all of our lives that no matter how hard we tried, that what. No matter. Matter how hard we read the Word and that we're faithful and we're diligent.
Where we face a furnace, where we face a trial, a challenge, something that we don't know how we're going to get through. Furnaces in our lives can look quite different in different seasons and in different ways. And they can try and do different things. We have furnaces that want nothing more than to destroy and to break everything in your life.
We have furnaces that feel inescapable, like we're trapped with no hope. We have furnaces that leave us feeling isolated and alone, like no one is with us. We have furnaces that distract us from what God wants us to do. And maybe you've been like me, and you've been in church and you've believed in God for a long time and you've been faithful to Him.
But you've had these moments and you wrestle and you wonder, God, if you're so powerful and you love me so much, why would you let something like this happened to me or God? If you're so. If you can do everything that you say you can do, and I believe that you can, then why don't you do what your word says? But I wonder this morning if you might consider with me that God has a purpose for the furnace that you're facing.
There is a purpose because you will face furnaces in your life. But God always gets the glory through it. And he has a plan and a purpose for you. And whether you're here this morning, and maybe you're going through a good season, where you're seeing God move in your life and you're feeling connected with him and you're seeing the blessing, well, praise God.
Praise God and give him glory because he deserves it all. But maybe you've walked in feeling weary and feeling overwhelmed by the trials and the challenges of your life. Maybe when you think about your future or your workplace or in your family. Family or in your own personal lives, maybe you've been carrying weight and a burden and feel exhausted from the fire.
So this morning, if you would join me. I believe that God gives us three truths, three things in the fire that he wants us to realize from this passage. And you'll have to join me because I've been given the mic, so I hope that's okay. But the first thing that we realize when we're facing the furnace is this.
My first point is I need intimacy before the fire. If there's one thing that you need before the fire and the furnaces that you face in your life, whether you're in a good season or a bad season right now, it's that you need intimacy with the Lord. See this story with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is not one of three mighty men coming against a terrible evil city. And they're three versus 3,000 with swords, and they're battling on the battle battlefield.
These men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were simply men who had a relationship with Jesus, who had a relationship with God and followed him and served him wholeheartedly. And when faced with a decision to make against all odds, they did not compromise on their belief. They did not protest with loud words and signs and stand out the front of the statue and say, look at me. Look at me.
I'm not going to follow you. Who do you think you are? They simply knew and understood that it was not right to worship a statue of a man, that there are things in our lives that are not right to worship, that we give too much attention and priority to these idols and these things in our lives. And they knew this, and they said, we will not compromise serving the Lord.
They were devoted to the Lord and did not react from fear when faced with their trial. Yet the difficult thing for most of us, if we're truly honest with ourselves, is that when crisis and challenge comes, our first response is to find the way out. If I can just find the way out, if this could just be taken away from me, then everything would be better. We choose comfort and safety over challenge and struggle.
Of course, I recently started started running a couple months now. I'm trying to be consistent, but I'm man, oh, man. Every time that it comes time to go for a run, my mind is filled with dread because I know the pain and the cramping and the hobbling that I'm going to have to endure as I'm trying to make my way back home. But for me, and perhaps for all of us, it's a lot easier to distract ourselves from our struggle.
We like to keep the things that are in the dark, hidden away from God. And when the pressure is applied and when the heat is on, we like to search for safety and comfort. However, we see quite the opposite in this passage, don't we? In verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they almost leave the king speechless because he's so used to people blindly being obedient, obedient to him without question.
He's used to people saying, yes, I will follow you. But in this passage, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they reply, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. Their boldness left an impact on the king, and you could see that his attitude towards them changed. But they were so confident that no matter how intimidated or afraid or how in danger they were, that God was able to deliver them from it.
They said, the God we serve is able. The God we serve is able. So therefore, they did not need a defense. They carried great faith.
This is what we would call great faith. That when you're facing the hardest of trial, you say, God, I will trust in you. And we see this, and we see it all throughout Scripture. Yet this did not come from just two years of Bible college and memorizing every passage and every scripture.
And in the Bible, it did not come just after simply attending church once a month or saying that you're a Christian, but not really living like it. They had a history of intimacy with the Lord. See in the prior chapters of this book. In the book of Daniel, they had a decision to make whether they were going to follow God and trust in him for strength and to sustain them and to build them up, or whether they were going to indulge in the great feast that the king wanted to put put on with them.
And they said, no, we know that God can sustain us more than anything you can provide. They had a history of intimacy. And so when they faced this trial of facing the furnace, they could be confident and know and say, lord, I will put my trust in you. They did not dress the part or just say the right things.
They did not try and live a perfect life, but they simply had a revelation of who Jesus is, and they served him and church. If I can submit one thing to you this morning, let it be this one thing that you seek. It is a revelation of Jesus in your life, an understanding and a truth and a reality of who he is in your life. His majesty and his beauty, his grace and his wisdom, his character and his love, his righteousness and his position.
Seated at the right hand of the Father. Do you know the God that you serve? He was so humble and kind and he served those first and he washed the feet of his disciples. But he is also the spotless Lamb who was slain and the perfect sacrifice to redeem you from your sin.
And sometimes we pray for the hand of God and for breakthrough in our lives before presenting ourselves before him and seeking his face. Are you seeking his hand or his face this morning? We often pray for breakthrough through and we believe for great things. And we believe it because God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask, think or imagine.
It says that in the book of Ephesians. But we begin to treat him a little bit like a vending machine. That Lord, I'll pray to you, Lord, I'll come to church when I need some something, when I need help, when I need peace, when I'm searching for comfort and safety. And we see the blessing in other people's lives and we see the breakthroughs and the miracles and we see the provision and the blessing and we want a piece of it for ourselves.
And we believe and we start to think that there must be a formula to receiving the blessing of God, that there must be a three step process that I can do to inspire, ensure that there is blessing and breakthrough upon my life. And so we begin to copy the answers from other people. If I just read the word enough, if I just pray hard enough, if I just worship and dance up the front like everyone else is doing, if I just do these things that everyone else, then I can receive God. But no, it needs to be a personal revelation of the Lord Jesus.
But we see this in Acts chapter 19. In Acts chapter 19 we join the Apostle Paul and he's preaching in and sharing his ministry and he's preaching all around to many people. And he's seeing great breakthrough in miracles and healings and people being delivered from the enemy. And he's seeing mighty things happen.
The hand of God is upon his life. People are even getting healed by his snotty tissue. I don't think I've ever seen that before. But that's how you know the anointing was there.
Read it, it's in there, it says it. But these people, they saw what Paul was doing and they wanted a piece of it for the themselves. They said, we see God's blessing on Paul's life, we can have a piece of that too, can't we? And so in verse 13 it says some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon possessed.
They would say, in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out. Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish priest, a Jewish chief priest doing this. In verse 15, it says, One day the evil spirit answered them. Jesus I know and Paul I know about.
But who are you? Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of their house naked and bleeding. Lord, I pray that never happens to me.
But the scripture is powerful. They knew the Father formula. They knew the language that Paul shared. They even knew the name of Jesus.
But it is not enough to just know his name. They did this on borrowed authority. And you cannot live your life borrowing other people's devotion from the Lord. They saw the blessing and the power of God and they thought, I'll give it a whirl.
It can't be that hard, can't be that hard to say in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches. But is he just the God that Paul preaches or whom you hear about on a Sunday? Or is he the God that you serve? Is he the God that you have a relationship with this morning?
Do you have a relationship with the Lord? Do people see how much you love the Lord, or do they just see that you go to church sometimes and you know a little bit about him? Do they see how much you love the Lord in your work, workplace? The people in your family see how much you love the Lord when you're at home and when you're in the quiet place?
Do people see how much you love the Lord, or do they just see that you know? A couple verses? Our lives tell a story, and it must start by seeking God daily. We must be willing to seek at his feet when God gives us the invitation for a relationship of the deepest form of love and peace that we could ever experience.
We cannot take that for granted. But so often we just settle for shortcuts to get favor and receive the breakthrough and satisfaction that will leave us feeling good inside. But a relationship and intimacy with the Lord can withstand every furnace. But the truth is, a relationship with Jesus will not remove every trial.
But when you have a relationship and a revelation of who Jesus is in your life, then you can be confident and have an assurance inside of you that there is a joy set before you. That just as Jesus endured the cross, that he knew that he stepped into it and he knew that, Lord, I know that your plan is great. And then you have the victory and you can know that his plan is far greater than anything else than the world can offer. Intimacy cannot be copied.
It must be pursued personally. God desires a personal relationship with you. He desires to commune with you, to partake at the Lord's table, to sit with him and receive all that he has to offer, so that when every trial and every furnace that you face, that it will not leave you burned. We cannot borrow the relationship that someone else has with the Lord for our breakthrough.
And if you attempt to face the furnace with faith and intimacy that is copied and borrowed off someone else, then the fire will instantly reveal that you know about God, but you don't actually know Him. Do you know him this morning? Do you know him this morning? And I wonder if the invitation that God wants to give you this morning to give me might be to seek God first.
To seek God first. Maybe you're in a season of waiting. Maybe you're in the season of trial and heaviness. But would you seek God first?
Would you seek God first to be still and to listen to Him? To serve him humbly? To pray and ask the Holy Spirit to direct your life to be submitted to his will. To be submitted to his will.
There's nothing greater than a relationship with Jesus. Whether you've been a Christian for a long time or you've never known him before, there is no better time than now than to return to him, than to return to a Savior who loves you and that, who knows you and has a plan and a purpose for your life. And this is where we find the second true truth when we face the furnace, that we need intimacy before the fire. But point number two is that I need to surrender in the fire.
I need to surrender in the fire. And in verses 17 and 18, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they share this powerful, powerful response. And they offer this great bold statement before King Nebuchadnezzar. They say, if we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve, not the God we know about, the God we serve, is able to deliver us from it.
And then in verse 18, but even if he does not, even if he does not, we want you to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the idols that you have set up. See these men? They had two powerful revelations, and we need the same revelations this morning. Number one, God is able to deliver them.
They were completely confident and knew the power of God. Do you know the power of God? And the second revelation they had was, even if he doesn't they were completely and utterly surrendered to the will of God. Perhaps this is one of the most difficult things that.
That we have to balance and try and think about in our lives. How do we respond to the fact that God doesn't always do what we hope for him to do in our greatest struggle? That when things don't turn out the way that we thought they would, that after day after day when I would pray and as a family, we would pray for my mom's healing and breakthrough and to see a miracle that she may walk again, that she may be completely free from all the cancer. That she may be even sitting here this morning to be able to see me grow and live in my life and grow up in the future.
How do I make sense of God? I thought your love was that you loved me, that you cared about me. But Lord, why didn't you answer my prayer? But in those moments, we must realize that his ways are higher than our ways.
And we should be fully confident in God's ability to heal, to see breakthrough, to transform, to change your situation in an instant. But we must be completely confident and surrendered that God's plan might be different than your desire. Desires. There is a purpose behind the furnace that you're facing.
Whether it's small or whether it's the biggest thing you've ever faced in your life. There is a purpose behind it so that God may receive glory. Because there is a joy set before you. Because we do not live for the things that are seen.
Because what is seen will fade away. But what is unseen is eternal. And so we fix our eyes upon what is unseen. Strength does not mean we keep pushing through harder and harder until we collapse and fall apart.
It means we submit our plans before the Lord and know that Jesus love is sufficient. We can navigate our lives, and often society will, by defining strength as something of how much we can. Can handle. How much weight I can carry physically, emotionally, mentally, even spiritually.
We carry heavy burden. And we think, if I can just carry enough, then I will be strong. But Scripture completely challenges the way that we see this strength. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they did not fight back with power and strength.
They did not struggle and try and get out of their situation. They said two words that I wonder if you would say over your situation. It might completely change the way that you see it. Even.
Even if. Even if. But God. But God.
They did not say, when I see it, I'll believe it. They did not say God, if you just answer me, then I'll follow You. It was a complete surrender to the Lord Jesus. They did not doubt God's ability, but they did not assume God's will.
Do not assume God's will. During this season, my dad was an incredible example of this submission in action of this truth surrender that in a season where our family was going through great struggle and we were believing in the heaviest of times, he was a consistent example of believing in great faith that my mom would be healed. He continually laid it before the Lord and said, let your will be done, Lord. I don't have the answers, but I know your will would be done that, Lord, I'm believing for the best.
But I know and I trust in you that whatever happens, you're in control and in an outcome that would have left our family fully broken and confused and bitter and lost. It was a peace and a strength that surpasses all understanding that comes from a place of submission. Even if. Even if nothing changes.
The most peace we discover is not a result of endlessly doing more and handling more things. I must pray, pray, pray for breakthrough, and then I will see it. It's found when we remain still before him. I'm reminded of this beautiful promise in John, chapter 16, verse 33.
It's a promise from Jesus, speaking to his disciples before he was going to the cross. But he said to him, I've told you these things so that in me me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world.
He's overcome every situation, every furnace, every trial he's in every victory. He's in every blessing. But he is with you in the lowest point. He's with you on the mountaintop, and he's with you in the valley that you shall not walk alone, that he will never leave you nor forsake you.
Jesus says, in me, you may have peace in me. Jesus offers it towards us and he says, you may have it. It's an invitation. He does not force it upon you.
He does not force it upon you. Sometimes we treat God like this great dictator that will just command us to receive his peace. No, he offers it towards us as an invitation to say, if you would just receive what I have, if you would receive the drink that I give you, then will be satisfied, then you will receive peace. We do not need to manufacture breakthrough and manifest blessing in order to survive your life.
He says, in me, you will have peace. You can't find peace anywhere else in this world. It will always leave you wanting more. It can only be found in the person of Jesus Christ in his beauty and his majesty.
We can face our furnace and feel weak, feel distressed, full of worry and hopeless. But in our weakness, his power is made perfect. For when I am weak, then I am strong. When we submit to the will of the Father.
What do you need to submit to God in your situation right now? Doesn't matter what season you're in, whether you're searching for something, whether you're waiting and you're believing for your next step, whether you're believing for breakthrough in your family, whether you just desire for your family to fall in love with Jesus, whether you desire to be set on fire for God, whether you're going through a great season, seeing blessing and seeing God move and doors open in your life. What do you need to surrender to him? Will you commit your ways to the Lord, or will you do it in your own strength?
Because true strength is found in submission to the Lord. What will you submit to God today? See, we need intimacy before the fire, and we need to surrender within the fire. We need those things.
And my final point this morning is that when we have those things, point number three, I have found freedom despite the fire. The final invitation and the truth that we receive from this scripture is that we can have freedom despite the furnace that we face. Even inside of the fire and inside of the trials, we can have great freedom. And you might say that doesn't make much sense when you're tied up and bound just like these men were when they were being thrown in.
There's not much freedom there. It was against their will. Well, I'm here to tell you this morning that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom where the spirit of the Lord is. And sometimes we find ourselves facing our greatest trials and our lives can be consumed by simply pleading with God to keep us out of the fire, to keep us away from the heat of the furnace.
But truly, I tell you this morning that that true strength, true peace, true freedom and satisfaction is not received instead of your trial. It is not received instead of it. It is received inside of it. That inside of the greatest trial that wants nothing more than to tear you down and to leave you feeling broken and burned and hopeless, that the Lord has a plan and a purpose for it, that you may receive freedom inside of it.
In verse 25, after King Nebuchadnezzar chucked them in, he was wiping his hands and walking away, and he turns around in amazement because he goes, I'm not hearing them scream like they're being burnt alive like you'd probably expect I would. I'd probably be screaming. But he said in verse 25, he says, Look, I see four men walking around in the fire. They're walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed.
And the fourth looks like a son of the gods. I'm sure there was a moment, a moment when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were tied up. And after they had declared and with great faith and saying, we know that God is able to deliver us. And they even said, even if he doesn't, we still will serve the Lord.
But I'm sure that there was a moment of realization in this reality that God wasn't going to remove their trial from them, where they were completely submitted and surrendered to God, but they still had to face the furnace. And they were probably thrown into that place and thinking, well, this is it, Lord. If this is it, I get to meet with you. But then the next moment, they're looking around and they're saying, do you feel anything?
No. Are you warm? No, I'm pretty chilly. There was a moment inside the fire where they realized God wasn't going to remove their trial.
But I would challenge you this morning that after being thrown into the furnace and not being consumed, and even in their lowest moment, they weren't alone. But I would challenge you and say that there are trials in our lives that the Lord can deliver you from. Yet I'd offer to you this morning this truth, that sometimes God wants to sustain you enough to get you through your trial, that perhaps there's greater glory and there's greater blessing and there's greater hope and peace and love that you can receive when you realize and realize in your heart after a revelation of Jesus, that He will sustain you through every trial. Not through pushing through hard enough, but to submitting to his will and knowing who your God is.
Would you know that he is with you this morning? Morning, only three men went into the fire, yet the king saw four. The king saw four. Sometimes our trial is not there so that to punish us, it is not there to discipline us and teach us a lesson.
But sometimes it's to remove everything else in our life that distracts us from God and to reveal the person of Jesus within the fire. Growing up and all, throughout my life, people have constantly told me how gifted, how talented, how mature I am for my age, and that I've handled many things and that I've gone through a lot and that how effortlessly I seem to carry responsibility. And I always seem to be willing to step up to the Plate. And I don't say this to boast, but if I can be honest, honest for a moment.
My life quickly became defined by what I can do and how I can please other people. I grew up in the best family ever. I have the best parents, I have the best sisters. And I'm so blessed that I've been able to have a relationship with Jesus.
But I would be able to, lying to you this morning if I told you that I've lived a perfectly devoted life to the Lord. But I've let the pressure of pleasing other people, of keeping up an image and an appearance that seems like I've got my life under control just to please other people, just to show that I'm okay. And in the moment, in a season in my life, when mom passed away just a few years ago, I begin to carry this weight of maintaining an image that presents well. That I didn't stop serving.
I didn't stop smiling or laughing or hanging out with other people. I was still present in a room full of people like this. Yet inside I got very good at not letting anyone else, even those closest to me, see my struggle. That I would wrestle with motivation and purpose and self pity.
But I would do just enough so that other people would know that I was okay. So that it would look like I had it all under control. And I carried pressure to not let others down and to keep up this appearance that I have my whole life together at just 21 years old. That I have everything under control.
I was bound to my mind and my thoughts and it waged war against me. I was trapped in this cycle of momentary relief and getting satisfaction based on what other people saw in my life. Yet every time I found myself falling into that place of darkness and that place of hopelessness, I am reminded of the courage and the faith that my mum carried throughout her journey. Even if nothing changes, God will get the glory.
And she was confident and she had an assurance and a faith and knew that the Lord was with her and knew that she could put her trust in him and that he would clear the way and prepare her steps. That she did not need to worry about what would happen next or tomorrow. But she could trust and know that the Lord will get the glory through it all. That even if I'm not healed, I know the Lord will protect me.
She was not worried about our family. She was not worried about what would happen in the future. But she knows, she knew and was confident that the Lord was with her. I do not need to be perfect and complete to make it through the challenges in my life.
Because there is a joy set before us and a name that is above every. Every name that has claimed the victory. And when you receive that truth, there is a freedom that goes beyond any trial that you will face in this world. When you receive the revelation that Jesus Christ is Lord.
He is Lord over all. And whether you walk through the valley of the shadow of death or whether you climb through the greatest mountain or whether you go through the hardest of trial, that the Lord with you see, true freedom is not the absence of problems. It is simply the truth of knowing who is on your side. Would you know that he's on your side this morning when you face the furnace in your life, you do not need to be a prisoner to your struggle.
You do not need to live in the deep sense of pity and despair and bitterness and brokenness. Because there is freedom. It is in the fire when our view of God is cleansed. It is in the fire where we submit to him and surrender our ways.
It is when we face the furnace where we no longer live on borrowed authority. It is in the fire when we stop striving. It is when we face the furnace that the fourth man is revealed. And his name is Jesus.
His name is Jesus. No matter the circumstance that you are walking through this morning, this morning, God wants to remind you that you are not alone. That you are not alone. So I want to ask you this morning, what keeps us in the furnace when everything else is telling you to quit?
What keeps you in the place of pushing through and striving in that fiery challenge and trial that you're in when everything around you, when the world is telling you you that it would be easier to give up because it's not in our own grit or our own ability or our own strength or power. We must keep our eyes fixed on the One who paid it all for you. We must seek him and ask him for a deep hunger and a desire to know more of Him. It doesn't matter what season you're in.
It's time to get more hungry for the Lord. You can never get get more hungry for the Lord. It doesn't matter if you're feeling satisfied and comfortable in the moment. Maybe God's calling you to surrender to him again, to submit all your ways to him, to serve him, to choose to step out.
We must seek him and ask Him. We must desire to know more of him. To receive and to declare who God is over your life. To know that he is Almighty God, that He is the Alpha and Omega.
That he is the one counselor. That he is healer. That he is savior. That he is your redeemer.
That he is the one that has come to give you life and life to the fullest. That he is your strength and your shield. That he is your rock. And then you must receive who God says.
What God says about you. Who he says you are. Do you know what God says about you? Because he says that you are more than a conqueror.
He says you are not forsaken. He says that you are loved, that you are chosen, that you were redeemed. That he has a plan and a purpose for your life. Would you receive it this morning?
Would you receive it this morning? You are precious. You are love. I do not stand before you this morning to give you three step formula to receive blessing and breakthrough in your life.
But if you would receive these truths, if you would desire to have intimate with the Lord, if you would surrender your ways to him and you would walk in the truth of the freedom that we receive despite the furnace that you face, then we will receive a peace that surpasses anything the world can provide. And I believe that God offers this invitation for a relationship with him. That whether it's for the first time that we come, or I need a fresh revelation of who Jesus is for my life or for my circumstance. It doesn't matter what you're carrying or what you're going through right now.
There's no better time than to turn towards the Lord. Intimacy, surrender and freedom. The enemy can have no foothold over your life when you receive these things. That no weapon forged against you shall prevail.
Isaiah 43, 2. A beautiful passage of scripture. And I would just. My prayer is that you would just let it wash over you this morning.
Let it wash over your spirit this morning says this. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.
The flames will not set you ablaze. He is with you this morning. Would you know that he loves you and has a plan for you all over this place? Why don't we just pray?
Why don't we just pray? Because I don't know how you came into this place feeling this morning. But I know for a fact that the Lord is here to encounter you and have a relationship with you. That whether you've been in church your whole life or it's your thousandth time or your first time, the Lord wants to meet with you.
The Lord who set the stars into position, who created the heavens and the earth, who knows every intricate detail about you, who created you in his image, wants a relationship with you. And more than that, he wants to stir your faith. And he wants to give you a promise that he has a plan for your life. That no furnace that you face will be able to overcome you.
That know that when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. Maybe you're in this place and you don't know Jesus, or maybe you've stepped away from your relationship with him and the trials and the challenges you faced have become too much. And you've become tempted to step away from the Lord because. And go to search for other things, for satisfaction.
But this morning I want to give you a moment, an opportunity to make the most important decision that you could ever make in your life. To surrender your life to Jesus. See, we can carry. We can try our hardest thing and carry our trials and our struggles alone, but all of our attempts fall short when we can ourselves to the world.
It says in the. In the book of Romans, it says that the wages of sin is death. And it says that we have all fallen short of the glory of God. But it says God, in His great mercy for us, has sent His Son to redeem you.
That he sent His Son on earth to pay the price for your sin, to redeem you and to give you the promise of eternal life. So that you can walk through every valley, you can walk through every. Every trial, you can face every furnace, and you can know that he is in control. And it says that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
That if you confess with your mouth and you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, then you will be saved. So with all eyes closed in this place, if that's you in this place and you're feeling this morning that you want to make a decision for me, I'm just going to give you a moment to respond. And if anything that I've spoken about this morning, if you feel the presence of God and say, God, I know I need to return to you, would you just put up your hand, raise your hand in this place so I know who I'm praying for. Thank you.
I see that hand. Thank you. I see that hand there. Thank you.
I see that hand. He sees you and he knows you and he loves you. Thank you. I see that hand.
He knows you and he's a plan for you. And this is the greatest decision that you will ever make. Whether it's for the first time Or a long time. Thank you.
I see that that hand. There are hands all over this place. And this is just between you and God, to fix your eyes upon him, to declare that Jesus is Lord. So we're going to pray.
So I'd invite you to repeat this prayer after me. And if you raise your hand, really mean it and believe it in your heart. But we never pray alone. So we're going to pray.
Dear Jesus, I give my life to you. I thank you that you are Lord, that you are my Savior, that you rose from the dead, that you conquered the grave, and that you give me a future and a hope. Lord, I thank you that no matter the trial, no matter the furnace, no matter the challenge, you are with me. You will never leave me nor forsake me.
Lord, I follow you in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Come on, give a hand.
For those that respond to the gospel. It's the most important decision that you can make. It's the most important decision that you can make. But just for a moment.
We just want to stay in this atmosphere, stay in this atmosphere of prayer and worship with the Lord. I don't know where what you've walked in feeling, but maybe you just need a fresh reminder that the Lord is in control of your life. Maybe you've walked in carrying a heaviness and believing for breakthrough. Maybe you're believing for the next step in your future.
Maybe you've been believing for something in your family. Maybe you've been believing to receive something from the Lord. I just want to give you an opportunity to bring everything before him this morning, to truly surrender to Him. Because there is something powerful when we make the decision to surrender before the Lord, despite our trial, despite the things we face.
And I just want to remind someone in this place this morning that God will do what he says he will do. That his promise still stands, that great is his faithfulness, that you can trust in Him. Maybe you just need a fresh reminder that he's faithful and that his plans are bigger than your trial. And we're just going to step into a time of worship because I believe I was reminded last night and challenged, really, that the greatest gift that we can offer the Lord is our worship unto Him.
That in response to every trial and every challenge that we face, that there is nothing more powerful than standing before the Lord and lifting our hands, hands up wide, and coming before him and declaring his love and his grace and his beauty and his power and his righteousness over your situation. So if you're in this place. And you want to surrender your ways to God. If you want to.
If you want to surrender your plans and the furnace that you're going through. I just want to invite you to stand in this place. I want to invite you to stand as we begin to sing and declare the words of this song. That it was by the blood.
By the blood that we began redeemed that by the blood that you have been set free. And if you want to. If you just want to take a step out and lift your hands for the first time, maybe you want to come down the front and just receive and lay it at the altar. Because there's something powerful about a physical act of saying, God, I give my life to you.
But in this place, as we sing, I want to encourage you to just pray and allow God to speak into your heart. Come on, let's sing. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
And only one could have only been alive Hallelujah, Hallelujah I know it was alive could have only been the blood Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah and only one Never been about before Perfection or striving for Let me tell you show me by the blood it's never been about the D or wor it begins Come on, let's declare it this morning Let me tell you it's only by the blood does anybody wanna be holy? Her righteous, purified is bloodless Let me tell you it's only by the blood does anybody wanna be worthy Forgive it. Justified, really living Let me tell you it's only by. Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah Hallelujah. All over this place why don't we close our eyes? You got your hands lifted. Like Harry was saying, a sign of surrender.
You know, you can be in the midst of the fire and you're still free. Because the Lord. Gee, I love that. Because there's a fire.
Fourth man. There's a fourth man in the fire. And he looks like the Son of God. Jesus Christ is with you in the fire, in the victory, in the pain.
He's with you in your home, in your workplace, in the quiet place of the lonely place of your. Your soul. He's there. He's with you.
He is your strength. He's the only answer to this world. And right now, come on, why don't you just say, lord Jesus, I receive by the Jesus said I must go, but I send you another helper. I send you my holy Spirit.
He will be with you wherever you go. He is with you now. He is with you when you Walk out of this place. He is with you.
When you walk through the fire, say, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Evil. For you are with me, Lord. And Lord, I thank you in this place.
I thank you in this place that you are with your people from the front to the back, to watching online. You are with you. He is with you and he loves you and he will not forsake you. And Lord, right now I pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to be present with your people.
Just receive right now, say, lord, I need your strength. Lord, I need your love. God, I need your grace. I receive of it, Lord.
Perfect love casts out all fear. You know that, Lord, I receive your power for my fear, God. As I step in to a new week, some of you are stepping into a new destiny. God's got a new destiny for you.
It's not a new one. It's the same one he's always called you to. But you're going to step into it as you step out into faith. Because fear will cease.
Fear will be overcome by the power of the love of Jesus Christ. So, Lord, I thank you for that word today. And I pray, let it be with your people for each and every single one of us, in the name of Jesus Christ and all God's people said, amen. Amen.
Well, God is good. Hey, not too bad, Harry. Not too bad. Hey, who thinks Harry did a great job today.
Well done. All right, grab your seats for just a second. I got one thing to tell you, one thing, and then we're gonna get out of here. Well, we're gonna have morning tea and some of you gonna stick around for like an hour and a half.
You can just keep that. Sorry. Which you're very welcome to do. That's fine.
So I just came back from Mornington, preached down there, and God's doing great things down there. That was full house. And we planted that church three years ago. I want to tell you this out in the foyer.
We've got a desk there by the get connected area. Katrina's going to be there. We've got a dream. God gave me a dream in this church, and he's spoken at 10 years ago, but he's renewed it.
And that was that. I want to see God said, I want to raise up men and women of God in this area that are going to be mighty men and women of God for me. I'm going to raise up pastors and leaders and ministers and people who go out into community and do mighty things for God. And we're going to see that.
We're already seeing that happen, but we got more. And there's a whole range of you, and God's got his call on your life. And you feel this stirring, and I want to challenge you today. Some of you are saying, I feel a stirring to know the Word more and delve in deeper and get myself trained and developed.
And you say, I just want to know God. I don't know where it's going to lead. But God, God, I'm hungry for you. Some of you say, I've got this stirring in my heart to serve God.
I don't know exactly what it looks like, but I just have this passion and this fire within me that, God, I want you to use me for something greater, and I want to pursue that. Well, this is what we're doing and this is what's exciting about our church because we've been training and developing people over years. And some of our pastors here, many of our pastors have gone through a process of training, development, all this, but we want to formalize it a little bit bit so that it's open to anyone who feels that call on their lives. And so we're starting the Connect Academy.
The Connect Academy. And it's got three parts. The first one is at the end, the Leadership Academy. We've been running with our volunteers and leaders for some time, and that will continue to run.
If you're a volunteer leader and you want to be trained, we meet once a month and we get discipleship and training and all those things. That continues. The other two parts, we really want to focus on that. The first one is the Bible College.
We run Connect College here. That's formalized training where you'll get a diploma of ministry, a diploma of leadership, that you'll learn the word, you'll learn about ministry, you'll get trained, you'll get something. You'll have a diploma at the end of it that you can use in various fields, including in ministry. If you're hungry to know the Word, you can study books of the Bible, you can study areas of ministry.
Many, all of our pastors have either gone through it or going through it, and many others are doing that. That's the first part. The second part, we're adding a new element, and that's called our ministry internship. And so what we want to do is we've been training, developing people, but we want to just add to it and so invite people to say, you know what, I want to get Practical experience in ministry.
I just want to serve God. I want to grow. Maybe you love what's happening. You say, I just want to be more a part of it.
Then we want to invite you to do an internal internship with us. And that's where you give a day, a week. It's all free us. But you give up a day, a week to come and serve with our team.
You choose a stream that you're interested in, might be creative ministry, it might be youth or young adults or kids, pastoral care, community care. And you say, I want to come alongside the pastors and the team will train you, you'll get mentoring and you'll get involved in the life of the church in a greater way than you have been before. And you'll get trained for ministry. And so you can do each one of those.
You can do the ministry internship just by itself and say, hey, I want to come and do that, or I want to do that with. You can do Connect College by itself and just get trained. Or we encourage people, if you're able to, to do Connect College and the internship together and get practical experience as well as teaching and training that's going to help you in filtering. Pursue the call of God.
This is what we're all about. Find your call. What's the call of God on your heart? What's the dream God's stirring you with?
And if you're young, if you're older, any age, it's open to everyone. And I'm believing that in the next couple of years we're going to raise up a mighty generation of men and women of God who are going to serve in our church, in our churches, in community care areas, in other churches, overseas. I don't know where God's called, taught us all, but who knows? There's greater things.
There's always more in God. So if you're feeling a stir, if you're interested, if you say, hey, God, I might be interested in that. Let me find out more. We've got a table out there, we've got a whole booklet.
We're getting these printed off. This is hot off the press just for today, but we're getting these printed off. But they're available out on the table. There's online, you can go online and there's information on our website there you can fill out an interest form about the areas you're interested in.
One of our pastors will be in touch. You can talk to Katrina today. Go and do it. And if you feel stirred, trust me, God's got his call on many of our lives.
And he wants to do something great. Harry is one of our guys. He did an informal internship with us. He was our Assistant Youth 2 ICNR, Youth Ministry for the last year or so and now stepped into ministry.
He did our Youth Alive Academy where they trained here. People doing that. Katrine, Karina did it. Alex did this.
She's done Connect College. So many of our people have done it. And it's opened up doors of opportunity to pursue the call of God. So if you're feeling that stir, come and talk to us.
And we're committed to helping you find the call of God on your life and see where it leads. Amen. So God's got good things. Why don't we give Harry another hand?
That was a brilliant word. My daughter told me up the back. She said, she goes, you better watch out, dad. Harry might take over from you, mate.
You want to get rid of me, Ella already? I think it's awesome having young men and women rising up and serving God and doing awesome things. So thank you guys. We love you.
God's got great things. Why don't we just pray and then we'll finish. Lord, we thank you God for your hand upon us. God, we thank you that you are with us through the fire.
You are with us through every situation. You have called us to conquer against the enemy. We can live in victory and freedom. God, whatever life brings, because you are with us.
So Lord, bless your people as they go be with us. I pray in Jesus name. Amen. Hey, if you put your hand up to give your life to Christ, go and get a Bible there by the get connected area.
We want to give you a free Bible. God bless you. Church. Why don't we stand up, finish with a song.
See you later.
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What is this sermon actually about?
In "Facing the Furnace," Ps Harry opens Daniel chapter 3 and the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to show that God has a purpose for every trial we walk through. It is a message about building real intimacy with God before the hard seasons come, surrendering to Him in the middle of them, and trusting that we never have to face the fire alone.
Do I need to know the Bible to follow along?
Not at all. Ps Harry retells the story of the three men thrown into the fiery furnace and unpacks it step by step, so whether it is your first time opening a Bible or your hundredth, you will be able to follow.
Who are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?
They were three young men in the book of Daniel who refused to bow to a giant golden statue, even when it meant being thrown into a blazing furnace. Their courage came from a genuine, personal relationship with God, and when they were in the fire, a mysterious fourth figure appeared beside them.
Who is "the fourth man in the fire"?
When the three men were thrown into the furnace, the king looked in and saw a fourth person walking with them, unharmed. Ps Harry points to this as a picture of Jesus, who does not always remove our trials but promises to be present with us right in the middle of them.
I'm walking through a hard season right now. Is there a place for me here?
Absolutely. This message is for anyone facing a "furnace," whether that is illness, loss, or uncertainty. You are warmly welcome at any of our Connect Christian Church locations across Frankston, Cranbourne, Mornington, Rosebud, Hastings, and Grantville, where you will find people ready to walk through it with you.
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Daniel 3:17-18
"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (NIV)
→ Read Daniel 3:17-18 on Bible.com
Daniel 3:25
"He said, 'Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.'" (NIV)
→ Read Daniel 3:25 on Bible.com
Isaiah 43:2
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." (NIV)
→ Read Isaiah 43:2 on Bible.com
John 16:33
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (NIV)
→ Read John 16:33 on Bible.com
2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" (NIV)