We’re the stars of our own lives and we all have a genre we’d prefer the script to follow. Rom-Com, Action/Adventure, Comedy...all experiences we’d like during a well-rounded life. But what happens when the script takes an unexpected turn down a foggy, deserted road? A road that leads to an abandoned hotel or a haunted cabin in the woods? What do we do when we find out the movie of our life has become a horror film? How can we survive the deadly mistakes and wrong turns that have claimed so many others? How can we make it out alive?

That never happens in a horror movie. Instead you hear, “OK everybody, let’s split up.” As soon as those words are uttered, you know someone is as good as dead. Why face whatever’s out in the dark by yourself? There’s strength in numbers, and there’s power in community. We can survive the most horrifying situations that life can throw our way—as long as we’re not facing them alone.

Message Notes

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.” Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. Daniel 1:8-20 NIV

Rule #1: Listen to the Old Timer

Rule #2: Let’s Stick Together