Living In Exile | Courage In The Fire | Pastor Jimmy Kozy

As we begin our Courage in the Fire series, Pastor Jimmy explores how God works powerfully in the lives of His people, starting with Daniel chapter 1. He challenges us to consider that the same God who intervened for Daniel wants to work in our lives today—but that begins with embracing a different vision for life, one shaped by Jesus rather than the culture around us. Pastor Jimmy explains that true transformation starts with daily, faithful choices—small acts of obedience that align with God’s vision and ultimately shape our destiny.

What is Christ Community Chapel?

Christ Community Chapel is a church in Hudson, OH, that invites people to reimagine life because of Jesus. Learn more about us at ccchapel.com.

This is a reading from Daniel chapter one,

in the third year of the reign of Jehovah
and King of Judah,

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah

into his hand with some of the vessels
of the house of God.

And he brought them to the land of Shinar,
to the house of his god,

and placed the vessels
in the treasury of his god.

Then the king commanded us
as his chief eunuch

to bring some of the people of Israel,
both of the royal family

and of the nobility, used
without blemish, of good appearance,

and skillful,
and all wisdom endowed with knowledge,

understanding, learning, and competent
to stand in the king's palace

and to teach them the literature
and language of the Chaldeans.

The king assign them a daily portion
of the food that the king eight

and of the wine that he drank.

They were to be educated for three years,
and at the end of that time

they were to stand before the king.

Among these were Daniel,

Hananiah, Mishael, and Azaria

of the tribe of Judah,
and the chief of the eunuchs

gave them names Daniel
he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah.

He called Shadrach.

Michelle. He called me Chak and Azaria.

He called Abednego.

But Daniel resolved that
he would not defile himself

with the king's food
or with the wine that he drank.

Therefore,
he asked the chief of the eunuchs

to allow him not to defile himself.

And God gave Daniel fever and compassion
in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.

And the chief of the eunuchs
said to Daniel, I fear my lord,

the king who assigns your food,
and you drink.

For why should he see that
you were in worse conditions

than the youth who are of your own age?

So you would endanger my head
with the king.

Then Daniel said to the steward, whom
the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azaria,
test your servants for ten days.

Let us be given vegetables
to eat and water to drink.

Then let our appearances
and the appearances of the youth

who eat the king's food
be observed by you,

and deal with your servants
according to what you see.

So he listened to them in this matter
and tested them for ten days.

At the end of ten days it was seen
that they were better in appearance

and fatter in flesh than all the youth
who ate the king's food.

So the steward took away their food
and the wine they were to drink,

and gave them vegetables.

As for these four youths,

God gave them learning and skill
and all literature and wisdom.

And Daniel had understanding all visions
and dreams.

At the end of the time when the king
had commanded that they should be brought

in, the chief of the eunuchs
brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar,

and the king spoke with them in among
all of them none was found.

Like Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azaria.

Therefore they stood before the king,
and in every matter of wisdom

and understanding

about which the king inquired of them,
he found them ten times better

than all the magicians and enchanters
that were in all his kingdom.

And Daniel was there
until the first year of King Cyrus.

Well,
good morning and welcome to the weekend

gathering of Christ Community Chapel.

I'm so glad you've joined us today.

My name is Jimmy Kozy.

I'm one of the pastors here.

Really excited
to be with you this morning.

And this morning we are kicking off
a new sermon series we're calling Courage

in the fire, in which we are looking
at four events from the Book of Daniel,

which contains some of the most incredible

and dramatic events in all of Scripture.

It's going to be a great series,

but if you're anything like me, sometimes
when I read events like the events

that take place in the Book of Daniel,
I sometimes think to myself,

that's an incredible story.

Just unbelievable things

that that are happening
where God is intervening and flexing

and just some powerful stuff happens,
but also kind of unrelatable.

Sometimes
I wonder, what would it look like for God

to intervene in my life,
in my situation, in a similar way?

And maybe you have felt the same way.

Well, the chapter
we look at today, Daniel chapter one,

that this chapter
sets the foundation for all of that.

And I want you to consider that question.

What would it mean for God to intervene
in your life in such an amazing way?

Because the God of Daniel is alive
and well

and active today,
and is capable of doing things,

doing things in your life
that are equally amazing as what he does.

You may not stand before a fiery furnace,

but what if God could put your broken
relationship back together?

You may not see God
write a physical message

on the wall in defiance of a pagan king.

But what if that friend or family member
that you've been praying

for could be in this
baptism tub in six months?

You may not stand before a

lion's den, but what if God could use you
to transform your neighborhood,

your workplace, your community,
and the world?

And in Daniel chapter one, Daniel goes

through a progression
that I think is important for all of us.

It has three steps.

And that's going to be my outline
for this morning.

If you're a note taker, it goes like this.

First we buy in to a different vision.

We buy into a different vision.

Second, a different vision

leads to different actions.

And then third, different actions
shape a different destiny.

But we'll start with that first thing.

We buy in to a different vision.

And in order to understand this,
I think it's important for us to spend

some time looking at the context
of what was going on with Daniel.

So when the book of Daniel begins, Daniel

and his people are under occupation
by the Babylonians.

King Nebuchadnezzar
is the king of Babylon.

He's powerful.

He's the big bad wolf.

He's going around
conquering and taking cities.

And he has arrived at Jerusalem
and he has besieged it.

And so as the story begins, Daniel

and his people are under Babylonian
occupation.

I think sometimes when we think back
about historical warmongers and figures,

we tend to think of them as these
simple, brutal, bloodthirsty people.

And some of those things
may have been true of Nebuchadnezzar,

but Nebuchadnezzar was also strategic.

He was visionary.

He had a plan, a long term plan,

not just for the physical occupation
and even domination of the Israelites,

but actually for their long term
cultural assimilation into Babylon.

And so to that end, what he does
is he takes some of the best and brightest

young men from Israel,
and he brings them to his palace,

and he enrolls them in what amounts to a
Babylonian leadership development program.

And Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah,
and Mishael, his friends,

they are a part of this group
who's been brought from Israel

to be in the Babylonian palace
to be a part of this program.

And so they're giving him
the best of everything.

They're given the King's food.

They're given literature to read,
they're given training and education

and clothing with the promise of status
and whatever comes next.

Having graduated from this program.

And so they have all
of these opportunities in front of them.

Learn the Babylonian language,
understand the Babylonian customs.

Because Nebuchadnezzar's end goal
is this he's going to send them back into

Israel, they're going to get married,
they're going to have children,

they're going to build families,
and they are going to build a society

that is no longer Israelite in nature,
but is Babylonian, because

Nebuchadnezzar's goal is not just physical

domination, it is cultural assimilation.

And this is the environment
in which we find Daniel.

It's kind of like this.

I don't know what kind of fun you have.

I have an iPhone, an Apple.

The company has done something.

They've mastered something that's subtle,
but it's brilliant.

What they've done is
they have created an ecosystem of products

that gets easier and easier to use,
and more and more convenient

the deeper you are inside of it.

So, for example, you buy one thing,
you get an iPhone, and there's

a lot of conveniences
that come with one piece of technology.

But then if you go further,
you realize, well, if I have a MacBook,

I can send text messages from my computer,

I can have files
that seamlessly sync between the two.

Then before you know it,
you've got an Apple Watch and you're

getting notifications on your wrist.

You've picked up a pair of AirPods.

They seamlessly connect to everything,
and before you know it, you're so deep

inside of Apple's ecosystem

you could not imagine what your life
would be like without their products, nor

could you figure out how you could ever
extricate yourself from their products.

And they reinforce this subtly.

By the way, for example,
if I text you and the message

turns green instead of blue,
it immediately changes my opinion of you.

I mean, have

you ever added
one of these people to your group chat?

It ruins it.

I don't understand it,
but what I realize is

that's because I have been assimilated.

And something that we need to open
our eyes to is that there is a culture

that exists around us that has a goal,
and that is cultural immersion

that leads to cultural assimilation.

Our culture is constantly
giving us definitions

for what it means to be human,
for what it means to flourish.

It's saying you should pursue freedom.

You should find your identity.

You should find your purpose.

And then it's throwing out possibility
and giving us ideals

for what those things look like.

Daniel realized that this is going on.

If you look in Daniel chapter one, verse
eight, here's what it says.

It says, but Daniel resolved
that he would not defile himself

with the king's food
or with the wine that he drank.

So Daniel was on to
what Nebuchadnezzar was doing.

He understood that it was not just out
of the goodness of Nebuchadnezzar's

heart that he was giving them food,
and he was giving them clothing,

and he was giving them training
and a place to stay.

But that Nebuchadnezzar had a long term
goal in mind.

Nebuchadnezzar wanted to assimilate them
into the into the Babylonian culture.

And so Daniel's first step was to notice
that this was going on around him.

But then he did something else.

He also recalled
that God had a vision for his life.

God had a vision for
who is supposed to be.

So Nebuchadnezzar was casting a vision
that was contrasting with God's vision.

And Daniel's first thing was to buy
in to God's vision for his life.

And something I'd like you to consider

today is this
Jesus has a vision for your life.

Jesus created you.

He knows what it means to be human.

He knows what true
identity, true freedom, true purpose are.

And he is casting a vision for what
your life could be and inviting you in it.

Jesus has a vision for your marriage.

He has a vision for your finances,
for your career,

for how you approach parenting,
for how you approach relationships.

Jesus is casting a vision.

And as our creator,
he is the one who knows best what it means

to live as a human being and to flourish.

Jesus is making a play for your heart
and your mind

and your imagination, in the same way
that the culture around you is.

And if you want to see God do incredible
things in your life and through your life.

Step one is that you must buy in
to Jesus vision for your life.

Here at CTC,
we like to say we exist so that people

to help people reimagine life
because of Jesus.

And that's precisely

what I'm talking about here,
that Jesus has a vision for our lives,

and he is inviting us to step into it
so that he can work in and through us.

So how do we do that?

Well, that leads to the next step,
which is this different vision

leads to different actions, different
vision leads to different actions.

Look with me in Daniel chapter one,
starting in verse 11, it says this.

Then Daniel said to the steward, whom
the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
test your servants for ten days.

Let us be given vegetables
to eat and water to drink.

Then let our appearance

and the appearance of the youth
to eat the king's food be observed by you.

In deal with your servants
according to what you see.

So what happens is, Daniel and his friends

begin to subtly resist
the vision of Nebuchadnezzar.

And so it starts with their food.

Now, there are a lot of reasons why Daniel
may not have wanted to eat this food.

It could have been that it violated
the Jewish law that he was subject to.

It could have been that
he knew that it was offered to idols.

There are tons of possibilities
for why that was.

Ultimately, what we know
is that Daniel knew that to eat that food

would be to accept Nebuchadnezzar's vision

and in some way
reject God's vision for his life.

So Daniel and his friends decided
that they would start with daily, steady

actions of consistent obedience, something
as simple as the food that they ate.

It reminds me

of something that happened in my own life
over the last year or so.

So about a year ago, I decided that
I wanted to get a little bit healthier,

and so my thought behind
that was if I could make daily decisions

that were better decisions
about what I ate, then slowly, over time,

I would become more healthy

and it ended up happening
that I lost a decent amount of weight.

But something you should know about me
is that I don't really dip

my toe in the water.

I either do something at like 129% or 0%.

I'm in or out, so I may have taken
some extremes over the last year.

For example,
I have probably eaten more cottage cheese

in the last 15 months
than everybody in this room combined.

I've established a

definitive fat free Greek yogurt
flavor ranking.

Vanilla is king, and that's inarguable.

It's irrefutable.

You know, one of the things I love
about working at a church is that,

everybody's
just so supportive of things like this.

Nobody ever makes fun of me. It's great.

One day I was coming to a staff lunch
and I set my lunch down.

It was probably tuna and cottage cheese,

and I was sitting next
to a prominent staff member.

I'm not going to out anybody,
but you'd recognize them.

And this person just looks me in the eye
and says,

that looks terrible.

Finally,
I knew I had reached my breaking point

of going too far last week
when I found myself

with my friends trying to convince them
that when eating together, cottage

cheese and bananas
actually tastes just like cheesecake.

Look, I know that's crazy.

If they don't taste like cheesecake,
it's probably more

analogous to banana
pudding or something like that.

But what I knew was that daily steady

habits were going to be
what ultimately led to transformation.

Daniel realized the same thing
that the way

to step into God's vision for his life,

that the way to buy into God's
vision for his life was going to work.

That was going to require
daily, steady, repeated

acts of obedience to God.

And here's my point in all of this.

You know, part
of having a relationship with God

is embrace is embracing
Jesus as our Savior.

What that means is that we trust in him
because he's the one who died

so that our sins could be forgiven,
our record wiped clean

so that we could be made righteous.

When God looks at us, he sees Jesus
righteousness instead of ours.

And it's because of
Jesus that we can be with him.

But then the very next thing that comes
with that is embracing Jesus as our Lord.

That means looking to Jesus and saying,
Jesus, what do you have to say

about how I am to live?

What do you have to say about my marriage?

What do you have to say about my finances?

What do you have to say
about my parenting, my relationships,

and all the way down the line saying,
Jesus, I understand

you have a vision
for what it means to be a human being.

You created me.

You love me.

What is that vision
and how do I take steps into it?

How can I daily take steps of obedience
to Jesus vision for my life?

Let me tell you this

your daily habits are the number one
indicator

of who's vision for your life
that you have bought into.

And this is super important for us

because different actions

ultimately shape a different destiny.

And that's my third point.

Look,
if you've ever read through the book of

Daniel,
there are some incredible things coming.

If this is your first time through,

I can't wait for you to see
what's going to happen next.

But I'm going to steal
a little bit of thunder.

Next week we're going to see Daniel's
friends, Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael.

They're going to be standing
before King Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar

is going to have created a golden statue,
and he's going to say,

bow to that thing, worship it as God,
or I will throw you into this

fiery furnace that I heated up
so hot that it'll kill you in.

And I, as Ryan Michelle, will look at him
and say,

you can do whatever you want with us.

That statue is not God.

We are not going to bow.

And then ultimately,
God saves them from the furnace.

A few chapters later,
we're going to see Daniel

in the upper room of his house,
having just received a decree

that says nobody is to pray to anybody
except for the King himself.

And Daniel is going to take that decree.

He's going to fold it back up,
and then he's immediately going to turn

and pray to the one true
God, the king's people.

Some of his guys are going to see this
take place.

They're going to report
Daniel, Daniel is going to be dragged in

front of the king,
ultimately thrown into a den

of ravenous lions all the way, saying,
you can do whatever you want with me.

Throw me to the lions.

You are not God. There is one true God.

I am going to step into his vision
for my life, even if that means you

throw me through, throw me to the lions
and God's going to save him.

You know, we we tend
to think of these mountaintop moments.

And one of my questions that I've wrestled
with as I prepare

for this message is
if I'm the person recording all this,

putting together the book of Daniel,
I have all this great material.

Why do I start with this story?

Why start with what

seems like a relatively benign anecdote

about Daniel and his friends
asking for different food,

asking about their dietary restrictions
in the palace of Babylon?

Well, the reason
why is because I think that this event

is foundational to everything else
that you see in the book of Daniel,

because different actions
ultimately shape a different destiny.

We think of Daniel in those big moments
the fiery furnace,

the lion's den, the writing on the wall.

But in the real, in reality,
those were just everyday for Daniel

and his friends,
because every day they woke up saying,

whatever comes my way today.

Today I am going to step into God's vision
for my life

by daily,
steady acts of repeated obedience to him.

And so on

this day that we look at today,
that means eating different food,

vegetables, and water
instead of meat and wine.

Next week it's going to mean
not bowing to an idol.

The week after that is going to mean
not praying to a king.

But for Daniel and his friends,
it was the same muscle

that was being exercised every time
and that's what I mean

when I say different actions
ultimately shape

a different destiny.

And so

what I want to say is this
we need to understand that

buying into Jesus
vision is not just about the big moments.

It's about the little moments that
we think about the bow or die moments.

But in reality, every little decision
where we have a choice to follow Jesus

or follow somebody else's
vision for our life is in and of itself,

a bow or die moment.

And what I want you to know is

that God has already shaped
and yet is actively shaping our destiny.

And here's what I mean by that.

When Daniel and his friends
went through this situation,

these situations, they went through them
hoping that God would come through.

So, Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael,
they stand before the fiery furnace.

They step into the fiery furnace thinking,
I'm probably going to die here.

Hopefully God comes through,
but even if he doesn't,

I'm going to continue to obey him.

Daniel stands
at the mouth of the den of lions,

and he says, I'm
probably going to die here.

Hopefully God comes through in some way
and that ends up happening.

We have an enormous advantage over Daniel
when it comes into

stepping into God's vision for our life
because of Jesus,

because while Daniel, Hananiah,
Azariah and Michelle looked for hope

that was yet to come, we hope in something
that has already happened,

which is the life, death,
and resurrection of Jesus.

If you ever wondered if God is capable

of intervening
in that situation in your life,

all you have to do
is look back to the cross.

If he can do that, he can do anything.

If he can raised Jesus from the dead,
he can heal your marriage.

If you can raise Jesus from the dead,
he can bring that friend

to faith in himself.

If he can raise Jesus from the dead,
he can work powerfully

to transform you to your very core.

So my challenge to you today

is this eat your vegetables.

Buy in

to a different vision,
to God's vision for your life.

The vision of Jesus,
the one who loved you,

saved you, and gave himself for you.

And then see what amazing things

he can do in and through you.

Let's pray.

Father in heaven, thanks for today.

Thank you for the cross
and for what it means for us

that we can look back in faith

at what your son did for us

and know that going forward,
you're with us.

You're capable of transforming us,
and that you are

actively engaged in our redemption
and our transformation.

We pray that we as a people,
would buy into your vision for our lives,

that we would pursue you in hope
and confidence, knowing that you love us

and you're with us
because of Jesus, in whose name we pray.

Amen.