Fully Alive in the Shadow of the Empire

Every empire in history, no matter how powerful, has risen and fallen. Babylon is not just an ancient city in Scripture; it’s the recurring pattern of human pride that rejects God and worships itself. Yet, in every generation, God preserves a faithful people people who live differently, who resist the beastly ways of the world by embodying His true kingdom ways. Daniel and his friends, though exiled and immersed in Babylonian culture, politics, and power lived fully alive. They heeded the Jeremiah 29 call to work for the good of their captors, seeking peace and prosperity for the city. But with windows open toward Jerusalem, their hope was in the everlasting promise of God’s kingdom. Today, we as God’s people are called to do the same: to live faithfully and fruitfully in a complex world but not by escaping our culture or conforming to it, buy by revealing another kingdom within it. Devan Scollon  Associate Pastor of Discipleship