SOY SAUCE CHRISTIANITY

Ethnicity and Culture Matters• stories of Jesus and the early church include

lots of ethnic and cultural details • the growth of the gospel in the NT is marked

by a profound ethnic and cultural trajectory • Galilean Jews • Jerusalem Jews • Grecian Jews • Paul then disciples Timothy (a half-breed) and

Titus (a Greek) and leaves them to lead the churches

Ethnicity and Culture Matterswhy does this matter? • God wants people of all ethnicities and

cultures to know Him ... and this means the gospel has to be contextualized for each

• Each group has something distinct which it brings to the table

• John Dawson (YWAM) states that each people has a “redemptive gift”

1 Corinthians 124There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy…11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Spiritual Gifts are aspects of God’s person distributed to different people so that through them, God may be seen and known

12Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”

22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment.

But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Different ethnicities make up the body.

The Unity of Christ requires this diversity

No part of the body can say “they don’t need me”

No part of the body can say “We are all that!”

The stronger parts must honor the weaker

What is our part in the body?

Soy-Sauce Flavored

Christianity

So What’s Our Part of the Body?

Low -Sodium Soy-Sauce Flavored

Christianity

LSSSFC

FLAVORED CHRISTIAN

ITY

How LSSSFC can bring taste to the larger Christian body

• Restore people’s dignity through honor and hospitality

• Provide a safe place for racial reconciliation especially if its focused on honor and uplift

• Hard work and diligence can help the body of Christ

• Listening to others before speaking can open doors

• There’s an inheritance of passionate, intercessory Spirit-led young Asians meant to infuse the body of Christ

What do I need to let go of?

What do I need more of?

Response

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COMFORTABLE IN MY SKIN

Daniel 1 1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god..

Dare to be a Daniel• The world is

messed up, but God is still in control

• Where you begin isn’t as important as where you end

Daniel 1 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility - 4young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.

Dare to be a Daniel• Daniel is a

young, smart guy

• And he has to study for a big test

• Excel in the place God has called you to

• Daniel’s later influence is dependent on his skilled work and on the Spirit of God working through Him

Dare to be a DanielDaniel 1 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility - 4young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.

• Daniel - “God is my judge”

• Belteshazzar - “the prince of Bel” (God of the Babylonians)

Daniel 1 6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

Dare to be a Daniel

• Daniel lives in his God-identity rather than the identity which his world places on him

Daniel 1 8 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.

Dare to be a Daniel

authentic leadership and influence comes out of the

authentic response to God’s leadership in my life

• Hard work and obedience brings favor that opens doors

• Daniel treats people with honor and wisdom

Daniel 1 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 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.”

Dare to be a DanielDaniel 1 11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.13 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.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.

Daniel 1 17To 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. 18At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. 20In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and

Dare to be a Daniel• God enables Daniel

to excel

• He serves for many years

T i m e l i n e o f D a n i e l ’ s 605 595 585 575 565 555 545 535

Cyrus of Persia begins to reign and sends Jews back to Jerusalem - 536

602 - Daniel begins to serve Nebuchadnezzar

605 - Daniel moves to Babylon

Nebuchadnezzar dies. Lots of chaos - 563

Daniel serves Darius of Persia - 539

Daniel interprets Belshazzar’s dreams. Babylon falls to Medes/Persians. Daniel - 550

Dan 9Daniel 9 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom -- in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

Jer 25.8-13, 29.10-14

Isa 44.28 - 45.1-5

Isa 45 1 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings ... 2 “I will go before you and level the exalted places ...that you may know that it is I, the Lord,  the God of Israel, who call you by your name. 4 For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name,    I name you, though you do not know me.

Isaiah 44 28 ... Cyrus ... is my shepherd and he shall fulfill all my purpose, saying of Jerusualem, “She shall be built, and of the temple, “your foundation shall be laid”

Ezra 1 2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

!1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

Daniel’s excellence, honor and deep spirituality and perseverance make

him a world changer

Jeremiah 17.7-8 7 “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. 8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

1 Blessed is the man     who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked  or stand in the way of sinners     or sit in the seat of mockers.  2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,     and on his law he meditates day and night.  3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,     which yields its fruit in season  and whose leaf does not wither.     Whatever he does prospers.

Lord, help me to find my security, identity, validation and wholeness in you, rather than out there or in here

What do I need to turn away from?

Do I need to re-establish a daily quiet time habit?

Response