Stand in the Place Where You Are

May 17, 2026 • Mark South

Audio note: You may hear a sustained musical chord in the background during the first part of this recording. It was accidentally included in the live mix, but it clears up around 11 minutes in. Thanks for bearing with us!

In this opening sermon in Daniel, Pastor Mark teaches from Daniel 1 that God's people are called to stand faithfully in the place God has put them, even when it is not the place they would have chosen. Daniel and his friends are taken into Babylon, given a new education, new food, and new names, yet their exile is not outside God's sovereign rule: "the Lord gave" Judah into Babylon's hand. The sermon calls the church to live between two worlds with a Babylonian identity that lets us love and serve our city, and a baptismal identity in Christ that remains primary when those identities clash. Daniel's refusal of the king's food becomes a picture of sacramental dependence: tangible practices that keep us from being sustained by the culture and keep us longing for our true home. Ultimately, Daniel's long obedience points to the greater Daniel, Jesus Christ, who left heaven, stood faithfully in a place that rejected Him, gave His life in His prime, and outlives every empire so that His people can stand and endure in Him.

00:00 Scripture Reading - Daniel 1

03:15 Opening Prayer

03:46 Introduction to Daniel

05:47 The Place to Be

11:24 Stand in the Place Where You Are

13:06 Judah, Babylon, and the Lord's Hand

20:24 Stand in God's Hand in the Place You Don't Want

23:29 Stand Between Two Worlds

27:16 New Names and Babylonian Identity

30:18 Baptismal Identity

32:22 Becoming All Things to All People (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

35:52 Stand with Sacramental Dependence and Longing