Sermon Discussion

Sermon: Ecclesiastes – Let Go

Text: Ecclesiastes 3:1-14

Introduction

Timing is everything. You have probably heard this phrase many times. There is a great deal of truth in that statement. In this passage, Solomon tells us that life is really a matter of timing, for timing is everything. This should be evident to us. Yet God is the one is who in charge of everything in our lives. It doesn’t matter how much we plan or prepare, God has sovereignty over the good and bad things that occur in our lives. Knowing this, we are called to acknowledge God’s goodness over our personal desires and experience.

Discussion Questions

1. How does it make you feel to know that God is ultimately in charge of all the events in life (3:1)? Are you comforted by this reality? If so, how does this truth comfort you? Do you find God’s sovereignty a bit disconcerting? How so?
2. Blaise Pascal speaks of those that live in the past and those that live in the future as never really living because they miss the present. Do you agree or disagree with this? Why or why not? What does it mean to live in the present?
3. Verse 11 says that God has made everything beautiful in its time. Looking back at your life, tell of an experience that is “beautiful in its time,” when everything worked out perfectly.
4. What are some of the “mysteries” regarding your life or faith that you have been dealing with lately? How can we, as a community, work together in helping each other make sense of these mysteries in our lives?

Moving Forward

Solomon says one of the greatest responses to this life is to make the most of it. Not in a hedonistic sense, but in a spiritual sense. We enjoy life by including God in all that we do and being filled with joy. Biblical faith is a call to joy. We take joy in knowing that we have a sovereign and benevolent God that is full control of our lives and the things that happen to our lives. We are called to acknowledge His greatness in worship despite whether times are good or bad.

Meditate

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.   Romans 8:28

Let Us Love

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.   - 1 John 4:7-11

The church father, Jerome, recounts that when the Apostle John was in his extreme old age, he was so weak that he had to be carried into the church meetings. At the end of the meeting he would be helped to his feet to give a word of exhortation to the church. And each time, he would give this exhortation, “Little children, let us love one another.” The people began to grow weary of the same words every time, so they finally asked him why he always said the same thing over and over. He replied, “Because it is the Lord’s commandment, and if this only is done, it is enough” (cited by John Stott, The Epistles of John [Eerdmans], p. 49).

When you hear the word 'love,' what comes to your mind? Is it your favorite love song or movie? We hear a lot about love in the church too. But what does that mean to us, individually and as a faith community? Here, in this passage, the Apostle John defines love as the self-sacrificing, caring commitment in seeking the highest good of the loved one. And this love is exemplified through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Why is this possible? Because, as John stated, God is love. It is inevitable that God loves his creation and desires to bring restoration and reconciliation back to Him. He knows that ultimate and highest good for humans is a relationship with Him. Knowing this, what about us? John argues that since we are born of God and claim to have a relationship with Him, we must love as God loves. It becomes inevitable that we show the same self-sacrificing and caring commitment to those around us. The implication is that the life of God imparted to us in the new birth manifests itself in love for others. If we are children of the One whose very nature is love, then we will be like our Father.

At the same time, even thought love is inevitable for God, it is not automatic. God loves the sinner but hates the sins. His love for us is boundless but abhors our sins. He reconciles this by sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. We know of God's love not because He claims an intense emotional fondness towards us, but because of what he did. In the same way, John commands us to love one another. He knows that even though love is inevitable for the believer, it is not automatic. It requires the active participation of the believer. It is not automatic or effortless! There is always room for growth in love.

Reflecting on this, how has our lives demonstrated this love? We serve in this ministry and get involved with that cause and claim that we love God. But that's not what God is looking for. He's looking at our personal relationships with those He placed in our lives. When was the last time we put other's needs before our's? When was the last time that our commitment to others cost us something?

I want to encourage us to meditate on this for our lives. We must realize that love comes from God. The source of our love comes from experiencing His love in our lives. As we grow in our relationship with God, love becomes inevitable within our lives. At the same time, we know that showing love is not automatic. It requires effort. It requires sacrifice. It requires us to step away from our comforts and into an uncomfortable situation. But it is only within that space, do we truly experience the full and completeness of God's love.

Who Is Your God?

Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.    - Jeremiah 32:17

J.B. Phillips wrote a book called  Your God is Too Small, in which he exposes the caricatures of God that people have created for themselves. Many people have a God of their own making - not the God the Bible reveals. The result is that people have a false sense of the God they worship and ultimately, a false sense of what is expected of their lives.

The sad truth for many modern Christians is this how we "know" God. We pick up bits and pieces here and there from this sermon or that commentary. We think that if we can learn the true greatness and character of God through Twitter feeds. We justify it because our lives are so busy! We just got so much to do and not enough time to do it.

And this fine when life is going well. The God we have created in our minds serves us well when our family is loving, when that job promotion is on the horizon, and when we are healthy. But when troubles start brewing within the family or we've just lost our job, not only lives seem to crumble around us, but the our God seem so powerless. What happened to the God that was suppose to be my good-luck charm?

My friends, when we don't take the time to get to know our awesome and wonderful God through His Word, the Bible, we start to make-up expectations and demands for God. And when these expectations don't play out as we hope, we get disappointed. So I encourage you today to spend time to get to know this God that you worship. Stop depending upon blurbs that you hear from off the street. Engage in His Word and He will surely reveal Himself to you.


Self-Examination
Who is God to you? How do you know that what you believe about God is true? What has He been teaching you about His characteristics lately? How do you respond?

Sermon Discussion

Sermon: Ecclesiastes – Evaluate

Text: Ecclesiastes 2:12-26

Introduction

People sometimes call life a big rat race. It conjures up the image of the futile efforts of a lab rat trying to escape while running around a maze or in a wheel. This can be our lives too if we don’t stop and take the time to evaluate the choices and decisions we make. In this message, Pastor Charlton explains that death is the great equalizer for all people, regardless of their status and intelligence. Knowing this, we are forced to evaluate the pursuits of our lives. The truth is that any pursuit of pleasure can only bring us temporary satisfaction. The only lasting enjoyment can be found in God. And so Solomon concludes that “To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.” (vs. 26)

Discussion Questions

1. Evaluate this Italian proverb: “After the game, the king and pawn go into the same box.” Do you agree or disagree? Do you think that is the extent of life?
2. What is your perspective on the death of people (2:14-16)? How has this mindset affected your pursuit of pleasure and management of time?
3. What does it mean “to find pleasure or satisfaction in Christ alone”? What does that look like?
4. Read Hebrews 11:6. What are the two aspects or components of faith? (God exist and He wants to rewards those who seek Him.) How does this lead to us finding true and lasting enjoyment for our lives?

Moving Forward

Many times, we mistakenly think that the values of the world are the same as the things that God desires for our lives. We try to apply these worldly principles but become disappointed when they don’t meet our expectations. That is why it is so important to look at what the Scriptures say about God. As we start to embrace the value-system from the Scriptures, we will start to see and experience true and lasting enjoyment and purpose for our lives.

Meditate

A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? – Ecclesiastes 2:24-25

Sermon Discussion

Sermon: Broken But Blessed

Text: Genesis 32:22-32

Introduction

Many times our lives seem to be a series of endless problems and struggles. However, the biggest struggle is the one we have internally with God. A God who will confront us and challenges us on “Who we are?” and “Who is in charge of us?” As we see the story of Jacob’s struggle with God, he is struggled with God to find his true identity. A identity that was given to him because he was truthful to God of his weaknesses, struggles, and sins.

Discussion Questions

1. Think back to elementary school. What did you want to be when you grew up?
2. What’s the difference between self-confidence and pride? How do you identify the difference?
3. Some say we need proper self-confidence to get things done. Is this biblical? Consider 2 Cor. 3:5-6; Phil. 4:13; John 15:5.
4. Brokenness can be a key factor in restoring strained relationships. Discuss how.
5. How do we as a community exist to remind our members of their true identity in Christ?

Moving Forward

Many of the problems we face with fall within the category of either identity or idolatry. How do we ourselves? What gives us value as a person? These are the questions that deal with identity. The other is “Who or what do we worship?” falls in the category of idolatry. The world wants us to identify ourselves by what we do and what we make of ourselves through our education, wealth, status, and relationships. In addition, we are constantly bombarded by suggestions and enticements to worship our money, our reputation, our image, and ultimately ourselves. Only through being in God’s Word and in His community are we able to be reminded and centered on God as the one who gives us our identity and the one we worship.

Meditation

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  – Galatians 3:26-28

Psalm 131

This is a great reminder on humility and contentment in Christ. We need to hold firm and remind ourselves that we are valued not by our accomplishments but by Christ' love. Until we realize this internally and start living it out. We will forever be chasing after the "next best thing" in order to find meaning and value in our lives.


Something To Consider:
What makes life worth living? Is it because of the material goods in my life? Is it because of my skills and abilities? Or is it because of Christ?