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Technically, I should probably have preached this sermon last week, but I had to finish up the previous passage. It’s now a week and a half since the election. Half of the nation is happy. The other half is not. When I was preparing this sermon, I had no idea what the result would be. I just knew that…

Ecclesiastes 9:13-10:20 – The Way of the Wise Last week, looked at God’s work in justification and sanctification through means . Circumstances and choices – these shape us into Jesus’ likeness as the more of each of these we experience, we gain godly wisdom. Sounds great, except we know how we can become…

TEXT: GALATIANS 5:22-23 | FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT : PART 4 INTRO EXPLANATION : Over the past 4 service in Galatians we have worked our way through the slices of the fruit of the Spirit. We saw the slices that foremost must come from the Lord Himself and be directed to the Lord Love, Joy, Peace All of these…

INTRO ILLUSTRATION : Have you ever played tug o war? At the camp I grew up going to, it was a staple each week. One of the nights, there would be a rough and tough night with some rough and tough games. One of those games was tug-o-war. They would pull out a 50 or 60 foot rope and we would have cabins…

Life under the sun Ecclesiastes 1-2 Prayer Through your word we might know you. knowing you we might know wisdom for life. I pray that you might give us ears to hear, eyes to see, and a softened heart to see the reality of our lives and the wonderful truth of your Word. Introduction Ah… another day.…

Solomon was a prolific author. If he lived today, he would be on the New York Times best seller list, multiple times. People would be lining up to read his next book. His songs would be on the top of the charts, just because of the amount of things he wrote. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs…

Introduction Ecclesiastes represents man’s best conclusions as he searches for answers “under the sun.” It sets forth deductions based on observations and on logic but not on divine revelation. Ecclesiastes is what a wise man might think if he did not have a Bible. Transition As he wrapped up chapter…

Pre-Introduction Introduction They were vastly outnumbered, and they were out of time. The year was 1529, the Ottoman Empire, now at its peak, had a force of at least 100,000 soldiers marching to the gates of Vienna, a city that had only 21,000 defenders. They were outnumbered 5 to 1. The official in…

Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed. I say: Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him. Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever…

Solomon is discussing wisdom and folly in this passage. We gave the first part of this sermon two weeks ago, and basically covered the main point of the whole thing. We find our joy not in our circumstances and how we can manipulate them, but in the God who loves us. Solomon continues discussing wisdom…

Today we are wrapping up this six part study of the Good News called, “Life in 6 Words.” We get these six words by using the word “Gospel” as an acrostic. As a way of review, let’s walk through these six words one final time… G - God created us to be with Him. ( Genesis 1-2 ) O - Our sins separate us…

1 Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, 3 So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had…

Meaningful Wisdom

Wisdom and Foolishness Over the last several weeks we have been looking at what it means to live wisely. That’s the aim of Solomon’s approach in Ecc. He’s Looking out at the reality of the world and seeing that there is a right an wrong way to live. And in this mornings Scripture we are going to see…

Wisdom and Unpredictability Intro Throughout our studies in Ecc. we have taken a look at God’s desire for his creation to live wisely. How God has created this world with certain rules and how it is better if we live within those rules. God is dedicated to helping his people. Those who are devoted to…

20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction; 23 but others save with fear, pulling them out…

We’ve been working our way through the book of Ecclesiastes, a book of 12 short chapters that sits in the midst of the books of wisdom within our Bibles. Ecclesiastes is one of the books we don’t know specifically who wrote it. We do know the author intended to sound like Solomon to whom much of Proverbs…

Can life have any meaning in a naturalistic universe? Physicist Steven Weinberg doesn’t think so. He writes: “The more comprehensible the universe becomes, the more it also seems pointless.” Similarly, Richard Dawkins says: In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic…

Introduction I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Warrior, Runner, Steward of the Faith The Good Fight Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many…

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that…

2 Corinthians 2 Good morning church! I want to welcome you here this morning. There is so much going on around the world, and we have a short chapter this morning so I was tempted to take some time and update you on some projects going on in Ukraine, operation Exodus that is being conducted through Calvary…

1 Dead flies make a perfumer’s oil ferment and stink; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. 2 A wise person’s heart goes to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left. 3 Even when the fool walks along the road, his heart lacks sense, and he shows everyone he is a fool. 4 If the ruler’s anger rises…

11 Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them. 12 For certainly no one knows his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds…

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon adopts an "under the sun" perspective on life. He recognises that life in this world is inherently unfair--rewards don't match effort. How can we handle this? Solomon suggests several responses, but none of them are satisfying. But what if we take an "above the sun" perspective? Does that make a difference?

You would think that we really don’t need to be taught anything about fairness because at least some of us were taught to be fair in kindegarten and Sunday school. share your toys… games… popcorn… when it comes to pie, everyone gets the same amount But as adults we kind of need to look at the issue of…