The American Dream is Meaningless without Jesus

INTRODUCTION

GOOD MORNING

Good Morning

Before we get started today I wanted to invite Coyce Young to share with us a bit of how she is personally parting with South Creek Middle School

INTRO

We are in week 2 in our series through the book of Ecclesiastes

Turn there with me. AFTER Psalms and Proverbs, BEFORE Song of Solomon and Isaiah

ECCLESIASTES

Cyclical Rhythm of Life - Search for meaning to break the monotony in our lives

Hevel - Vanity, Meaningless - Everything

Smoke or vapor - impossible to grab hold; lacking substance.

Addressing the longings in our hearts and where we look to satisfy our desires.

Today - the passage focuses on our pursuit of happiness

AMERICAN DREAM

Declaration of Independence

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

It is this thirst, desire, and pursuit of happiness that drives most of us.

Advertising sells happiness

An article from this past January said,

“Since the dawn of advertising, brands have sought to evoke happiness in ads to help them to persuade people to buy certain goods and services.”

In 2016, a marketing company tried attracting new clients by saying,

“We sell happiness”

“We’re human. We worry about taking the wrong step or missing our shot at happiness. Should I have traveled to Europe after college? Will I ever get the opportunity again? Will I have a family - blink - then spend the rest of my days knitting hats?

This general anxiety is heightened by the dooming ripple of the sharing economy, in which we share running snapshots of our lives, presenting our most impressive facades to the world.

ZenithOptimedia

found that people seek certainty - longing for the very real statistical pursuit of happiness.

The author - Millennials herself said,

Brands like Taco Bell among others get that

Tacos make life better

Though millennials don’t like brands they tend to love taco bell. (sweaters, senior photos, engagements and weddings)

GENERATIONS

You may not understand the love for Taco Bell but even across the past generations in America - we have the ways we pursue happiness.

Show graphic

What do you pursue to make you happy?

For Gen Z and Millenianls - says happiness / PLEASURE

Health

Family & Friends

Career

Today’s passage in Ecclesiastes is going to address three areas that we seek to find happiness but how in the end they are vanity, meaningless - HEVEL, vapor and smoke.

PRAY

RESTLESS SEARCHING

READ

AUTHOR & PUPOSE

KING SOLOMON “exposes the emptiness of the American dream. If we stop for a second, let go of our desires for more and more and more, and look at the many examples around us” we will see the truth in theses verses. “We look at lives like Marilyn Monroe, Kurt Cobain, and Robin Williams, and we see people who had everything this world says you could ever want, and it brought them nothing but pain and emptiness.” (Daniel Akin)

UNHAPPY BUSINESS

Solomon is like a scientist who is experimenting with his heart to see what will truly bring him happiness.

His heart is restless, seeking the substance of joy yet discovering that everything is meaningless, tiresome - vapor.

I’ve tried wisdom and knowledge but its a striving after after the wind. (hear in his words, I’ve sought higher education and degrees yet there is no end to learning and I am still paying school loans…)

In , King Solomon is going to address 3 areas where we seek to find the substance of happiness

Pleasure

Wisdom

Work

PLEASURE

Laughter

“Laughter can momentarily distract us from real pain, but it cannot overcome it. So solomon does not conclude that laughter is evil unless you try to turn it into the solution for life’s problem’s” (Duane Garrett).

Wine

Drank with wisdom - moderation

Drank in folly - drunkenness

Great Works (houses, gardens - eden)

Solomon built the temple ()

He took 13 years to build his house, which was bigger than the temple ()

If I had a different house in a different neighborhood...

He built houses and shrines for his wives - all 700 of them (; , ).

The phrase “every kind of fruit tree” used in 2:5 is also used 3 times in the creation account (, ; )

Solomon tried to rebuild or bring back paradise here on this broken/fallen world but it is impossible.

Possessions

Newest iPhone or Google Pixel, even Motorola’s Razr is making a comeback.

They tells how many songs or movies they can holds

Solomon just bought the band - you wanna listen toyour favorite artist - he just bought the singer or band.

Money (buy the band)

says that Solomon was so rich that silver was as common as stones

Sex

300 concubines

Whatever my eyes desired

CONCLUSION - 2:11, “Then I considered all that I had done and behold, vanity (Hevel) and a striving after the wind. I gained nothing.

WISDOM

Now let’s seek wisdom

Let’s meditate on wisdom and folly and crazy.

There is more gain in wisdom

Every athlete is told the same narrative growing up. Work hard, respect your coach, play by the rules, be a good sport, do not complain about playing time, and show your skills in practice because that is the right way to do things. Yet, in the 2014–2015 NFL season, a guy named LeGarrett Blount smashed that narrative. He was so angry about his lack of playing time with the Steelers that he walked off the field before the game was over. The team cut him the next day, and then the Patriots signed him, and he won a Super Bowl ring.

Sometimes we try and use wisdom for our own gain

We assume that if we understand the world well enough then we can bend it to make us happy.

If I do the right things, live the right way, then God has to bless me and make my life prosperous - thus, I will be happy.

In the end, we try to manipulate God will our actions, saying, “if I do these certain actions, then God will bless me.”

Every athlete is told the same narrative growing up. Work hard, respect your coach, play by the rules, be a good sport, do not complain about playing time, and show your skills in practice because that is the right way to do things. Yet, in the 2014–2015 NFL season, a guy named LeGarrett Blount smashed that narrative. He was so angry about his lack of playing time with the Steelers that he walked off the field before the game was over. The team cut him the next day, and then the Patriots signed him, and he won a Super Bowl ring.

Akin, Dr. Daniel L.. Exalting Jesus in Ecclesiastes (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) (p. 29). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

CONCLUSION - 2:15, “I said in my heart that this also is vanity (hevel).

BUT in the end they both die? Why live with wisdom if in the end you die just like the fool?

WORK

“I hated all my work...”

Felt hopeless because what if I work hard with knowledge and skill - accumulate and then somebody gets to enjoy it because I’m dead.

Work & Busyness is the new religion in America

Derek Thompson wrote an article for the Atlanic in February called “Workism is Making Americans Miserable”

This is the right time for a confession. I am the very thing that I am criticizing.

This is the right time for a confession. I am the very thing that I am criticizing. I am devoted to my job. I feel most myself when I am fulfilled by my work—including the work of writing an essay about work. My sense of identity is so bound up in my job, my sense of accomplishment, and my feeling of productivity that bouts of writer’s block can send me into an existential funk that can spill over into every part of my life.

He concludes that work isn’t bad but it shouldn’t be central.

I am devoted to my job. I feel most myself when I am fulfilled by my work—including the work of writing an essay about work. My sense of identity is so bound up in my job, my sense of accomplishment, and my feeling of productivity that bouts of writer’s block can send me into an existential funk that can spill over into every part of my life.

Tim Keller likens the vanity of work to trying to plow water. As soon as the plow passes over, everything immediately returns to the way it was before.

CONCLUSION - 2:21, “This also is vanity and a great evil… even at night his work frustrates him...”

AUTHOR & PUPOSE

KING SOLOMON “exposes the emptiness of the American dream. If we stop for a second, let go of our desires for more and more and more, and look at the many examples around us” we will see the truth in theses verses. “We look at lives like Marilyn Monroe, Kurt Cobain, and Robin Williams, and we see people who had everything this world says you could ever want, and it brought them nothing but pain and emptiness.” (Daniel Akin)

We see it all the time - but we don’t want to believe it

We see someone wealthy saying money doesn’t bring happiness but we still think - their sadness is better than mine. I’d rather be unhappy with money than unhappy without money - because somewhere deep inside us we believe that money would make us just a bit happier.

So it’s all meaningless, vanity, a chasing after the wind

OK, so let’s pray and head home - have a great week....

If you look for satisfaction, fulfillment, purpose, substance in things like pleasure, wisdom, and work - then you will find them all to be empty.

READ 2:24-26

There is nothing better | eat, drink, and have fun doing your work

THIS IS FROM THE HAND OF GOD - APART FROM HIM THERE IS NO JOY

Starting premise - “It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man...”

REDEEMING JOY

WITH GOD

There is nothing better

There is nothing better | eat, drink, and have fun doing your work

THIS IS FROM THE HAND OF GOD - APART FROM HIM THERE IS NO JOY

Starting premise - “It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man...”

God’s presence redeems our joy - our happiness

This ISN’T SAYING that Wisdom, Pleasure, and Work are bad and we should resist all such evils - live in poverty, never work, or send our kids to schools - NO!!

Pleasure apart from Jesus is meaningless - The presence of Jesus gives pleasure a lasting enjoyment.

Wisdom apart from jesus is meaningless - The presence of Jesus gives meaning and permanence to true wisdom

Work without Jesus is meaningless - the presence of Jesus gives work meaning, joy, and makes it an act of worship.

None of these things are an end - in and of themselves. Apart from God - there is no enjoyment

In the presence of God, with Jesus as central, then we can truly find joy and happiness.

REDEEMING PLEASURE

Building Eden

Building our view of paradise here on earth is meaningless.

Monuments, possessions, sex, etc.

Vapor

We long for the garden that was lost. The relationship that was broken. The brokenness of creation that creation that needs repaired.

Redeeming Eden

With God we have enjoyment (2:25)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the holy spirit.

God Created - in response to God, we too can create, and plant, and grow, and build.

Our joy is not in the outcome of our action but the act itself because it is done in partnership with God.

Illustration: a child cooking with their parent.

The purpose is NOT to make a prize winning cake so that you feel validated as a baker.

NOR is it to win some arbitrary mother of the year award.

RATHER - simply for the joy of cooking together. (this is how we will begin to define contentment)

Hiking to the glory of God - FRANCE

NOT - the people walked for health, nature, cultural norm, Increased heart rate, health, live longer, look a certain way. (Need more and more)

YES - enjoy God’s creation. The details, colors, and smells of all that God has created. Being saturated and surrounded by the power of his creation in the foothills of the Alpes. (satisfaction)

Journal

What kinds of pleasure do you enjoy?

What would it look like to enjoy them in relationship with Jesus?

Gardening - do you find value in what you produce or in the relationship with God

Parenting - do you find meaning and identity in your child’s behavior or do you see your role in relationship to God at work in their hearts.

Motorcycle - I need bigger faster, shinier - or an opportunity to be surrounded by God’s creation

In whatever you do - do everything toward the glory of God.

Walk, Bicycle, run, paint, photography, etc.

REDEEMING WISDOM

Knowledge and wisdom part from God do not satisfy

We can never learn enough

There is no end to learning

Test scores do not define your value as a person

It is good - but not ultimate.

Wisdom is not a means of controlling God but of knowing God.

With God, “the beginning of wisdom and knowledge” begins with the fear of the Lord ()

"The fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom” () NLT

Journal

Do you love learning? Education?

Why?

Seeking Self - validation, superiority, manipulation of God

Seeking God - knowing God better, who he is and what he has done throughout time. Not in what wisdom produces in our life but who it helps us know better - Jesus. (sciences, humanities, etc)

WORK

Why do you work?

Provide for family… money doesn’t grow on trees…

Job title

“Whatever you do, work with all your heart as to the Lord and not for people.”

Effort and purpose

Journal

What is your motivation for working?

In your desire for your family have you sacrificed your family?

Are you seeking identity, value, purpose?

What would is look like for you to do your job while practicing the presence of God?

With God, the unhappy business of our lives finds enjoyment in God.

Stay-at-home mom, CPA, builder, insurance salesperson, teacher, lawn service, hourly employee, etc

What would it look like for you to do your job in the knowledge of God’s presence

Not just the effort you give

But the PURPOSE for which you work

CONCLUSION

MY STORY

Basketball was my life - my god

The playground and gymnasium was my sanctuary

I sacrificed my body and time to perfecting the game to the best of my ability

ONE DESIRE - I wanted to be known, to be remembered out of the sea of faces.

I wanted people cheering my name. I loved see my picture and name in the local paper or highlights on the local station.

I won tournaments and championships, dunk competitions and titles. I kept the trophies and nets we cut down so others could see my accomplishments.

It’s never enough - always another game, a mistake, a loss, and younger/better player

I tried to find happiness in basketball - evening signing a full scholarship but in the end it was hevel. Vapor.

Basketball makes for a terrible god.

God became my treasure - Basketball was laid on the altar (GOSPEL)

Trophies were put in a box - a picture was taken - and they were all thrown in the dumpster

On the mission field, living to see God’s glory celebrated by all peoples, God redeemed basketball in my life.

It wasn’t a god but as a joy and means of connecting with people to share with them to true joy that can only be found in Jesus.

I had to privilege of traveling throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip and playing for a club in France while we were learning French before heading into Chad.

YOUR STORY

My prayer is that you will take time this week to pray and journal through your story at it relates to PLEASURE, WISDOM, and WORK.

What does enjoyment and pleasure look like in relationship and in submission to Jesus?

What does you search for wisdom look like in relationship and in submission to Jesus?

What does work looking like in relationship and in submission to Jesus?

FAMILY UPDATE

WHY: To make sure we all have the same information so we continuing going int he same direction

Going somewhere together as a family. Where, when - OK, leaving in 10 minutes....

THANK YOU

The majority of our partners are serving - THANK YOU

If you regularly attend but you are not yet a partner you can also serve on Sundays on various teams. This is a great way of getting to know new people here as well.

AMANDA MAYER

As many of you know, Amanda Mayer serves as our Children’s Ministry Director. Her husband was recently assigned to a position in Washington DC for 4 months.

Amanda will be joining her husband there during this time - BUT WILL REMAIN AS DIRECTOR - continuing in her various responsibilities

NEED: Sunday morning Pointe Person (2-3)

Set-Up: Check-In table, game table

Troubleshooting: Teacher’s arrival, needs, etc.

NEED: Heros (4)

LEADERSHIP

Finalize our elder search and definition and installment of deacons.

The elders met with potential candidates and will continue finalizing these details this month

DISCIPLESHIP

How we live out our mission statement to becomes disciples who make disciples. We believe that discipleship is not just a program in the church but it is one of the central purposes of the church.

The elders invited a small group of people into an intentional conversational that will BEGIN to help us shape discipleship here at CrossPointe

Please pray for us as we currently have 5 meetings scheduled between now and the end of July.

BABY DEDICATION - MOTHER’S DAY

Next Sunday