Sermon Tone Analysis

Finding Fulfillment in the Seasons of Life

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Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

 

This past week the doctor told me to relax and take it easy.

He said until they can find out why I was having chest pains to not do anything that would be stressful.

So, I decided to do nothing for a few days.

For me doing nothing is stressful.

But, I did stop and think about life some and here are some things I believe contribute to fulfillment in life.

In life, most of us start out with a pretty basic game plan: Land a good position in a company.

Learn and grow.

Be further ahead each year.

One of the marks of success in a football team is the ability to change their game plan as needed at half time.

In the locker room, the coaches look at what went wrong, what went right, and then adjust their game plan so to put them in the best possible position to play a winning second half.

In life the minutes of the second quarter wind down and you realize that you cannot play this way for the entire game.

Something has to change.

So, you go into half time with the desire to change your game plan because you know that games are won or lost in the second half.

Hopefully this sermon will provide practical principles to help you finish the game strong.

In the Bible, the Apostle Paul carried the message of Christ into his world.

During a time of reflection, he penned these words, 2 Timothy 4:7-8  “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

It is my desire to tap into the spiritual strength that Paul is talking about in this passage.

This strength will enable us to finish strong.

I am 52 years old and as you get into the fifth decade of your life, you begin to think a lot about who you are and where you are going.

It is inevitable, and I believe, universal.

Some people approach this period in life pathologically and call it a crisis ... a mid-life crisis.

These people buy a Harley; unbutton their shirts; wear gold chains; and get a tattoo.

They refuse to accept the seasonal change that has come their way.

Let’s face it.

All of us are growing older.

Today I am 52 and my wife is 39.

In ten years, I will be 62 and she will be 39.

I may retire at 65 and she will still be 39.

I guess the good thing is that she is 39, but still looks 29 to me.

The good news about mid-life is that the glass is still half-full... of course, the bad news is that it won’t be long before your teeth are floating in it.

Mid-life is when your 1980s Body-by-Jake now includes Legs-by-Rand McNally.

Mid-life is when your memory really starts to go.

The only thing you still retain is water.

One thing for sure is that you become more reflective in mid-life.

You start pondering the "big" questions like: "What is life?

Why am I here?

How long will I live.

How much Healthy Choice ice cream can I eat before it’s no longer a healthy choice?"

Rick Majerus, the men’s basketball coach at the University of Utah, commented about his mid-life experience, "Everyone’s worried about the economy this year.

Hey, my hairline is in recession, my waistline is in inflation, and altogether, I’m in depression."

The day will come when you, like Coach Majerus, will look in the mirror, see a receding hairline, or wrinkle, or gray hair, and think, "Hey, I’m not just getting older.

I’m getting old.

I thought that only happened to everyone else.

But it’s happening to me, too.

I’m never going to be young again."

The realization that you are never going to be young again sends some people into tailspin.

It doesn’t have to.

I believe that in every season you can find fulfillment.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2; 11a “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:  a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, When its all said and done ... v.11

He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

One writer put it this way, “Most of us live the first half of our lives as if we had walked into a movie theater twenty minutes after the film started rolling: we are not 100 percent sure what the story is all about, but it seems pretty interesting.

By the time we figure out what’s going on, it’s over.”

Too many people live their lives that way.

By the time they figure out what life is all about, it’s over.

This does not have to be your story.

I believe that you can \\ have the rest of your life to be the best of your life.

Regardless of your season or your status, you can begin today with the benefit of past experience and the power of God’s presence for the future.

Bob Buford wrote a book called "Half time."

In it he chronicles his journey through the seasons of change in his life.

He defines the mid-life years as the interval in a person’s life where he or she explores ways to transform their success into significance.

As I was thinking about that this week, I reflected on the first half of my life.

I considered my successes and my failures.

Out of this time, the Lord reminded me of several principles that will help me make the rest of my life the best part of it.

These principles are building blocks that will help build a foundation of success.

They are values that have shaped who I am and who I want to become.

What is this foundation made of?

Some key words that mark a foundation in a believers life include: Vision, Faith, Wisdom, Experience, Determination, Commitment, and Contentment.

How can we build a successful future?

Here’s How to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best…

\\ 1. Develop the ability to look beyond the majority (vision)

SHORTED-SIGHTEDNESS is the plague of many people.

Listen to some of these statements made by the crowd: "Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."

--Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."

--Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year."

\\ --The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

"But what ... is it good for?"

--Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."

--Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

"This ’telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.

The device is inherently of no value to us." --Western Union internal memo, 1876.

"I’m just glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling on his face and not Gary Cooper."

--Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With The Wind."

"We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."

--Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

2. Believe God inspite of the circumstances (faith)

Matthew 21:22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

Mark 9:23 .... "Everything is possible for him who believes."

Mark 11:22-23 "Have faith in God," Jesus answered.

"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, `Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.”

Your circumstances may seem bleak; your back may be against the wall; and your life may appear to be over, but remember God specializes in turning darkness into light.

\\ 3. Ask God for wisdom.

(wisdom)

James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

\\ 4. Learn from the past, but don’t live in it.