This is the week! We’ve spent all month pointing toward the coming King Jesus, and this week we celebrate that he did indeed come. The God of the universe, the Creator of all things, the King of everything, has come into this world. He has come to you and I. He has come to rescue. It's our prayer that you would see the beautiful rescue of Christmas this week - and that that is what would shine through all the excitement of presents and the hurriedness of our culture.
Sometimes when I’m eating really good food, I do a little happy dance while I’m eating. I don’t even realize I’m doing it. There is something about joy and experiencing goodness that brings out a reaction. We are designed to enjoy good things. This week, we look at the joyous good news that stirred Mary and Zechariah to a response of singing and praising God. What has been stirring in you this week?
The Christmas season is a time of looking forward to all kinds of things; presents, treats, time with family, time off from school or work. This story takes us to a time when God’s people were looking forward to His rescue and salvation. Still, when the time had come for this news, it was almost too good to be true. What is your response when you hear the good news of God?
How can we be certain about what we’ve heard of Jesus? Why does it matter? This week we begin both our study in the book of Luke, as well as the season of Advent. Join us as we discover and investigate the hope we have for all areas of life: physical, social, political, economical, spiritual, and more.
As we near the end of the wisdom of the Preacher, he tells us to enjoy the days of our youth which are a gift from God. Yet, do so knowing that everything you do under the sun will come under judgement of God. Turning the chapter he uses beautiful poetry to remind us that those days of youth are also fleeting and we will all age unto death. What is the key to life? Remember your Creator in your youth and in your aging.
A little folly brings great destruction, while a little wisdom can bring great joy and strength. As we continue in chapters 9 and 10 of Ecclesiastes, the Preacher shows how even though the wise and foolish both share the same fate of death, it is much better to live wisely during your days under the sun.
A good name is better than perfume on your day of death… and it’s better to go to a funeral than a birthday party. These are just some of the uplifting nuggets of wisdom the author of Ecclesiastes offers us. What does this mean? And how can we make it to our own funeral with a good name, when the Preacher of Ecclesiastes admits in the same chapter that no one on earth is righteous because we’ve all left God to search “many schemes” to make a name for ourselves?
This week we consider a big chunk of Scripture, looking at Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:9. We learn that we should not be surprised to see injustice and oppression in this life. Ecclesiastes warns us that living for things that only money can buy is vanity. Power and wealth is not enough for a satisfying life that really matters! Ecclesiastes tells us that we must learn to enjoy what God has provided, rejoicing in the life he gives—a life where he is at the center. A life lived with God is a life that is satisfied in God!
Ecclesiastes takes us to our right posture in our most essential relationship—that with God. Through the image of a “fool,” the text helps us see our utter inadequacy before our holy God and encourages a right posture in our approach to his perfection. We learn what a life of worship should look like.
In the chaos, disappointment, and unknowns of the whirlwind of our ever-changing world, the first part of Ecclesiastes ends as we see purpose and peace in God’s plan. Every season of our lives are His; the work of our hands is from Him; His plan endures; and He has put eternity in our hearts. In this knowledge, we have hope, we take pleasure in our lives, and we find God!
The teacher of Ecclesiastes compares different areas of life - wisdom with folly, pleasure with toil - and comes to the same conclusion for each of them. Everything is hevel. What does this word ‘hevel’ mean and why does he say this about everything in life? What are we to do with it then? Does our work matter? Can we find pleasure in life?
Is all of life meaningless? Is all our work just endless toil, sweat and weariness? What do we gain from all we do day in and day out? Have you ever asked these questions? The Preacher of Ecclesiastes did! Faced with the seemingly vanity of life, the Preacher invites us to examine our own existence under the weight of weary work and selfish gain. Is there any hope for us living here “under the sun?”
By being honest about life’s troubles, Ecclesiastes touches the hearts of people who struggle. As much as anything else, Ecclesiastes is for people who have their doubts about God but can’t stop thinking about him. It is a book in which we keep struggling with the problems of life and, as we struggle, we learn to trust God with the questions even when we do not have all the answers. Ecclesiastes powerfully communicates how human life is meaningless without God at the center. Ecclesiastes speaks to a world that is looking for satisfaction in wealth, relationships, vocation and pleasure, and points people to the one and only God who alone gives true satisfaction and joy.
If we are going to live out of our true identity as a family of missionary servants, then we must steward the children God has blessed us with to take up their role in the Missio Dei. Imagine what would it look like for us and our kids to embrace a Story for their lives in Who is God, What has God done, Who are we, How are we to live.
What happens if we read the Bible as a rule book? A collection of moral stories? A list of inspirational sayings? How do these approaches help answer the big questions in life or help us find our place in the world? What if there's another way to approach the Scriptures?
The Bible is actually the True Story of the whole world. How do we live in God’s true Story and invite others into it?
