Session 3 The Big Picture Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-15. Is there anything that sticks out or surprises you about this section? How would you summarize its message in your own words? Breaking Things Apart Verses 1-8: Most likely you’ve heard these words reimagined ad nauseam. Is there anything that surprises you by reading them in their original context? How do these verses connect with the Preacher’s quest that we read two weeks ago? What does this poem reveal to the Precher about God? Verses 9-11a: What do you think the Preacher is trying to say in these verses? How might the truth that “He has made everything beautiful in its time” give us hope amid the uncontrollable chances and changes of life found in verses 1-9? The word rendered “beautiful” (Hbr Yapheh) has to do with being fitting or right. Consequently, verse 11a encourages us to see perpetual change not as something unsettling but as a purposeful God guided unfolding pattern. As on author puts it, “There is an elegance about how life works, as ‘time’ succeeds ‘time.’” Where have you experienced these truths in your life? Verses 11b: The second half of verse 11 reveals why it’s often a challenge recognize that God “makes everything beautiful in its time.” What do you think it means that God has put, “eternity into our heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end?” What tension does this reveal about life? Where have you felt it? Unlike animals, we can catch subtle glimpses and brilliant moments of the grad scheme of things, but ultimately, we can’t grasp the full picture. “Only God, who made all things to fit in their times, truly understands them; only God controls time and is able to ‘call the past to account.’” Again, where do you see this tension played out in the world and in your own life? How should we live in light of verse 11? Verses 12-13: Here we get the answer of how to live in light of verse 11. Because God sovereignly and purposefully controls the times, we can patiently and even joyfully receive the moment as a gift. What’s more, we can put that gift to use by “doing good” to our neighbor as long as we live. How might your life look different if you actively embraced this truth? Where is it a struggle for you to “be joyful and do good?” How might that be related to not seeing your time as a gift from God? How can we cultivate such a mindset? Verses 14-15: What kind of hope do we gain by knowing that “whatever God does endures forever”? How might that help us to live the way verses 12-13 describe? Here we also come across the idea of “fearing God” that we often encountered in Proverbs. “God has done it, so that people fear before him.” How might this truth lead us to thankfulness, obedience, loving others, and even joy? Application Where in your life do you need to hear the message of Ecclesiastes 3:1-15? Being mindful of God’s sovereign and purposeful unfolding of the times, how can you be joyful and do good—eating, drinking, and taking pleasure in your toil? How can you heighten your awareness of this gift of God?

A sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Session 2 ~ Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26 The Big Picture In this section, the Preacher details his quest “to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.” In the end he comes to see that, “all is vanity, a chasing after the wind.” However, all is not lost. In acknowledging the vanity, he lands in a place where true satisfaction is found. Read Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26. Is there anything that sticks out or surprises you about this section? Breaking Things Apart 1:12-18: In this section the Preacher describes his quest. What does he seek, and what is the result of his quest? In Genesis 2:17, 19 God declares to Adam that because of his sin, “cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life… By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Similarly, in Romans 8:20, Paul declares that “creation was subjected to futility (Gk. can also be translated vanity), not willingly, but because of him [i.e. God] who subjected it…” How do these two verses inform the Preacher’s lament, “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted”? In what ways do we drive ourselves mad trying to make straight, what God has made crooked? What’s the alternative to this? 2:1-11: In these verses the Preacher details his quest for pleasure. How did this quest end according to 2:9-11? Have you ever experienced this? How is lasting significance from pleasure a case of trying to make straight what God has made crooked? What’s the alternative when it comes to pleasure? 2:12-17: In this section the Preacher surprisingly concludes that even wisdom in and of itself is a striving after the wind. Why does the Preacher come to this conclusion? Verse 17 is a particularly painful lament. Have you ever felt this way in your search for something lasting in life? How might such despair be the first sign of hope? 2:18-23: Here the author comes to a similar conclusion regarding toil. Again, why is seeking lasting significance from toil a striving after the wind? How is it a case of trying to make straight what God has made crooked? In verse 23 the author once again lets out a painful laments. How do words like these not lead us to complete despair? Is there a way around this when it comes to our jobs, pleasure, and wisdom?” 2:24-26: Here we’re given the other side to the “unhappy business that God has given the children of man.” Though pleasure, wisdom, and work cannot function as the end all be all of life, when seen as gifts from God and therefore kept in their proper place and rightly used; these basic things of life become sweet and good. As Old Testament scholar Iain Provan puts it, “The good life consists in eating and drinking and in the ability of the mortal being to ‘show himself what is good in his toil.’ It consists in viewing food, drink, and work as gifts from God and receiving them as such.” In what ways do you struggle with viewing life this way? Are there places where you have lost this perspective? How does one get it back? Well, think back to our journey through the Small Catechism last year: “‘Give us this day our daily bread’ What does this mean? God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.” Ultimately, our journey to the perspective of Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 begins and is sustained by praying that God will lead us to realize and receive his good gifts with thanksgiving. Application One way this section of Ecclesiastes helps us is it gives hope to anxious hearts. To paraphrase the Preacher: For those whose days full of sorrow and work is a vexation. For those whose hearts cannot rest in the night. Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26 offers perspective. When we worry about our pleasure, jobs, etc.; we are obsessing over that which can’t give ultimate meaning in life and that truly is a chasing after the wind. In contrast, realizing life is a gift from God that he gives daily leads us to recognize and receive his care rather than strive after the wind trying to make straight what is crooked. Jesus himself, gets at it best: “25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” -Luke 12:25-26; Matt 6:25-33

Session 1 ~ Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 (Note: video cuts off before end, but complete notes are still below) Getting Acquainted “Ecclesiastes states powerfully and repeatedly that everything is meaningless (“vanity”) without a proper focus on God. The book reveals the necessity of fearing God in a fallen and frequently confusing and frustrating world.” Justin Holcomb “The book of Ecclesiastes is named after its central character, Qoheleth (translated “the Preacher” in the ESV). Qoheleth is the Hebrew title translated Ekklēsiastēs in Greek. Strictly speaking, the book is anonymous, given that no personal name is attached to it” (Ibid). However, historically the Church has attribute Ecclesiastes to Solomon. The Big Picture Read Ecclesiastes 1:1-11. Is there anything that sticks out to you in these verses? How might you sum up their message in one sentence? “This section of Ecclesiastes declares the vanity of everything and the denial of meaning or satisfaction in life, in and of itself.” Ibid Breaking Things Apart Verse 1-2: “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” “hebel” in the Hebrew, the word rendered “vanity” in our ESVs is used more than 30 times in Ecclesiastes. Literally meaning mere breath or midst, it almost functions as a refrain. Looking at the whole of our section, why does the preacher conclude that “all is vanity?” Have you ever felt his lament? What led you to that? Verse 3: Here the preacher asks, “What gain is toil?” This question is repeated numerous times throughout Ecclesiastes (3:9; 5:15; 6:11; 10:11). Why do you think the preacher is questioning the significance of people’s work and asserting the pointlessness of life and creation? Have you ever harbored such ruminations? How might we avoid despair over such thoughts? Verse 11: says that few people make any significant impact on the course of world history, while most live and die in obscurity. How does verse 11 drive home the point introduced in verse 4 and reinforced throughout these poetic verses? What Now? Ultimately, what the preacher is declaring is something we know all to well deep down in our hearts. Life is but breath and no matter how much we search for lasting meaning or satisfaction that too is but a puff of wind. Taken on their own terms, what are we to do with the pontifications of verses 1-11? Have you harbored such thoughts? How have you dealt with them? The Gospel Factor “There is nothing new under the sun,” laments the preacher. His declaration is mostly true. You see, the tiredness of creation is usurped by the newness of salvation that God brings into our lives in and through Jesus Christ. Isaiah 43:19 19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Revelation 21:5 “5 And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’” In this way, 1:1-11 of Ecclesiastes, and really the whole book, births in us a longing and appreciation for our salvation. As Justin Holcomb writes: “This blanket observation of the futility of human accomplishment makes the heart long for the stark contrast of Jesus’ work for, in, and through us that is new and will be forever remembered. When we come to believe in Jesus—partaking of the new covenant that gives new birth, new life, and a new commandment—we enter into a new workforce. Now what we do matters, as it is done for the sake of the gospel and the glory of God (e.g., Matt. 25:40; 26:10–13). In Christ, our labor is not in vain (Psalm 112; 1 Cor. 15:58).” Application How might you use Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 this week to help you both long for and appreciate the salvation you receive in Jesus Christ?

A sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

A sermon on Matthew 3:13-17