Finally! A Sermon about Something!

Pastor Dave Tebbenkamp has been preaching a series through Ecclesiastes entitled, "Sermons about Nothing." Today was the last sermon and it was a sermon about something!

Throughout the book, Solomon has been telling of his experiences through his life. He had tried everything, been everywhere and knew more than anyone else. Yet his sermon repeats the phrase, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."

All of his experiences amounted to a meaningless life...without God.

But with God, all of those experiences have meaning.

"When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is: fear God and keep His commands" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Work hard.

Study hard.

Enjoy your career.

Fix great food.

Build a house.

Have a family.

Go on vacation.

Accumulate wealth.

Enjoy the arts.

Keep your body fit.

Enjoy your retirement years.

There is nothing wrong with these. But if any, some or all of them are the sum total of your life, you'll come up short.

If you're living for any, some or all of them, you'll be disappointed.

Just ask Solomon. He did it all 100 times better than most of us will be able to afford.

But what he found was that these things with God in the picture will give meaning to life.

Work hard and fear God.

Study hard and fear God.

Enjoy your career and fear God.

Build a house and fear God.

Get the picture?

Fearing God in all of life's endeavors will give them each an eternal perspective. No longer is it living from one event to the next. No longer is it looking for the next kick. Nor is it avoiding those "kicks" for some hyper-spiritual reason.

Rather, it's putting God into your life in every aspect. Seeking to please Him in everything you do.

That will give you a life with meaning.

When Life is Hard

Some thoughts from this morning's sermon from Ecclesiastes 7:13-29 by Pastor Dave Tebbenkamp:

When life is hard, wisdom says, "Reflect" (v 13-14).

We can't change God's plans for our lives. And we can't know what His plans are for us.

When we prosper, we should rejoice. God has showered us with His blessing.  When we suffer, we should reflect.

Life is not all prosperity. Nor is it all adversity. And we don't know from one hour to the next which it will be. But in either case, life gives us opportunity to trust God.

When life is hard, wisdom says, "Reverence" (v 15-18).

The righteous perish and the wicked live longer in their wickedness. That doesn't make sense to us.

Do not be overly righteous, in trying to earn favor or blessings from God (v 16).

Do not be overly wicked and bring your life to an early end (v 17).

Instead, fear God. The one who fears God will prosper.

When life is hard, wisdom says, "Realize" (v 19-29).

When someone has sinned against you, realize that you also have sinned (v 20).

When someone speaks against you, realize that you have spoken evil against others (v 21-22).

When someone does something stupid, realize that you have done stupid things (v 23-26).

When someone schemes to your hurt or downfall, realize that you also are a schemer (v 27-29).

We can never blame God when someone does something against us. He created Adam and Eve without sin, but they chose sin. And ever since then, man has been choosing sin over righteousness.

When life is hard, trust God, fear God and never blame God.