Stones Hill Community Church
The writer of Ecclesiastes undertook a hugely ambitious life experiment and he made himself the guinea pig, the lab rat. King Solomon had the time, money, and power to pretty much pursue any avenue of life he thought would bring pleasure or satisfaction. Solomon decided to conduct a massive experiment in human happiness and meaning. He became his own test subject, his own lab rat. “I know there is a God, but I’m going to live as if there isn’t and see what that’s like.” He became this mad scientist in search of serum, an antidote to fix him. But nothing was ever enough. He lost sight of the Giver of the Gifts. Have you lost sight of what's important?
The theme of the book is a virtual summary of the biblical worldview: life lived by purely earthly and human standards is futile, but the God-centered life is an antidote. Solomon tells us what he wants us to remember when life gets confusing, mysterious, unfair or as black as night - keep your trust in Creator God’s plan. Life in the world has significance only when man remembers his Creator (12:1).
Welcome to "A Season for Everything" - Finding Meaning in the Book of Ecclesiastes!
We welcome you to Stone's Hill today!
A typical Stone's Hill service has:
* music (so feel free to sing out);
* some announcements (things that are upcoming that you can be a part of);
* a message out of the Bible (God speaks to us through his Word);
* and an opportunity for you to respond to the message (either immediately in the case of a decision that needs to be made OR in the future as you live out the message in your daily life.)
So relax and enjoy your morning! We're so glad you are here!
Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 NIV
MESSAGE TEXT
Ecclesiastes 12:1-14
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INTRODUCTION
Solomon comes to the end of his private journal and he says 12 Be warned, my son... With a tone of warning and caution, Solomon speaks of a storm that will knock you out of the air – aging and the passing of time and the cult of youth. Solomon closes his journal with a Survival Guide for Life’s Greatest Storm. Here are Solomon’s Survival Tips that will help you guard against a misdirected and miserable life as you age and face death.
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MESSAGE POINTS
Priorities: Gain Situational Awareness and Do the Next Right Thing (1, 8, 10)
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Aging: Stay Calm and Don’t Panic (2-7)
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Decisions: Take Inventory and Trust Your Training (9,11,12)
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Purpose: Stay on Mission and Complete Your Assignment (13-14)
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SUMMATION
Solomon invites us as believers to live this kind of life; this is life with meaning and purpose defined here in these closing verses: Remember who created your life. Resolve to walk with God through life. Follow the guidelines of God’s word through life. Enjoy the gifts God has given you in life. Trust Him with what He has chosen not to give you in life. Prepare to stand before God when you leave this life. Death comes for us all, but it cannot destroy ordinary joys empowered by God. Remembering your Creator means you won’t become misguided in your youth. Walk with Him. Remembering your Creator means you won’t become miserable in your old age. Trust Him. Remembering your Creator means you won’t be mistaken at your death. Believe in Him.
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CONCLUSION
Invitation: According to CDC.gov, life expectancy in the USA for 2021 is 76.1 years. 76.1 years equals: 27,776.5 days 666,636 hours 39,998,160 minutes 2,399,889,600 seconds. You will sleep for approximately 12,300,000 minutes. You will eat for another 3,000,000 minutes. You will work for approximately 13,000,000 minutes. That leaves us about 8,000,000. Once you deduct time for taking showers, you’re down to about 6,500,000 minutes. If you’re eighteen years old, you’ve already used a quarter of your allocation. So get this: you got 5,000,000 minutes left unaccounted for. So what are you going to do with them? You have the brevity of life, the reality of death, the certainty of judgment, and the opportunity of youth in Ecclesiastes 12. Will you live your life for God?
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Closing: My prayer is that someday when you look back on your life, this sermon, this series will be the thing that caused you to capture the true meaning of time and the good life because you could see life today from a perspective of the end. Young people, serve Him now while you are young. Older people, make every moment count for the Kingdom. Are you ready to look beyond yourself for meaning and life-purpose? Death has not reached you yet. It has rattled its chains at you this morning. May we be stirred into action to seize the present moment by living all of them for Christ!