Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

Review Ecc 1-2 - Life without God

Solomon’s Thesis on Life pt. 1

Question - What is the point/purpose of Life on Earth?

(i.e.

life without God)

Answer - Life without God is futile and striving after the wind.

The efforts and work of man on his own cannot satisfy.

Man’s wisdom can lead him to knowing the problem (sin) but cannot generate a solution.

Life without God leads to DESPAIR.

Life With God: Understanding Authority

ON-BOARDING at a new job.

Wikipedia: Onboarding, also known as organizational socialization, refers to the mechanism through which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to become effective organizational members and insiders.[1]

Tactics used in this process include formal meetings, lectures, videos, printed materials, or computer-based orientations to introduce newcomers to their new jobs and organizations.

Research has demonstrated that these socialization techniques lead to positive outcomes for new employees such as higher job satisfaction, better job performance, greater organizational commitment, and reduction in occupational stress and intent to quit.[2][3][4]

Why do people not want to admit that there is a God? Authority!

When we understand that the earth and life on it was CREATED, then we naturally understand there must be a CREATOR.

If there is a CREATOR, then He is bigger than we are - more powerful, beyond our full understanding, and authoritative.

We cannot explain or understand life without God, and we don’t naturally want to accept that there is a God.

One of the first things we need to accept as a part of life with God is that God is SOVEREIGN.

STOP and PRAY

Ecc.

3:1-8 - An Appointed Time for Everything

Ecc.

3:1 - THESIS - There is an appointed time for everything.

Meaning - GOD IS SOVEREIGN

Root word - to fix, set; i.e. a fixed, set time -

Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego - time set by king Neb when all must bow

Memorial Feasts of the Jewish exiles

Ecc.

3:2-8 - A poem describing examples of seasons of time.

7 sets of verses - fullness/completion - a poem

Examples are bookends and opposites - showing that they cover the full spectrum

Examples also are a start and end point

birth/death, plant/uproot, kill/heal, weep/laugh, tear down/build up, …

Ecc.

3:9-11 - Question: If everything is already set, then what’s the point?

Ecc.

3:9-10 - QUESTION: “If God is sovereign (and He is), and has already fixed everything that is going to happen, then what is the use of living and making decisions?”

Ecc.

3:11 - God has put eternity into the heart of man, so that man has to TRUST GOD.

Everything appropriate/beautiful in its time

Isaiah 41:4

Isaiah 46:10

Eph 1:11

Romans 8:28-29

Eternity - a sense that there is more out there, more that man cannot grasp

So That - man has to rely on God for what happens next.

Heb 11:1

Did Adam need faith in the Garden of Eden before the Fall?

Gen 22 - Abraham trusting God to provide a sacrifice or to bring Isaac back to life.

Heb 11:19

Hebrews 11:6 - Without faith it is impossible to please God.

Ecc 3:12-15 - Answer: Embrace God’s Authority Over Life.

Teaching Kids to OBEY - When we teach our kids to obey us - the first lesson I want them to learn is why they need to obey.

The reason because the one in authority over them commands them to obey.

Authority is good.

It is godly.

(Running in the street).

Ecc.

3:12-13 - The first response to God’s sovereignty is to rejoice and do good.

Do Good - obey God’s word - enjoy the life He has given.

Being in proper relationship with God is the first step to being able to enjoy the life He created.

Ecc.

3:14-15 - God’s work is eternal and unchangeable.

God is in control.

God seeks what has passed by - hard passage to translate apparently and interpret.

Will call into account what was hidden.

Job

Jospeh

Moses

Passion of the Christ

What Now?

God is Sovereign.

God has appointed and ordained everything.

God has created us to have an understanding that there is more beyond us.

God has made it so that we cannot fully understand all His will.

God allows us to enjoy this life.

God will bring to light what has passed by.

WHY?

So that we will understand that He is GOD and we are not, so that we will revere Him.

It is for our good to submit to the sovereignty and authority of God.

This is the first step in living a meaningful life.

GOD LOVES TO BE TRUSTED!

Are you trusting in, and thus living under, God’s authority?

In all of your life?

Marriage?

Parenting?

Work?

Church…?

Matthew 16:24

Thrones are really only built for one person.