The End of the Matter

Passage: Ecclesiastes 12:8-14 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary At the end of Ecclesiastes, the narrator (a separate writer from the Preacher) reemerges, commenting on and summing up the Preacher’s attempts to find the key to life “under the sun”. First, the narrator affirms that even in this broken, hevel-filled world, there…

Living as We Die

Passage: Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary Death is a tragic reality that every one of us must face in a fallen world. The Teacher in Ecclesiastes is aware of this, and in Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8 he instructs us in how to live wisely in the short time we have before…

Cast Your Bread Upon The Waters

Passage: Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary We live in a world marked by time, chance, and randomness—a world where our best work can be wiped away by circumstances outside of our control. In Ecclesiastes 11:1-6, the Teacher helps us come to grips with this world, and navigate our way…

Eternity in Our Hearts

Passage: Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 helps us navigate the unfolding experiences of our life as they come, when we don’t know what they’re all adding up to. In Ecclesiastes 3, the Teacher observes a riddle that is at the heart of our human experience. First, he…

The Problem of Righteousness

Passage: Ecclesiastes 2:12-17; 7:11-18; 9:11-12 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary Ecclesiastes helps us navigate “life under the sun” by describing the way that life works in a broken world. All our attempts to find meaning and value “under the sun” are ultimately hevel (a vapor, elusive). Even our pursuit of wisdom…

True Wealth

Passage: Ecclesiastes 5:8-17 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary It is part of our fallen nature to pursue through material wealth what only God can give us.  Ecclesiastes shows how our idolatrous pursuit of material wealth is hevel (vanity) and brings frustration, both at a societal and a personal level. At a…

Testing Our Pleasures

Passage: Ecclesiastes 2:1-11, 9:7-9 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary Many people believe that we can find ultimate satisfaction in life by pursuing our pleasures. The preacher in Ecclesiastes dispels this myth, however, by pursuing his pleasures to the fullest extent, acquiring them, and finding it all “vanity” in the end (2:1)….

X