Tag: Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes: A Wise Life | 9-11-2022

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Updated: 12/2/2024

Sermon Prep

This week while writing my long-gestating book during my paternity leave, I stumbled on an old sermon I shared to the kids ministry over 2 years ago. I have no idea why I wrote it down in my ideas journal for my book, but I discovered it again and figured I’d throw it on the blog. One day I’ll add all of my sermons from when I first started preaching, but that’s a project for another day.

Either way, occasionally when I teach and lead kids ministry at church I will write up a sermon for that Sunday. To be fair, it’s a lot less prep and research then I normally would do if any at all. I usually just take current themes in the main service and distill them into a mini message they can understand better.

Looking back, that must be what I did here during Reunion Church‘s Ecclesiastes series we did in 2022. I was just a month into marriage and there was a lot going on, so I must’ve done this prep in a hurry on short notice. Also, don’t have many photos from this era in life so I’m just going to use a picture from the honeymoon archives.

Either way, it’s a cool gem and honestly I think a lot of my sermons have been scribbled down in random places that I may never recover again. So for me, this was awesome to find today. Here’s the notes:

Sermon Notes

Opening Line

  • What is a wise life?
  • Ecclesiastes overview.

Intro

  • Girls: Brother’s girlfriends.
  • Gold: Grandad’s wealth.
  • Glory: Mountains are more remembered.

Life is a temporary paradox.

  • Everything is hevel.
    • Hevel = smoke, vapor.
  • Life like smoke seems solid, but vanishes before you can get a good grasp on it.

Transition To Main Point

  • Read Ecclesiastes 1:5-11.
  • All of life is out of your control.

Main Point

  • Read Ecclesiastes 12:13-14.
  • A wise life is to fear and obey God.

Why It Matters

  • Read Ephesians 5:15-17.
  • Read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.
  • A wise life is made up of little moments.
    • Meaning is measured by these moments.

Transition Out

  • How is the meaning of your life measured?

Final Thoughts

I vaguely remember this message and that it kind of went over the kids heads. I tend to be incredibly interactive with my messages, especially with kids so my notes are all over the place here. I must have created this sermon within a short window because I couldn’t find any drafts outside of this one.

Looks like a one-and-done sermon outline I bet I made the day before church. Anyways, neat find as I continue to press on and Lord willing finish my book sometime in the new year. With that, Godspeed and Jesus bless.

Luke: Humility and Faith | 7-16-2023

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Photo Cred: (1) | Updated: 11/1/2024

Sermon Prep

The summer months of 2023 were defined by greats highs and lows for me. To start, at my job I began looking for new opportunities about mid-May. Gave it a chance at my role and realized I just couldn’t longterm deal with the leadership above me (i.e. 2 people specifically). By mid-July, I booked what would now be my second job change in 2023 and had the first initial recruiter meeting set for that Friday before I shared this message. It took 3 months to find a new role and yet this wouldn’t be the last of my job hunting in 2023, but we’ll get to that down the road.

As far as good things go, it was a fun season in the summer. We had a wedding that we got to attend, I placed 2nd at the Celtic Bison Strongman Show and I performed okay, along with us becoming a 2 car family too. During the summer, I was reading Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortlund which informed a lot of my thinking at this time. I think there’s hints of his work throughout the sermons I shared in this season.

But for me looking back, there were 2 moments that defined these summer months: the Oregon vacation and the passing of Pastor Avant Ramsey. In fact, both things happened simultaneously in the first half of June. It truly was an emotional tension between one of the greatest vacations of my life and one of the saddest funerals I’ve ever attended thus far.

As far as that vacation in Oregon goes, it really was an amazing way to celebrate my birthday. It’s one of my favorite places ever right along the coast where the mountains meet the seashore. Glory and I loved it so much in fact, that we hope one day to live on the coast of Oregon. It was on the second day of that trip where I got the message from my friend Andrew that Pastor Avant Ramsey passed away.

I’m not going to claim that he was one of the mentors that made me a man like I have for others on here, but he did mean a lot to me and my family. Heck, our whole community loved Avant! He just was one of those guys that lived a good, godly life. A quiet giant and friendly leader at my family’s old church. I’ll always remember him as gentle and lowly. It’s with these various changes in life that I preached this message below:

Sermon Notes

Opening Line

  • Life with Jesus is humility, then faith.

Intro

  • John teaching me how to catch a football.
    • Problem (Humility) = Couldn’t catch football.
    • Bridge (Faith) = Trust John’s help.
    • Solution (Grace) = John teaches me.

Transition To Main Point

  • Responding to God’s grace requires humility, then faith. It’s the transformative 1-2 punch.

Main Point

  • The kingdom life is humility and faith.
  • Luke 17:1-4 | Temptation and Forgiveness
    • Gives warning to temptors, then command to victims of sin. This applies to both.
    • Matthew 18:1-6 shows children there too.
    • A Christian has child-like humility and faith.
      • Talking about children and Christians.
    • Only the humble can protect, correct, and forgive other sinners like themself.
  • Luke 17:5-6 | Increasing Our Faith
    • Add to our trust because we’re not able to be humble and obey you.
    • Mulberry Tree = wild, untamed flower that grows in arid and dry climates.
    • A little faith goes a long way to forgive.
  • Luke 17:7-10 | The Unworthy Servants
    • We are the unworthy servants. Not great.
    • There’s no reward for doing the bare minimum of what’s expected of you.
    • Our efforts and works of human holiness are nothing compared to our perfect God.
  • Luke 17:11-19 | Jesus Cleanses Lepers
    • Story of division and exile.
      • Physical, racial, regional; social exile.
    • The lepers were Jewish and Samaritan.
    • The 9 got mercy, but the 1 got grace.
    • He humbled himself and trusted Jesus.

Why This Matters

  • A life in the kingdom of God is defined by a consistent state of humility and faith in Jesus.
  • All Christians have a child-like heart to be gentle and lowly like Jesus.
    • Matthew 11:28-29 and Philippians 2:3-5

Final Thoughts

The analogy at the beginning was a little clunky. The final section about the 10 lepers was my favorite story to share, so I was more enthusiastic for that ending. Beyond that, the feedback I received was that it went really well and I personally thought the execution was excellent. I loved our series in Luke and this was one of those messages where that passion poured through into the prep and preaching.

To be obedient and teach God’s word doesn’t require passion to be faithful, but it certainly doesn’t hurt either. I think this message paints that picture clearly. Like every season there’s “a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance” (2) as King Solomon succinctly put it. It’s just that in some seasons like this one, the spectrum of emotions is a lot more evident. With that, Godspeed and Jesus bless.

Footnotes

  1. https://calvarychapelmagazine.org/articles/avant-testimony
  2. Ecclesiastes 3:4 (NRSVue)

Ecclesiastes: Aging is Meaningless | 11-27-2022

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Photo Cred: (1) | Updated: 7/27/2024

Sermon Prep

Like usual, both good and bad things happened in November of 2022. On the good side, my wife and I moved into our very own apartment on November 12th. It was amazing to have that apartment for the 13 months that we did. To have our own home that’s just for us was something special. It was a 3rd story apartment facing south where you could see Denver and the surrounding mountains. Brand new too, so we were the first to live there and we absolutely loved it.

On the bad side, my job hunt was beginning to get exhausting because I didn’t get any bites. What made matters worse was that on the next day after preaching this sermon, our VP of Sales who internally steered the ship at the company I worked at was unexpectedly fired without warning. For context, this person was the most influential person in our company until the acquisition began to take place earlier in the summer. If anything, this was a cleaning house situation which meant my team was next.

Oddly enough, as my wife’s season of mourning the move away from home and her panic attacks ended around mid-November my life became the living hell next. In retrospect, these first few months of marriage truly felt like a refining time in life. Testing us and our trust in God, which is always good.

In regards to my sermon prep, I don’t think there was all that much to it given how distracted I was at this time. I remember my best idea was referencing the new Lightyear movie as my sermon analogy for the opener. If that’s the best you’ve got for a sermon, then you’re in trouble.

Sure, examples can be good starting points but I had no reference for growing old spiritually. I was 25 and newly married, so life overall was new and exciting in spite of the testing God had us go through. One of my worse messages for sure, but here’s the notes either way.

Sermon Notes

Opening Line

  • Lightyear: Buzz blasts through time to save best friend, but misses his life.
    • Time dilation speeds up time.
    • In my own life, I’ve experienced this.

Intro

  • Read Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14

Transition To Main Point

  • Aging is meaningless without Jesus

Main Point

  • 1) Enjoy life as God intended (Ecc. 11:7-10)
    • Verses 7-8
      • Life is a good gift, but very brief.
      • Days of death outweigh days of life.
    • Verses 9-10
      • Enjoy life now, not later.
      • Avoid evil because God will judge.
  • 2) Live with God before you age out (Ecc. 12:1-7)
    • Verses 1-7
      • If read all at once, text leaves you out of breath. Life runs-on like sentence.
      • Turn to God before time runs out.
  • 3) Trust God as your life-support and light.
    • Only God can bear the weight of your brokenness and save you from sin.
    • There’s your stupid way and then there’s God’s wise way.

Why It Matters

  • With Jesus, growing old has meaning.
  • Aging isn’t something to be avoided, but something to be accepted in humility.

Final Thoughts

At this stage, I was just grateful to get this over with if I’m being honest. Preaching was the last thing on my mind. I was distracted and not ready to talk about the passing of time. The inevitable and all of its deep themes when it comes to becoming older. I’m glad I got to preach and was also glad that our study in Ecclesiastes was ending. With that, Godspeed and Jesus bless.

Footnotes

  1. Angus MacLane. 2022. Lightyear. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Ecclesiastes: Wisdom in a Meaningless World | 11-6-2022

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Photo Cred: (1) | Updated: 7/21/2024

Sermon Prep

I’m usually not one for the charismatic wing of Christianity, but on October 31st of 2022 I journaled a prophetic dream I had the night of the 30th. I’ve had dreams from God like this before, but very rarely. Maybe less then a handful of times in my life where I see what will happen and yet it feels like déjà vu all at the same time.

In this dream, here’s what I remembered and jotted down on Halloween morning:

“Had a beautiful dream this past night. Glory and I were in a hospital. She was in the bed restfully watching me cradle our newborn daughter, Willow. I was standing and rocking her to sleep. As I did that, I sang her a lullaby. It went like this:

My Willow bee, my Willow tree.

Dancing in the wind with me.

Then the dream abruptly ended. It felt so real. I can’t wait to dance with my Willow.”

Fast forward to now and my wife is nearly 28 weeks pregnant with our baby girl who is due October 17th. It’s almost to the day that God gave me that initial dream 2 years ago. It’s so strange seeing how things have played out so far and we cannot wait to meet our baby Willow.

In the everyday of this season, we had immediate big changes in life too. On November 1st, we signed for our very own apartment for just the two of us. We didn’t mind having my best friend Daniel be our roommate, but we needed our own space for our own family and found one.

It’s ironic posting this given the nature of the world right now and how foolish everything seems. I remember this was one of those messages where I felt foolish for trying to tell everyone what wisdom was in life. What would a guy like me know about wisdom when I haven’t wised up myself? Regardless, here’s the notes I had for this one below.

Sermon Notes

Opening Line

  • CFS story of terrible writer succeeding
  • Dropped out to help youth group; gave up
  • The fool prospered, but the upright lost

Intro

  • Read Psalm 92 out loud together

Transition to Main Point

  • What’s wisdom in a meaningless world?

Main Point

  • 1) God has a design for everything
  • Read Ecclesiastes 10:2
  • There’s a right and wrong way to life.
  • Read Ecclesiastes 7:12
  • “Privilege isn’t money, it’s info.” – Nathan Smith
  • Wisdom is knowing God’s design and living well within that way of life.
  • 2) Sin leads to brokenness/meaninglessness
  • Read Ecclesiastes 7:29
  • All people have chosen evil over good.
  • Read Ecclesiastes 9:11-12
  • No good you do can overcome an evil world.
  • 3) The Gospel is the answer
  • Read Ecclesiastes 9:13-16
  • This passage parallels the life of Jesus.
  • Wisdom is a person and we trust him.
  • 4) The Gospel allows us to recover and pursue God’s wise design
  • Read Ecclesiastes 8:12-13, 15
  • Evil will have its end eventually, so live well within God’s wise design.

Why It Matters

  • The Gospel is our guide to a good life.
  • For those of you who don’t know it:
  • 1) God made everything good.
  • 2) We made everything bad.
  • 3) Jesus has made and will make everything better.
  • 4) Now we believe in what Jesus did and trust him with what he’s going to do for our best.
  • In order to live by God’s wise design, we have to accept the Gospel.
  • Once accepted, you’ll find the right way and a wise life.

Final Thoughts

Conceptually, I see what I was going for here. The ingredients are there for something interesting, yet the mixture is a bad batch. I often do that when I don’t know what I’m talking about, I go broad with the vague concept and only reach a few. But if I went specific with the idea and really lean into the applicability of it, then many would have been reached by this message.

Like with any communication, universal appeal is found in the specific reveal. Again, I just wasn’t at a spiritual maturity to share this message and provide that specific reveal of truth. With that, Godspeed and Jesus bless.

Footnotes

  1. Community College of Aurora, Lowry Campus

Ecclesiastes: Money is Meaningless | 10-30-2022

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Photo Cred: (1) | Updated: 2/19/2024

Sermon Prep

My Glory admiring God’s creation in Winter Park, CO.

As alluded to in the previous Ecclesiastes sermon reviews, work was beginning to get tense. To get away from both my work and other frustrations in life, my wife Glory and I went on an impromptu weekend trip to Winter Park, CO the weekend before I shared this sermon. That getaway was huge in resetting ourselves from the hurry of life.

What made the trip even better was how empty the town was because ski season hadn’t started yet, so it was fairly vacant the whole trip. Since the honeymoon it was our first getaway too, which also made it special for us. Overall, leaving the hustle of the everyday and just running off to the mountains is a fantastic way to care for your soul.

On this message, the actual prep I think was better with a clearer mind. Throughout this whole holiday season work was a major stressor, but there were times when it winded down a tad. This week of prep was one of them and that was very beneficial. With that, here’s the notes for this sermon:

Sermon Notes

Opening Line

  • Disney day with Glory (i.e. Princess and the Frog)
  • Tales of the Jedi was so dope
  • Tiana = waitress saving for restaurant
  • Prince Naveen = cut off from fortune
  • Get married and open restaurant
  • Money motivates a lot of our life.

Intro

  • Read Ecclesiastes 4:7-12, 5:10-6:12

Transition To Main Point

  • Money is meaningless without Jesus.

Main Point

  • Pursuing purpose in money is meaningless.
  • You’ll never have enough (Ecc. 5:10)
  • You’ll attract freeloaders (Ecc. 5:11)
  • You won’t sleep well (Ecc. 5:12)
  • You’ll hurt yourself (Ecc. 5:13)
  • You’ll never be totally secure (Ecc. 5:14)
  • You’ll leave it all behind (Ecc. 5:15-16)
  • You’ll be a miserable person (Ecc. 5:17)

Why It Matters

  • Meaningful relationships (Ecc. 4:7-12)
  • Friends (Ecc. 4:9-10)
  • Family (Ecc. 4:11)
  • Co-workers (Ecc. 4:12)
  • Contentment and joy in God’s gifts (Ecc. 5:18-6:9)
  • Knowing Jesus (Ecc. 6:10-12)
  • Money only has meaning when we invest in those things that have eternal significance.

Final Thoughts

Of the 5 sermons I did in this series on Ecclesiastes, this is my favorite. I think it went the best out of this batch. The structure is a bit odd, but pretty decent message that is conveyed well throughout. With that, Godspeed and Jesus bless.

Footnotes

  1. John Musker & Ron Clements. 2009. The Princess and the Frog. Walt Disney Productions.

Ecclesiastes: Justice and Politics is Meaningless | 10-16-2022

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Photo Cred: (1) | Updated: 2/3/2024

Sermon Prep

Similar to the previous sermon I shared, this was a season where it’s a more melancholy time compared to the mountaintop experience of the honeymoon high. Again, lots of great and good changes happened in this time too. We were apartment shopping and began getting ready to move, which was amazing! We were in the beginning stages of our marriage and that was wonderful as well. I was in a men’s morning small group with my father-in-law that I loved.

And yet the work environment was escalating. Around this time we had a meeting with a C-suite executive at my former company and that permanently muddied the waters of trust. It was one of those meetings that was supposed to reassure people they weren’t going to be let go in the New Year and yet afterwards everyone had the same thought: we’re being laid off next year.

What only added to the distrust was the mixed messaging we heard from those in higher-up meetings and what was told to us directly. Rarely was it the same thing we heard. This was a long month for me.

Now back to the sermon prep, I think all of the sermons from this series in particular feel surface-level. None of them I think were good messages and I think with hindsight I can now see why. For starters, I wasn’t invested and diligent enough to grasp these Scriptures fully. I was too invested in saving my skin in the final quarter of the year and overwhelmed by the pressures of the season to be faithful in this area.

The other reason is more forgivable and that would simply be a lack of life lived to exposit these critical passages in the Bible. How can your average 20-something American preach on the meaninglessness of life? I was barely 25 then and as I’m almost 27 now, I don’t know if I can properly express what one of the wisest men on Earth meant when he wrote these things.

Lastly, I’m a meditative teacher. I can’t pray, prep, and present a sermon within a small window of time. I’m not gifted like other preachers in that way. I have to dwell and remain with a passage of Scripture before I ever share it. Otherwise, I never get to the meat of the message. Speaking of meat, here’s the notes from this sermon:

Sermon Notes

Opening Line

  • I love political ads. They’re so fun.
  • We live in an unjust society with a political system poisoned by the power-hungry.

Intro

  • Read Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:3, 5:8-9

Transition To Main Point

  • Justice and politics is meaningless without Jesus.

Main Point

  • Justice is meaningless
  • Ecclesiastes 3:16-17
  • Life isn’t fair, but we know it should be fair.
  • We’re just like animals
  • Ecclesiastes 3:18-22
  • In the animal kingdom, the law of the land is reciprocity and revenge.
  • We want what’s just for me, not justice.
  • Politics is meaningless
  • Ecclesiastes 4:1-3, 5:8-9
  • We were made for the Garden of Eden, but live in the Garden of Gethsemane.
  • Broken order bleeds chaos.
  • Checks and balances enables oppression.

Why It Matters

  • Without Jesus, chaos cannot be brought to order and wrongs cannot be made right.
  • With Jesus, we can make sense of justice and politics in our world.
  • Read Isaiah 55:6-9, 57:15b.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts… I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the Spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Isaiah 55:6-9, 57:15b (See also Psalm 103:11)
  • Today, Jesus is gentle and lowly to those who suffer in our broken world.
  • One day, Jesus will judge evil and the wicked as he commands chaos into order.

Final Thoughts

Given the current political climate and polarization in the world, a sermon like this just doesn’t cut it. Yes, there’s good stuff here and yet I wasn’t empathetic enough to those who have been harmed by systems that suppress them. I didn’t take the care again that these messages require.

This series isn’t my favorite that I’ve been apart of at Reunion Church, although I remember our Table Talks going great so there’s that. But even in my nitpicking, the message was shared and that’s what ultimately counts. Not my feelings but rather my faithfulness in sharing God’s word. With that, Godspeed and Jesus bless.

Footnotes

  1. https://www.pexels.com/

Ecclesiastes: Your Dream is Meaningless | 10-2-2022

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Photo Cred: (1) | Updated: 1/20/2024

Sermon Prep

Often times people describe the honeymoon phase as carefree and pure bliss. A short period of time where everything is perfect and nothing can go wrong. I think that Glory and I first experienced this during our dating and engagement days. Then that phase ended just over a month after our honeymoon. Never felt anything quite like that time in my life and I will always treasure that time with my Glory.

Once that mountaintop experience ended reality set in not just of ourselves, but of life overall. Not that life has been downhill since then, but rather that my wife and I entered a new phase: lament. Around mid-September of 2022, life pivoted from joy to lament. Not just for us, but others very close to us too.

For us, I grappled with how to comfort my wife’s panic attacks that didn’t just happen daily, but multiple times per day. It was emotionally brutal. I failed to understand the extent of what it meant for her to mourn moving away from her childhood home and family to be with me in our new home. Here’s an excerpt I wrote in my journal about this season:

“At a loss on how to help. How to help. What to do. Just defeated. Pretty tired too. There’s been a lot of late nights like this one. I’m worn out. Body aches. Mind races. Just drained. I relate to today’s Psalm a lot [Psalm 88]. It describes what I can’t. I’m so tired. God, help us to rest in you.”

Beyond my wife understandably feeling homesick after the honeymoon phase, other things brought about this tough timeframe. Two women within the span of a week were raped in our community. Decades-long friendships ended between people we knew due to evil in-fighting and gossip. On top of that, my once steady job was beginning to crumble as layoff rumors swirled due to an acquisition. It quickly shifted from cherished days to chaotic ones seemingly out of nowhere.

It’s with this backdrop that our church began a new series in the book of Ecclesiastes. Starting a series on the meaninglessness of life was quite good timing on God’s part. Exploring the emptiness of the season during what should the happiest time of the year leading into fall and the holidays. With that all in mind, here’s the notes from my sermon:

Sermon Notes

Opening Line

  • 1940s vs Disney+ Pinocchio.
  • Pinocchio is a retelling of the prodigal son.
  • Self-indulgence isn’t fulfilling; sacrifice is.

Intro

  • Read Ecclesiastes 2

Transition To Main Point

  • Pleasure, wisdom; work are meaningless without Jesus.

Main Point

  • Pleasure is meaningless (Read Ecclesiastes 2:1-11)
  • Wisdom is meaningless (Read Ecclesiastes 2:12-17)
  • Work is meaningless (Read Ecclesiastes 2:18-23)
  • Contentment is meaningful (Read Ecclesiastes 2:24-26)

Why It Matters

  • Nothing created can fulfill you.
  • Comforts can’t conform your heart to be like Christ, but the challenge of change will.
  • True joy is in jagged transformation.
  • There’s a purpose to life’s greatest pursuits.
  • That grand design is to enjoy the things of Earth with Jesus.
  • Life is pains and pleasures, but Jesus is our joy.
  • He makes the mess make sense.
  • Creation was intentionally untamed.
  • “We’re not made for Disney World” as Peter Kreeft put it, but rather for the Garden of Eden.
  • The adventure God has for us is this: he creates, we cultivate.
  • Your aim in life should be to embark on the adventure God has for you.
  • Now go and wander with the way-maker.

Final Thoughts

This one is a step above my last sermon for sure. I think with everything that was going on at the time, I leaned into the seriousness of it all a bit more in the delivery of the message. The ending wrap-up is messy and needed some refinement, but I remember the sharing of the sermon being good. With that, Godspeed and Jesus bless.

Footnotes

  1. Ben Sharpsteen & Hamilton Luske. 1940. Pinocchio. Walt Disney Productions.