Remember Your Creator – Pt 1
Are you viewing life from a human perspective or from Heaven’s perspective?
Ecclesiastes 1:1-18 (NLT)
1 These are the words of the Teacher, King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem.
2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
3 What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. 6 The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. 7 Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. 8 Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
9 History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. 10 Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. 11 We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.
12 I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race. 14 I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.
15 What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered.
16 I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.” 17 So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.
18 The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.
LIVING FROM HEAVEN’S PERSPECTIVE:
1. Find true satisfaction from your Creator, not in what he created.
DIFFERENT AREAS PEOPLE LOOK FOR MEANING:
– Education
– Pleasure
– Wealth
– Work
2. God rules with supreme authority over time and eternity.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 (NLT)
For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do people really get for all their hard work? 10 I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. 11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. 12 So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. 13 And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.
14 And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. 15 What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.
3. Enjoy the fruits of your labor, for they are gifts from God.
Mark 8:35-38 (NLT)
35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
SMALL GROUP MEETING OUTLINE
Where your faith intersects with real life!
Reconnect:
Each person shares a recent high and low from their life.
Explore:
Review the message notes.
Big Idea: Nothing on the earth will truly satisfy your soul. Enjoy life by finding satisfaction from your Creator, not in the things he created.
Consider:
Choose one or two questions for your Group to discuss as time allows.
▶ Read Ecclesiastes 1:1-8. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being pretty uncomfortable and 10 being just fine, how comfortable are you with the word “mystery” when you don’t understand what the Lord may be doing or when things happen that you don’t understand? What would it take to raise the number?
▶ Read Ecclesiastes 1:12-14. Which of the four areas people search for meaning (education, pleasure, wealth, or work) seem like they could be satisfying and what makes them ultimately not satisfying?
▶ Read Ecclesiastes 3:13. What are some fruits of your labor that you can enjoy as a matter of stewardship?
Activate:
Spend a moment in silence to consider your response, then share with the Group.
Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Ask God to show you these three things:
– What word stands out as a time you are in right now?
– How is he using this time to change you?
– How can you participate in what he is doing in your life?
Prayer:
Thank God for the highs and lift up the lows.
Ask God to help us all embrace the mysteries of our faith and honor Him with our lives.