Praise God, from whom all blessings flow… This morning’s Gospel Invitation from John 3 makes it very clear—because God loves, He gives. We serve a generous Lord who promises blessing even in a world where the days of darkness are many and when all is vanity under the sun (Ecclesiastes 11:8). This is the same God who, in Psalm 112,…
The “profile of foolishness” in this morning’s sermon text paints a devastating picture of our fallen world, where the vile and ugly are celebrated while the beautiful and noble are torn down (Ecclesiastes 10:6-7). Worse yet, the foolishness of the world is not limited to the society around us but penetrates our very hearts as well. As we sing today,…
After several chapters filled with frustration and seeming pessimism, here in today’s sermon text the Preacher of Ecclesiastes comes to some surprising conclusions: “eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart” (vs. 7), “Let your garments be always white” (vs. 8), “Enjoy life” (vs. 9). Having come to terms with his inability to know…
The Westminster Confession of Faith states that “The distance between God and the creation is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto Him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of Him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part…” (WCF 7.1). Here in chapter 8 of Ecclesiastes, the…
In the second half of Ecclesiastes 7, Solomon adopts the style of the book of Proverbs, with multiple aphorisms on the topic of wisdom. He compares the wisdom of God (“I turned my heart … to seek wisdom,” vs. 25) with the foolish schemes of mankind (“wickedness of folly,” also vs. 25; “they have sought out many schemes,” vs. 29).…
There is an internet meme well known to folks of my generation that goes something like, “We are the middle children of history—born too late to explore the earth, born too early to explore the galaxy.” This is usually followed by a third phrase: “born at just the right time to ___,” where the blank is often a piece of…
In this morning’s sermon text, the Preacher of Ecclesiastes exposes the utter futility of materialism: “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). By contrast, the hymns we sing will point us away from the fruitless search for worldly wealth and success, looking to…
We open and close the service this morning with two classic hymns which joyfully proclaim the transcendence of God. God, My King, Thy Might Confessing asks the question “who can reach His majesty,” and calls us to proclaim to a watching world His “dread acts,” “deeds of wonder,” and His “sovereign power.” O Worship The King presents us as the…
In the long list of “evil deeds that are done under the sun” in Ecclesiastes 4, Solomon makes special mention of loneliness: “woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up” (vs. 10), and “how can one keep warm alone” (vs. 11). By contrast, many of the hymns we sing this morning…
In this week’s sermon passage, Solomon wrestles with the unjust state of the world. Everywhere he looked, he found wickedness and oppression. We too have reason to lament when we see “evil […] prosper in the land” (Fret Not Yourself—Psalm 37), when we encounter “change and decay” (Abide With Me), when we must confront the sin we find in…