Introduction:
Your Best Life (For Now...):
(Ecclesiastes 10:16-12:8)
- Be a good citizen without an Attitude . (Eccl 10:16-20)
- Give generously without Hesitation . (Eccl 11:1-6)
3 Reasons to Give Generously:
- God Gives Back to the Generous. (Eccl 11:1-2)
2 Corinthians 9:6 - The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
- Giving demonstrates your Faith . (Eccl 11:3-4)
Matthew 6:21 - For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- Giving lets you see God at Work . (Eccl 11:5-6)
- Enjoy life without Regret . (Eccl 11:7-12:8)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:49-00:51
Open up your Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter 10.
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If you're visiting with us today, we've been going through the book of Ecclesiastes and it's a Holy Spirit inspired rant from King Solomon about life.
01:06-01:13
And he's told us, life just often seems empty, doesn't it?
01:16-01:19
And then spoiler alert, he's told us that eventually He's going to die.
01:22-01:29
And through his discovery of the meaning of life, he's told us that so much cannot be figured out.
01:32-01:34
Life has to be taken from the hand of God.
01:35-01:37
Because God gives enjoyment.
01:38-01:39
God gives contentment.
01:40-02:47
So, everything that we have covered so far in Ecclesiastes really just the introduction. Because this passage here is the sermon. Because the question is, well then how should we live if all this is true, we can't figure out life and someday we're gonna die and there's so much that is just frustrating and irritating about life. How should I live day to day? That's what he tells us here. So, At the risk of starting a riot to borrow terminology from Joel Osteen on the top of your outline, we're just saying your best life for now. I don't believe this is your best life now. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, your best life is ahead. But I think if we had Solomon here, we said Solomon in light of everything you said, how can we live our best life for now on the earth? This is what he would tell us. All right, number one, write this down, be a good citizen Be a good citizen without an attitude.
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Look at verses 16 and 17.
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He says, "Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and your princes feast in the morning.
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Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility and your princes feast at the proper time for strength and not for drunkenness." And he tells us again, "Not all government is good." He says, "Woe to you, Olan, when your king is a child." He's not necessarily talking about age as much as he's talking about maturity.
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Because some governments are led by weak, incompetent, untrustworthy, self-serving people.
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And their lack of wisdom should not surprise us, is what Solomon's saying.
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He says, "Some leaders just neglect their duties." So verse 18, he says, "Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks." So, why does the house leak?
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It's laziness.
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And obviously Solomon here is comparing a nation to a house.
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Right?
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And that's the funny thing about laziness.
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It doesn't bring the lightning bolt of God's judgment.
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Laziness just leads to a very subtle decay.
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A very slow crumbling in your house and in a country.
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Look at verse 19.
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He says, "Bread is made for laughter and wine gladdens life and money answers everything." And I did a lot of reading this week, like what's he saying here? And you know, read about 20 different books and got about 25 different opinions on this. But this is obviously, I think, to be taken facetiously. Right? This is the motto of the lazy, irresponsible person.
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He says bread is made for laughter. Really? Is that why bread exists?
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Of course not, right?
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Wine gladdens life, really? Is alcohol the answer to make you have a happy life?
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I know a lot of people would say otherwise. Money answers everything, come on.
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Come on.
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This is what lazy, irresponsible people say.
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Life is not just nothing but food and wine and money.
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So Solomon reminds us that not all governments are good.
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And right now, there's somebody right here, there's somebody watching this stream, that are like, "Man, Pastor Jeff, you're not gonna sell me on this." Please let me tell you something, man.
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The government is full of the most vile, disgusting, abominable human pieces of trash to ever...
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Hold on there.
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Keep reading what he says.
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Solomon wasn't bringing this up just to start an argument.
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Look at what he says, verse 20.
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"Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king, nor in your bedroom, curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter." Have you ever heard that expression?
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A little birdie told me, have you ever heard that?
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That's where that comes from.
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A little birdie told me something.
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Solomon's not saying that the king might hear you say something bad about him and punish you.
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What he's saying is, "Listen, somebody needs to hear this today." He's saying, "Complaining about leadership in the country does nothing but spread negativity and toxicity." It's not healthy and it's not productive.
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So if you're a person who is constantly complaining about the government, look, we're not making a political statement here, all right?
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But if you're a person that's constantly complaining about the government, Solomon says you really need to hit the brakes on that.
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Do you notice he says, even in your thoughts, even in your thoughts.
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What Solomon is saying here is, it doesn't do any good to spread negativity when you're constantly complaining about the leadership, whatever your political persuasion is.
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It's just toxic.
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What I mean is, I'm old enough to remember back when it was fun to scroll through social media.
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There was a day I enjoyed going through Facebook because, oh, look, oh, look, you know, these friends of mine that live in Ohio, they just got a new puppy.
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Look how cute their puppy is.
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Oh, these friends of mine that are missionaries, oh, look over there, they're on vacation.
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Look how nice.
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They used to be fun to see what people were doing.
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And now you scroll through and it's like the current president this and the former president that.
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And it's just like, I got to a point a few years ago where I was just like, what am I doing?
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Like I'm stirred up and annoyed and frustrated every time I get on here.
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Why am I getting on here?
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That's exactly what Solomon's talking about here.
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That's why he says, even in your thoughts, even in your thoughts, don't be consumed by what's happening in government.
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Government is God's idea, so be a good citizen.
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Well, what if the government's corrupt?
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Then I would say, you need to check out three sermons ago because we covered this.
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But I would just say today, listen, respect the position even if you can't respect the person.
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Solomon says, "The wise are prudent in what they say, even in private, even in their heads." Be a good citizen without an attitude.
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Alright?
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Number two, how should we live in light of everything he said?
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He says you've got to be a good citizen without an attitude, but number two, give generously without hesitation. Give generously without hesitation.
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You know, when I was a teenager, my brother was in this band and they get their picture taken.
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They were in the newspaper.
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Do you guys all know what a newspaper is?
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Okay. Everybody that was on the stage here, let me explain what a newspaper is.
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Was this, you know, big sheet with print and it would tell you, you didn't have to log in or anything.
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It was just like paper and it would tell you what was happening.
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But anyways, my brother's band was in the newspaper and a friend of ours said, "Hey, I'll get you a couple copies of that paper." So I remember he came to our house and my mom answered the door and he goes, "Hey, I got a couple copies of that paper that your son's band is in." And my mom goes, "Oh, thank you very much." and she took the newspapers and he stood there for a minute.
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She goes, "Hey, I really appreciate you bringing those." You're welcome.
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Stood there for a minute.
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And then finally he said, "Yeah, those were 25 cents each." My point is, and Solomon's point here is don't be that guy.
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Don't be that guy.
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Your life should be characterized by generosity.
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One of the most disbelieved verses in the entire Bible, do you know what it is?
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It's when Jesus said, "It's more blessed to give "than to receive," as recorded in Acts 20.
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Your life, if you're a born again believer in Christ, your life should be characterized by generosity.
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And Saul tells us why, because maybe there's somebody here that's not sold on that.
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Well, Solomon tells us why and he gives a group of Proverbs to explain.
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So on your outline, three reasons to give generously.
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Now I'm gonna go through these very quickly.
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Understand this could be and was a whole sermon series, but he just gives us three reasons to give generously.
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Number A, letter one, letter A, God gives back to the generous.
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God gives back to the generous.
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Look at chapter 11, verse one.
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He says, "Cast your bread upon the waters, "For you will find it after many days." Casting your bread on the water, that was a Hebrew expression for being wasteful.
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That's just like throwing your bread on the water.
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What happens if you throw your bread on the water?
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It's going to dissolve, the fish are going to eat it, it's done.
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It's being wasteful.
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Now Solomon here is not saying to be wasteful or be reckless.
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It's a picture of giving By taking a chance.
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Like, what do you mean?
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You know what I mean.
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Have you ever thought about giving to someone and you thought, I don't know if their need is real or not, they might just waste it.
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Have you ever had that thought?
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I'd like to give to help this person, but they just might waste it.
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And what Solomon's saying here is, err on the side of generosity.
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Cast your bread on the waters.
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Take a chance to meet a real need.
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Jesus expects us to give to the needy, Matthew 6.2.
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So I would say be wise about it.
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Yes, be wise about it, absolutely.
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But do it.
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Give freely and give generously.
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Like why should I do that?
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it's going to come back to you. God will make sure that when you give, you will get back.
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More on that in a second. Look at verse 2. He says, "Give a portion to seven or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. Give widely, give to as many people as you can. Don't limit yourself. And his point here is, you know, you might go through hard times and one of these people that you helped might pay you back. It's coming back. It's coming back proportionately to how you give. And amazingly, the Bible says the more that you give, the more God gives back to you. Right? 2 Corinthians 9.6. Again, context is money. Paul says the point is this, "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." It's a law of agriculture, right?
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If you plant one or two seed, you're going to have one or two plants. But if you go with a bucket of seed and just plant, you're going to have plants everywhere, right? The more you plant, the more it's going to grow. And Paul says spiritually, that's a law that also applies to giving. The more you give, the more God's going to give back to you. I'm going to explain how in a second, because Solomon gets into that. Solomon tells us exactly how that happens. Have you ever wondered? He's going to tell us. But first, letter B, three reasons to give generously. God gives back to the generous. Letter B, giving demonstrates your faith. Giving demonstrates your faith. Look at verse 3. He says, "If the clouds are are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth.
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And if a tree falls to the south or to the north and the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
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Okay, first of all, the clouds, right?
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A cloud full of rain empties itself on the earth.
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Obvious picture there, right?
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The giving as a natural outflow of a full life.
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A life that receives blessing from God and acknowledges that, can't help but shower that blessing upon others.
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Like, okay, yeah, yeah, Jeff, I got the cloud thing, but what's with the tree?
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Solomon says, wherever it falls, there it is.
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Like, what's the point of that?
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The point of that is this, wherever God placed you, geographically, in this period of history, wherever God has placed you, that's where He wants you.
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Another way of saying this is bloom where you're planted.
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Bloom where you're planted.
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Well, what's the point of that?
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You need to meet the needs around you that you're aware of.
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Here's the thing.
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You can't meet the needs of everyone everywhere, can you?
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You're not even aware of the needs of everyone everywhere.
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And even if you were, you do not have the resources or the capacity to give to all the needs everywhere.
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Think about whether it's these poor missionaries in Asia, these children in Africa, we got these friends that...
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He's like, "Just look in your circle.
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Where do you see a need?
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Because that's why God has you where He does.
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To meet the needs that you're aware of around you.
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Right?
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Verse 4, He says, "He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap." "Don't wait for the perfect time to give," is what He's saying.
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For some people they say, "You know what? Look, Pastor Jeff, I'm sold on generosity.
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I think giving is so important, but my income is limited.
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I'll tell you what, Pastor Jeff, when I get more, I'll give more.
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No, you won't.
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You won't.
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And I think when you say that, you feel like you really want to, but the truth is, getting more doesn't mean you're going to give.
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If you can't give a dime out of a dollar, you're not going to give $10 out of $100.
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not gonna do it. And that's what he's saying here.
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Don't wait for the perfect time to give because you never will. It's like saying you know I've heard young couples say this, it's appropriate during infant dedication, child dedication here, but I've heard young couples say well we'll have kids when we can afford them.
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"Oh, so you're not planning on having children?" "You're never going to be able to afford kids." "Have you been around a kid?" "They're just constantly like, eating!" "I'll have kids when I can afford them." "Alright." That's what he's talking about here.
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But here's his point.
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Church, there is no more concrete evidence of where your faith is and how you spend your money.
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If you're looking for a concrete evidence, am I really a believer?
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Do I really believe in Jesus and his promises and heaven?
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Do I really believe all that?
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There's no bigger evidence than what you do with money.
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Jesus said in Matthew 6.21, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." And we so badly want to make that vice versa.
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where my heart is, that's where my treasure is.
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Oh, my heart's with missions, and my heart's with the poor, and my heart's with...
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In other words, show me your checkbook and I'll show you where your heart is.
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That's what Jesus was saying.
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Show me where you spend your money, and from that list, from your ledger, I'll be able to tell you exactly where your heart is.
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Giving demonstrates your faith, or lack of faith.
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Three reasons to give generously, God gives back, to the generous giving demonstrates your faith, and last and probably most awesome of these, giving lets you see God at work.
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Because you might be like, "Okay, you said earlier, giving's an act of faith, and you're saying that when I give, God gives back, but my question is, how exactly does God give back?
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Okay, so I give to a missionary, I know somebody in need, and I give unto the Lord.
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Does he like rain it from heaven?
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Do I have a tree suddenly grows up in my backyard that has nothing but like $5 bills on it?
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How exactly does God give back?
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Your answer's in verse 5.
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He says, "As you do not know the way the Spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything." There's your answer.
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How does God give back?
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I don't know.
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You don't know either, by the way, before you start throwing insults at me for not knowing.
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You don't know.
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You don't know.
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How does God give back?
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I don't know.
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Solomon says, "You don't even know, you don't even know how a spirit enters a person's body while they're developing in the mother's womb.
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You don't even know how that happens." And we just saw with our dedication up here, that's something that happens right in front of our face every single day, all over the world, and it has for thousands of years, like people being born, people being born.
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We see that all the time, don't we?
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People being born.
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He says, "You have no idea what happens there, that somehow, upon conception, okay, this human tissue is being formed in the womb, but a spirit goes into that tissue, and you have no idea how that happens.
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I don't know how that happens.
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I can barely wrap my brain around the biological functions that accompany, you know, the developing, you know, fetus in the womb, let alone," he says, "there's something supernatural that happens and you can't explain that. Oh, by the way, I think we should point out here that he is very clearly saying in God's Word that a fetus is a person with a spirit. You know, for the people that claim they're people of faith or claim they're Christians and say abortion is okay, Solomon says that fetus has a human spirit.
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But his main point here regarding money is like, "Look, we don't understand how God works, but He does.
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He just does. I give and God gives back to me.
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I can't explain it, but He does." And all I can tell you is I've seen it in my own life.
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If there was a time in our family, things were tight, but Aaron and I have always committed to giving God first and best.
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Every paycheck, anything that comes in, God gets the first portion and he gets the best portion.
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And she can tell you, there was a season in our lives where we were like three or $400 in the hole every month when we did our budget, but somehow we never were.
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And I can't explain that.
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And my wife works in finance.
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We couldn't explain it.
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How is it that according to the paper, we're in the hole, but we never are?
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It's because God's at work and we can't explain it.
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And I don't even have time to tell you today of all the testimonies I've heard from people.
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And Pastor Jeff, my finances were a wreck and I couldn't make ends meet and nothing was working out, but finally I said, you know what, God?
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I'm just gonna give you, I'll give to you first, and whatever happens, if I end up living in a cardboard box, I guess that's what's gonna happen.
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But I'm giving to God first.
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I've heard so many people say, Pastor Jim, as soon as I started doing that, my finances went 180.
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And I can't explain it.
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I can't understand how my income hasn't changed.
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The only thing that changed was I give to God first, and now everything's different about my finances.
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And if you don't believe it, try it.
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Give it a try.
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Look at verse 6.
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He says, "In the morning sow your seed, in the evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good." God uses our gift.
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We don't know how, we don't know when.
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He says, "So err on the side of generosity." Err on the side of generosity.
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Parents, teach your kids.
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Look, they can give a dollar.
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If you're older than kid age, you can probably give more.
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The Bible says, "Give what you can." Give what you can.
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We learned back when we studied Jesus feeding the 5,000 men plus women and children with a little boy's lunch.
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One of the big lessons we learn from that is a little bit in God's hands is a lot.
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So if you wanna give unto the Lord and say, well God, this isn't very much, I don't know what the church is gonna do with this, just give it to God.
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He has a way of multiplying things.
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So you wanna see God at work in your life?
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I'm assuming that's why you're here.
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You wanna see God at work in your life?
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Here's how, try this.
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Give, give a lot.
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Give to the church, give to missions, give to those around you in need, and then sit back and watch how God gives back to you so that you have more to give out.
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He'll do it.
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Give generously without hesitation.
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And then finally for today, enjoy life without regret.
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Enjoy life without regret.
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Look at verse seven, he says, "Light is sweet and it is pleasant for the eyes the sun. So, if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. Light is sweet, it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun, the whole imagery of light and sun, it's living in the light of God's love, right? That's an image throughout Scripture. It's living in the love of God. It's described as light. Why? Because the Bible says by nature we are selfish sinners. And Jesus said that men love darkness because their deeds are evil.
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By nature we want to hide our sin.
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We want to stay in the dark.
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We want to live life on our terms, not on God's terms.
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So we want to keep it in the dark.
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And coming to Jesus Christ means stepping out into the light.
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Say, "I'm done hiding.
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I'm done living for my sin.
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I'm turning from that.
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and I'm receiving the gift of salvation that God has given through Jesus Christ.
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Jesus Christ died on the cross to take your sin away.
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He rose from the dead to give you eternal life.
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And He has called you to turn from your sin and receive Him.
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And if you have not done that, it's because of one of two reasons.
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One reason is you don't know the Gospel, which I just explained it, so that reason's off the table.
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But if you have not done that, it means you love your sin more than you love Jesus.
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rather stay in the dark than come to the light.
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And I would challenge you to reconsider that option.
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Solomon says, you want to enjoy life?
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You want to find the meaning of life, you have to enjoy life without regret.
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That's living in the light of God's love.
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God's love makes life worth living.
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And we've seen throughout Ecclesiastes, it's not money, it's not stuff, it's not projects, it's not trying to figure everything out.
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It's not being frustrated with the government as we've seen a few times here.
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It's enjoying every season of your life from the hand of God.
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Look at verse nine.
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He says, "Rejoice, O young man, in your youth and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.
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Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things, God will bring you into judgment." So I wanna talk to the young people here.
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You're like, "Well, who's that?" Well, if you consider yourself a young person, and I'm talking to you, all right?
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Talking to the young people here.
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Solomon is saying, "Your youth is a gift, use it, enjoy it." This is a season of life, young people.
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This is a season of life where you have opportunities that you'll never have again.
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Not only that, but you have the strength to go after these opportunities, And you're not always gonna have that strength.
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So young people, take advantage of that.
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Try new things.
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Travel, meet new people.
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But, he says, you need to know that for all these things, God will bring you into judgment.
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That word for know is more than just intellectual perception.
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He's saying, this is a truth that should shape your life.
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That someday there's going to be an accounting.
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So young people, your opportunity is not always going to be there.
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Solomon says, "Go after it hard, but go after it hard in a way that honors God." In a way that honors God.
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Now, can you be more specific, Solomon?
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Sure, look at the next verse.
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Verse 10, he says, "Remove vexation from your heart and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity." Vexation. Vexation is anger, resentment. What he's saying is, "Hey, teenagers, get the chip off your shoulder. You're not cool, you're not tough, you're not impressing anybody, you're not scaring anybody. Remove vexation from your heart." He says, "And put away pain. Stop harmful practices, drugs, alcohol, vaping, whatever is involved in your life that is abusing your body." He says, "Young people, you got put that stuff away because youth is vanity. Solomon says, "Listen, young people, enjoy your youth. Take advantage of this time where you have strength and opportunity, but keep in mind you want to honor God no matter what you do. Enjoy your youth because it's not going to last forever. You're going to get old." Has anybody noticed? Solomon addresses that last chunk here and if you've made it this far you've unlocked an achievement award you get a star cookie yogi button something look at verse or chapter 12 Solomon talks about getting old he says remember also your creator in the days of your youth before the evil days come in the years drawn near of which you will say I have no pleasure in them before the Sun and the light The moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain.
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And the day the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men are bent and the grinders cease because they are few and those who look through the windows are dimmed.
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When the doors in the street are shut and the sound of the grinding is low, when one rises up at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of song are brought low, they are afraid also of what is high and terrors are in the way.
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The almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails because man is going to his eternal home as the mourners go about the streets. For the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was.
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The Spirit returns to God who gave it.
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"Vanity of vanity," says the preacher. Everything is vanity.
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It's a picture of getting old.
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I could go through and explain what every one of these images means.
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I think you get the point though.
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The point really is in verse 1.
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He says, "Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth." Remember doesn't mean to think about God occasionally.
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What Solomon is saying is, "Listen, don't get so caught up in pursuing worldly things that you neglect to put God first. Young people, you have to seek God now. Young people, listen, you have to serve God now. Why? Because the older you get, the more difficult it gets.
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only because you have the strength and the energy now, but there's another reason. That's this. Older people often get bitter and jaded. A lot of older people refuse to change and they refuse to accept change. And if you're waiting Until you get older, just get serious about God, the day is going to come that you don't even care to.
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Someday it's going to be too late.
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Solomon says now is the time to seek God.
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Now is the time to open your heart to God.
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Now is the time to know God's Word.
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Now is the time to learn to enjoy life from His hand and be content wherever He has you.
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He says, "Enjoy life without regret." I'd like you to bow your heads with me, please.
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Bow with me, please.
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You know, we've covered so many different things in Ecclesiastes and we still have one more to go.
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And sometimes it's hard to look at the whole giant chunk and say, "What am I supposed to do with this?" And Solomon tells us exactly what we're supposed to do with this.
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So if you want to enjoy life from the hand of God, if you want to live your life in a way that not only honors God, but maximizes your happiness, he says just these three things will do it.
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These three things will do it.
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You're going to be a good citizen without an attitude.
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Father, by nature we are so content to just complain about what's happening.
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God, I pray that we would repent of that complaining.
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Father, you tell us to be generous.
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It's so easy to come up with excuses to not give.
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It might get wasted.
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We don't know how he's gonna spend that money.
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Somebody with more money can meet the need.
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And we just make up so many excuses, but your word doesn't give us an out.
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When we've received blessing from you, we're to use that to bless others.
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Father, help us to enjoy life without regret.
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Father, we take advantage of every opportunity.
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We use the strength of our youth, those of us who still have it.
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But God, we wouldn't get so reckless that we do things that we regret, dishonor you.
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Father, I pray that we would embrace this type of lifestyle, because as we've talked about through our infant dedication today, we are teaching these kids the Word of God, but we're also teaching them what it means to follow Jesus Christ by the example that we give.
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So Father, let us show these children this example that You've given us today.
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We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Ecclesiastes 10:16-12:8
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What would you say to a fellow believer who seems to complain too much about the government (Eccl 10:20)? (Maybe: What SHOULD you say?)
How do you know when to give to someone in need (Eccl 11:2)? What makes you hesitate to give? What does Solomon say about giving?
Why is it harder to start seeking the Lord later in life (Eccl 12:1)?
Breakout
Pray for one another.
