How do I Finish Well?

How can we live in a way that people will say good things about us when we’re gone?

Podcast: Download (Duration: 32:54 — 22.7MB)

What does a life well-lived look like?  How can we live in a way that people will say good things about us when we’re gone?  That’s how Solomon finishes Ecclesiastes: his commentary on life under the sun.  He gives us practical advice on finishing life well under the sun:

  • How to avoid foolishness by asking yourself two powerful questions.
  • The value of hard work over entitlement.
  • Sharpening your axe rather than banging at trees with a dull blade.
  • Making good money decisions and leaving an inheritance for your grandkids.
  • Knowing what you’re about and have a bias toward action.  This keeps your “want tos” from turning into your “I wish I would haves.”

Finally, he reminds us the value of choosing joy in every season of life.  Whether we’re young or old, joy is a decision we have to intentionally make.  Perhaps the greatest key to choosing joy is a healthy fear of God—the one thing Solomon advises above all else.

His reasoning is simple: a healthy fear of God frees you from fearing anything life might throw at you.  Once we know what it means to fear God, we’ll never truly know fear again.

(This message is based on Ecclesiastes 10.1-12.14)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 32:54 — 22.7MB)

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Asking for a FrienidWhat we all think but think we shouldn't

The longer I'm in ministry, the more I'm convinced: we all have the same questions and insecurities. And, we assume no one else would understand the thoughts and fears inside our head. It leaves us unnecessarily isolated. Alone in our own heads.

Solomon, another human, had the same questions. He feared the same things. He wrote a book about them: Ecclesiastes.

It's honest. Uncomfortable. Liberating.

Ecclesiastes addresses issues like boredom, death, lack of purpose and meaning, depression, social injustice, work-life balance, and loneliness. Too often, the "guidance" we receive on these matters is: Just have faith. Be thankful. Don't think about it. Or, What's wrong with you?

Needless to say, this falls short. Thanks to Solomon, we can do better than that. This is a sermon series on his book, Ecclesiastes.

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