God is Greater Than...Pleasure: The first trap to consider is thinking that hedonism, of pursuing pleasure or avoiding pain, will lead to a meaningful life. It's tempting to think that indulging in good food and wine, accomplishing great things, having wealth, being entertained, or having lots of sex is the key to happiness. However, none of these things bring ultimate satisfaction. Is there anything better? Recorded on May 1, 2022, on Ecclesiastes 2:1-11, by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our "God is Greater Than..." sermon series. There are several common traps that human beings have fallen into for thousands of years. Traps of believing that certain pursuits are satisfying enough to take the place of God in your life. But in the end, these pursuits reveal themselves to be ultimately meaningless and lead to a hollow and deeply unsatisfying life. Our series will examine the traps of pursuing pleasure, wisdom, work, and wealth before coming to the conclusion that God is greater than all.

Sermon Transcript

 All year, we’re focusing on, The Greatness of God. And today, we’re continuing a new sermon series we started last week called “God Is Greater Than…” As we said, there are several common traps that human beings have fallen into for thousands of years. These traps are traps of faith, of believing that certain pursuits are big/important/satisfying enough to take the place of God in your life. But in the end, these pursuits lead to a life of hebel, the Hebrew word translated as meaningless; ultimately, these pursuits lead to a life that is hollow and deeply unsatisfying. Our series will examine the traps of pleasure, wisdom, work, and wealth before coming to the conclusion that God is greater than all, and it’s only in him that life has meaning/significance which will last forever. Today, we’ll consider the trap of pursuing a life of pleasure, a life of happiness, a life of self-gratification. How could that be such a bad thing to try and be happy?? If you have a Bible/app, please open to Ecclesiastes 2:1.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 (NIV), “I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives. 4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem[a] as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. 10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” 

So if you missed our series introduction last week, you can go back and watch that if you’d like more background on the book of Ecclesiastes. But we said last week that we’re assuming that King Solomon is the author,