Text: Ecclesiastes 5:10-12

Speaker: Tony de la Riva

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There is nothing new under the sun. That includes humanity's dysfunctional relationship with money and material wealth. What this should clearly teach us is that poverty is not the only trial associated with money. Prosperity is a trial as well, and it comes with its own unique set of temptations and opportunities to sin that poverty does not. If God's people are going to view and handle material wealth in a way that is biblical and that honors the Lord, there are a few things we're going to need to know about money as well as ourselves.

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Woodland Park Bible Church is located in North County, San Diego. Listen, read & learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wpbcSanMarcos.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Text: Ecclesiastes 5:8-9

Speaker: Tony de la Riva

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In Solomon's day, three-thousand years ago, good economic policy looked like a king staying out of his citizens' hair and protecting them instead of trying to control them. In the West in 2025, that's still the case. God has designed government to do one thing: bear the sword for the protection of its people and the peace of society. When it does that, it enables and allows them to be what God designed people to be—namely, as creative and productive as possible with the means, the resources, and the opportunities he has providentially given us.

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Woodland Park Bible Church is located in North County, San Diego. Listen, read & learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wpbcSanMarcos.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Text: Ecclesiastes 5:8-9

Speaker: Tony de la Riva

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It should come as no surprise that Scripture deals with economic policy. After all, Jesus is Lord over all creation, and the great goal of the Christian life is being conformed to the image of Christ, which includes having a biblical worldview. The more biblically Christians think about everything—including government and economics—the more opportunity we'll have to make an impact for Christ, and—more importantly—the more we'll honor him with our minds and our lives.

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Woodland Park Bible Church is located in North County, San Diego. Listen, read & learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wpbcSanMarcos.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Text: Ecclesiastes 5:4-7

Speaker: Tony de la Riva

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God calls his people to walk in integrity and to keep their word. Empty words and broken promises—no matter how well-intended or how spiritual they appear—are foolish, sinful, and a warning sign of a lack of saving faith. This is why the Word of God holds out such severe threats to those who lack integrity. But for those in Christ, God's judgment was absorbed in full by Jesus on the Cross, freeing us not to make excuses, but to walk in repentance, truth, and integrity from the heart.

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Woodland Park Bible Church is located in North County, San Diego. Listen, read & learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wpbcSanMarcos.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Text: Ecclesiastes 5:1-3

Speaker: Tony de la Riva

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'A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in airing his own opinions' (Proverbs 18:2). In other words, wise people are learners, but fools love to hear themselves talk. In the context of the local church, this means that Christians should draw near in a spirit of wisdom and humility—to receive from God and to be edified through his Word. When we fail to do that, the result is confusion, chaos, and stunted spiritual growth for everyone. Today's text teaches us that humility is crucial if we are really going to benefit from the local church the way God intends.

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Woodland Park Bible Church is located in North County, San Diego. Listen, read & learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wpbcSanMarcos.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Text: Ecclesiastes 4:13-16

Speaker: Tony de la Riva

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It's surprising when a government leader claims to be able to solve the world's problems. It's even more surprising when a government leader actually believes that he can. But what is most surprising of all is how people continue to put their hopes in political saviors. Throughout all human history, fewer things are more obvious than government's inability to fix the world, but humanity continues to put its hopes in government. Thankfully, God has something to say to us about that.

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Woodland Park Bible Church is located in North County, San Diego. Listen, read & learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wpbcSanMarcos.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Text: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Speaker: Tony de la Riva

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We live in a day and age that is hostile toward relationships. People don’t see it that way, of course, but when we view social structures as threats to our personal happiness, relationships become our enemies whether we like it or not. Yet, in spite of the anti-social impulse of our world today, people are incurably relational. We need relationships, and we cannot help but seek them out. That is because we are made in the image of God. And for that reason, relationships are good.

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Woodland Park Bible Church is located in North County, San Diego. Listen, read & learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wpbcSanMarcos.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Text: Ecclesiastes 4:7-8

Speaker: Tony de la Riva

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"As long as you put yourself first, you're always going to be lonely and miserable." This statement reflects the underlying principles that are at work in the life of the workaholic, whom we find in today's text. Tragically, however, the workaholic's situation is only one of many in which those principles show up. As it turns out, selfishness can be found in all kinds of different attitudes and approaches to life. But in each and every case, you will invariably find loneliness and unhappiness, because as long as you put yourself first, you're always going to be lonely and miserable.

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Woodland Park Bible Church is located in North County, San Diego. Listen, read & learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wpbcSanMarcos.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Text: Ecclesiastes 4:7-12

Speaker: Tony de la Riva

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There is a crisis of meaning in our society today. On the one hand, people are struggling like never before to find meaning in life. But on the other hand, we're under the delusion that meaning is something we get to decide—as if reality doesn't have a predefined meaning or purpose. At the heart of that crisis is the battle for a biblical anthropology—a right understanding of what a person is and who God made us to be.

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Woodland Park Bible Church is located in North County, San Diego. Listen, read & learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wpbcSanMarcos.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Text: Ecclesiastes 4:4-6

Speaker: Tony de la Riva

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Work for most Christians is a snare that comes with many pitfalls (besides the common ones of being unsatisfied with our job and not making enough). Envy, for one, is a constant battle because we all feel the pressure of "keeping up with the Jones's." But close behind that are the internal struggles of procrastination and anxiety. With so many ways to sin when it comes to the work in front of us, how can a believer to survive the workday in a way that brings glory to Christ?

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Woodland Park Bible Church is located in North County, San Diego. Listen, read & learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wpbcSanMarcos.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.