Wednesday night, we rolled out our HERD groups. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul pours out his heart for the people he has led to Christ, demonstrating a desire to see them mature in Christ. In this weeks sermon, we look at five heart postures that are crucial for intentional and effective discipleship.

One of the hardest questions of life... why does it seem like the righteous die young and the wicked live prosperous, long lives? In our passage this week, the author explores this and leads us to see our need for true righteousness which only comes from Christ.

The sovereignty of God is a place of comfort for God's people. Rather than trying to move the hand of God (we can't), we can live and enjoy all days as a gift from him. As we live out this life, the author gives us some wise words to contemplate. The way to experience true joy and happiness comes through avenues that we would consider unconventional, but are proven to be true. Check out this week's sermon for more.

The author returns to the vanity of wealth and the accumulation of more for oneself. There is never satisfaction if the heart loves wealth and money. The hope is that Christ alone can fully satisfy and grant us the ability to enjoy what we have been given.

Solomon observes vanity that has infiltrated the place of worship. When we are driven solely by our dreams rather than the fear of God, the human heart even participates in worship as a means to sway the hand of God for themselves. Solomon helps us see that the fear of must be the foundation for life to not be vain.

In a world that tells you to live for yourself, by yourself, and without the help and advice from others, we see in this passage that it is not a fulfilling way to live life. God intends for us to work and live for the sake of serving others and within community.

In a world surrounded by injustice, oppression and envy, where can we look to for hope? Our passage this week helps us see that God is the perfect judge, the perfect comforter to the brokenhearted and makes it to where our work can be enjoyed.

Life is full of seasons. We spend so much of our lives longing for a new season or wishing we could return to an old season that we never actually enjoy the current season the Lord has given as a gift. Ecclesiastes 3 helps us see how a view of the sovereignty of God and a present desire to serve him cures that longing.

“The Preacher searches for what will satisfy, only to find vanity at every turn—until 2:24-26, where he discovers that life is best enjoyed as God’s gift, not as a means to gain.”

Is life meaningless? The Preacher "Qohelet" considers the vanity and the lack of gain under the sun in the the opening prologue of the book of Ecclesiastes.