Sermons

Titus is a letter written by Paul to a maturing church on ancient Crete. In it, Paul identifies what a maturing church looks like. A maturing church possesses the Gospel and is possessed by the gospel which leads to godly living. Churches that want to grow must have sound doctrine pursue sound living.

As Solomon ends his journey to find the meaning if life he sums up the whole meaning of life - we are to worship God and live in obedience. Only Jesus gives us the power to live in obedience and the reconciliation we need to live a life that is glorifying to God. Jesus is our Lord who gives us all we need to have purpose in this life.

In Ecclesiastes 11, Solomon is beginning to close his journey as he reflects on the strength of youth and the joys of old age. Through a beautiful poem, Solomon expresses how the human life begins to reach it's twilight. But even in those years, years that our culture tries to ignore, we can rejoice because this life is preparation for the life to come.

Even the best of intentions can lead us to a life lived in foolishness, derailing our good intentions, relationships, and our goals. Solomon defines what foolishness looks like and how the wise not only identify foolishness when they see it but strive after wisdom so that they can be all that God desires for them to be. Ultimately, every person born into this world will act foolish on a daily basis. That is why Jesus teaches us that wise men do not build their life around their own desires, works, and goals, but rather around the work of Jesus and God's goals for their life. The difference between wisdom and foolishness is the object of our faith.

Though God is sovereign life sometimes seems random and confusing. Additionally, it doesn't always seem fair. In the end, like a bunch of chess pieces after a game, everyone, no matter what their rank and role in life will end up in a box, or in an urn if you want to go that way. If our lives are going to bring glory to God we must live like we're dying. Solomon gives us incredibly practical advice on how we can enjoy life even in light of death. We have to live like we're dying to the glory of God.

There are times in our life when we can't make much sense of what is going on around us. Solomon demonstrates how we can live in light of things we don't understand by growing in grace. When we grow in grace we will grow in our trust of God's sovereignty and love for us.

Ecclesiastes 7:1-14 is a series of wisdom sayings from King Solomon as he reflects on all that he has done and his all encompassing search for meaning under the sun. It's as if an old wise man is sitting down with the reader to share with them in a few sentences everything they know. What we learn is that grace makes us wiser. The human life is a journey either under the sun or with Jesus as Savior. With Jesus as Savior we walk with wisdom personified and Solomon tells us what life will look like when we are growing in grace.

Ecclesiastes 7:1-14 is a series of wisdom sayings from King Solomon as he reflects on all that he has done and his all encompassing search for meaning under the sun. It's as if an old wise man is sitting down with the reader to share with them in a few sentences everything they know. What we learn is that grace makes us wiser. The human life is a journey either under the sun or with Jesus as Savior. With Jesus as Savior we walk with wisdom personified and Solomon tells us what life will look like when we are growing in grace.

Life without God is like a person on a treadmill. When we exercise on a treadmill we will often try to distract the monotony and meaninglessness of the treadmill by watching a movie, listening to music or turning on the TV. We try to distract ourselves so that we forget that we are on a treadmill that leads to nowhere. Solomon turns the TV off and removes the distractions of life to show us that the treadmill is actually in a room painted white and has no meaning - that is, when life is viewed under the sun alone. There is no amount of success, stuff, or pleasure that can bring meaning unless God's glory is our meaning in life. But Jesus tells us that when our idols are laid bare and we trust Him as Savior that everything matters. Only Jesus can rescue us from the meaninglessness of life without God.

In this message, Pastor Dan preaches from Ecclesiastes 5:8-20 as Solomon considers the issue of power and wealth. Once again, Solomon demonstrates how loving something such as money or power is meaningless in that money can never satisfy us, save us, or have a meaning beyond death. However, when money is used to the glory of God, and Jesus is the source of our love rather than the acquisition of more stuff and money to maintain the stuff, everything changes. Solomon challenges the idol of money and wins.