//Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:9 | Andrew Lundy

As Christians, many of us seem to disconnect our relationship to God with the importance of money in our lives. But Scripture has much to say on the subject of money. Money is a tool and gift to be stewarded for the glory of God alone, not an idol to be worshipped. The problem is the human heart; our love for money produces greed in our hearts. Pastor Andrew talked about three ways greed can negatively impact our lives. First is the corruption of greed. Greed can lead us to value money over people and take us away from the ideal reality in which all are equally rewarded for their hard labor. Next is the seduction of greed. Greed takes us away from our true love: the Lord. We cannot love and serve both of these masters. It creates the illusion that your problems will all go away, but it really creates more of them! Finally is the destruction of greed. Putting your trust and faith in your money will only hurt you and leave you with nothing. The love of money will leave us pierced through with many sorrows. In contrast to these, we must do what is good and fitting: work hard and enjoy the blessings of life God has provided us! Money comes from God as a gift to be used for the glory of His kingdom and the enjoyment of His children.

//Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 | Andrew Lundy

Throughout this series, we have learned the vanity of many different areas of life. Now we turn to a more pervasive and dangerous form -- religious vanity. One of our core values at Solus is that we seek to function as a family, agreeing with God’s word that the church is not a place, but a people. We seek to gather around the worth, word, and work of God each Sunday, but we must be vigilant to mind the way in which we come to the Lord’s house. The people of God must continually be pulled out of autopilot, or “going through the motions”. This week, Pastor Andrew covered four ways in which we should go to church. First, we must go regularly (and on time!). In an age of DIY spirituality, we must practice the weekly rhythm of gathering together or else risk falling into spiritual disaster. God wants to see our faithfulness in the small things, such as simply showing up. Next, we must gather receptively. Coming to church is pointless if you are not coming to listen! And it’s hard to listen when we are constantly talking internally. The Lord wants to speak to each of us, not just have us sit and learn about Him. We must also go to church reverently. He is our Father, but He is also the Almighty, a consuming fire, and deserves our awe and reverence. We should let our words be few; too much talk only leads to foolishness. Finally, we should go to church responsively. We don’t come here just to hear a list of things we should do, but to respond to what Jesus has done for us! Our response should be sincere, but also realistic. Going to church -- gathering as a family -- is what healthy families are meant to do. Be present with us!

//Ecclesiastes 4:4-16 | Russ Kyff

We all have relationships in our life, but the reality is that relationships are hard. Our humanity is almost always cause of relational strain, and sometimes it may seem better to avoid them altogether. This week, Russ three things that can destroy the relationships in our life. The first of these is envy. All of us are competitive by nature and wish to see ourselves succeed above others. Even though a little “friendly competition” seems innocent, it often progressively worsens to much worse feelings toward other people; Cain and Abel are a stark reminder of this truth. But through Jesus, we have been given everything we could ever need; our need to envy others can be thrown away in light of this truth! Next, is isolation. Sometimes this is circumstantial, such as when you face unexpected loss in your life. But many times, this is self-inflicted. We say we have no time, we want to be self-sufficient, or we’re just weirded out by how complicated relationships can be. Ultimately, this is rooted in selfishness. Companionship is much better, in that it increases the results of our work, give us stability when we struggle, gives us intimacy, and gives us security. Finally, being a know-it-all can destroy relationships. These are the people that take over every conversation, always needing to be heard and showing off their knowledge. In reality, they avoid God, because to be a disciple requires humility. In truth, we don’t know anything, and we depend on the Lord to lead us into all truth. If we wish to grow in our relationship and with others, relationships must not be avoided, but embraced.

(Please excuse the technical difficulties with this audio recording.)

//Ecclesiastes 3:18 - 4:3 | Andrew Lundy

There is probably nothing more uncomfortable for a person to think about than death. Yet King Solomon (and much of Scripture) has a lot to say on this morbid subject and it demands our consideration. All of us must deal with it in some way, but is that way healthy? Pastor Andrew showed us three truths Solomon declared about death. First, is the reality of man’s mortal condition. Death comes to us all and life is all about what you do with the one “breath” you have. In our modern culture, we shield ourselves from this reality and this creates an illusion of invincibility. Then he talks about the uncertainty of man’s destination. We are indeed a soul with a body, and all humans know this because God has put eternity into the hearts of men. But can anyone really say what happens directly after death? We know the righteous are divided from the wicked, yet we also know that none are truly righteous… Solomon then mentions the tragedy of man’s hopeless situation. If all die, the righteous and wicked alike, where is the justice? If there is no comfort in death, there is none in life. BUT -- thanks be to God our Father for the Lord Jesus Christ, who has dealt with death far better than Solomon (or any man) could! He transforms each of these ideas by giving us the correct answer to every question. Through acceptance of His sacrifice and resurrection, our new reality is eternal life and our lives have eternal purpose. We have a set destination since Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us to dwell with Him forever. And He has given us an eternal hope that justice is done; all will be held accountable and we will be declared righteous under the cover of His righteousness. The Lord Jesus dealt with death once and for all -- by running it through with its own sword.

//Ecclesiastes 3:1-17 | Andrew Lundy

In this section of Ecclesiastes, Solomon is “taking a break” from his visions of vanity to move into a scene of certainty; vanity is not mentioned even once. Here we see that God is not idle or inactive, but is always working with sovereign authority over time. Pastor Andrew shows us three ways God’s sovereignty is related to time. First, that God is sovereign over all time. There is a time and a season for everything in life, and it does not respect our desires, but it does respect God’s authority. Vanity may be all around us, but God has placed eternity in our hearts, assuring us time is in His hands and there is more to life than this. God is also sovereign for all time. His authority never ceases; it will always be. Regardless of who is in charge (or who is in office), God will always sit on His throne. Jesus’ kingdom is an everlasting one, and this fact should lead us to repentance and faith in Him in every aspect of our life. Finally, God is sovereign with all time. God is very good at what He does, including how He manages time. He is never late and is not slack concerning His promises; He is patient toward us all! Ultimately, we must acknowledge His control of time, rather than attempting to take control ourselves.

//Ecclesiastes 2:11-26 | Andrew Lundy

The vast majority of us, if we want to survive in this life, need to work. But as Christians, many of us are still living as practical secularists; we are Christians on Sundays but put aside our faith during the week, making a barrier between the sacred and secular. King Solomon was a man of labor, who accomplished so much through his work, but even he ultimately wondered what it was all for. Pastor Andrew helped us see four limits to our labor “under the sun” this past Sunday. First, was productivity, our limited ability. No one was more productive than Solomon. He acknowledged that whoever came after him would only ever accomplish as much as him, and not more. There would be nothing new under the sun. He also saw mortality as limiting his destiny. Being wise can certainly make life easier than being foolish, but the same fate awaits both types of people: death. This idea is of course uncomfortable to consider, but it forces us to evaluate the motives behind what we do. Next is legacy, or a limited memory. The celebration of a person’s life after they’re gone will eventually fade away, until no one really remembers anything of who they were.There have been billions of legacies in the world’s history, and no one on Earth remembers them all. Finally, he sees a limit to security, which is our prosperity. Even though we may leave all our possessions to those after us, we cannot fully control how it will be used. And we can’t take any of it with us, so working for this is also vanity. But there is good news! Solomon is giving us a taste of what is bitter, so we may reach for something better. God did not design life this way, and He did not leave us in this state. Jesus Christ redeems all of these limits on the cross. He has delivered us from the vanity of work, and removed the limits to our productivity, mortality, legacy, and prosperity. We now work for our Lord, not for limited Man, and we can fully commit our work to His cause!

//Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:11 | Andrew Lundy

King Solomon is a man with an impressive resumé -- a man of royalty, a man of renown, but also a man of research. He sought out and gained all knowledge, understanding, and wisdom that exists under the sun. The end result? All is vanity. This past Sunday, Pastor Andrew laid out five pursuits we seek after under the sun that will not grant us satisfaction apart from God. These things are not inherently bad, but when good things become “God things¨, they then become bad things. The first of these is attainment, the pursuit of knowing. King Solomon was wiser than any other person on Earth, yet he wrote that increasing knowledge increases sorrow. We tend to think “if only I knew then what I know now, I’d be better off”, but this is putting our hope in the vanity of knowledge. The next pursuit is amusement, the pursuit of feeling. We look to amuse our heart and our flesh, but only God can give us true satisfaction. There are many who live an amusement park lifestyle, going from one good feeling to the next, thinking “if only I felt this way, I would be happy”. But this too vanity. Third is accomplishment, the pursuit of doing. Many people focus on their work and accomplishments, thinking “if I only I could do this, I would be happy”. But this is a dream we will always be chasing, because it will never be enough; there always seems to be more to do. Next is acquirement, the pursuit of having. Solomon had everything he desired; he kept nothing back from himself. But still he was unsatisfied. Jesus rightly said our lives are more than what we possess, and Paul realized the contentment that can be found in Jesus regardless of what you have. Finally, there is achievement, the pursuit of being. Many of us fall into the lie of the American dream; that I need to be someone for my life to matter. But achieving (or at least trying to achieve) some other identity other than who we are in Christ will never satisfy. Ultimately, this futility we feel in pursuit of the world’s standards and desires is a GIFT from God, because it causes us to turn in hope towards Him. Only by lifting our eyes to Jesus can we ever find true satisfaction, and sometimes seeing the emptiness of these pursuits is what it takes to make that happen.

//Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 | Andrew Lundy

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!” These iconic opening lines of the book of Ecclesiastes pave the way for the Preacher’s teachings on what truly matters in life. This past Sunday, Pastor Andrew properly introduced us to Ecclesiastes, in giving us some background on the author and his main message of this mysterious, yet wise book. First, we talked about the Preacher’s identity - King Solomon, son of King David, the wisest and most powerful king Israel has ever seen. When God approached Solomon, asking what he most desired, Solomon’s reply was the wisdom to govern his people, Israel. Not only did God answer his request, but he also blessed him with every other manner of material blessing possible. He was famous the world over for his knowledge (even of the trees, animals, birds, and fish!), his large heart, and compassionate spirit. We also talked about the Preacher’s message. He says everything under the sun is vanity (meaningless, like smoke), a conclusion reached after he began to drift from dependence on God to dependence on His blessings. This forces us to examine the harsh reality of the world as it is, and demands the church stop ignoring the world’s questions about life and the meaning of it all. Finally, we get to the Preacher’s point. Spoilers, Solomon will conclude this book saying that God knows every detail of your life and that it is ultimately best to fear Him and serve Him. We must get “over the sun” to find our meaning, and allow Solomon to lead us to King Jesus, the “one greater than Solomon”. He will point the way, but in the end, Jesus is the Way.

//Psalm 22 | Andrew Lundy

We all face times of spiritual disorientation. Trials have this ability to confuse us to the point of losing our sense of direction. Pastor Andrew walks us through Psalm 22, a messianic psalm often referred to as the psalm of the cross, where we see David navigating his disorientation in relationship with God. We find that when we bring our confusion to God, He is faithful to reorient our lives around what's true.

//Acts 2 | Andrew Lundy

As a part of our August Vision Series, Pastor Andrew teaches on the absolute necessity of following Jesus within the context of deep and true community.