Ecclesiastes
Life is a Vapor
Everything is Empty
January 7, 2024 • Pastor Bill Riedel • Ecclesiastes 1
I love the book of Ecclesiastes. Reading through it feels like it could have been written directly to DC in 2024. With the uncertainty of the year ahead, anxiety that many are already carrying into another election year, and the difficulty of navigating life in general, we all long for something solid to stand on, something that is unmoving that we can trust. Ecclesiastes helps us by exposing the fullest measure of every pursuit under the sun. This Sunday we begin with Ecclesiastes 1:1-18. The sermon title is Everything is Meaningless. If you read chapter 1 you will catch why that’s the title! I’ll take some time to introduce the book, talk about who the Preacher might be, and then we will jump right into what amounts to be a summary of the Preacher’s teaching. The Preacher shows us that all things under the sun, in the end, are a vapor, a mist, a chasing after the wind. In the end we will also see what is fixed like nails for us to hold onto in the end.
Every Pursuit Under the Sun
January 14, 2024 • Pastor Bill Riedel
This Sunday we continue in our series with Ecclesiastes 2:1-26. Last week we were introduced to Qoheleth, the Preacher, and an overview of the book that highlights his teaching concerning the extent of human experience and wisdom under the sun. This week we will see him explore specific pursuits, assessing the ultimate value and end-goals of pleasure, wisdom, and work. Our teacher has had a full life and limitless resources and opportunities to push to the fullest end of each pursuit, trying to find meaning and purpose. We will follow him down those paths to see where they end. By the end of the chapter we have already come to the end of section 1 of the book, and verses 24-26 give us the conclusion of the matter. It is possible to find joy and purpose even in the midst of the vaporous reality of our lives.
There is a Season
January 21, 2024 • Pastor Bill Riedel • Ecclesiastes 3:1—4:3
This Sunday we continue our series with Ecclesiastes 3:1-22. This chapter starts the second section of the book of Ecclesiastes. Section 1 focuses on life under the sun, pursuing the fullness of the end of human wisdom and experience, and that it all is a vapor, a mist, a chasing after the wind. The next few chapters shift to focus on God’s design for the world as He created it. Chapter 3 might be the most well-known passage in the whole of Ecclesiastes. All because The Birds recorded their song Turn! Turn! Turn! in 1965. You’re welcome for having that stuck in your head throughout the weekend now. There is a season for everything, and our lives will turn through season after season, eventually bringing us in the full cycle and reminder that we are dust, and to dust we will return. As we immerse ourselves in God’s Word on Sunday, we will work to find the secret of joy and purpose in every season of our lives, and in the midst of every circumstance under heaven.
Loneliness
January 28, 2024 • Pastor Bill Riedel • Ecclesiastes 4:4–16
This Sunday we continue our series with Ecclesiastes 4:4-16. This chapter raises the problem of loneliness and the importance of companionship. We are in the midst of a loneliness epidemic in our nation. The Surgeon General has issued warnings, HHS is doing studies, and it’s all being reported across news outlets. Loneliness is crushing and can become legitimately life-threatening. As we have seen so far, Ecclesiastes won’t allow us to look away from the truth of human existence and experience. Qoheleth, the author, will continue to poke at us an make us uncomfortable. On Sunday we will address loneliness. We need to take a realistic look at our world and our own lives, and then look for signs and pathways of hope. God’s Word can guide us there.
Guard Your Steps
February 11, 2024 • Pastor Bill Riedel • Ecclesiastes 5
This Sunday we resume our study in Ecclesiastes together. Among the topics raised in Ecclesiastes 5, we will focus our attention on the cautions about how we approach God. The Preacher, Qoheleth, warns us to guard our steps before God. Sunday will provide us the opportunity to explore true and false religiosity. Why is it that our approach to God and our spiritual lives can feel like a drag? Many of us have had moments of the overwhelming sense of God’s presence and power at some point in our lives, why doesn’t that stick around perpetually? What will it take for a church to be filled with joy and be a life-giving pursuit as we work together for the glory of God and the good of all people? We will work to answer those questions and more as we gather together on Sunday.
Reimagining Wealth
February 18, 2024 • Pastor Bill Riedel • Ecclesiastes 6
This chapter starts the third major section and a shifting focus to life under the sun in light of God’s sovereignty over all things. Our time in chapter 6 will be specifically spent looking into the issue of money, how we use it and how it uses us. Why is it so often the case that when we get exactly what we want, the joy from it fades quickly? We will see on Sunday that there is hope for true joy in our lives, and that freedom is when we can say, “I don’t care too much for money, cuz money can’t buy me love.”
Sorrow & God's Sovereignty
March 10, 2024 • Pastor Bill Riedel • Ecclesiastes 7
Chapter 7 is a curious one. The first half is a series of proverbs that seem upside down from the reason or wisdom we might typically have – a funeral is better than a party?! The second half of the chapter is widely regarded as the most difficult section to interpret in Ecclesiastes, one of the most difficult books of the Bible to interpret. So, this will be fun! In our exploration of the text we will see that there is a way to find straight thinking in a crooked world.
Two Kingdoms
March 17, 2024 • Pastor Bill Riedel • Ecclesiastes 8:1–15
On Sunday we will dig into Ecclesiastes 8:1-15 where we see the Preacher’s roaming path touch on our approach to kings and rulers, teaching on government and power. In this sermon I will work to accomplish the following: - provide a theological foundation for understanding the varying roles and responsibilities of the Church and the State - get underneath current partisan narratives and to expose deeper, more lasting realities and foundations for truth - cast a vision for the place of the church gathered and the calling of individual Christians as the church scattered.
Whose Glory?
March 24, 2024 • Pastor Bill Riedel • Ecclesiastes 8:16—9:17
This Sunday we will continue our series with Ecclesiastes 9. This chapter challenges us to consider whose glory we are seeking in our lives. We rely on building our own reputations and listing our accomplishments as the pathways to glory and leaving our mark on this world. Qoheleth has challenging truths to confront us. We will see on Sunday, though, that our pursuit of glory ought not be limited to what we can accomplish before death. We have a greater King to whom we cry, “Hosanna!”
Wisdom In An Uncertain World
April 7, 2024 • Pastor Bill Riedel • Ecclesiastes 9:18—11:6
This is the penultimate sermon in our series. So, our journey with Qoheleth comes to a close next week. This Sunday we will cover Ecclesiastes 9:18-11:6. It’s an extended section that includes a lot of practical wisdom and proverbs to help us better work, speak, lead, invest, and live life. We will work our way through the Preacher’s advice as we consider what it is to live this life under the sun in a way that sees past the vanity of it and clings to what is more secure.
The End of the Matter
April 14, 2024 • Pastor Bill Riedel • Ecclesiastes 11:7—12:14
This Sunday we will bring our series, Ecclesiastes: Life is a Vapor, to a close. As we look into Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8 gives us the final teachings of Qoheleth that bring a kind of summary to the entire book. 12:9-14 bring back the voice of our narrator. Ecclesiastes closes with an evaluation of Qoheleth’s teaching, a final word on the fullness of human knowledge and wisdom under the sun. The goal of Ecclesiastes is to serve as a goad, poking us and prodding us, making us address uncomfortable truths and go down paths we otherwise might never choose to explore. I hope it has done so for you, and that this final sermon will bring one final push to impress deeper truths into your heart.