Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, August 28, 2022

Bible Reading: Isaiah 25:1 “O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them.” (NLT)

Text: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

• Solomon only made one mistake…. with many consequences.

Five Key Verses:

#1–Ecclesiastes 1:2— “vanity of vanities” (life is meaningless)

#2–Ecclesiastes 1:18—wisdom compounds our grief because meaning and purpose are not found in wisdom

#3–Ecclesiastes 2:11—our work compounds our frustration because meaning and purpose will not be found in our work

#4–Ecclesiastes 12:1—Honoring God is not for children only

#5–Ecclesiastes 12:13—Just as Solomon only made one mistake, there is only one thing we need to do to know meaning and purpose in life.

• It’s never too late
• Do it today, don’t put it off

John 10:10 “The thief’s [Satan] purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My [Jesus] purpose is to give them [you] a rich and satisfying life.” (NLT)

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, August 21, 2022

Bible Reading: Lamentations 3:22-23 “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” (NLT)

Text: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Ecclesiastes 7:14a

Romans 8:28; Numbers 23:19; Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8; Jeremiah 29:11;

John 10:10

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8—The seasons of life bring “good times” and “tough times.” God is never the author of tough times. Sometimes we are the cause; sometimes Satan is the cause; sometimes the evil in others is the cause, but God is never the cause of tough times.

Ecclesiastes 7:8-10

#1—The end of a thing is better than its beginning

• We are all “in process”
• We are not today, what we will be tomorrow

Romans 8:28; Romans 8:31

#2—The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit

• When pride takes over
• Resist looking back

“The ‘good old days’ are a combination of a bad memory and a good imagination.”

Warren Wiersbe   

          2 Corinthians 5:17— “old things have passed away; all things have become new.”

          Isaiah 43:18-19— “Do not remember (hang on to) the former things, nor consider the

          things of old…. I will do a new thing…….”

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, August 14, 2022

Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 29:11 “Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head overall.” (NIV)

Text: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Note: In our text, we read that fearing God and keeping His commandments is “man’s all.” The idea is to “honor God” and “obey His laws.” This is all that every person must do. Everything else necessary for our life will be there as we make honoring God our focus (Matthew 6:33).

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Verse 3— “A time to kill and a time to heal.”

          28 “life events” that most of us will experience. Some, we have no control over, some

          we have control over. But apart from “honoring God” none will produce meaning and

          purpose.

Verse 8— “A time to love and a time to hate.”

          Romans 12:9

          1 John 4:20

Ecclesiastes 4—Our Work

          Verse 6—Our desires outside of “honoring God” will not bring fulfillment

          Verse 8—Solomon learned that one day you can be on “top of the world” only to find

          Yourself on the “outside” looking in the next

          Verses 13, 16—We are encouraged, in our youth, to learn from Solomon’s mistake

Paul’s comments about work—

          Colossian 3:23

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, August 7, 2022

Bible Reading: Deuteronomy 32:3-4 “I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright, and just is he.” (NIV)

Text: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Strengths of Solomon:

• Third king of Israel, David’s chosen heir
• The wisest man who ever lived (1 Kings 4:30-31)
• Writer of Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, many of the Proverbs, and a couple of Psalms
• Built God’s temple in Jerusalem
• Diplomat, trader, collector, patron of the arts

Weaknesses of Solomon:

• Sealed many foreign agreements by marrying pagan women
• Allowed his wives to affect his loyalty to God
• Excessively taxed his people and drafted them into labor and military force

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

Verse 2—Vanity of vanities

• Meaningless; hollow; futile; vapor; breath

Verse 3— “under the sun”

• Our work is not intended to bring meaning and purpose
• Our wealth is not intended to bring meaning and purpose
• Our trophies are not intended to bring meaning and purpose
• Relationships are not intended to bring meaning and purpose

Verses 5-7—Busyness does not bring meaning and purpose

• Mere activity in and of itself produces nothing of ultimate value

Verses 8-11—Nothing new under the sun

• What is not “new” is that anything aside from a relationship with God will not produce meaning or purpose in our life.