Delight in Grace

Pastor Rich answers our questions about worship from Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

Did God require a different kind of worship in the Old Testament than in the New?  What does true worship look like?  What does it mean to worship God?  And what foolish pitfalls must we watch for as we cultivate a rhythm of worship? 

Did God require a different kind of worship in the Old Testament than in the New?  What does true worship look like?

We all have a God-given drive for success, but who is defining what success really means?  What is our ambition rooted in?  Today, Pastor Rich unpacks Ecclesiastes 4 and helps us see the difference between the way the world thinks about success, a self-preeminent striving to achieve and God’s design for success under His purpose and community.  Let’s listen in.

We all have a God-given drive for success, but who is defining what success really means? What is our ambition rooted in?

We all have a God-given drive for success, but who is defining what success really means?  What is our ambition rooted in?

As image bearers of our great God, we are hardwired for justice, yet injustice often seems to reign all around us.  It is not surprising to read Solomon’s frustration in Ecclesiastes 3  over the abundance of injustice.  He also grieves that men have no more power to avoid death than the beasts in the wild.  Life under the sun without the self-disclosure from our good Father would leave our hearts...

As image bearers of our great God, we are hardwired for justice, yet injustice often seems to reign all around us.  It is not surprising to read Solomon’s frustration in Ecclesiastes 3  over the abundance of injustice.

As image bearers of our great God, we are hardwired for justice, yet injustice often seems to reign all around us.  It is not surprising to read Solomon’s frustration in Ecclesiastes 3  over the abundance of injustice.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 makes it clear who orders our life.  God is Master of life and gives life to us as a gift to be well-stewarded.  How do I turn control of my life over to the Master of my life? This message continues the series on Ecclesiastes titled Living a Good Life: Making Sense of the Journey.  It was first preached on March 18th, 2018 at Grace Bible Church in Winston Salem. Listen in with...

If we could see the end from the beginning and understand how God is weaving together billions of lives in a tapestry of grace for His glory, we would be God. So how do we make sense of what God is doing in this moment, in this time? Listen as Pastor Rich describes how we make sense of the journey.

 Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 makes it clear who orders our life.  God is Master of life and gives life to us as a gift to be well-stewarded.  How do I turn control of my life over to the Master of my life? This message continues the series on Ecclesiastes titled Living a Good Life: Making Sense of the Journey.

King Solomon found his ambition, efforts, and accomplishments to be grasping at wind.  Even the noble call of pursuing wisdom came up short when he realized that, for all his efforts, he would die just like the fool who shunned instruction.  There would be no difference.  What then makes life purposeful?  And how do we pursue meaning in this life that will carry us through eternity?

For all his efforts, Solomon realized he would die just like the fool who shunned instruction. There would be no difference. What then makes life purposeful?

King Solomon found his ambition, efforts, and accomplishments to be grasping at wind.  Even the noble call of pursuing wisdom came up short when he realized that, for all his efforts, he would die just like the fool who shunned instruction.

In Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon says that he denied his heart no pleasure.  The result? Nothing was gained.  It was a chasing after wind.  Pleasure is a poor substitute for our hearts greatest need.  As Blaise Pascal said, this infinite abyss can only be filled with an infinite and immutable object; in other words, God Himself.

In Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon says that he denied his heart no pleasure.  The result? Nothing was gained.  It was a chasing after wind.  Pleasure is a poor substitute for our hearts greatest need. 

In Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon says that he denied his heart no pleasure.  The result? Nothing was gained.  It was a chasing after wind.  Pleasure is a poor substitute for our hearts greatest need. 

In his book Living Life Backward, David Gibson says that keeping the end in view “can change us from people who want to control life for gain into people who find deep joy in receiving life as a gift.”   We were designed for God.  If we try to find our identity and satisfaction in God’s stuff instead of in God Himself, we will always be left unsatisfied. Thank you for joining us in this series on...

In his book Living Life Backward, David Gibson says that keeping the end in view “can change us from people who want to control life for gain into people who find deep joy in receiving life as a gift.”   We were designed for God.  If we try to find our identity and satisfaction in God’s stuff instead of in God Himself, we will always be left unsatisfied. Thank you for joining us in this series on...

In his book Living Life Backward, David Gibson says that keeping the end in view “can change us from people who want to control life for gain into people who find deep joy in receiving life as a gift.”   We were designed for God.  If we try to find our identity and satisfaction in God’s stuff instead of in God Himself, we will always be left unsatisfied. Thank you for joining us in this series on...

In his book Living Life Backward, David Gibson says that keeping the end in view “can change us from people who want to control life for gain into people who find deep joy in receiving life as a gift.”   We were designed for God.  If we try to find our identity and satisfaction in God’s stuff instead of in God Himself, we will always be left unsatisfied.

The first eleven verses of Ecclesiastes are anything but encouraging, pointing out life’s brevity and boredom, its instability and inability to satisfy.  This is a picture of life under the sun-life when we seek purpose without Christ.

Today we continue a series on the book of Ecclesiastes titled Living a Good Life: Making Sense of the Journey.  In his latter years, King Solomon reflects on the meaninglessness of life under the sun

Making sense of the Journey