Sermon Central
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Ecclesiastes
Contributed by C. Philip Green on Feb 19, 2023 (message contributor)
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1. Under The Sun
Contributed on Feb 19, 2023
If you want to find any significance in an otherwise insignificant life, look above the sun.
The movie Antz begins with an ant named Z talking to his therapist. Take a look. (Show Antz (1998)—You Are Insignificant scene). All my life I've lived and worked in the big city…. I always tell myself there has got to be something better out there. Maybe I, maybe I think too much. I think ...read more
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2. The Search For Meaning
Contributed on Feb 23, 2023
In your pursuit of meaning in life, look beyond your own hands; look beyond your own head; and look beyond your own heart. Look beyond the sun to the Lord, who died for you and rose again.
Since its founding in 1995, people have used eBay to sell billions of items. They include some odd products and occasionally something priceless. For example… In 1954, the great physicist Albert Einstein penned a personal letter to philosopher Erik Gutkind in which he defended his views on ...read more
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3. Meaningful Work
Contributed on Mar 3, 2023
If you want to find meaning in your work, don’t work for posterity or profit. Instead, work for the Lord.
Kung Fu Panda is a movie about a panda named Po who desperately wants to learn kung fu. His father, though, wants him to take over the family business someday. In one scene, Po is late coming down the stairs from his room, where he was working on his kung fu moves, to work in his father’s ...read more
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4. What Time Is It?
Contributed on Mar 10, 2023
If you want to enjoy a meaningful life, appreciate God’s timing in everything. Then cooperate with God. Cooperate with God and find beauty, pleasure, and permanence.
City Slickers is an old movie (1991) that tells the story of three friends having mid-life crises. They escape the city and head west for a two-week cattle run to discover what's important in life. Before they leave, Mitch (played by Billy Crystal) shares what he does for a living on ...read more
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5. Equal Justice For All
Contributed on Mar 17, 2023
To find true justice in this world, look to God beyond our legal system and beyond your own labor.
A few years ago, 6-year-old Robbie Richardson saw his dad drive through a red light on their way home in Quincy, Massachusetts. The boy warned his dad that he was going to report what he did to police. The dad, Michael Richardson, tried to explain to Robbie that the turn he made was a legal right ...read more
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6. The Sacrifice Of Fools
Contributed on Mar 31, 2023
Look past religion, rulers, and riches to the Lord to find real joy in life despite its hardships.
Ron Blue tells the story of a wealthy father, who took his son on a trip to the country to show his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from the trip, the father asked his son, “How was the ...read more
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7. Embracing Uncertainty
Contributed on Apr 7, 2023
To embrace the uncertainties of life, enjoy the good days, grow in the bad days, but trust God every day.
In his book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, Mark Batterson writes about a vacation he took with his family to Orlando, Florida: One morning they were sitting at a stoplight in their rental van. The light turned green, and the car in front of us didn't go, so Mark decided to give them a ...read more
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8. Too Good!
Contributed on Apr 15, 2023
If you want to find real joy in the face of an uncertain future, renounce your own good and wise deeds; stop devising your own schemes. Instead, fear God and please Him through faith in His Son.
On March 19, 2003, the United States and its allies invaded Iraq to destroy Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and remove Saddam Hussein from power. A day later, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld held a news conference, where a reporter asked him “about the apparent failure to follow the war ...read more
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9. A World Gone Wrong
Contributed on Apr 20, 2023
In a world gone wrong, fear God and Praise Him even in the fire, and so find joy in life even when life is unpredictable, unfair, and unjust.
Upon accepting an award, the late Jack Benny once remarked, “I really don't deserve this. But I have arthritis, and I don't deserve that either” (Haddon Robinson, www.PreachingToday.com). People often don’t get what they deserve. So how do you live in such a world? How do you live in a ...read more
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10. Have A Blast While You Last
Contributed on Apr 28, 2023
As you face a terminal diagnosis, rest in God’s perfect plan for you, find hope in this life and the next, and enjoy the time you have left.
Several years ago, The Onion, a satirical magazine, ran a humorous article with a biting truth. They titled the article, “World Death Rate Holding Steady at 100 Percent.” The article reported: World Health Organization officials expressed disappointment Monday at the group's finding that, ...read more
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11. Expect The Unexpected
Contributed on May 6, 2023
Life is unpredictable, so expect to be surprised.
A few years ago (2017), authorities apprehended a group of Minnesota teens for attempting to steal a cake from a local grocery store. The teens were embarrassed, but even more so when they discovered the cake was fake—it was a cardboard display cake. The grocery store owner decided not to press ...read more
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12. You Do Not Know
Contributed on May 11, 2023
When you do not know, work diligently and celebrate responsibly.
After going bankrupt in 1998, the Psychic Friends Network relaunched as a public company in 2012, promising to be “bigger, bolder, and better than ever.” In their investor presentation, they promised to “leverage an iconic brand name using new technologies and social media to re-establish Psychic ...read more
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13. The End Of The Matter
Contributed on May 19, 2023
If you want to find true purpose and meaning to your life, remember your Creator, remain in God’s Word, and revere and obey Him.
P. J. Alindogan tells the story of 30-year-old friends who had a reunion and were discussing where they should go for dinner. Somebody suggested that they meet at The Glowing Embers Restaurant because the waiters and waitresses there are young and beautiful. They all agreed. Fifteen years later, ...read more