Sermon Outline

Time: Seasons of Life
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 (p. 473)
 

Ecclesiastes

1. Everything is meaningless (1:2)
1. Not of real value
2. Here today, gone tomorrow
2. Fear God
1. The duty of  every person (12:13)
2. Trust, respect & obedience
3. One thing that is not meaningless

Times of Our Lives

1. Change is inevitable
1. normal changes throughout a person’s life
2. Activities
3. “People’s deliberate, willful acts”
1. Helps us embrace change
4. Some events are beyond our control
5. How we respond is always under our control 
6. Each activity has a counter-part 

Understanding Time and Season

1. Time or season
1. Two words, same meaning

                NIV -  “A time for everything, and a season for every activity” (v.1)
                KJV – “To everything there is a season, and a time to every         purpose” (v.1)

1. One word, two meanings
1. A point of time
2. Event

Are these events determined by God?

1. Sometimes
1. God does not drag us kicking and screaming
2. Natural order

1. God still breaks through
1. Events are known by God (Proverbs 15:3)
2. Brought about by our own choosing

Nothing is Beyond God’s Control or Influence

1. God makes everything beautiful (v.11)
1. “right, proper, appropriate, or good”,
2. Don’t rush out of these seasons
2. Eternal perspective (v.11)
1. The meaningless vs. eternity tension
2. What God does will endure forever (v. 14)
3. Satisfaction can be found (v.13)
1. Gift from God
2. Fear of God takes away anxiety (v. 14)

Embrace the Seasons of Life
Every season of life is an opportunity for growth and honoring God!

Going Deeper

1. What is a season that you are currently facing? What can God teach you in this season?

1. What difference does an eternal perspective make on all the seasons of life, not just “a time to die”?

1. In your own life can you see how God has made everything beautiful in its time?  In what way?

• How do these passages relate to a discussion on seasons of life? (Esther 4, Jeremiah 29:10 – 14)

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