Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This Sunday we are back in the book of Ecclesiastes (2:12-26). We have seen thus far in this book that we were created for something greater than the here and the now. Though we are part of the cycle of this created world, we must look beyond it for true meaning and purpose. We have seen that no pursuit of wisdom and pleasure will ever result in lasting joy and satisfaction. Such pursuits leave us with two fistfuls of wind.

On Sunday we will consider the reality of mortality – that it is appointed unto man to die once. How we face that reality will determine our very happiness and contentment today. Here is that David Gibson quote from our first study that seemed to grab our attention:

Left to our own devices, we tend to live life forward. One day follows another, and weeks turn into months and months into years. We do not know the future, but we plan and hope and dream of where we will be, and what we would like to be doing, and whom we might be with. We live forward. Ecclesiastes teaches us to live life backward. It encourages us to take the one thing in the future that is certain— our death— and work backward from that point into all the details and decisions and heartaches of our lives, and to think about them from the perspective of the end. It is the destination that makes sense of the journey. If we know for sure where we are heading, then we can know for sure what we need to do before we get there. Ecclesiastes invites us to let the end sculpt our priorities and goals, our greatest ambitions and our strongest desires. I want to persuade you that only if you prepare to die can you really learn how to live.

So the question is this – is the end sculpting your priorities and goals, your greatest ambitions, and strongest desires? How are you dealing with the reality of mortality?

Prayer tomorrow night will be at the Burke’s house.

We will be continuing our Joined and Knit Together series. Paul Carrington will be bringing a message regarding the Christian Sabbath.

Also, pray for Scott and Deborah as they will be away attending the marriage of Don Hart’s daughter.

The songs for Sunday are as follows:

• Great Is Thy Faithfulness
• I Surrender All
• Come All Ye Pining
• Show Us Christ
• Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God
  •    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nbMfLQd2P4)