ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Mission Emphasis next Sunday. Please get food truck tickets only if you’re planning to stay for the missionary presentations after lunch.
  • Secure the Knot is Saturday, October 29. Please sign up by the end of this week—cost is $30.00 per couple and is a small but great investment in your marriage.
  • Faith Promise Commitment Sunday is October 30. Pray about how much you will generously give to support CrossPointe’s mission program for the next 12 months.

Big Idea

Whether you are young or old, enjoy life because death is coming.

Read: Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:7

Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. 8So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. 9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— 5they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— 6before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Discussion Questions

  1. What was the most impactful thing from the text and the sermon this week?
  2. Read verse 9. Solomon’s instruction was for people to “walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes.” How is this instruction different from the modern- day advice to “follow you heart”? How does the impending judgment apply to or affect believers?
  3. Read verse 10. According to the sermon, what does the word “vexation” mean? How and why should we remove the things that cause vexation?
  4. Read verse 12:1. Why is it important for people—especially young people to remember their Creator? What is one piece of advice you would give the younger people in your group?

Next Steps

This week think about how you prioritize your time? Do you live a God-centered life? What evidence exists in your life to prove your claim?

Prayer Focus

October is Mission Emphasis month at CrossPointe. Spend time this week praying for missionaries Shaun and Christin Evans who are serving in Sierra Leone. Pray also that the people of CrossPointe will demonstrate radical generosity in giving to missions over the next year.