Announcements
Teacher Training for the Fall:
Second, on Saturday, September 28, LifeWay is presenting an event entitled Transform. It is dedicated solely to developing your teaching skills. We have plans to take all teachers who are able to attend.Recommend Potential Teachers: We want any potential teacher you can identify to participate in either or both of the training events mentioned above. As soon as you receive this information, please send me any names of people you would want to recommend . We will be sending out invitations to them next week. Email me at jmcclendon@northside-baptist.net
Bible Study Session
THE TARGET: Focus on what adults should leave knowing, understanding and doing.
I have changed the target for this week's study. I wasn't satisfied with the match-up between the title and the secondary question. I adjusted the target to align with the main title, changed the titles of each outline point, and replaced the points with three questions: (1) Are you trying to control time? (2) Are you trying to "go at it" alone? (3) Do you really take worship seriously?
Adults will learn about three practices that create emptiness in someone's life and determine how to avoid that emptiness.
Suggested Resources:
Items for LOOK UP activity:
I suggest you display the following and use to illustrate each point of the study: Clock, roll of string or a multi-strand rope, knee pads (you can purchase a cheap pair at Home Depot).
MyStudyBible.com Helps
- Overview of verses 3:3-11: http://msb.to/&dmaiC8a
- Explanation of verse 3:11: The fact that God has also put eternity in their hearts tells us that although we are creatures of time, we are not like the animals, who are fully and exclusively creatures of time. God made us as hybrids, so to speak, in that we are temporal but we have an inner longing for eternity. We can never be fully at peace in this life because, although we are mortal, we yearn for immortality. (HCSB Study Bible, http://msb.to/&wucQrOT )
- Explanation of Friendships in Eccl. 4: 9-12: Friendship is one area of life that Ecclesiastes never calls "futile." (See more: http://msb.to/&JyQvaVg )
- Two parallel parts of chapter 5:1-7: See how the HCSB Study Bible explains these parallel parts: http://msb.to/&TJoRbRe
Music Video for Point 1
Check this music video. I have suggested in the teaching plan how to use it. Click to listen and view the Byrd's song, Turn Turn Turn, from Ecclesiastes 3:1-14.
Check it out and enjoy!
Illustration for Point 2, Am I Trying to Go at it Alone?:
Michael Norton shared an article he read this week that relates to point 2 and ties in really well with our Neighbor Night emphasis. Click on the link to read. I suggest you share some of the information with your group. My Jericho Moment.
Check this music video. I have suggested in the teaching plan how to use it. Click to listen and view the Byrd's song, Turn Turn Turn, from Ecclesiastes 3:1-14.
Check it out and enjoy!
Illustration for Point 2, Am I Trying to Go at it Alone?:
Michael Norton shared an article he read this week that relates to point 2 and ties in really well with our Neighbor Night emphasis. Click on the link to read. I suggest you share some of the information with your group. My Jericho Moment.
LOOK UP: "Soft Methods" to draw attention to the study as adults are arriving, visiting, and gathering for bible study.
Object to Display:
- In advance, write the following on the markerboard: Why do people feel empty?
- In advance: Display the clock, roll of string, and the knee pads.
As adults arrive, ask them to consider how they might answer the question on the board.
Once most adults have arrived, begin to ask for responses to the question, "Why do people feel empty?" List the responses on the board.
Transition & Context:
Ecclesiastes is a divinely inspired work of candid realism. The span of human life includes both good and bad, pleasure and pain, enjoyment and frustration. The wise readily embrace that God has a good purpose for making it that way. As we zero in on chapters 3-5 we will focus on three questions that help us address the question posed in the title of this week's lesson, "Why Do I Feel Empty?"
LOOK IN: Ideas for unpacking the text.
Am I Trying to Control Time? Someone Read: Eccl. 3:1-14
Activity Option: (If using Computer)
- Ask the group to open their Bibles to Ecclesiastes 3 and to follow along in their Bibles as you play the following video clip: http://youtu.be/bIBu2p8FR3o
Discussion Options:
- Call attention to the clock on display. Explain: If we were to stop the hands on this clock, we know that time would not stop. We cannot stop time. What does this say about man? What does this say about God?
- Verses 1-8:
- How would you summarize what Solomon was trying to say in verses 1-8? (Life is finite. Every person dies. You can't control time. Time is out of our control. We will experience an ample share of both good and bad, etc.)
- Which seasons of life have caused you the most pleasure and the most pain? (Discovery Study Guide, p63)
- In what ways have you tried to stop time? Were you successful? In what ways does our culture try to stop time?
- If you could stop time at any point in your spiritual life, where would that be and why? (Discovery Study Guide, p63)
- Explain: Ecclesiastes 3:9-14 provides an exposition of Solomon’s reflections on the poem in 3:1-8.
- How would you answer the questions posed in verse 9, "What does the worker gain from his struggles?"
- If our time is limited, what should we as believers be doing with our time?
- In what ways do you occupy your time? How are these appropriate uses of time? (ETB Personal Study Guide)
- What does it mean that God has made everything appropriate, or beautiful, in its time? (ETB Personal Study Guide -- See Romans 8:28 for the perspective for those of us who know Christ.)
- Explain: For the Israelites of Solomon’s era, the afterlife was a vast mystery. Divine revelation was incomplete then. They knew that everyone died. They also understood that death was not the end of one’s existence. Beyond that, however, their experience provided only a few clues.
- What does it mean that God has put eternity in man's hearts in verse 11? (Humans have a God-given desire to search for immortality; yet this can only be found through a relationship with Jesus Christ.)
- How would you explain what verse 11 says about man's quest to understand God's work? (We will never fully understand everything this side of heaven. It is only through a relationship with Christ that we will ever fully know the works of God. -- See 1 Corinthians 13:10-12)
- Verse 13: How has God gifted you for your efforts? Is it wrong for you to enjoy His blessings? (Not as long as we recognize that it is He who gave us everything.)
- Verse 13: These verses indicate we are to enjoy what we receive from our efforts. What does this verse say this enjoyment comes from? (It is a gift from God.) What then should we be careful to avoid when we are blessed with good things? (We should avoid walking away from God because we are having "so much fun with life.")
- Verse 14 concludes with the statement, God works so that people will be in awe of Him. How does the work of God leave you in awe of Him? What prevents those who don't know God from recognizing the work of God? How can you help them see God's wondrous work?
- Explain: Life is a gift from God and can and should be enjoyed. Yet life is controlled by time. Human achievements are fundamentally temporal in nature; whereas, God’s sovereignty is eternal. Nothing anyone does can alter the slightest act of God. The vast difference between God and humanity should produce awe of God in every person. He alone oversees earthly time and eternity. (ETB Leader Guide).
TRANSITION: Call attention to the clock on display.
Explain: Our hearts have been divinely programmed for eternity. We desire immortality and sense that there should be a larger purpose to life, and in Christ there is. Therefore, not to squander time on earth but rather to make it count, is a normal desire for Christians. The challenge is not to cross into temptations and try to control time but simply to enjoy the time we have been given. Trying to hold onto what you cannot really control will eventually leave you feeling frustrated and empty. As Solomon continues in chapter 3 and the early verse of chapter 4, he challenges his readers to take death seriously and addresses the futility in acts of oppression and pursuing wealth. He then turns to the value of friendships, which leads us to another question, "Am I trying to go at it alone?"
Explain: Our hearts have been divinely programmed for eternity. We desire immortality and sense that there should be a larger purpose to life, and in Christ there is. Therefore, not to squander time on earth but rather to make it count, is a normal desire for Christians. The challenge is not to cross into temptations and try to control time but simply to enjoy the time we have been given. Trying to hold onto what you cannot really control will eventually leave you feeling frustrated and empty. As Solomon continues in chapter 3 and the early verse of chapter 4, he challenges his readers to take death seriously and addresses the futility in acts of oppression and pursuing wealth. He then turns to the value of friendships, which leads us to another question, "Am I trying to go at it alone?"
Am I Trying to Go at it Alone? Someone Read Eccl. 4:9-12
Discussion Options:
- Explain: Failure to cultivate true friendships may reflect a poor stewardship of God’s creation. Solomon illustrated this reality about friendships with a proverb: two are better than one. He provided some practical reasons the proverb is valid. (ETB Leader Guide)
- Call attention to the ball of string. Ask the group to explain how they have seen the strength of string or rope used to illustrate the truth in these passages. Explain: Many ropes are not just single strands but multiple strands wrapped together. This is what makes the rope stronger. This is also why friends are so important - they make us stronger.
- What are some ways that a true friend has helped you?
- Looking back at your life, what could you have not accomplished without a friend or partner? (Discovery Study Guide, p64)
- What are some ways Solomon indicates that friends can help strengthen each other?
(Verse 9: Reward for their efforts refers to laboring together to produce more. Two laborers working in harmony can produce more work and earn more pay; Verse 10: When someone experiences an accident, friends can help them get back on their feet; Verse 11: Friends help each other survive nature's challenges. Illustration from ETB Leader Guide - During my service in the war in Vietnam, my unit was located mainly in mountainous areas. For the most part the climate was tropical, but nighttime could get relatively cool during the monsoon season. Our clothing and equipment were designed for hot weather. Each soldier had a single poncho liner to use as cover while sleeping. On wet, chilly nights, we often resorted to Solomon’s maxim in this verse: two soldiers slept side by side under doubled-up poncho liners. The combined thickness better preserved body heat, allowing both soldiers to stay warm; Verse 12: Friends protect each other from criminal activity. There is safety in numbers!)
- Consider reading excerpts from My Jericho Moment. Emphasize how people who don't know Christ need our friendships so they will be drawn to Christ, the One who will truly sustain them.
- Read Romans 12:5. Emphasize that, as believers, we need each other. We are much stronger as a Body of believers than we are as individual believers trying to "go at" the Christian walk alone.
- Are you a good friend to others? What could you do right now for a friend that would make his or her life better or more complete? (Discovery Study Guide, p64)
TRANSITION:
Solomon noted that many people are driven to struggle for temporal success, and in the process they experience isolation from other people. As believers we have to depend on each other and be friends to one another. We need each other!. We also demonstrate to the lost world how dependent we humans are on each other by the way we reach out to our neighbors who don't know Christ. They need us during the tough times they face.
After discussing in the final verses of chapter 4 how political power is fleeting, Solomon turns his attention to the seriousness of worship. That brings us to our third question, "Do I Take Worship Seriously?"
Solomon noted that many people are driven to struggle for temporal success, and in the process they experience isolation from other people. As believers we have to depend on each other and be friends to one another. We need each other!. We also demonstrate to the lost world how dependent we humans are on each other by the way we reach out to our neighbors who don't know Christ. They need us during the tough times they face.
After discussing in the final verses of chapter 4 how political power is fleeting, Solomon turns his attention to the seriousness of worship. That brings us to our third question, "Do I Take Worship Seriously?"
Do I Take Worship Seriously? Someone Read Eccl. 5:1-7
Discussion Options:
- Explain: In this passage Solomon outlines ways that we should respond in worship.
- Call attention to the knee pads. Ask the group to explain how the knee pads could be used to explain the importance of worship as described in these verses. (We should approach worship in humility; it is not a show; obedience is vital; we should be focused more on listening than speaking to God; we should be sure of our commitments, etc.)
- How does Solomon summarize his wisdom regarding worship in verse 7? (Therefore, fear God)
- Explain: The awesome realization that God is holy and that human beings are sinful dominates this awareness. Even more significant is the knowledge that God has acted mercifully toward sinful human beings in providing a way of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus Christ. This is how we should approach worship.
- How, then, can we avoid leaving worship feeling empty? (Change our expectations and our focus.)
- Read the following illustration from Tozer on Leadership: "It is now common practice in most evangelical churches to offer the people a maximum of entertainment. It is scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a meeting where the only attraction is God. One can only conclude that God's professed children are bored with Him."
- Do you agree with this statement? What would Solomon say we needed to do?
Look Out: Hitting the target and applying it to daily living.
In a life that leaves so many people empty, Solomon describes three things that can give fulfillment: (1) Not trying to control time; (2) Developing and being a strong friend; (3) Taking worship seriously.
- Which of these areas gives you the greatest challenge?
- Ask the group to share one idea for each area that will help bring fulfillment instead of emptiness.
- Challenge the group to come up more more ideas and to act on those ideas during the week.
