Lets Join in Pr a yer Underst a nding the World Around Us Science 1. - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Let’s Join in Prayer

Understanding the World Around Us

Science

• 1. Searching for facts
• 2. Seeking knowledge

and understanding

• 3. Some control

What About God?

Thinking About God

• 1. What is He up to with

this world of ours ?

• 2. Is He truly kind and

gracious?

• 3. Can I really trust Him

with my life? “So I reflected on all this…”

Ecclesiastes 9:1

It’s So Confusing Ecclesiastes 9:1-2

• 1. The righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but

no one knows whether love or hate awaits them

• 2. The righteous and the wicked
• 3. The good and the bad
• 4. The clean and the unclean
• 5. Those who offer sacrifices and those who do not
• 6. Those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them

All the Same End?

“The same destiny overtakes

• all. The hearts of people,

moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.” Ecclesiastes 9:3

Rethinking God

• 1. A distant Judge
• 2. Baby Jesus
• 3. A crucified man
• 4. An invisible friend
• 5. He is waiting for our advice
• 6. The Almighty God of heaven

and earth

“What they do are in God’s hands” “For God has already approved what you do.”

Ecclesiastes 9:1, 7

What Now?

• 1. I have no control
• 2. Everything seems a

bit unfair

• 3. Is death all there is?

A Call to Living Life!

“Anyone who is among the living has hope – even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!” Ecclesiastes 9:4

A Call to Living Life!

“Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless

• days. For this is your lot in life and in

your toilsome labor under the sun.”

Ecclesiastes 9:7-9

A Celebration of Life

• 1. A living dog and a dead lion
• 2. Live with “joy and gladness” –

a celebration of life while living.

• 3. Enjoy your family
• 4. It may sometimes be hard, but

God has already been there / here

What You Do – Do it Well

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.”

Ecclesiastes 9:10

A Correction

Death is Not the End

“I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the solemn truth, a time is coming–and is now here–when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”

John 5:24-25

Death is Not the End

“Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.’” John 11:25 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. Yes, I am the bread of life! Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die.” John 6:47-50

God?

“For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his

• ne and only Son, so that everyone who believes in

him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16