Christians Are Like Tea Bags; You Don’t Know What They Are Made of Until You Put Them in Hot Water
September 3, 2023
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 / Common English Bible
3 There’s a season for everything
and a time for every matter under the heavens:
2 a time for giving birth and a time for dying,
a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted,
3 a time for killing and a time for healing,
a time for tearing down and a time for building up,
4 a time for crying and a time for laughing,
a time for mourning and a time for dancing,
5 a time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones,
a time for embracing and a time for avoiding embraces,
6 a time for searching and a time for losing,
a time for keeping and a time for throwing away,
7 a time for tearing and a time for repairing,
a time for keeping silent and a time for speaking,
8 a time for loving and a time for hating,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Hard work
9 What do workers gain from all their hard work? 10 I have observed the task that God has given human beings. 11 God has made everything fitting in its time, but has also placed eternity in their hearts, without enabling them to discover what God has done from beginning to end.
12 I know that there’s nothing better for them but to enjoy themselves and do what’s good while they live. 13 Moreover, this is the gift of God: that all people should eat, drink, and enjoy the results of their hard work. 14 I know that whatever God does will last forever; it’s impossible to add to it or take away from it. God has done this so that people are reverent before him.[a] 15 Whatever happens has already happened, and whatever will happen has already happened before. And God looks after what is driven away.[b]
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 3:14 Or to inspire awe before the divine
- Ecclesiastes 3:15 Or God seeks out what is pursued, or God seeks what has gone by, or God seeks the pursued; Heb uncertain
Hello Kingdom Family,
Welcome to our Jesus-centered community. We are glad you are listening to today’s message.
“We are People Helping People Experience a Jesus-centered Life.”
Today’s message is titled “Christians Are Like Tea Bags; You Don’t Know What They Are Made Of Until You Put Them In Hot Water.” Today, Pastor Harold unpacks Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 and helps us understand the philosophy of fatalism and how it deludes our relationship with God.
We look at the Four Big Pillars of Life and how, depending on our faith, we will deal with them when we are put into hot water, and all human beings will experience hot water; there is no avoiding it. If you are alive, you experience #1; we all will experience #4; and if we live long enough, we will experience #2 & #3, and not just for ourselves, but others we love:
1. Birth (Fate Determines)
2. Illness/accidents
3. Aging
4. Death
Before you listen to the message, you are encouraged to go to our website and download the lesson bulletin for this message, dated September 3, 2023. The publication contains questions to reflect on as an individual, couple, or small group. You can find them on the home page and click the Bulletins and Lesson Plans tab.
Today’s message is “Christians Are Like Tea Bags; You Don’t Know What They Are Made Of Until You Put Them In Hot Water.” If you have been blessed by this message, please share it with others.
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