TLDR: Video Link Background: Paul had traveled to the city of Thessalonica after being beaten and imprisoned in Phillipi. You can read in the book of Acts, when in Phillipi, Paul and Silas had released a fortune teller girl from demonic possession and her masters were enraged and they beat Paul and SIlas with rods in the marketplace, humiliating them, then they were thrown in a dungeon called the Tullainium where the worst criminals were kept, their feet in stocks that stretch the prisoners feet apart, causing severe pain. Did they give up? Did they say, oh we must not be in the Will of God? No, an earthquake during the night broke open the jail, they stopped and witnessed to the jailer helping him and his family come to Christ, and they were released. This is when they went to Thessalonica. In Thessalonica, it’s important to understand the type of place this is. It’s like a political rally with all the parties vying for attention on every street-corner and in the marketplace. It
Ecclesiastes Sermon #9 The Meaning of Life: The Authentic Life Chapter 7 Introduction Good morning! This week we are continuing our series in Ecclesiastes called The Meaning of Life with chapter 7: The Authentic Life. Where do we go to find wisdom, meaning, and purpose? What is the point of all our accomplishments? Where is our hope when our life is met with failure or even simple toil and boredom? Is this all there is to life? Solomon has found throughout Ecclesiastes in his grand experiment of life under the sun that all seems to be vanity, a chasing after the wind, as he struggles to find his purpose and meaning, apart from God. Some people doing this experiment would conclude that “all of life is meaningless and nothing matters” which is called nihilism; but Solomon and us conclude that it’s because of God as the source of all meaning, and goodness, as we live the life we are given, that EVERYTHING matters! AND IMPORTANTLY, many things that the world puts on the back burner and