Bucket Full of Grace

Ecclesiastes Sermon #4 - The Meaning of Life - Ecc. 3:1-15 82% of Americans believe in God and that number has been consistent for about the last 60 years.  Now, if you ask people what they believe about God, that is where the differences begin.  Is God in control of World events?  Most people believe that He is. Does God influence sporting events? 25% of Americans believe that he does. Some actually believe that God rewards athletes who love him with good health and success. But, if you ask people does God actually control Natural Disasters, most will say NO. Does God Allow Cancer and Heart Disease and Pneumonia? We say allow to soften the blow of this, allow, but really He is All Powerful and All Knowing and completely Sovereign, so is allow the right word? Or is He behind it? There was a scholar named Christian Smith, a sociologist at Notre Dame wrote a book back in 2005 where he coined a phrase to describe the religious beliefs of 20-30 something year olds in America....

  Ecclesiastes Sermon #3 The Meaning of Life Chapter 2:12-26 Wisdom vs. Foolishness I watched the news as I often do in these times and I saw a very interesting clip: A reporter was going around the beach interviewing people asking why they weren’t wearing masks, and one young man said, “I know where I’m goin’.”  The reporter said in a confused voice, “I don’t understand what you mean.”  “Well, I’m a Christian, and when I die I’m goin’ to Heaven.  I’m not afraid to die.  Where are you goin’ when you die?”  Of course, the clip ended there. Some of you have already been triggered by my bringing up masks or lack of masks and by bringing up the idea of death from COVID and you are ready with a response to impart your wisdom to me.  Hold on tight and try not to get distracted by all that and CANCEL me because of this, because there’s a point to all this.  God is saying something that you might not be expecting here. We started a series here pre-COVID o...