The Way of Wisdom - Hold onto the Lord | Week 4

Today, Pastor J leads us in exploring the wisdom found in Ecclesiastes 12. We delve into the scripture's profound message: "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." Solomon's life journey, marked by the pursuit of pleasure and wisdom, is portrayed as ultimately unfulfilling. Our message resonates with the modern reliance on technology and knowledge, urging a collective shift towards the pursuit of genuine, eternal wisdom.

The narrative unfolds with Solomon's candid reflection on life's meaninglessness despite amassing wealth, pleasures, and knowledge. In a world driven by rapid technological advances, his perspective challenges us to reconsider the value of our pursuits. Pastor J underscores the tension between worldly accomplishments and the pursuit of enduring wisdom, encouraging a recalibration towards eternal values. 

The emotional struggles many face are very real, and a balanced approach is crucial, encompassing both toughness and a genuine connection with one's feelings. We are left with a profound challenge: to hold onto the Lord in the midst of life's fleeting pursuits, seeking enduring wisdom over temporal achievements. The need for an eternal perspective calls for a purposeful life centered on fearing God and keeping His commandments.

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Transcript

Pastor Jason Brown: 0:00

What are you seeking? I don't know about you, but I was a kid that loved hide and go seek. Did you guys play hide and go seek? Now some of you guys weren't allowed outside. So for those of you that were allowed outside, did you guys play hide and go seek? And it was those things. That's different right Nowadays. Before they'd be like go outside, now we're like stay inside, protect yourself. You know, close the doors. It's a different approach.

Pastor Jason Brown: 0:23

But I grew up in that era and so whenever we were having started this church, my parents planted the church and we would have a set up, tear down inside of a school in Littleton Elementary, and so all the adults would get there early and they'd be setting up the church and set up the chairs and the sound system and the whole thing. And the kids we were running around like crazy. So they would tell us go outside. So we would go play hide and go seek across the campus, which is pretty amazing. So as a kid I found this space where there were all these bars that had kind of been blocked off and inside were all these school desks that they were kind of storing, sort of in a big club of desks. So this was perfect because at that time I was more aerodynamic, as you might imagine, and so I could squeeze my fat head through the bars and then shimmy down through there and I would climb in the back of these desk area and that was the perfect hiding spot. Like no one could find me. And you know, I would say there's so long that I would beat the game. How many people are I talking about? Where they like they would come and they'd be like send the teacher because, like you know, kids, church had started, so they're looking for me. They're like Jay, the game is over. I'm like I know this tactic, I'm not falling for this. No, no way, man, I'm still there now. I'm still hiding to this day. That's where we're.

Pastor Jason Brown: 1:31

No, the idea is that, you know it's sometimes you can get so good at hiding that no one can find you. The converse to that is my mom, when she played hide and go seek plays with the grandkids, whenever my kids were little, especially Jayman, they'd play hide and go seek and my mom is terrible at staying hidden because she will laugh every single time they come and try to find her. So they'd be like okay, go count. And they're like one, two, you know they count to like four and then they come find and she would actually have a decent hiding spot. But she would just start laughing. She'd be like the kids would like immediately find her. We're like what are you doing? You're not even trying to hide, she would just laugh and laugh and laugh. And it was funny because we were like man, this is not the point of the game, but the game is so much better by her just laughing the whole time.

Pastor Jason Brown: 2:17

And there's something about that too, where people are just attracted to the joy inside of others. And so we start talking about this idea of seeking. We start understanding that it really is these things that align us, about seeking something that has substance For our lives whenever we're living them as unto God. We understand that we're aligning ourself with the eternal things, and to align ourselves with other things that are temporary is just that, it's fleeting, it doesn't have any substance, and we're gonna talk about that more today. We wanna be those that are holding on to something that makes sense. We wanna be those that are seeking the Lord. We wanna hold on to Him. We wanna hold on to the Lord. Stay with me, hold on to the Lord as we look at this way of wisdom. It's been something that we understand and we talk about often. Here is how.

Pastor Jason Brown: 3:06

None of us is perfect. All of us are in need of a savior. We use this imagery of walking with Jesus because that's who we are. We are people who are walking where he's leading us to go and since he's directing us, that means we need to keep on following Jesus. We wanna be more like Jesus. That's our ambition, it's our heart, because we wanna be those that are following where he's leading us to go, not just okay, I've made a decision, that's it. No, we wanna walk where Jesus is leading us to be.

Pastor Jason Brown: 3:32

Beyond that, we also wanna do that corporately, as a group, and so we do that through our life groups, which meet throughout the week, throughout the city. In fact, this week, this day, starts a brand new semester of life groups. So we encourage you to get involved, join in. There's all sorts of life groups happening here on campus, across the city, so there's lots of opportunities to do that. We encourage you to connect, encourage you to grow, encourage you to serve. That you get involved and you make a friend, you make a real relationship, that you get involved and go deeper in your relationship with Christ, that you get involved and use your gifts and abilities for him. Amen. So that's what we're about corporately. We wanna be those that are about these things.

Pastor Jason Brown: 4:10

Now, we talked about this idea of the way of wisdom, and it is looking to the scripture, and we started our year out with prayer and it was a focus for us in a very profound one, and in doing so, we were praying and fasting. How many people participated with us in prayer and fasting? What a powerful, powerful thing. Thank you for being a part of that. I know this. That extra time with the Lord was so precious to me, so special to me. But also, last week was the last day that we were fasting. So come Monday, we had broken the fast, and I'll tell you Monday morning, because we had been doing without meals and stuff. Monday morning, when I went to reach for a breakfast burrito, I felt like I was sinning. I was like, lord, this is your food, what am I talking about? But I got so used to doing without the thing. But it's not about the thing that we're doing without. It's about focusing on him and the prayer, that closeness as we draw close to the Lord, this message for us this year, this theme has been that the battle is the Lord's. We know that this year has been a battle for many and will be a battle for many, and we know this that you are not alone, that he is on your side and whenever we align ourselves with him, the battle is his. It's already victorious because the battle is the Lord's. Can you say amen to that?

Pastor Jason Brown: 5:26

We're looking at wisdom and looking to Solomon and his writings that have been here. We picked up first in Proverbs. In Proverbs 1.7, it says the fear of the Lord is beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. We understand that the fear of the Lord is not one we're afraid of him for smiting us or passing judgment on us in that way, but instead of a reverence, for he is holy or he is powerful, and that we should have the correct perspective of who he is. And if we live with that perspective, then we will live with that kind of perspective. We'll live differently as unto God, and so the beginning of knowledge, of making wise decisions that align with scripture, is understanding the right perspective of God, to have a true fear or reverence of the Lord.

Pastor Jason Brown: 6:10

We also looked at Proverbs 3, 5 and 6. It says trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths. We talked about this very thing to trust in the Lord. We talked about how we as people can be fickle, but God is eternal and does not lie. He keeps his promises and he will be with us. He will straighten our paths. It doesn't say that we won't have hard things happen. It says that he'll be with us through the mix. It says that when he's the good shepherd, that he'll be alongside us in the valley of the shadow of death, that we will not be alone, but that he'll be with us all the way we looked again, we saw.

Pastor Jason Brown: 6:52

Proverbs 4, 10 and 11 says hear my son and accept my words. For the years of your life maybe many I have taught you the way of wisdom. I've led you in the paths of uprightness. We talked about what it means to follow the Lord in his path instead of the way to destruction, and we're called to be those that follow the Lord. Today we continue in the way of wisdom, looking to scripture in Ecclesiastes 12. If you have your Bible, your tablet, your phone. I'd encourage you to open it today. Take a look here and we'll highlight it. It picks up and says this the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man, for God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. Our challenge today is to hold onto the Lord. Lord, we thank you for your word. We pray over it. Holy spirit, we pray that you would illuminate it, breathe upon it, make it rena to us alive, to challenge us, become more like you and your character. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Pastor Jason Brown: 8:03

We pick up here in the beginning of the book of Ecclesiastes. So if you move all the way to the beginning of the book, it actually starts in Ecclesiastes one, two vanity of vanities, says the preacher. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Well, that's a great way to start, isn't it? It's like hey, it's meaningless. Manatee of fantasies, everything is meaningless. Let's be done, let's have the altar call right now, we can close service. But it's an interesting way to start a book. It's like hey, listen, it doesn't matter, nothing matters. I don't even know why you're continuing to read this, but he starts to talk about these things and he says this is what the preacher is saying. And this is his case.

Pastor Jason Brown: 8:39

The preacher is what he calls himself it's also translated to this term collector. It's that person who's brought together wisdom or understanding or experience in that way, so he's conveying this to us in this way, that this is what he's saying. He's like listen to me, for I have the experience, I'm the one who has the knowledge, I'm the one who has the wisdom. Listen to what I'm saying. Nothing matters. He's a little bit jaded. Can we come to an agreement on that?

Pastor Jason Brown: 9:05

And so it picks up here with this idea that nothing matters. That he's this idea of him and his age. And it's Solomon writing many theologians believe at the end of his life. So the counter to what we read before, where he's making all these offerings to God and God imparts wisdom to him. He's giving him a thousand offerings and he's worshiping the Lord. He has a heart after God, like his father, david. Instead, now we see him as a jaded, older king, having experienced all these things, and he's like it doesn't matter. Sounds a little grumpy, doesn't it? A little bit jaded? And so it's a different perspective. It's this tension that we read. It's different than what we've seen in Proverbs, the writing he's had there.

Pastor Jason Brown: 9:45

Now, in Ecclesiastes, he's giving you this memoir of sorts, trying to say listen, these are the things that I've lived, these are the decisions I've made. I'm telling you that, aside from eternal things, nothing matters. And that's interesting for us to think about, because he's trying to tell us, to warn us and to give us some insight here. It's interesting also because he's saying vanity of vanity. Now, vanity, the way we would understand it, would be something about our appearance or how we're egotistical. We're looking in the mirror all the time, and that's not what this means here. The vanity is actually something that is fleeting. That's why they call vanity the way it is, because you're vain, but in the same way, it's passing away from you, and this way it's called something like a mist or a vapor or a breath. It's something that's passing from you. You can't put your hands onto it, and so you're trying to catch this breath, you're trying to catch and contain this mist or this vapor. That's why it's pointless. And so when he starts to talk about this, he's unpacking wisdom in a different context. He's talking about it from this other perspective saying, listen, I've tried all this stuff and this stuff doesn't matter. Listen to me. All of this stuff is trying to catch the vapor, catch a breath, catch mist Instead, have wisdom and live for eternal things.

Pastor Jason Brown: 11:04

So it picks up here in Ecclesiastes 1-9,. It says what has been is what will be and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. How many people would agree with that? It's interesting even as we have all this rapid increase in our knowledge and rapid increase in our technology, we have the same problems as people. It doesn't matter how many sources and try to solve problems we have, we still have the same issues because the brokenness is not in the systems, the brokenness is in us. It's like whenever you take yourself and put yourself in a new location, if you were broken inside, then you're still broken in the new setting. Sound familiar. And since we as people are still broken, we could be put us in a different decade, a different millennium, a different idea with different technology. We're still broken, we still need a savior, we still need eternal value and perspective. And so that's what he's saying here and it still rings true.

Pastor Jason Brown: 12:04

Ecclesiastes 1.13 says and I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom, all that's been done under the heaven and it's an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. Well, yikes man really. He's like listen, this whole, this whole thing we're doing, we're living, it doesn't matter. And you're like that's not very good and you think about his idea. He's saying I set my whole life and my whole focus on seeking and searching to know knowledge.

Pastor Jason Brown: 12:33

Now we're in a very unique time because back in the day, when you wanted to know something, you had to own really big books. And they look like this when you'd open them up, there were these big, vast volumes Some people remember, and you'd have the big volume. And when you go to someone's house and they had a lot of books, you're like, oh, and then when you realize they hadn't read any of the books, you're like, oh, and if they had read them? You're like, aha, yes, very good. And it's like this young woman here who's reading over it, pouring over it. She has this hunger for knowledge, to understand it, to really get it inside of who she is. And that's the same concept that it would be for us today is that we would be those that hunger and thirst after knowledge that matters.

Pastor Jason Brown: 13:12

Now, it's interesting because our searching for knowledge nowadays is not this process anymore. We talk to the box in our pocket and we ask it what we should know, and so it gives us out these inputs, right, and so many of us don't even type anymore. We just talk to it and people talk to it. That's okay, it's not a bad thing. It's just the idea that if we were to look at your search history, we'd know what you don't know. You know, like how to get somewhere, how to make something, how to do something, who was in that one film, that one time that did this thing. I told you I was right, remember, maybe it's not even that Nowadays they have all these, the VR and IR, all the different stuff, where you're wearing goggles and you start to actually it's a middle step between technology and the real world, where now they're rolling them out this week, where people are wearing them and they're wearing them out in the city and they're like doing all this stuff, where they can see things three-dimensionally in front of you, where it's a computer in space in front of you and this is all supposed to help us somehow be connected and have knowledge.

Pastor Jason Brown: 14:13

And I'm very protect. I love all this stuff. I love it and at the same time I realize it's folly, because we as the user are still broken. And so it comes back to the same idea of searching out true knowledge. Ecclesiastes 1 16 and 17 says I said in my heart I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. Very humble, a humble man here, and I know I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly.

Pastor Jason Brown: 14:51

I perceive that this also was about striving after the wind. This is an interesting thing because it starts to talk to about how Solomon because he got so full and full of being wise and being smarter than everybody, then he tried all the stupid things in the world too. Thank you what? But that's what he's saying, and he's saying it's like chasing or striving after the wind. I don't know if you've ever chased after the wind.

Pastor Jason Brown: 15:18

I think a good example of this is a kite. My friend Angus was doing this the other day with his family. They went and saw that it was windy out, so they went and got a kite and put it together and started flying a kite. You ever tried to fly a kite? It takes some effort and you are literally chasing the wind and if you ever get it up, it's actually very satisfying. You're like man, this is awesome. You're actually getting a chance to experiencing something. But it's never quite the way we think it's going to go, is it? I mean, you know, whenever the kite comes down, you can see it like in this next video, where it's like it softly lands, very softly down onto grass. That is an existent phoenix. What happens to it? It hits every tree, every house on the way down.

Pastor Jason Brown: 15:56

There is no way away from having a destruction of flying a kite, and that's kind of how he's talking about here. He's saying listen, all that your effort, all that you think you're accomplishing, it has an end. That has no meaning and that's really short-sighted. But what he's talking about is it has no eternal value. It's not that it doesn't have meaning or that it's not good to do. We're glad for the things that God puts our hands to do. We do those as unto the Lord. He's saying that it has no eternal value, and so he starts to talk about this as someone who's reflecting on his life and understanding that all that he's tried to accomplish it still amounts to folly. Now, folly is an interesting terminology because he starts to talk about how this in itself is stupidity. It's making unwise decisions. He says it like this in Ecclesiastes 2.1,.

Pastor Jason Brown: 16:41

I said in my heart come now, I will test you with pleasure, enjoy yourself, but behold, this was all so vanity and, as you can imagine, a king and his power in his day. With his wisdom, he amassed a great amount of wealth. It talks about how his wealth was incomparable to anyone in his day. It was something that was shown like this when you think of pleasure you think of this is the depiction or the paintings that they show of Solomon and his grandeur. It was wealth that made so that silver stopped to have as they had less value in his kingdom because it was so plentiful from his minds and from all that he came and accomplished. It was also something where he would just had had this hunger for pleasure that wouldn't be quenched. He had 300 wives, 700 concubines. If he went to have a coffee date with each woman and he met three of them a day, he wouldn't see the first one for almost a year he was living for himself and for all he could have an appetite to experience.

Pastor Jason Brown: 17:48

And still he says it was empty, that it was nothing, that it didn't amount to anything. He says so I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem Also, my wisdom remained with me. Whatever my eyes desire, I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, from my heart found pleasure in my toil and this was my reward for all my toil. He's saying not only was it the pleasure, but I worked hard and everything I could put my hands to do and work it in pleasure. I tried all of it because I wanted everything. And then he says this I considered all my hands had done and the toil I'd expended in doing it. And behold, all was vanity. In striving after the wind, there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Pastor Jason Brown: 18:36

He starts to give us a true perspective of what he had experienced. He was saying listen, all that I built, all that I amassed and all that I gained with my hard work, all the pleasure that I tried to have and all these experiences that I tried to keep upon myself for pleasure, none of it satisfied me because none of it was eternal, all of it was fleeting and therefore none of it mattered. And it's a tough thing to kind of take into balance, because it's a tension between these understandings of what we know. We know we're called to be those that work hard and do these things under the Lord, with all of our talents and our ability, our time, and we know that we're called to do these things. At the same time, he's saying don't live for those things, because those things are empty, but instead align yourself with the wisdom that comes from God.

Pastor Jason Brown: 19:26

He starts to talk about this idea that, even if you live in wisdom or in folly and making wise decisions or bad ones, that you will experience hardship. And so he starts to say this understanding. He says then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly. There's more gain in light than in darkness. A wise person has eyes in his head and the fool walks around in darkness. Yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. Friends, we know this.

Pastor Jason Brown: 19:53

There's some that would say, if you come to God, that all your, you're not going to have any problems anymore, and that's just not true. What's going to happen is that it's not that all your problems, your race, it's that you start living the way of God and you start getting in step with God and those blessings start to come into your life. It's not that something difficult won't happen for you. Many times difficulties come on the just and on the unjust. But it's that you are not alone, that he is with you all the way through it, that you are not alone in the process. You are not alone in the hardship. You're not alone in that hard place. Maybe you're there right now. Hold on to the Lord. Hold on to the Lord. Do not run and look for this or that or other things. Those things are folly. Hold on to the Lord. Say it with me. Hold on to the Lord.

Pastor Jason Brown: 20:41

He talks about its toil. He says it sounds like he's bitter about leaving all his stuff to his kids, doesn't it? It sounds bad, but it's true. We know this. We know that you can stack up all this stuff and all this wealth and, guess what? You can't take it with you, you can't keep it for yourself, you can't enjoy it in the way you think. That's what happened to him. He'd stacked all this stuff around him and become the wealthiest and the most powerful and he'd insulated himself in pleasure and all this experience. And then he found he was still alone. He found that none of this mattered because it was really about back to when he was before he was the king, his relationship with the most high God. And see, that's what he's starting to understand is that all of this is folly, all of this toil man. It's bitter in my mouth because I know that it doesn't matter. I've worked hard for all these things but they are not eternal things. We're called to live for the eternal things. Now I can connect to him because he's very much a jaded person. You can kind of feel it in his tone, you can feel it in his writing, can't you? And see, he's come to that place because he doesn't have to worry about the physical things anymore, that he can think about how he feels, about stuff. But you know, like he's not worried about the next meal, he's not worried about shelter, he's not worried about clothing, he's not worried about any of this kind of stuff, and because of that he's just thinking about how he feels.

Pastor Jason Brown: 22:20

That's very much the generation that I grew up in. You know, it was like all the rock kids that I was around. They were called emotional kids, emo kids. They're called emo kids and the emo kids, all their music was about how they felt and how none of it was good. It was like you know what I'm talking about. They got all of that from country music. That's where it comes from. It comes from country music. You guys will like that one. No, but in truth I mean it's also because they had that haircut and I had that haircut. This is why they're mad.

Pastor Jason Brown: 22:58

No, but you know, it's like about the establishment and my parents and if I only felt this way, and why don't they love me? And here's the thing all those things are really felt. All that stuff is real. But it's wrestling with this stuff. That's no longer just the tangible things of how do I meet my hierarchy needs. It's now in this self-realization, like what happens with my life, what am I living for? Why am I actually going forward, like what matters? And they're wrestling with this idea. And it really does come to a place where, if you read into it, you start to see like is this guy depressed, like what's going on with him? And if you were here, and that's your situation when you're wrapped up in emotion, we validate that you feel that way, I validate that you're going through it Don't hear me say anything else.

Pastor Jason Brown: 23:45

And so if you're someone who needs counseling, please get counseling. It's a good thing. It'll help you heal. At the same time you need to press into the Lord. It's not an either and it's a both. Process this stuff at the same time. Walk with the Lord and hold on to the Lord, help through that process. You know it's tough because you know a piece of me grew up in that. You know, toughen up Buttercup, let's go. You know, like this dude thinking there's a piece of that too, you know. But it's not a trade off, it's a yes, and let's get tough, let's keep going, let's do those things, but let's also process, because if we only get tough, then we'll be broken as an old person writing like this guy. Or we can process and heal, give it to the Lord, still holding on to the Lord, and then walk with him to healing. That we wouldn't stay in depression, but instead we be full of the spirit of God, the joy of the Lord being our strength, no matter what the circumstances. That it would be different for us. My challenge to us, as we hold on to the Lord, say it with me. Hold on to the Lord.

Pastor Jason Brown: 24:51

Most famous part of his writing, probably here in Ecclesiastes, is about seasons of life and how these things come, both the good and the bad, to us. Some of you might know it from the old song that used the lyrics of most of the scripture here, but it picks up in Ecclesiastes 3, verse 1. It says for everything there was a season and a time, for every matter under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to reap or pluck up what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together. A time to embrace, a time to refrain from embracing, a time to seek and a time to lose. A time to cast away and a time to tear. A time to sow and a time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.

Pastor Jason Brown: 26:07

As we read this list to you. I'm sure something jumped off to you off the page in the season that you're in. What season are you in? See, it's not that you won't experience the good or the bad you will, but what season are you in? Where are you walking? What journey are you on? Each one of us walking with Christ through that season, and it's not a bad thing. We just have to realize where we are and where he's taking us to. And as we hold on to him, then he will take us through it. That we wouldn't be those that seek this kind of solution or that kind of solution, looking to this guru or that guru, but instead that we would seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things, including the answers to what we're walking through, will be given to you. We ask that question what are you seeking? My challenge to you is to hold on to the Lord. Say it with me. Hold on to the Lord .

Pastor Jason Brown: 27:03

He's 311 says he's made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he's put eternity into a man's heart, yet so he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. Means that we have this eternal knowledge inside of us, that we are not just dead in this world, but there's a life beyond here, but at the same time, we don't understand it fully in our scope. He said. I perceive that there's nothing better than for them to be joyful and to do good as long as they live, that everyone should eat, drink and take pleasure in all his toil. This is God's gift to man. This is a challenge for us that we need to be those that are present and are thankful for the day of what God has given to us. We don't need to be stuck in the past, living some example from before. We also don't want to have our head so far in the future that we can't understand today, but that we ourselves would experience the presence of God. We would experience His blessings here in this moment and give Him glory for it. That's what it means, he says.

Pastor Jason Brown: 28:04

I perceive that whatever God does endures forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it so that many people fear before Him that which is already has been and that which is to be already has been, and God seeks what has been driven away. See, we see how God sits outside of time and space. He understands all these things as our Creator, and so he holds them like this in His hand. So nothing is new to Him, nothing catches Him off guard. Instead, he is the one with the eternal perspective, and so we seek Him. We hold on to Him, hold on to the Lord. Say it with me, hold on to the Lord.

Pastor Jason Brown: 28:48

Now, if you skip to the end of the book, in Ecclesiastes 12, 8, solomon hasn't given up. He's saying vanity of vanity, says the preacher, all is vanity. So for all those chapters in between, he starts explaining how he's done this and he's done that, and all of this is empty. He's bringing it to a culmination and he kind of gives a little caveat here in verses 9 and 10. He says besides being wise, the preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. And the preacher sought to find words of delight and, uprightly, he wrote words of truth. He's saying if you don't like my new stuff, which is whiny, go back to my more positive album, the first one. You'll like that one. It's a good one. No, but it's both end. It's a tension between the two Proverbs tells you, if you live like this, these blessings will have before you, and that is true. At the same time, the tension is on the other end. It says hey, listen, if you live for all this other stuff that's in between, that your life will have no meaning. You have to have eternity in mind. And so that's the tension that he has.

Pastor Jason Brown: 29:55

He goes into that first scripture we read today in Ecclesiastes 12, 13 and 14. The end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man, for God will bring every deed into judgment and with every secret thing, whether good or evil, friends are challenged to fear the Lord, to keep the right perspective on who he is, to keep his commandments. It goes back to the simple things. See, we think, just like the children of Israel of old, that we can reject these things and still get away with our own plan and our own ideas. But that's not what he's called us to do. He's called us to have the right perspective, living in the right way, to keep his commandments, to hold onto the Lord. Say it with me Hold onto the Lord.

Pastor Jason Brown: 30:53

We go to this question as we come here to the altar. Where does your wisdom come from? What are you seeking Friends. In all the things that we can try to do, with everything we spend our time and our talent doing, with everything that we live this life for, we need to have eternity in mind. We need to align ourselves with what the gospel and what the Bible says we're to be living for, not to be living after these things that are fleeting, not try to pile up experiences or pleasures or wealth or ambition after our own selves. We know that pride comes before the fall. We don't do these things because this thing is empty, but instead we use all that we have, the story of our life and all that's given to us. We use it as a worship unto God and see him bless you and pour out upon you and your family and your family's family as it goes forward, because we're obedient and align ourselves with him.

Pastor Jason Brown: 31:48

It's not just for this life we live, it's also for the one on the other side of the door called death and friends, none of us is guaranteed tomorrow. That's why today is so precious. That's why we live with the wisdom of God and say, lord, forgive me of where I've fallen short, forgive me of these things. I wanna align my life with you. Maybe you're here. You've never made a decision to follow Jesus. Today, as your opportunity to do so, you have to answer that question have you embraced Jesus? No one can answer for you not your spouse, not your kids, not your mom or dad or anyone around you, the neighbor that brought you. No one can answer for you. It's your question to answer. But here's the thing when you make a decision to follow Jesus, it's inviting him into your heart and life to build that relationship with him, asking him to forgive you of your sin, of where you've fallen short.

Pastor Jason Brown: 32:44

See, we, as Christ followers, believe Jesus is who he says he is, that he came to this world and he lived a sinless life. He became the holy sacrifice for all people for all time. We know and I know it's a broken person that I can't offer a holy God anything, because the only thing I have to offer is unholy In Christ. Knowing this, he came and lived out his life to be the innocent, perfect holy sacrifice for us all. He took on our misins and our mistakes. He took on mine, he took on yours and he paid for them once and for all. And that's why the symbol of the cross is so powerful to us, because it's a symbol of freedom and not of death, because it's a place where my savior Jesus, he took my sin and he paid for it. It's where he made a bridge for us and returned back to relationship with the Father, the apostle Paul.

Pastor Jason Brown: 33:44

He writes to the church at Rome and he says it like this because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is just if I wouldn't with a mouth, one confesses and is saved. Friends, today is your day of salvation. It's your day to make a decision to follow Jesus. If you're online, I just ask you to prepare your heart. If you're here in the room and it's actually to stand right where you're at, just bow your head, if everyone just stand, we've already had people make a decision to follow Jesus. Today we wanna give you that same opportunity as well. If that's you and you're here in the room, if you just wanna raise your hand and say, pastor, if you just remember me in the prayer today, I wanna make a decision to follow Jesus. Or maybe you wanna make a recommitment to your life after Jesus. If that's you. If you just wanna raise your hand right where you're at, say, lord, include me in this prayer. I see that hand that's there and the hand that's here See a hand that's there. Thank you, lord, for people making a decision today.

Pastor Jason Brown: 34:55

Friends, making a decision. It's a powerful thing. It's a simple prayer we pray. I'm gonna ask everyone to pray it together. He goes like this Lord, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Jesus. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. Forgive me of my sins. I surrender my life to you In Christ. I pray Amen, amen. Friends, we rejoice that you make a decision to follow Jesus today. What a powerful thing. That's amazing. If that was you and you made a decision to follow Jesus, let me encourage you that, before the day is over, that you would come and connect with our team back here by the prayer banner. We wanna put some materials in your hand to make you successful for that. If you're online, that you would message us. We wanna send something to you so we can follow up and you can step after walking after God, these next steps.

Pastor Jason Brown: 35:59

We're excited and as we come to this altar today, we have this opportunity to come to the table and remember his sacrifice for us and communion together. You don't need to be a member of this church or any church to participate in communion with us, but we do ask that you be a Christ follower, because we hold it as sacred, this act of remembering the sacrifice of Christ for us. Jesus, he took these elements of the Passover of the bread and of the cup and he changed their meaning for all people talking about how this represents who he is, as the sacrifice for all people, that his broken body and his blood that is gonna be shed. It changes everything. It's a new covenant for us. And so we come and we take these elements and we thank the Lord for how, in his brokenness, we are made whole, that by his pain we're actually forgiven, and it's a precious thing for us. And it says in doing so we reap the benefit, the blessing, of having that time together Uniquely.

Pastor Jason Brown: 36:53

We'll do something a little bit different. We haven't done in a while, and now we're going to come and pray. I'm gonna read the scripture, pray over it and then open up this altar to you to come and participate. Today we're gonna have pastors that are coming and serving you at these stations two up front, two in the back corners but that you would take your elements and that you would pray with a friend or the people you're with, or maybe just by yourself, taking that moment to have that moment with the Lord, and then we'll come back at the end of the song and pray some blessings over us.

Pastor Jason Brown: 37:22

We look to the scripture, paul writing about what he had experienced, about what had been shared with him. He says to the church at Corinth I receive from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus. On the night when he was betrayed, he took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying this cup is a new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me, or as often as you eat the bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Pastor Jason Brown: 38:02

Lord, we thank you so much for this opportunity to respond to you. We thank you, lord, for the wisdom that You've given to Solomon and Lord, our experience of learning from him, lord, and even his folly, lord. In understanding, lord, that we need to be those that live after you with an eternal life and eternal heart, we need to hold on to you. So, lord, in this way, as we come to this altar, to come have this moment with you, remembering your great sacrifice for us. Lord, we thank you for your grace, we thank you for your compassion and your love. We thank you, lord, for coming and being the sacrifice, taking my place, taking on my mistakes, my sin, making a way for me to be in relationship with you. Lord, we thank you for all of these that come and have this moment together. We pray a blessing in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Pastor Celeste Brown: 38:50

Well, today marks the beginning of a new season of Life Groups, and so I encourage you to sign up. If you have not done so yet, you can go on the app or online to the website. You'll be able to see a list of all the opportunities. But join one, join a couple. There are some great options this year, this semester, and so I would love to see you get involved.

Pastor Jason Brown: 39:10

We also have a unique situation coming up this Saturday. It's an outreach from Mercy House, but it's here on this campus and so you can get involved. It's giving out free clothes and food to those in need in the community, which is an amazing thing. So if you would give of your closet, give of your pantry and give of your time to come and serve, it's going to be an amazing event happening this Saturday morning. You can jump online and sign up for the event and contact our team at Mercy House to find out more details for that.

Pastor Jason Brown: 39:38

Let's pray this blessing over us before we go today. The Lord bless you and keep you. Lord, make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, or lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Lord, I pray a blessing upon your church, your people. God, you're going to power us by your spirit to live your love out to those around us. We pray this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen, amen, know this. We love you very much here at Cornerstone. We love you and have a great week.