Seasons of Life, Father's Day | Doug Sauder | Ecclesiastes 3

God's grace can't meet you in the past or in the future. God's grace is like man, it is for today. A God can meet you in your season, whether it's spring, summer, fall, or winter, and he wants to meet you in the present, bringing you wisdom and comfort and energy and peace, and so you can actually embrace the season you're in, even if you don't like it exactly. Welcome, Calvary family. Happy Father's Day. We're so excited to be worshiping with you this morning. What greater gift do we have than to worship our heavenly Father as one body and one church? As we worship, I wanna encourage you to reflect on the faithfulness, goodness, and security that we have in the Lord. Let's worship him together. Sing together. ♪ You've been good, good for all my life ♪ ♪ So nothing could ever change my mind ♪ ♪ And you never break your promise ♪ ♪ Because it ain't all you do ♪ ♪ Yours is the way, the truth, the life that I will choose ♪ ♪ Oh, I know that I know you won't ever let me go ♪ ♪ Every low, every high, you are faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, I've faced it and I've seen ♪ ♪ You've been so, so good to me ♪ ♪ God, I know that I know you're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, you're faithful all the time ♪

♪ You're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ I will look to the left or right ♪ ♪ And I will keep every name by sight ♪ ♪ And no, I will not be shaken, nothing is moving me ♪ ♪ Oh, I'm not afraid to show a face I cannot see ♪ ♪ Oh, I know that I know you won't ever let me go ♪ ♪ Every low, every high, you are faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, I've faced it and I've seen you've been so, so good to me ♪ ♪ God, I know that I know you're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, you're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, and I won't stand on my own ♪ ♪ I won't stand on words of men ♪ ♪ God, I'll stand on yours instead ♪ ♪ Because all of my hope, all of my faith ♪ ♪ All of it's in your name ♪ ♪ And the world cannot deny all that you've done in my life ♪ ♪ And all of my days, all of my prayers ♪ ♪ All to live in Jesus' name ♪ ♪ I won't stand on words of men ♪ ♪ God, I'll stand on yours instead ♪ ♪ Because all of my hope, all of my faith ♪ ♪ All of it's in your name ♪ ♪ And the world cannot deny all that you've done in my life ♪ ♪ And all of my days, all of my prayers ♪ ♪ All to live in Jesus' name ♪ ♪ All of my days, all of my prayers ♪ ♪ All to live in Jesus' name ♪ ♪ Oh, I know that I know you won't ever let me go ♪ ♪ In every low, in every high, you are faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, I know that I know you won't ever let me go ♪

♪ In every low, in every high, you are faithful all the time ♪ ♪ I taste it and I see you've been so, so good to me ♪ ♪ God, I know that I know you're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, you're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, I know you won't ever let me go ♪ ♪ Faithful all the time oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ If faithful all the time oh aleoh ♪ Hi welcome! ♪ You're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ I've seen your courage I've seen your faithfulness ♪ ♪ You're faithful all the time oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ You're faithful all the time oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ Oh come on Calvary Chapel would you lift up a shout of praise to Jesus today? If you are grateful for his faithfulness, Jesus we fix our eyes on you and we thank you God that there's no one like you. So we sing. ♪ Oh I searched the world but it couldn't fill me ♪ ♪ Man's empty praise and treasures that fade are never enough ♪ ♪ Then you came along and you put me back together ♪ ♪ Now every desire is now satisfied here in your love ♪ ♪ Oh there's nothing better than you better than you Lord ♪ ♪ There's nothing nothing is better than you oh I know it's true yes and I'm not afraid ♪ ♪ To show you my weakness oh my failures and flaws Lord you've seen them all and you still call me friend ♪ ♪ Because the God of the mountains he is the God of the valley yes he is ♪ ♪ And there's not a place your mercy and grace won't find me again ♪ ♪ Oh there's nothing better than you there's nothing better than you Lord there's nothing nothing is better than you ♪ ♪ Oh there's nothing better than you there's nothing better than you Lord there's nothing nothing is better than you oh I know I know ♪ You turn mourning to dancing You give beauty for ashes You turn shame into glory

You're the only one who can You turn mourning to dancing You give beauty for ashes You turn shame into glory You're the only one who can You turn woes into gardens You turn woes into armies You turn seas into highways You're the only one who can You're the only one who can Oh there's nothing better than you there's nothing better than you Lord there's nothing nothing is better than you yeah ♪ Oh there's nothing better than you... ♪ You, there's nothing better than You ♪ ♪ For there's nothing, nothing is better than You ♪ ♪ You turn graves into gardens ♪ ♪ You turn bones into armies ♪ ♪ You turn seas into highways ♪ ♪ You're the only one who can ♪ ♪ You turn graves into gardens ♪ ♪ You turn bones into armies ♪ ♪ You turn seas into highways ♪ ♪ You're the only one who can ♪ ♪ You're the only one who can ♪ ♪ You're the only one who can, whoa, whoa. ♪ Hey. How are you? ♪♪ ♪ How great the chasm that lay between us. ♪ ♪ How high the mountain I could not climb. ♪ ♪ In desperation, I turned to heaven. ♪

♪ And spoke your name into the night. ♪ ♪ Then through the darkness, your loving kindness. ♪ ♪ Tore through the shadows of my soul. ♪ ♪ The work is finished, the end is written. ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope. ♪ Let's sing together, Who Could Imagine. ♪ Who could imagine so great a mercy? ♪ ♪ What heart could fathom such boundless grace? ♪ ♪ The God of ages stepped down from glory. ♪ ♪ To wear my sin and bear my shame. ♪ Sing the cross. ♪ The cross has spoken, I am forgiven. ♪ ♪ The King of kings calls me his own. ♪ ♪ Beautiful Savior, I'm yours forever. ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope. ♪ Let's respond to it. ♪ So, Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me. ♪ ♪ You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope. Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me. ♪ ♪ You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope. ♪ ♪ Then came the morning that sealed the promise. ♪ ♪ Your buried body began to breathe. ♪ ♪ And out of the silence, the roaring lion declared, ♪ ♪ The grave has no claim on me. ♪ Are you grateful for that news? In that, let's sing it again.

♪ Then came the morning that sealed the promise. ♪ ♪ Your buried body began to breathe. ♪ ♪ And out of her silence the roaring lion ♪ ♪ Declared the name, has no fame or name ♪ ♪ Jesus, yours is the victory, hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me ♪ ♪ You have broken every chain, there's salvation in your name ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me ♪ ♪ You have broken every chain, there's salvation in your name ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Because He lives, I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because He lives, all fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know, He holds the future ♪ ♪ Because I know, He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth living just because He lives ♪ Aren't you grateful for Jesus in the room today? ♪ Because He lives, I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because He lives, all fear is gone ♪ ♪ All fear is gone, because I know, He holds my future ♪ ♪ Because He lives, I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because I know, He holds my future ♪ ♪ And life is worth living just because He lives ♪ Come on, if you are grateful for Jesus in the room, Calvary Chapel, would you just lift up a shout of praise to God in the room today?

We thank you, God! Thank you, Jesus! We celebrate this morning, Lord, because you live, you are not dead. You are alive, and you are here, and we are made alive because of you. And we thank you, Lord Jesus, for grace that has been given to us, mercy that has been shown to us every morning. We thank you for the work you did on the cross, taking our sin and our shame, taking it to the grave but not staying there, rising again, seated at the right hand of the Father, giving us new life today, so that sin and its power would no longer get the last word. We thank you, Lord Jesus. Could you just take a moment and thank your God today? If you are grateful that you have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, we lift up praise to you, God. We thank you. And we thank you that we've been adopted into your family, the family of God. And especially here on this Father's Day, Lord, we thank you for the fathers, the spiritual fathers who have made an impact. But Lord, we even think about maybe the lack thereof of that type of presence. We thank you that you are a good and heavenly father, that you are the best father,

that there is no father like you, and we have been adopted into a family you call us sons and daughters. We have access, sometimes that we take for granted, but we get access to the King of kings. Kings, the Lord of lords. And it's only because of what you've done, Jesus. So we worship you. You are the center of our attention today. And I pray that it wouldn't end with just today, that it would be every day of our life. But even right now, Spirit of God, would you begin to soften our hearts and our minds so that when we hear the preaching of your word, it would transform us from the inside out. We don't want to stay the same. We want to be molded into the likeness of Christ. So we lift you up. You deserve all the glory, the honor, and the praise. It is yours forever, King Jesus. And it's in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Calvary Chapel, we said. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, we're going to be in James, chapter one, 22, 27. Oh, little girl, you made it! You ready? Thank you, baby. You need some help? All right. Hi, baby, how are you? Dear Dad, we're grateful for the way you see the world. But you didn't see what we saw. The mornings you got up before the sun. The bills you carried so we wouldn't have to. The prayers you whispered when you thought we didn't hear. We were watching the whole time we see you, Dad. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Happy Father's Day.

Hey, can we have all the dads of the house stand? All the dads, all the grandfathers, all the foster dads and adoptive dads and spiritual dads. Come on, church. Let's give it up for the dads in this house. We love you. We are grateful for you. We celebrate you on this Father's Day. And we just want to take a moment and pray a blessing over you. So if you're standing next to your husband or your dad or your grandpa or that spiritual mentor in your life, put your hand on his shoulder and let's pray this prayer of blessing together. Father, we thank you for the men of this house and the dads, the heart of a dad, to provide for his family, to protect his family, to pray and lead his family. And God, none of us do that perfectly, but God, we thank you for all of the unseen moments of the men who stand. All of those hours of work, all the prayers that have been prayed, all the tears that have been shed, all the moments where they carried a burden that they didn't share with anyone else, but you saw. God, bless them from that place. For every foster and adoptive dad, for every mentor, mentoring to those young boys who don't have dads and moms in their life,

God, I pray your blessing over the men of this house that you would continue to use them, that you would continue to favor their life. And God, we know there's also some sadness in this moment because for some of us, our dad's not here this Father's Day. And so we pray, even in the loss, that you would be our comfort, that God, you would reveal yourself as our father, even if we didn't have that good father. And that by the power of your spirit, these men would show the world and their families an example of what a man of God is like, a man who uses his power to serve others, reflecting your great love. And so God, bless them, keep them, make your face shine upon them, give them peace. We pray this over our dads in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen, guys. We celebrate you one more time. Let's give it up for the dads of the house, the grandpas of the house, the spiritual fathers in this place. We are so much better because of you. Hey, if you're joining us, we are in a series on the book of Ecclesiastes. We started last weekend, and this weekend we're in Ecclesiastes chapter three, somewhere right around the middle of your Bible, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes chapter three.

We are following through this journey that Solomon is making, trying to figure out how do I find meaning in life? And so this is raw and unedited, and it's poetry and it's the existential journey of how do I find meaning in life? And so we're gonna have some moments of reflection today about life itself. And so as you open Ecclesiastes chapter three, I wanna say something to the young people of the house. If you're a young person, in the house, raise your hand. All the young people in the house, raise your hand. Come on. All the people who are in their 70s, raise their hands. You're young at heart. We see you. We love you. All the middle school students and high school students joining us today. So I have something I want to say to the young people of this house. A little advice. Here it is. Never make fun of your dad. Now, why do I say this? Never make fun of your dad? Because I remember distinctly when I was 14 years old, being in the driveway of the front of our house. And we always placed basketball in the front of our house

with my brother and my dad and some friends and neighbors. But this particular day, my dad had a boot on his leg because he had sprained his ankle the week before and he had just turned 40. And so as any 14 year old, I just pointed out the obvious. Hey, dad, you're getting older. You're getting injured. You're gaining weight. You're losing your hair. You know where this is going. That 14 year old version of Doug looking at his dad. And my dad said this to me. I'll never forget it. Just wait, son. Your time is coming. Now at the time when you're 14, you're like, okay, whatever. And then life flashes by and I'm playing basketball with my kids in the front yard and I just turned 40 and I get hurt. My kids say, dad, you're getting older. You're getting injured. You're gaining weight and well. And that's when it struck me. Time flies. Life goes so fast. Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened. Anybody know what I'm talking about? And that's what life is. It goes by so fast that if you blink, you're gonna miss it.

I'm gonna show you how fast life goes just in a series of photos. So how many of you guys knew that your dad was once a boy? Here's a picture of my dad when he was a child in the 1940s. Whoa, I've never thought about my dad as a baby, as a child. And then my dad grows up and he becomes a dad and he has his kids. And you know, look at Douglas on the little bottom right-hand side. It'll come right there. Look, I mean, yeah. I mean, could that cute little face ever get in trouble? Yeah, I was a hard child to raise. And then I blink and now I'm married and I'm raising kids. I went from being a boy to being a dad. And here's the crazy thing. Those little boys that I raised are now men. And one of my sons and his wife, they are pregnant, gonna have a baby in a couple of weeks and I'm gonna be a grandpa, right? And that's how fast time goes. So kids, if you're having dinner with your father tonight, just have some fun. Get one of those aging apps and just age yourself 40 years and you'll see your future. Might be depressing, might be a lot of fun. Time flies. And that's part of the lesson of Ecclesiastes. Solomon is the wisest, most powerful,

richest man alive at his time. And he says 38 times in this letter, searching for meaning that life is like a vapor. It's here and then it's gone. And it's beyond grasp. It's like, if you try to stop it and capture the moments, it's like you capture them for a second, but when you open your hand, it's like chasing the wind. It just goes so fast. And Solomon's trying to find meaning in life, saying, with life going so fast and without me being able to grasp it, how in the world am I gonna find meaning in life? And Solomon tries everything. If you've ever wondered, like, I'll be happy when? Solomon says, I tried it. I tried accumulating mass amounts of wealth. I tried education, PhDs. I did building projects. I had 300 wives and 700 concubines, okay? I tried it all. I tried every food I wanted. I had entertainers, male and female. I tried it all. And all of it at the end of the day in life left me empty. It was meaningless, like chasing the wind. Then he introduces the idea that if there's a God in heaven, that he can teach us something, not just in the big moments, but in all the spaces of life in between. And so we're gonna read chapter three

as Solomon takes us on this search for meaning. And I'm gonna ask you to stand and we're gonna read this passage over you. So everyone stand with me. We're gonna read Ecclesiastes chapter three, a very familiar passage from the Bible. Here's what Solomon, the teacher. has to say to us. There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to search and a time to give up. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. This is the word of the Lord. You can have a seat. Solomon is our guide. And Solomon says, as fast as time goes. Well, there's a time for every activity and there's a season, there's a purpose for every season of life. He starts with everyone's born and everyone's gonna die.

These polar opposites, 14 sets of opposites. These moments in life and then every moment in between. There's times you're gonna be dancing and then times you're gonna be mourning. And you never imagine when you're mourning, you'll dance again. And you never imagine when you danced, you'll mourn. But that's how life is. And as a pastor, I get a firsthand view of this, a glimpse of this. Because I get brought into moments, invited into moments that are some of these highest and lowest moments of life. Like this last week, I held a baby born in the hospital and got to see new parents and new life. I got invited into that beautiful moment. And then a few weeks ago, I got invited to a moment in a living room where a family's gathered around the dad they love who's dying of cancer. And he's weak and frail and there's moments of weakness. And then I go to this beautiful wedding of this young couple and you see the families around them celebrating and singing. And it's just such an amazing, beautiful moment. And then I get invited to do a memorial service for someone who's passed away. And sometimes these moments can all happen in the same week. Sometimes they happen within hours of each other. And Solomon says, and this is the way that life is. Life is complex. It's full of ups and downs. It's unpredictable. There's change that's constantly happening. And you're not in control. But I want you to think about the way seasons came to be. You see, you think about the way that God has created the planet. We all live on this blue planet. Eight billion people live on this planet.

And God created this with a sense of constancy and order and yet change. So right now, we know that today is the longest day of daylight in the year. That this day today, there's like 13, 14 hours of sunlight because this is the beginning of summer. Today is a predictable day. December 21st, six months from now, will be the shortest day of the year. It'll be the beginning of winter. Why do we know this? Because the times and seasons, the way that God made the world, all the currents of the wind, all the currents of the water, the way the sun rises and falls is all ordered and structured by God. And so there's this something of order and constancy, but there's also changes of season. On day four of creation, God created seasons. That means summer, fall, winter, spring are God's ideas. And in the same way nature experiences seasons and changes in seasons, we also experience those same things in our lives. And Solomon is making this observation. These are things that happen that we are not in control of. And so we can either embrace them or resist them, but every season has its own divine purpose. How do we know that? Let's keep on reading. Verse nine. So what do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart. Yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Now I know that there is nothing better for people

than to be happy and to do good while they live, that each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil. This is the gift of God. gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever. Nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. Whatever is has already been and what will be has been before and God will call the past to account. And I saw something else under the sun. In the place of judgment, wickedness was there. In the place of justice, wickedness was there. And I said to myself, God will bring it to judgment, both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed. Solomon's panning back on life itself and making an observation. There are seasons in life, there are extremes, highs and lows and everything in between, and we are not in control of those seasons, but God has a way to make everything beautiful in its time. And no one can fathom exactly how he does it because he has a different view than us. He sees the world in a different way than us. He is God and we are not. Aren't you grateful to know that? You don't have to have the burden of being in control.

You don't have to carry the burden of figuring it all out because he is the provider, he is the healer, he is the sustainer. He holds everything in his mighty right hand. And so Solomon makes this interesting observation in verse 11, that God sets eternity in the human heart. Interesting observation from Solomon, the human heart, there's this restlessness, this desire to connect with something or someone else. That's why every civilization that's ever existed, every people group that's ever existed all through this planet's history have all had this desire, this urge, this restlessness to look up and say, is there a God? And how did all this come to be? And how do I connect to this sense of the creator himself? That restlessness was put in our hearts to draw us close to God. And this description in Ecclesiastes is echoed by the apostle Paul when he's talking to a group of philosophers on Mars Hill in Athens. And he's trying to describe to them the gospel, who Jesus is, but he starts with creation. And he talks about the way that God populated the world. And I want you to look for two things in this description, time and place. That the two great locators of life are the time you live in and the place you live.

That these two things are the way that God positions you, not as a coincidence, that your life is not a cosmic accident, that it just didn't so happen, but God has sovereignly ordained it for a purpose. Here's how the apostle Paul describes how God's at work in the world. From one man, God made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth. And he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. So life may seem random to you, but the fact that you were born in the hospital that you were born into, the family you were born to, the city you grew up in, and the place you now live and the place you now work, and the neighborhood you now live in with the family you now are with, none of that's an accident. All of that has a divine purpose. And then why does God do that? Look at the next verse. God did this so that they, that's people, would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any of us. You are not a cosmic coincidence. You're not an accident. God ordained your life and your birth and your time and your place in the desire that as he placed a turn in your heart, you would seek him and reach out for him and find him

because he is not far away from you. You might be here at church. You might not have been here for a long time and you might feel far from God or he feels far from you, but he's so near to you. He's as near as your breath. He's a prayer away. And Paul reminds us, as Solomon reminds us, that this life isn't just random meaninglessness, but that God places in our hearts this longing to connect with him so that we can be found by him. And verse 12, he's gonna dig into the rawness of life. In verse 12, he says, you know, some people that work, it feels like a burden. Life feels like toil. You know, when God created the world, work was supposed to be like worship. If you look at the very beginning of Genesis, work was avodah. Everyone say avodah. That means work and worship is the same word from the very beginning, but when sin enters the world, now worship, that is work, becomes a toil, becomes. burden, which is why you have a problem at your job in some way, a problem with a boss, a problem with a coworker, a problem with software, a problem with institutional knowledge, a problem with turnover, a problem with vision creep, a problem with you name it. You're not getting paid enough. The benefits aren't right. You're not organized enough. It's just not working. And sometimes you get

home from work and you're so frustrated. Anybody? Yeah. Why is that? It's not your job or your boss, although it might be. It's all of us. It's all of us. It's the life of the effect of sin in our life and how it affects our world. And Solomon says, if you can go to work and enjoy your work, it is a gift from God. Right? He says, if you can eat a meal and you can enjoy that meal, it is the gift of God. He's gonna go on to say this. He's gonna go on to say, you know, I sat in my palace with all my money and all the food and all the entertainment and I could not enjoy the most exquisite meal that was on my table. I could not enjoy my wife or 300 wives, but I looked out into my field and I saw a man working in my field. And he was working hard and sweating doing manual labor. He was gonna go home and eat macaroni and cheese with his wife and have dinner with his kids around his table. And he's happier than me. Because God is the one who gives us the ability to enjoy our work and to enjoy good food. It is the gift of God. And so Solomon is wrestling with this. That more doesn't mean happier. That God is the one who allows us to enjoy. And then verse 14, he glimpses into eternity. That what God does will endure forever. That there is something more than we can see. That the time that we see is not all the time that there is. And that that should make us fear God. That God is above all of these things. So we seek him with a sense of awe and a sense of reverence. Because there will be a time of judgment, a time of justice. So he looks at life and he says, life can seem so random, so unjust. Have you ever looked at something in the news or something you've experienced? You're like, that's not fair. And they're gonna get away with it. And that's not fair. And Solomon says, no. Just like this is time and season for every activity under heaven, there's gonna be a time of judgment, a time of reckoning, a time where everything wrong in the world is going to be made right, which gives way to our life. You see, we're excited about justice for all those people. Oh, those bad people, they're gonna get justice. They're not gonna get away with it again. Thank God for judgment and justice. And that's a good and holy thing, that God is perfectly and righteously just. But all of our thoughts and actions will also be judged, which means what we say

and what we do is not meaningless. It has weight and meaning to it because one day we're gonna stand before God. And Solomon says, this is important to think about in all of our times. And then verses 18 to 22, he's gonna talk about what life is like under the sun if you don't have a sense for who God is. And he says, if you don't have a sense for who God is, then you and your dog are sort of the same. You're gonna die, your dog's gonna die, you're both gonna decay, and that's life. And what's the point? It doesn't matter if you're a multi, multi, multi-billionaire. You're gonna die just like your dog, and that's life. Sort of depressing, but sort of freeing. Again, the death is the needle that bursts the bubble of illusion that we are in control, that we are the captain of our own ship, that we are writing our own story. No, Solomon says, one day you're gonna die, and that reality should teach you how to live. And so this is the wisdom of Solomon. It sort of hits you right in the face because we don't want to think about the fact that we're gonna die. We don't want to think about the fact that change is happening around us. We don't want to think about the fact that we're not in control, and we don't want to always be reflective about the seasons of life, but let's lean in. Now, it's 2026. How can we allow this word to be applied to our life in a way where we live in a different kind of way? And so three points of application. Here's the first one. Seasons don't last forever. One of my favorite verses in the Bible that's a repetitive theme throughout the Bible is this phrase, and it came to pass. What does that mean? That means seasons come into your life, and seasons pass out of your life. Seasons come, and seasons go. Change is inevitable. And some seasons we like, and some seasons we don't like. I want you to think of your favorite show for a second. Think of your favorite show. Think of your favorite season of your favorite show. Maybe like Lost episode 1. The Avatar, The Last Airbender, season four or five, whatever that is, The Office, season five. You think about like certain seasons were better than others, certain seasons you enjoyed more than others, and that's true.

So I want you to think right now with me, what was your favorite season of life? Hmm, favorite season, favorite season, favorite season. I mean, I remember one of my favorite seasons was when my kids were young and we were always wrestling. We were always, they would be like, my kids would be like velociraptors. Like one would go high, one would go low, one would come behind me trying to take me down, and we were always wrestling all the time. And I remember all those seasons of wrestling, and I could hear my wife in the room and our kids were like four, six, and eight, like, Doug, don't hurt the boys. But today, you know what she says? Boys, don't hurt your father. Because that time came and it also went. I used to wrestle with my kids like MMA style, and so you put them in a headlock and they have to tap, you know, and sometimes they'd tap too late. And I remember my kids sometimes saying, Dad, I see spots. I'm like, and now when I wrestle with my kids, I see spots. You know what I'm talking about, anybody? I remember when my son Kennedy was just jumping off the swing, doing crazy stuff. It was like an amazing season. And then you blink and now he's jumping over a bar as a division one high jumper. And you're like, oh man, it's amazing

how those seasons change. How things come and things go. I remember taking our kids on summer vacations, like the Griswold family vacation, where we go 20 states in 20 days in a minivan. And I'm like, hey guys, you wanna see the biggest ball of yarn in New Mexico? Let's pull over. And my kid's like, Dad, keep on driving. And those times came. And they went, I wish I could have frozen them in time, but I couldn't. And now I have a chance to take my sons on vacations as an adult. This moment in a coffee shop in Arkansas with my son Caden just playing chess, having a cup of coffee, talking about life. Taking my son Jackson to New York just for 48 hours, just to seated together, experience this father-son moment. It's one of these beautiful privileges of what it means to be a dad. But the reality is you can't freeze any of those moments. You can't stop them because they don't last forever. And this is sometimes comforting and sometimes very unsettling. So let's talk for a moment about change. How many of you guys like change? Raise your hand if you like change. Okay, there's a few of you.

Carpe diem, seize the day. Let's go for an adventure. How many of you guys don't like change? Okay, more people don't like change than like change. And that's about the reality when you look at the research, right? So why don't we like change? Well, we know that change is inevitable. But here's the reality. There is no growth without change. You will not grow unless you change. If you had not changed, you'd still be in middle school with braces on, dating the same girl and have acne all over your face. Thank God, thank God you made it through middle school. You changed, you grew. There is no growth without change. There is no change without loss. Every time you change and grow, you're gonna lose something. And we feel our losses way more than we feel our gains. And there is no loss without pain. And God, how do we avoid or try to avoid pain? We live in a society where there's a pill for everything. If I experience any kind of pain, I want it to go away right away. But pain is a powerful teacher. There is no loss without pain. There is no pain without grief. Change forces us to embrace loss and pain and grief.

This is what it means to be a human being. And remember Solomon? He said, God is doing something that no one can fathom, and he makes everything beautiful in its own time. And that should make us curious. How do I not try to resist change that's inevitable, but how do I try to find an ordained purpose in everything? If what Solomon says is true, there's a purpose for every season, then number two, how can I embrace every season? If every season has something to teach me, how can I embrace those seasons? And so we're just gonna go through the four seasons that God created in the book of Genesis and think about how they might apply, not just to nature, but how they might apply to our lives. And so the first one is the season of spring. Solomon describes this as a time to be born, a time to plant these moments of new beginnings, these moments of emerging out of winter where hopes and dreams begin to come alive, opportunities present themselves. It's a moment, opportunity for taking risks. And so how is there? maybe a moment of spring happening in your life right now. I remember taking our son home from the hospital and I couldn't believe, kids, I want you to know this. When your parents took you home from the hospital, they had no idea what they were doing. I mean, we took our son home and I'm like,

the nurses are gonna give us this baby. We've never raised a baby before. We have no idea what to do. We can't even put him in a car seat. We're really clueless and it's this expectancy, it's adrenaline, it's I don't know what I'm doing. I'm in above my death. I'm in over my head, but I got to figure it out. That's spring. You don't have it all figured out, but you know something is happening and maybe you're a brand new Christian here today and you're like, I just became a Christian like a month ago and I'm learning how to pray. I'm learning how to read the Bible and I think I felt conviction for the first time. I'm trying to figure out how to live a Christian life. Maybe you're in a new relationship. Maybe you just got a new job. All these new things that you haven't figured out yet, that's the season of spring. I remember when my wife and I first came to church here in 1998 and this for us was a new church. And I remember we'd come out of a winter season of a broken church and broken relationship and a lot of hurt. And this was a place of healing, a place where hope was renewed because spring is the time where out of the dirt, something new emerges, the restoration and redemption of God.

Spring has some things to teach us, but not just spring. Spring gives way to summer. Today is the first day of summer. And summer is things are growing. Solomon says, there's a time to dance, a time to laugh, a time to work. There's a time where everything is growing. It's a time of abundance and activity, but also lots of distractions. The days are long in summer and there's more things to do than there is time in the day, even though you have more time. And so it's a time to protect some things and nourish some things, to create some boundaries for some things because you can't do it all. Or you will be exhausted. I remember the season of spring in our lives as we were raising young kids and going to sports and camps. And I was working here and we were building the organization or ministry called Four Kids. And there was all these things that were just, we're just grinding, we're just working because you feel like God is at work and things are growing. These are beautiful seasons of life.

There are things you can learn in summer that you can't learn in any other season. And then there's a season of fall, season of harvest. Solomon says, there's a time to gather. You're gathering the harvest. You're looking at your successes, your wins. You're looking at your failures and your losses. It's a time of evaluation. You see, in harvest, you're reaping all the benefits of what you did in spring and summer. Did you plow? Did you plant? Did you water? And then did the produce come? And if what you set out to do is not what you experienced, then you have a moment to evaluate. Wait, I said in the spring, I'm gonna get out of debt. I set that New Year's resolution and now I'm in more debt. That didn't work. I need to stop and go, you know, I had an idea, but I didn't follow through. Or I wanted to graduate from college and I went back and I studied so hard as I was working and I walked across the stage and I graduated. What a powerful, powerful moment of harvest. All that hard work, produce something good, falls a time where you experience

the graduation of your kids, where you pay off your debt, where you buy your house, where you try to grow in certain areas and you have some steps forward and some steps backwards, but it's a chance to see the work of your hands and to thank God for what he's doing. And then the season that most of us don't wanna go through is the season of winter. It's a season where everything in your life looks dead. It doesn't mean it's dead, but it means as you process your wins and your losses, well, there's times of sadness and sorrow and pain because maybe that business you started failed. And you're asking yourself the question, how am I gonna recover from this? There's no recovering from this. The marriage you tried to forge feels dead. The son or daughter you raise is now a prodigal. All that you poured your life into seems like it hasn't worked and we don't always know what to do with that, but winter is a time to process the pain, the sadness, the loneliness, the sickness. Solomon says there is a time to mourn, there is a time to throw away, there is a time to die. It's a time of winter. And this, again, is a thing we try to avoid. Sometimes it's small things.

I mean, one of these moments in winter, eighth grade, South Plantation High School, I got cut from the basketball team. I remember looking at the paper for all the people who made the team. My name's not on there. That dream that I had, all that hard work, all that practice, now seems like a waste. I guess I just walk away from the dream. The dream is dead. Or, and maybe a more painful reality, there was a year in my life with my wife where we experienced the birth and death of our first son. We went from the joy of labor and delivery to a funeral. I went through this moment of my wife smiling and laughing to her being in bed in the dark in fetal position, not being able to get up. We experienced the failure of a church and the brokenness of relationships, and it seems like during that 12 to 18 month period, everything was dying all around us. But there are things that God can teach us in winter that he can't teach us in any other time, that in that place of darkness where there doesn't seem to be a lot of light, he can be our comfort and our peace, and that's true in my life, and I know it's true in yours, because God is close to those who are brokenhearted, those who are broken in contrite in spirit. And so, one of the reasons I love this church

is because so many of you who have walked through brokenness and experienced God's presence and healing and a new season of life have chosen to go back into those places of brokenness and help others heal. That's why we have a ministry here called Cancer Care. People who get this diagnosis, it changes their whole life plan, and they walk through it, and they help other people walk through it. There's a ministry here called Divorce Care, where people's marriages fall apart, and how do you walk with someone through that process? There's a ministry, a care ministry. There's a ministry called Grief Shearer, where if you lose a son or a parent or a spouse, and you're like, does anyone understand? Does anyone see me? I'm in this big church, and I'm going through winter, and I'm dying inside, and I just push it down, and I say, praise the Lord. Now, there's more to that. God would desire that in a season of winter, you process those emotions, that you grieve those losses, that you heal, and you watch that season come, and you watch the beautiful healing of God as it passes. And that doesn't mean you forget, but it means God has a way to do something in your heart that no one else can do. And these are the seasons of life.

Each one has its own purpose. And so the question, what season are you in? What lessons is God teaching you in that season? And you might be in different seasons, where in your family or relationship, you're in the season of spring because there's some new things happening, but in your vocation and work, it seems like it's dead and dying. And that's part of what we process. But embracing seasons is what Solomon encourages us to do, because he says we're not in control of those things. Only God is. But so how do we resist seasons? So here's how we resist seasons. We can be in a season that we're in right now, and we don't like what we're in. And so what we like to do is we like to look to the future. Like, I'm gonna be happy when I get the job. I'm gonna be joyful, and I'm gonna be thankful to God when I get the relationships. I'm gonna be just the best version of myself when these happen. You know what that's called? That's called destination disease. I'm gonna be this kind of person when I get over here. And then some people, they don't have destination disease. They have a horrible sickness called nostalgia, where you wanna go back there. The good old days were back there.

I wanna freeze time, stop time, reverse time. I just wanna live in the past when it was all good. And both destination disease and nostalgia are toxic. They either live in the past and rob the future or live in the future and rob the present. And so there's this really beautiful saying about how God wants to be present with us in the moment. And it goes like this. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That's why they call it the present. And just let that sit because God's grace can't meet you in the past or in the future. God's grace is like man. It is for today. God can meet you in your season, whether it's spring, summer, fall, or winter. And he wants to meet you in the present, bringing you wisdom and comfort and energy and peace. And so you can actually embrace the season you're in, even if you don't like it exactly. But another way that we don't embrace seasons is we try to manipulate them. So we like to do this in South Florida. I hear people in South Florida say this all the time. Like, I love summer. I love the long days, because I hate when it's dark, you know, in the winter. It's dark early and dark late, and I don't like that. I love the summer, except I want the long days,

but I don't want the heat or the rain or the humidity. Anybody know what I'm talking about? It was hot yesterday. Like, I want to mash up the best of summer and winter and spring and fall, and I want to make my own season, because it's my desire to control the environment. Now, we would be foolish to say that out loud, even if we think about it. We try to do this with our lives all the time. Hey, I'm in spring. There's some newness, but I also want to experience like the harvest in the spring, and it's winter, but I want the winter to quickly be mixed with all the summer and all the abundance that happens, so I don't have to feel that deeply. And if I can just manipulate how I see the seasons or ask God to change it, then I'll be happy and be at peace, except that's not how it works. It's just like we don't control the weather. We don't control these seasons as they come in and out of our lives, and that's why God says, I'm the only one who can make things beautiful in my own time, and I'm the only one who can help you fathom all that I'm doing in your life, and this is a beautiful invitation to embrace the season that you're in. Here's how Paul described it.

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. He's not annoyed that he's in jail. He didn't want to be a prisoner. He wanted to be a preacher, but turns out God wants him to be a preacher who's a prisoner. That's not what he asked for, but he's like, I've learned that I don't control the seasons of my life, just like I don't control the weather, and so I'm gonna embrace being in jail, and I'm gonna embrace writing these letters that are gonna change not just the lives of the people who receive them, but us 2,000 years later, because he sees a divine purpose for the season that he's in. You can't control seasons. You can't avoid seasons, but you can embrace seasons, and this is what Solomon's wisdom is saying to us, and then finally, God speaks uniquely in each season. Again, there are things that you can learn in winter that you can't learn at any other time. See, sometimes when these seasons come in our life, we get stuck with God, why are you allowing this to happen, instead of saying, what do you want to teach me? And so a simple invitation for the season that you're in,

instead of arguing with God, maybe embrace that he has a different view or a higher view than you. That's why Isaiah would write this about God. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. You see, we're not built to understand the big picture in the same way God is. He is God, and we are not. He is God, and we are not. So how do we process all the things in life that don't go how we want? Well, maybe much like a little child who trusts his or her dad. Hey, there's crazy stuff happening in the news, but I trust my dad, he's gonna protect our family. Hey, my friend's going through this challenging issue, hey, but I'm gonna trust my dad, he's gonna bring home food for our family and we're gonna eat, he's gonna protect us, he's gonna provide for us, he's gonna care for us. Most little kids are not stressed out if they have a good father or a good family because they know dad's got it. So I can go play with my toys, I can color in my books, I can swim in the pool, I can live life free because my father's eye is on me, right?

The simple trust of a child to a father. So it helps us when we process difficult moments or when we process really great moments. So Paul would say this about how Christians can process different seasons of life. He says, and we know that in all things, you could put all seasons, God works for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose. This is one of the most powerful sentences in the whole Bible. No matter what happens next, no matter what season comes in my life, no matter how long it lasts, no matter the high, the low or the in-between, God is at work in this season in my life for my good and for his glory, so I'm gonna trust him because he's God and I'm not. And I'm gonna embrace that season, right? That's the wisdom that Solomon is giving us. And so we're gonna practice just doing some reflection in each of the different seasons in a moment, but I wanna highlight that what we're about to do in five minutes or so, we're gonna spend three days doing it. called The Cove in North Carolina this October. The first week of October, the leaves all change in one of the most beautiful environments. And every year or so, we bring a couple of busloads of people or people fly and meet us there.

And if you have a heart to go, man, I would love to get away, experience a change of season and be with God's people in this beautiful environment. I wanna encourage you, like there's 50 slots left, so sign up quick because these can be some life-changing retreat moments that we want you to be a part of. So as you scan the QR code earlier or the one on your seat, you can get all the information to join us. But now, we're gonna actually take a moment and we're gonna process each of these seasons. And so, just close your eyes for a moment. Just ask yourself the question, what season am I in? And what lessons does God have for me? And just be curious about where your mind takes you or where your heart takes you as you process the emotion of it. Let's look at spring. Is there any area of spring in your life? What's beginning in your life? What's emerging? What feels new? What might require a new rhythm? What might require a risk because there's amazing opportunity in front of you? How might God bring restoration because you just came out of a very difficult winter season? Who knows? Just invite God into your thoughts, into that season of spring.

Ask him to remind you who he is. The next season is summer. Is there anything in your life that's growing? Anything in your life where there's activity, there's maybe a pace that's fast, frenetic, and it's full of distractions? And you need wisdom to know what to say yes to and what to say no to. You need to know what to protect, what to nourish, because you can't do a thousand things. Just invite God's perspective, his wisdom, for those areas of focus in whatever's growing in your life. The season of fall, where you look at the results of all the work you did in the season before that. What are the wins? What are the losses? Just take a moment, count them. What are the lessons learned, the goals you set that you didn't hit? And maybe evaluate, why is that? How can I grow? Maybe the successes you've taken too much credit for and you need to thank God, because it was way more of him than you. Fall's a great time to get that perspective, to experience a different outcome, or maybe to begin to invest in others because you've been blessed so much. And then the season of winter, the season that comes for all of us.

Do you have anything to grieve? Any losses, any failures, any sadness, any despair? Do you have anything to grieve? Do you have anything to despair? Give yourself space to let your emotions to catch up to your reality. Invite God to be your comfort, your peace, your hope, and maybe a perspective. That's it. The seed that was planted that seems dead is about to spring up in the next season. Because we serve a God of resurrection, the God who takes dead things and makes them alive. Father, we invite you into each of these seasons in our life and we thank you for the words that you've spoken to us, with some words of comfort, some words of conviction, some words of grace. And God, we know that this is not an evaluation we can do in five minutes on a weekend and then we're done. So as we put our heads on our pillows tonight, as we sit around our tables and talk, help us to recognize your good gifts and enjoy them. Help us to recognize our finiteness and embrace your infiniteness and shape our hearts toward you. We pray this in Jesus' name. God is good, right? He is. He is. He is.

He is. He is. He is. He is. He is. He is. He is. He is. He is. He is. He is. He is. He is. He is. He is. He is. He is meaningless, but in a relationship with the living God, we find meaning because he placed eternity in our hearts. And so wanna give you a chance to do one of two things, to witness a miracle or to experience a miracle. You see, in a moment we're gonna invite people to start a relationship with the living God. And so if you've experienced that miracle, I'm gonna ask you to pray to participate in that miracle. And if you haven't yet, I want you to be curious about what I'm about to say next. You see, your life may feel meaningless. You may feel like God's a big guy up there, someone you come to to get rid of that sense

of low-grade guilt that you carry or try to find a sense of meaning or get some energy for the week. But God is so much more than that. He is your creator. He made you in his image and he made you for a purpose. You are not a random accident and you're not here by random coincidence. You're here to hear this invitation for a divine purpose. And so here's what I wanna say to you. Most people say, well, God is my father. And that's not actually true for most people. God is your creator. You were made in his image, but the Bible says that God has one begotten son. His name is Jesus. And the only way that someone becomes a child of God is through something called adoption. In my family, we know something about adoption. Adoption is a process. Where a parent extends a desire to have a child come into their family and paperwork is signed and that child's name is changed and they receive the same inheritance as someone born of that couple's body. And that's what happens when you give your life to Jesus. Jesus doesn't just forgive your sins and fill that void in your heart, but Jesus invites you to be part of the family of God. He invites you to become a son or daughter of God.

And there's some paperwork. There's a book in heaven called the book of life. There's a name change. You go from being an enemy of God to a friend of God. You come from being someone apart from God to being the son or daughter of God. And there's an inheritance, you know, when you become a Christian. You become an heir of heaven itself. And this is the gift of God. And this is what God loves to do. He loves to invite people. The longing that you feel is drawing you toward him. Paul said it that way. God did all these things in your life, time and place, so that perhaps you would seek God and reach out for him and find him because he is not far from you. And so the invitation is here. Jesus said, God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes doesn't have to perish but can have everlasting life. And so that requires a response. Are you ready to say to God, I'm a sinner. I need a savior. Are you ready to say, Jesus, take my sin and put it on you. I want to take your righteous end. I want to become adopted into the family of God. This is the invitation.

And you can do this to God as long as you want. But I hope at some point, I hope it's today, you don't do this, you do this. God, I surrender my life belongs to you. I'm gonna give it all. And here's how we do that here. We play a song and we invite you. If you want a relationship with God through his son, Jesus, and if you want to experience a friendship with God, a relationship with God, we're gonna ask you to come forward and stand here and pray a prayer of confession and repentance. And as you do that, we will celebrate all around this room. because we did this, we knew what it was like for us, and we can't wait for this to be true of you on this Father's Day. This will be the best Father's Day of your life if you respond to this invitation, because God is waiting to adopt you into his family. And if that's you right now, wherever you are, just stand up and walk this way, and we will celebrate with all of heaven as you come. If that's you, come on, he's waiting for you. ♪ I was a beggar outside of your door ♪ ♪ But that's when your mercy sought me ♪ ♪ And I was a prodigal desperate for more ♪ ♪ But that's when your mercy called me ♪ ♪ And oh, what an honor to dine with the King ♪ ♪ Here in your presence, surrounded by glory ♪

♪ I can't believe there's a seat at the table for me ♪ ♪ This is my family, this is my home ♪ ♪ Always belonging, never alone ♪ ♪ I'm so excited that we're all invited to come ♪ So come, come, taste and see the spirit in the Bronx, and come, come, taste and see the spirit in the Bronx. Come, oh, come, taste and see the spirit in the Bronx. Come, come, taste and see, yes. Don't want in honor to talk with the king. Here in your presence, surrounded by glory. I can't believe there's a seat at the table for me. Yes. This is my family. This is my home. Always belonging and never alone. I'm so excited that we're all invited to come. We celebrate these decisions right now. We know these are life-changing, eternity-altering decisions. And we clap because we know what this meant for us. And we're so excited for you.

And so in a moment, you get to make your confession to God. In a moment, you get to invite him to come into your life and all your sins that have ever been committed are gonna be washed away. The Bible says, separated from you as far as the East is from the West. And this adoption process is gonna take place. From now on, you'll be known as the son or daughter of God. And so we get to witness a miracle and participate in this miracle. And so you get to pray a prayer of faith. As you say out loud, what you know is true, what God knows is true. He's waited for you to say this for your whole life. And he's about to do a miracle as he answers this prayer. And so I'm gonna pray, but I know there might be one or two more people out there that are just like procrastinating. So I just wanna give another moment. We're not gonna play another song. But if you're here and you wanna join, just come on up, just slip into the aisle. You're already standing and we don't wanna do this without you. This is one of those beautiful, divine, holy moments where God breaks through. I'm glad you're here. And so for those who are online or at our VR campus or those who are standing here in this room, just repeat this prayer out loud.

Just say this to God. He's listening. And he's gonna answer this prayer as you pray. Say this, Lord God, I open my heart and I invite you inside. Forgive my sin. Today I repent. Now fill me with your spirit and I will walk with you all the days of my life. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, guys, congratulations. Welcome to the family of God. So before you go back to your seats, you just made the most important decision of your life. I'm gonna ask you to give us five minutes. I would love to walk you this way, meet you there. you in that back room. We're gonna give you a Bible, have a quick conversation, be back with your friends in a moment. Can we give them a hand as they go this way church? And let's now respond in worship to Jesus who is worthy of our praise in every way. Let's worship church. We have a lot to celebrate this morning, amen? Come on, let's sing with confidence. There's nothing better than Him. There's nothing better than You. There's nothing better than You. Oh there's nothing, nothing is better than You. Oh there's nothing better than You. There's nothing better than You. Oh there's nothing, nothing is better than You. You turn graves into gardens. You turn bones into armies. You turn seasons into hours. You're the only one who can. You turn graves into gardens. You turn bones into armies. You turn seasons into hours. You're the only one who can. You're the only one who can. You're the only one who can.

Oh. Hey church so good to see you this morning here at church with us and worshiping with us. If you need prayer for anything at all our prayer team will be right at the front ready to pray with you. If not have a great rest of your Sunday. Enjoy Father's Day and we'll see you again next week. See y'all.