A Season Is Ending And Beginning
Sermon Series:
Main Passage:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
Transcript
Today is the day that the Lord has made. So let us rejoice and be glad in it. And everyone said, Amen. Today we are seeing a season come to an end here at Peace Church. Today we are letting go of this space, this room being our worship center. But please, please do not confuse this building or this room with Peace Church.
We are Peace Church. And this is where Peace Church meets, at this building. For the last 20 years, God has given us this room to worship Him, but in three weeks, we'll start a new season at Peace Church, where we worship in a new space,
where we, Peace Church, worship in a new space. For today, a season is ending, but also one is beginning. And a beautiful passage that reminds us of this is found in the book of Ecclesiastes. Would you please turn there now? We'll jump to chapter 3 and we'll read verses 1 to 15 together.
If you want to use the Bible as we provided, that's on page 705. Now as you turn in there, a quick word about the book of Ecclesiastes. Very important book of the Bible. This book is the teachings of a man who is as successful as a man can be and he's also as wise as a man can be. This is gold-level teaching for the Bible. And yet through all his wisdom and through all his success, he has found this simple truth that everything is ultimately meaningless until we learn to
live unto God and enjoy Him in our everyday lives. And in chapter three, we are reminded that the passage of time produces good things and hard things, but through it all, God is in control. And so I invite you to please stand for the reading of God's word.
As we read Ecclesiastes chapter three, verses one to 15. Would you hear God's word? For everything, there is 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 pick 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, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, a time to dance, a time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones, a time to embrace and a time to refrain
from embracing. A time to seek and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away. A time to tear, a time to sew, a time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time to love, a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business of God that he has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything
beautiful in its time, and also he has put eternity into man's heart. Yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from beginning to end, I perceive there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live, and also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in his toil. This is God's gift to man. I perceive that whatever God does endures forever. Nothing can be added to it nor anything taken away from it. God has done it. So the people fear before him. That which is
already has been. That which is to be already has been, and God seeks what has been driven away.
The grass withers and the flowers fade,
but the word of the Lord remains forever. Amen? Amen.
Let's pray, and we'll continue.
Let's pray. Father of glory, 20 years of ministry have happened in this room, over a thousand sermons, countless baptisms, and today, Father, we give thanks to you. Thank you for giving us this space that has been used to
share your love and your truth. As we retire this space from being our worship center, may it continue to glorify you through fellowship as people gather here to still share your love and to grow in the gospel. For we pray these things in the power of the Spirit and in the precious name of Jesus our King. And everyone said, Amen. Amen. You may have a seat. All right, church. Let's be reminded of this one thing here today, and it's this.
Whatever season we are in, what matters is that we glorify God forever. And as we look at this very famous and maybe even infamous passage, let's consider two thoughts here today at Peace Church, and here's the first one. Two thoughts. A season is ending because nothing lasts forever. Verse 1 says this, for everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.
This is one of the hardest things about life. And the more we grow, and the more we age, the more we learn this lesson. Things change, things come, things go. Babies are born and grandfathers die. This is the way of the world, at least until Christ returns to make all things new. So if nothing lasts forever, how can we believe in things like hope or truth?
Well, here's what I'd say to you. Don't try to outthink the Bible. Scripture tells us something very important. Verse 1, For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. We change, but God does not. And so, yes, on this side of eternity, there are seasons that come and there are seasons that go. As the Bible says in verse 2 and 3, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to harvest, a time to build up.
These verses remind us of the ups and downs of life, the changing of the seasons of life. And I will tell you, I think this is a great challenge, especially to us here in America. On the right side of things, conservatives want to maintain. We want to hold on. We don't want things to change. We want to, as our name implies, we want to conserve.
On the other hand, on the left side of things, progressives always seemingly want to be moving forward, although most of them can't tell you what the destination will be. All that matters is that they feel like they are progressing. And God is reminding us here, this is not about holding on to what won't last, and it's not about moving to the future. Life is about seasons. Life has cycles. God is saying to progressives, there's nothing new under the sun. God gives us seasons and we at Peace Church, we are in a season that is ending,
which means we're also in a season that's about to begin. And that's the second thing that we see. A season is beginning because God reigns forever. All this talk of seasons coming and going leads to the natural question that we see in verse 9. Hopefully you have your Bibles open here today. Verse 9 says this, what gain has the worker from his toil?
Translation, if nothing lasts forever, then what's the point? And I love how the Bible so often asks and answers the questions that we all are thinking. It does that if you would just keep reading. Just keep reading and you'll end up finding that actually, actually the Bible tends to answer the questions we're all thinking. Verse 10 says this, I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time.
Meaning, just because seasons end do not mean they are not meaningful. It just means their time is done. As the Bible says, He has made everything beautiful in its time. Friends, this is a sobering reminder that all things are part of God's plan. God is not part of our plan. We are part of His plan.
And His plan is bigger than ours. It's eternal.
And there's part of our heart.
I would say in all people that know this. Verse 11, He, God, has put eternity into man's heart, yet so they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceive there is nothing better for them, for humans, than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live. Also, that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil. This is God's gift to man. Let me summarize that for you real quick. In our hearts, we realize that there is a grander purpose being played out in the universe, and we understand that it's bigger than we can comprehend. And since we know this, since we know there's a bigger plan,
since we know that it's bigger than we can comprehend, then what are we left to do? Live a good life and enjoy it, and give thanks to God along the way as we take comfort knowing that He is in control of His eternal plan. As we've been reflecting on this morning, no matter the season we are in, what matters is that we glorify God forever. Glorifying God, hear me, glorifying God is the ultimate purpose of every action of our
lives and even the ultimate purpose of creation itself. And so, with the end of an era, let me give you a few ways that we can glorify God, both now and forever more. First one is this, we glorify God by respecting the season God has ordained. Who is a lifelong West Michigan native? Let me see, lifelong, lived here forever.
Then you know like I do, one of the most wonderful parts about living in West Michigan is that every season makes itself clearly known in all of its glory. We have the sunniest summers, we have the snowiest winters, we have the most beautiful autumns, we have the most colorful springs. But you know and I know that we cannot enjoy a season without the previous one coming to an end. And this should be a reminder that God has ordained the changing of the seasons, and
so don't curse what God has ordained learn to embrace it a season is closing at Peace Church And we are thankful to God for what has been amen and listen for many of us Maybe your pastor here for a moment for many of us Who know and love Peace Church who have been here for years, if not decades, there will be an adjustment. There's an adjustment coming for us all,
but I would say particularly for those who have been here even longer than myself. And here's what I'll tell you, an adjustment is coming and that's okay. It's okay for things to feel new. It's okay for things to feel a bit foreign,
but let me get ahead of us for here for a moment. There will be those of us here who think, as we go into this new space, and it's beautiful and it's bright and it feels fresh and it feels clean, there'll be those who walk in and think, is this even Peace Church anymore? And listen, that's a natural question. That's a natural way to
feel. But with that, my loving encouragement and challenge to you as your pastor is in that moment, you must remember Peace Church is not a building. We are a people. And one of the most beautiful things about this new space is that you're going to be able to see more of the people of Peace Church. Yes, an adjustment is coming, and that's okay.
And so when that moment comes and you feel more lost than excitement, challenge yourself and say, Lord, I am thankful for what you're doing. I am thankful that I get to see more of the people of Peace Church. I am thankful that of churches dying in America, that we get to see you do something amazing, that we get to see you grow this church to the point where we need a new worship center. I understand that moment will come.
And I'm telling you, I'm anticipating that in my own heart as well. I've only been here for the better side of a decade, and I'm preparing my heart for an adjustment.
And that's okay.
Space is important, but what matters more is the people who fill that space. Amen?
Amen.
All the renovating, all the changing of our space is the season that God has ordained for us here and now. For everything there is a time. So don't curse what God has ordained for us, but embrace this season. And when you do, you'll not only glorify God, but you'll see the beauty in what He's doing. That's the second thing we're gonna look at.
Glorify God by recognizing the beauty that God has created. Verse 11, God has made everything beautiful in its time. Now as a pastor, I have had the blessing of interacting with literally thousands of people, and I've noticed many consistent things among all types of people, but there's one thing in particular that I'll confess that I also know to be true in my own heart, and it's this, it's easier to be overly critical of the now and idolize the past. I think we tend to think the past is better than what it actually was.
I think we tend to think what's happening now is worse than it actually is. Is God on the throne? Then let's be excited. We need to learn to see the beauty in the moment that God has given to us, because life goes too fast to live in the past. And as we close up this season at Peace Church, we will thank God for what He has done, because
He's done amazing things. But we will not long for this season that we are letting go of. We are letting go of it with thankfulness, but I am telling you, as a pastor here, we will not sit and lament and long for the past. We will embrace the season that God has given us as we see him do amazing things now. Amen? Amen. We will recognize the beauty of what God is doing in the here and now because this is what God is doing and it's been his work all
along. And that's the third thing. We will glorify God by revering the works that he has done. Verse 14 says, I perceive that whatever God does endures forever. Nothing can be added to it. Nothing can be taken away from it. God has done it so that the people before people fear before him. This is so, so simple, but so, so easy to forget. God's works are his alone. This is why he alone gets the glory of what happens at Peace Church. Not me, not you, not our elders, not our staff, not our great volunteers. God gets the glory. Psalm 127 says, unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Our new worship center, our expanded parking, our renovated space, unless it's ultimately God doing this, I'm telling you, I want no part of it. But if it is God who's doing this, I'm all in. Who's with me? Amen. Our new worship center is going to be exciting, but at Peace Church, we're going to give God the glory for all
of His work. And so let me give you one more way to glorify God. A very Peace Church thing to say, but I'd also say it's a very biblical thing to say. Last thing I'd say to you here now is this. Glorify God by receiving the truth that God has revealed. Our passage says in verse 15, that which is already has been. That which is to be already has been. And God seeks what has been driven away. The truth is this, that God is in control of everything
even time itself. Now Bible study real quick, this last verse is notoriously difficult to translate into English and that's why you're going to see most English translations translate this last verse differently. Go ahead and cross-referenced it later when the Bible says here in the ESV in the English Standard Version when the Bible says God seeks what's been driven away remember this is in the context referring to the passage of time and so this is about reminding us
that even though the past is gone God will still hold things accountable his justice will prevail God is in control and because he is good he will make all things right in the end, even things that have been passed. And so this is the truth that is revealed. Because God is in control, you can have hope. Hope in God, hope in what is to come in this next season. So put your hope in the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which we are going to celebrate
right here and now by having communion for the last time in this space. And so with the end of an era, let me remind you, whatever season we are in, what matters is that we glorify God forever and ever. Amen? Amen. Amen.
Let's pray and prepare our hearts for communion.