The holiday seasons, we can enter in with a lot of grief, people that we've lost, we've hit anniversaries. A lot of us are dealing with deaths of people that just happened and we're maneuvering through it. But the one thing that's a blessing is we have a high priest that is not only, what is it, can be touched by the feelings of our infirmity, but he was also acquainted with sorrow. So our sorrow, he understands. our sorrow, he can sympathize and empathize, but he also can provide comfort. The Bible calls him the God of all comfort and the God of all peace. So we can celebrate that God who comforts us in our sorrow. So while we're going through different trials and tribulations, and we say it week after week, we're part of the Think It Not Strange crew. We know that fiery trials and tribulations come to test us, to prove us. So it gets rough. It gets rough, but we know that God is with us. He said he would never leave us nor forsake us. He will strengthen us, encourage us, comfort us, and correct us in the situation. And for that alone, we can be grateful. because a lot of people are going through a lot of things and don't know what's it all about they don't know who they can lean to they don't know who they can trust they don't know who they can turn to but we are a family of faith we know where our help comes from and we can trust God that he works all things together for for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. We know he has a plan and purpose for us to mature us, to grow us up into Christ likeness so that we can be a light in the dark, this dark world that's getting everly increasingly darker as the time moves on. So with that, we can go into an attitude of celebration, worship, adoration, praise, So let's magnify our God. And knowing that he said one thing, he made a promise. He said, wherever two or more gathered in his name. they'll be in the midst. But I don't know about you, especially when I'm going through, I really want him to be in the midst and be in the midst big, large, and in charge. So let's yield to him. Let's worship him. Let's praise him. Let's magnify him. Let's make him bigger. Whatever problems we're going through, we're going to cast our cares upon him. If there's any sins that we've committed, we're going to confess them. But we want to have the ultimate what is the word gathering where we have the intimate interaction with God as much as possible. I don't know about you, but I need him to show up and be the guy that he says he is. And he does it faithfully week after week after week. So with that said, Lord, we bless you. We praise you. We magnify you. We adore you. Lord, we're not just doing this out of ritual and routine. We're doing this because we really are grateful. He said, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but you deliver us from them all. So we know how to be a people of many afflictions. And Lord, though we're troubled on every side, we're not distressed. Though we may be persecuted, we're not forsaken. We may be perplexed, but we're not in despair. We may always be bearing about in the body the death, but we also experience the resurrecting power of Jesus Christ. So Lord, even in our turmoil, even in our pain, even in our sorrow, even in our suffering, your glory can be revealed. And that's what we want, Lord, the spirit of glory to rest upon us. So have your way in this gathering. Move upon our hearts and minds. Lord, you know where we need conviction. You know where we need renewing. We need refreshing. You said they that wait upon you shall mount up on wings like an eagle. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. So you can give us the ability to keep on keeping on. You give us the sustenance and the ability to, and energize us to persevere through the difficulties and troubles of life. So we just want you to have your way in our gathering. Give us a joyful attitude of worship, praise and celebration. We wanna, you said, let everything that has breath praise the Lord. So that's what we wanna do, we wanna praise you. We want to magnify you, Lord. I keep saying that word over and over again because, Lord, we want you bigger than our problems in our heads, in our hearts. We want you bigger in our problem than our whatever thing may come up against us. You said if the whole world be against us, it's greater for us, even if it's just us and you alone. So, Lord, let us stand in that victorious mindset, that overcoming mindset. Lord, we know that greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. So have your way in this gathering. Lord, have your full reign and dominion. The same spirit that hovered over the earth in creation is now working in your work of recreation. So you're recreating us. You're making us new as we accept the finished work of Jesus Christ, but you're now renewing our mind and making us more into the image of Christ. conformed with our character into more of your likeness, love, peace, joy, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faith, temperance, meekness, against which you said there is no law. So Lord, just have your way in this gathering. Let us be the example of unity, that the world is looking for. The love, not as the world defines it, but the love that you have. The Church of Philadelphia, the church of brotherly love, where we not only love you with all our heart, soul, and mind, and strength, but out of that love, we love one another, and encourage one another, and stimulate each other to good works. So have your way in this gathering, Lord, and get all your glory. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Bless the Lord, bless God. So we're gonna read together. We're going to be reading from Psalms chapter 95 verses 1 through 11. And let's read. Oh, come, let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with Psalms. For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods. Yes, Lord. In his hand are the deep places of the earth, the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh, come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. Yes, God. For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you will hear his voice. Harden not your heart as in the provocation and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness. When your fathers tempted me, proved me and saw my work. 40 years long was I grieved with this generation and said, it is a people that do air in their heart and they have not known my ways. And to whom I swear in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. Bless the Lord for his word. So let's stay in the attitude of rejoicing. Amen. Good afternoon, Transforming Love Christian Center. How are you? Amen. It's good to be in the land of the living. Amen. I see some happy faces out there. I am happy to be alive. How about you? Listen, it could be a different way. It could be a different way. And God has a soft fit to keep us and to just love on us. And so we're going to sing songs this morning that speak well of him and that remind us who God is. Amen. and that He is in control and that He keeps us in perfect peace and all we have to do is keep our minds on Him. And it doesn't matter that anything else, nothing else matters. He is the same God yesterday, today, and forevermore. So that means He's the same God no matter who's in the office, who's in D.C., who's down the street, who's up the street. He is the same God. And guess what we can do? We can worship Him. We can praise Him. We can rest in Him. We can rely on Him. We can trust Him. And that's what we're doing. And so let's sing and worship our God in that vein. This song just says, open the eyes of my heart. Has anybody been finding ways, hallelujah, to worship the Lord in this season? Hallelujah. I said, you know, Lord, I'm exhausted. I don't feel well. And I said, thank you, Lord, that you are my healer. Thank you, Lord, that you keep us. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. And every season I will worship you. I will praise you because you are worthy. Hallelujah. When I say it could be a different way, it could actually be a different way. Hallelujah. Let's sing together. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you. Thank you, Lord. I want to see you. Come on, let's sing that together. Open the eyes. Open the eyes, Lord. I want to see you. I want to see you. Let's say it again. Open the eyes, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you. Yes, I want to see you. I don't want to see what's going on. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you. Yes, I want to see you, to see you high, to see you high. Shining in the light of your glory. Pour out your power and love as we sing holy, holy, holy to see you high and live. Shining in the light of your glory. Pour out your power in love as we sing holy, holy, holy. Please open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you. Yes, I want to see you. See, I've been looking around at everything, Lord. Please open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you. I want to see you. Let's say it again. Lord, open the eyes, open the eyes of my heart. Lord, if you've been distracted, open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you. Yes, I want to see you. What are you trying to show me, God? Open, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you. Yes, I want to see you. Come on, let's sing. Shining in the light of your glory. Please pour out your power and love as we sing holy, holy, holy to see you high in life. Please pour out your power and love as we sing holy, holy, holy. You are holy, holy, holy. He's reminding us I'm holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. And I want to see you. Let's sing that out. Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy. You are. Yes, yes, you are. Yes, and I want to see you. Lord, when I look to the left and the right, Lord, holy, holy, holy, you are. My God is. I want to see you. When I try to step out of line, I remember he's holy, holy, holy. Lord, you are. Lord, you are. And yes, I want to see you. I want to act like you, Lord, holy, holy. I want to think like you, holy, and speak like you, holy. I want to see you. One more time. Yes, you are. My God is holy, holy. I want to see you. You know what I say sometimes? I say, silence the noise in my mind, Lord. Silence the noise in my mind, Lord. I want to hear you. I want to hear you. Let's say that. Silence the noise in my mind, Lord. Silence the noise in my mind. I want to hear you. I need to hear you. One more time. We've been distracted. Silence the noise in my mind, Lord. Silence the noise in my mind. I need to hear you. Yes, I need to hear you. I challenge you this week, I challenge you every single day to remember that He is on the throne and He is perfect, hallelujah, and He knows every single thing that He's doing. He is not new to this as they say, He is true to this, hallelujah, everything your life has always been orchestrated. He is not figuring out the day-to-day before time began. While you were yet in your mother's womb, he had figured it out. He put the plan of salvation in place. Hallelujah. He was going to the cross well before you ever existed. Hallelujah. Because he knew that one day you would be standing right here worshiping and honoring Him. Hallelujah. So we don't have to look to the left or look to the right. He is our holy perfect God. He is our holy perfect God worthy of worship. worthy of praise. And I say this all the time, we don't have to offer him last week's worship. He's done enough this morning to be worshiped and honored for the next week. Hallelujah. Car made it here. There was a freeway involved. Hallelujah. There were other cars on that freeway. Hallelujah. There was a pedestrian that you didn't hit. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. There was a phone call that you didn't receive about your loved one today. Hallelujah. He has been that good. That is the goodness of our God. And we can't take that for granted. Don't be spoiled kids. I have to tell my son all the time, don't be spoiled and just expect. When it happens for you, you show gratitude. And when we show gratitude to our God, it looks like hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah, it looks like singing at Walmart. It looks like my grandmother saying, oh, glory. I never understood that when she was in the kitchen. I'm like, the chicken is great, hallelujah, right? All right, praise the Lord for the milk. But it was her thanking God. I don't know if it was because she used her last $3.84 and he provided it. I don't know, but she saw the goodness of God in that moment, and she expressed it. Don't take it for granted the opportunity to honor Him, to say thank you, to worship Him. He doesn't take it for granted when you do it. He receives it. The Bible says He lives in our praise. He lives in our worship. I can just see Him dancing, hallelujah, and honoring that worship and it feeling, hallelujah, hallelujah the temple. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to lay worship at your feet. We thank you, Lord God, for the opportunity, Lord God, to raise our hands in worship to you, Lord God. We thank you for the opportunity, Lord God, to lift our voices in song to you, Lord. We thank you for the opportunity, Lord, for our hearts to be filled with praise and to let it roll off of our lips, Lord. We thank you for the opportunity, Lord, hallelujah, to tell someone of the goodness of God. We thank you for the opportunity, Lord, that our minds can remember the goodness, hallelujah, of your Son, Christ Jesus, hallelujah. We thank you, Lord. We thank you, Lord. We thank you, Lord. We thank you, Lord. We thank you, Lord. We thank you, Lord. I love you, Lord. Let's sing together. For your mercy never fails me in all my days. I've been held in your hands from the moment that I wake up until I lay my head. I will sing of the goodness of God. Can we say that again? I love you Lord. I love you Lord. ♪ For your mercy never fails me ♪ ♪ And all my days I've been held in your hands ♪ ♪ From the moment that I wake up until I lay my head ♪ ♪ Oh, I will sing of the goodness of your love ♪ Now let's just let this ring out, all my life, yes. ♪ All my life you have been faithful ♪ All of my life you've been faithful, Lord. ♪ And all my life you have been so, so good ♪ ♪ With every breath that I am able ♪ Oh, I will sing goodness of God. I love your voice. Yes, you have Lord. You have led me through the fire. In darkest nights, you are close like no other. This is what I know. I know you as a father. All of my life, let's sing that together. that I am made. As my life laid down, I surrender now, I give you all. Because all my life you have been faithful. You can just take a moment and think back right here. Because all my life you have been faithful. We're going to stay right there. Because all my life. Because all my life you have been faithful. I'm thinking back to my teenage years, Lord, thank you. Cause all my life you have been faithful. When I tried this and that and Lord, you didn't let it take me out. All my life you have been faithful. When that should have taken me out, Lord, it took them out. All my life you have been faithful. Some of that stuff took your friends out, hallelujah. All my life you have been faithful. I thank you, Lord. I thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. All my life you have been faithful. You kept me, Lord. You kept my mind, Lord. Thank you, Lord. All my life you have been faithful. Hallelujah. Year after year. Hallelujah. All my life you have been faithful. You've been that good. In all my life, you have been so, so, so good. With every breath that I am able, Lord, I promise to sing of the goodness of God. No matter what we face, I will sing. I will sing of the goodness of God. When the car breaks down, Lord, I promise, I will sing of the goodness of God. If I have to pack up and move, Lord, I will sing. of the goodness of God. If the bank account gets low, God, I promise I will sing of the goodness of God. Hallelujah. When the refrigerator looks a little low, I will sing. of the goodness of God. When we're standing on the mountaintop, I won't forget, I will sing of the goodness of God. When everything is going right in the world, Lord, I still remember, I will sing. of the goodness of God. When all the kids are acting right and doing the right thing, Lord, I will sing of the goodness of God. In season, out of season, Lord, I promise I will sing of the goodness of God. He is good. He is good. Let's worship. Give it to him. Yes. Let's give it to him. Hallelujah. You are worthy, Lord. You are worthy of this worship, Lord. You are worthy of this worship, Lord. You are worthy of this worship, Lord. And God, forgive us. Forgive us for waiting, Lord, for tragedy, Lord, to sing of the goodness, Lord, or to be reminded of good times, Lord. Forgive us, Lord, for only singing of your goodness when we're on the mountaintops, Lord. We will sing of your goodness, hallelujah, no matter what state, because you are always good, Lord. You are always worthy of worship, Lord. And we will declare it, Lord. God, help us to find opportunities, Lord, to share that goodness, Lord, with others. Let us be walking testimonies of your goodness. Let us be reminded daily, Lord God, as we inhale and exhale, Lord God, that you are good, that you are great, that you are awesome, that you are incredible, and that you do the impossible. And we will praise you, Lord God, for all things. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for the opportunity to worship at your feet today. and with our brothers and sisters. You may have your seats and welcome. Welcome. It's so good to be back in worshiping with you. I have missed you all. Welcome to Transforming Love Christian Center and welcome those of you who are streaming with us online. Let me try to get through this without a whole lot of coughing. It's great to see you. We are right here at 1930 Redwood Road. And we're here every Sunday at 130. So if you are streaming with us, let me just say this. We want to hug you. We want you to be in the building. We love, love, love you. seeing folks walk through the door, and we love that you are also streaming with us. We know that there are several different services that you can watch from the comfort of your home, and yet you are watching and participating in this service, and we don't take that lightly. Please connect with us. Go to our website at www.transforminglovecc.org. You probably see that on the bottom of your screen. Go there and learn all things TLCC, what we believe, who our leaders are, and we want to connect with you. So go and contact us so that we can get plugged in and get to know you as well. You can click on the Bible study tab and see that we have Bible study at 7 p.m. via Zoom. So also from the comfort of your home, You can enjoy Bible study and really get to know the goodness of God systematically in our Bible study. So that as you worship with us on Sunday, you have a deeper reason, a deeper knowledge of why we are worshiping the way that we are. And we hope that you'll join us. In addition, feel free to go to the donate tab, and those of you who are donating, we appreciate you. There are two ways to give currently, and that is listed there for you. You can send a check or money order to the PO box listed, and that information is there. Our name is Transforming Love Christian Center, and I know we here call it TLCC, but the bank is like, nope. So please, God, fill out that properly, Transforming Love Christian Center, so they don't come back and be like, that's not your name. Also, you can zelle from your account into the ministry, and that helps us to do what we are called to do in this house. With that being said, you can also reach out to us for prayer requests. And those of you who are here, there are prayer cards on the back table, and we're happy to receive those prayer cards. Sister Akonke, wave your hand. she receives those prayer cards and gets those to the right folks and folks we are a praying church and we love to do it when I tell you you send that prayer request in it is like and we are praying all times of the day okay so please don't hesitate get your prayer request in and those of you who are online when you contact us you can put in that subject line prayer request and we will intercede on behalf of you your family your friends and those who are connected to you we love to pray for the body of Christ and the people of God and those who are connected to the body of Christ. It is what we're called to do and we love to do it. So please feel free to do that. This is a great opportunity for you to silence your cell phones. I know we always think we do and then we don't and then we hear it. So please take a moment to just double check and make sure you're on vibrator silent. And those of you who are online, this is a great moment to go get your Bible, get your highlighter, get your notepad. We have the word of God coming up and you might want to jot down those scriptures so you remember. You can always come back to our page and see an old message. And maybe during the week you need a good meal that you need to, you know, or you want to see the meal again, or, you know, hear the gospel some more, or you'd want to share it. Friends, this is a great season for evangelism. I can't tell you how many people called me this week and said, Keisha, what are we gonna do? I was like, listen, let me tell you about Jesus. Let me tell you about Jesus. This is a wonderful season for evangelism. So if folks in your life are distraught, give them the gospel. And if you don't know quite what to do, I'm sure there's a message on our page that you can send it. Send it right on. We will assist you with sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. So make sure that we will help you to be equipped to go out there and share. Just keep that in mind or reach out to us and say, hey, I just need to be equipped. Someone help me. And we're happy to do that. We want to share the gospel, especially in this season. With that being said, it's beautiful to see your faces and have a beautiful Sunday here at TLCC. Praise the Lord, everybody. Amen. Praise the Lord. God is good. Yes, he is. Is God good? We are grateful to God for what he is doing in our lives, the things we understand and the things we do not understand, because his ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are much higher than our thoughts. He has a lot more on his plate, and so he knows what he's doing. And so we are grateful to God because he has kept us this far. Amen. Watched over us and taken care of us and in spite of ourselves and the things we have done to displease him, God remains faithful. Amen. God is loving. Amen. This is a time I see a few new people here. I just want them to be greeted. And I just want you guys to get up and say hello to everyone. Just give you some time before we go on into the word. Amen. Did you know that Auntie Kim is here? This mic is on. Amen. Amen. All right. Let's go ahead and bring it in. Amen, amen. All right, let's go ahead and sell in. Let's go ahead and pray. It's always a good thing to see little babies in the church. We got two new babies in the church. Welcome to TLC, little ones. Amen. You all know I love children. Amen. Amen. Father, first of all, we come before you thanking you, Father, for your goodness and your mercy. We thank you that you allow us to be here today. Sister Keisha ran off so many blessings, so many things we have to be thankful for, God. There are times, Father, when we doubt you. There are times when we don't understand what you're doing. There are times, Father, when we cannot see the benefits that you have placed before us, Father. We have our categories that we tend to put things that are good in one category and things that we think are bad in another category, Father. And at times we question you, Father, not knowing what is always best for us, Father. But we thank you, Father, that you are in charge and that we are not. We thank you, Father, that you see everything that's coming and what is needed, Father. You understand the right perspective that we should have, and you understand what is needed for our souls. Today, I pray, Father, that you would use this word, Father, to so shift us and change us, redirect our mind, Father, back towards you, Father. There are so many things that we deal with. As Keisha was also mentioning, we are distracted, often distracted. This planet is full of distractions. The enemy tends to have a grip on the information that comes out. Father, we are thanking you so much, Father, for not leaving us to ourselves, not leaving us to just be victims of that information, that information that says there is no God, that information that says we should just do a certain thing instead of living for you. Help us, Father, today to be refocused and changed and transformed, Father, and to thank you because you are good. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. I'm going to turn to a book that I don't always preach out of, Ecclesiastes, the book of Ecclesiastes, the seventh chapter. Ecclesiastes, the seventh chapter. It's good to see everyone this morning. Amen. Ecclesiastes chapter seven. I'm going to start with verse two going down to verse four. Ecclesiastes 7 verse 2 through 4. I'm going to teach out of a simpler translation today just to kind of get ourselves level set and make it a little bit easier to just teach a very simple concept to you today. The Word of God reads, it's better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. Wow. Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies. So the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter. Hmm. For sadness has a refining influence on us. A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time. I want to speak to you today from the title, The Opportunity for Sober Thinking. The Opportunity for Sober Thinking. Amen? King Solomon is the writer, most people agree that it's either him writing this or someone who has captured his thoughts and presented them in the book of Ecclesiastes. And so we could say, for those of us who may not know, just give you a little bit of history on King Solomon. King Solomon was a man that lived life to the fullest. He had everything. He is said to be the richest person on the planet, meaning that even Elon Musk doesn't have as much money as he does. It's like a quarter compared to what Solomon had. Jeff Bezos or Bezos, I repronounce his name of Amazon. These people had chump change compared to Solomon. Not only that, the Bible says that God made a promise to Solomon that no one would only be not only richer than him, but no one would be wiser than him. So he's got money, and he's incredibly smart. He's very wise. No one would have more wisdom. No human being would have more wisdom than Solomon. Wow. Interesting. The story goes that Solomon was given the kingdom at a very immature time in his life, and he asked God, instead of for riches in the heads of his enemies, he said, give me a wise and understanding heart to lead your people. God said, because you have chosen the unselfish thing, I will give you not only that, but I will give you what you did not ask for. You're going to be paid, and you're going to be smart. No one will be able to match your wisdom. So needless to say, Solomon is someone that we should probably learn from. Amen? We may take some notes from Solomon. Not a perfect man, but he wrote some things down that I think we should heed. Right from the beginning of Ecclesiastes, the very first chapter, Solomon says something that is extremely depressing. It's found in the first chapter in the second verse, and I'm just going to read it. Yeah, okay. These are the words of the teacher, verse one, King David's son who ruled in Jerusalem. Next verse. Everything is meaningless, says the teacher. Completely meaningless. Other translations says everything is vanity. Total pointlessness. Vanity. The Hebrew word here is the word hebel. Some translations, as I said, say it's vanity. Some translations say meaningless. Some translations, my Jamie Hawkins Oakland version say pointless. Amen? But that's not quite the picture that Solomon wants to paint. That's pretty much the definition, but not the actual practical application that he wants us to derive from this word meaningless. He's basically saying, The word meaningless or hebel in the actual Hebrew, not Greek, but the hebel word actually means smoke or vapor. He's saying everything is smoke, vapor. This word is used 38 times in this book, so it's obvious that Solomon is trying to make a point with this meaningless, pointless, vanity, hebel, vapor, smoke. Well, you would say, well, pastor, that would normally mean that what we all say, life is short. Life is temporary. Not quite. Solomon's saying something even more depressing than that. Solomon is saying that as people, human beings, we will see vapor and smoke and try to grab it. We will see breath and try to hold on to it. You will see something that you want. You will work hard at something, believing with all your heart that you have something of value and you would try to hold on to it and never really realize that you really have nothing. Wow. That's interesting. He said, humans will do this over and over and over and over again. This is the wisest man saying, what I have seen in this life is a bunch of people chasing after smoke. Wow. And we just do it again. Right? So Solomon, out of frustration and an attempt to extract some purpose out of this life, and the meaning of this life that he is now aware of, Solomon says to himself, okay, well then I need to start to look at life differently and to try to extract some meaning and purpose or some kind of activity. So he says to himself, I know, I'll accumulate knowledge. I'll be even smarter than I am. I'll spend my time reading books and getting an understanding of philosophy and talking to people about what's the wisest thing to do over and over and over again. I would just store in information to make myself even more wise. But he says later on, somewhere around the second chapter, even that is meaningless. After doing that, he goes, ah, pointless, vanity, chasing smoke. Then in another failed attempt, he says also in the second chapter, what I'll do then is I'll live for pleasure. I'll try to make every moment in my life about leisure and fun. I'll party and party until I just pass out. But he comes to the conclusion that this is just another form of the same thing. Meaningless. Hebel. Vapor, smoke. This man, Solomon, had 700 wives and 300 concubines. For those of you who don't know it, he had 700 wives, young man, and then he had 300 side chicks. Solomon had to be bored out of his mind. Right? What you gonna do today, Solomon? I think I'll get married. Again. And again. And again. Insane! What's the problem, Solomon? Well, he's got everything he wants, but he has access to everything, and access to everything that you want brings him to a place where he understands that everything is nothing. So he's living with this understanding because he's wise, right? Because he's smart. He can see things that maybe everybody else can't see. He's watching the trap and he's watching himself be a part of that trap. And he's saying to himself, I can't get out of this thing. And I've tried everything I know how to make, to extract some meaning, some purpose out of life. But because I've also, I have everything that I've ever wanted, but I've kind of been, in a sense, kind of been dealt a bad deal because I also have understanding. So he's looking at everything and he's saying, ah, the best thing I could do was try to find ways to escape. So I'll just load up knowledge and I'll just party and party and party. That's the best he can come up with. Get smart and just be pleasured. 700 wives. He's living to escape what he knows. And just escaping and escaping and escaping, but never coming to a place where he's ever satisfied. Wow. Never coming to a place where he can extract meaning. And it's from this point that I want to segue, because I think it's a perfect segue into chapter 7 of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes 7, 2 through 4. One more time. Let's read it again. Let's get a little grip to it. All right. Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies. So the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool only thinks about having a good time. Wow. Better to spend your time, verse two, at funerals than at parties. Now, let's define this party. More than likely, he's not talking about Johnny's second-year-old birthday. He's talking about a party, a real party. And let me just be honest with you, nothing has changed over thousands and thousands of years. Parties of those types are parties of those types. We've all been there. We've all done it, right? Parties have been the same for thousands and thousands of years. A little bit of wine, a little bit of music, a little bit of hey. That's my jam, girl. Right? Huh? Back in the day, Solomon would bring in the flutes, bring in the guitar players, bring in the harps. Now, turn that DJ up. No different, right? Maybe we just change the cocktail. You know, it was wine back then, now we got some other stuff. Some stuff that you shouldn't be drinking. Amen? Nothing has changed. Nothing, you know, it's nothing new here. Amen? But what's the effect? The effect is this. Kick back, relax a little bit, get intoxicated a little bit, let your inhibitions go a little bit, right? Let your hair down, escape our troubles just for a few hours so I don't have to think about nothing serious. Right? While under the influence, under the influence of the party atmosphere, I say to myself for a moment, even if I'm lying to myself, everything's just fine. Everything's okay. Huh? Don't trip off of that. Wait till tomorrow. He's saying it's better to be at a funeral than to be at a party. Interesting, huh? Let's have a good time. Don't think about it too much. In fact, don't think at all. Just hey, right? But the Holy Spirit allows Solomon to give us words and capture these thoughts because he's saying something very important. Better to be at a funeral than a party because what? Because there's something that you don't think about when you go to a party. He says, everybody, after all, everybody dies. Hmm. Every thinking person should take the time to contemplate the fact that death is the end for all men. Right? So to constantly be in a state of, you know, escaping that reality, the Bible is telling us that is foolish. because nobody gets around the truth about the fact that people die for very long. Pastor Rick got up on the platform today. He's talking about grief. He's like, we're just going through and going through and going through. Why is God allowing this? Come on, God, bring on the party. What are you doing up there? Not liking this anymore, right? He's saying, no, I don't want you to have that perspective. And he's saying here, so the living should take this to heart. What is he saying? There is an opportunity being presented to you at a funeral, for instance, that is not given to you at the party. What is the opportunity? It's an opportunity for sober thinking. Sober thinking. Because at the party, we're under the influence of something that's not real. Right? Interesting, right? Sorrow is better than laughter. Now, most of us would disagree with that. Wait a minute, Pastor, doesn't the Bible talk about, you know, people misquoting, you know, laughter is good for, it's like medicine to the body. Yes, that is true. Laughter is good for you. But he's saying that sorrow is better than laughter. We don't think like that. Your average preacher is not going to tell you, you know, I really want you to be sad. No, he's going to be like, you know, what can I preach to you to make sure you come back next week? I want you happy as all get out. Come here. While you're happy, pay some offerings. God going to bless you real good if you keep doing that. Just be happy. That's what the mega pastors tell you, right? Just be joyful, joyful. Well, Solomon is saying something different here that we need to take into consideration. He's saying sorrow is better than laughter. Most of us would love to spend time at a comedy club versus a funeral or something, right? Cat Williams, come on, name him. That's hilarious. That dude's just funny. We just be cursing and funny. Say it again. Most of us would want to sit at home and watch a funny movie, right? Than to sit there and think about something sorrowful. But he's saying sorrow is better than laughter. There's something about sadness that has a refining influence on us. There's something about sadness that causes us to think deeply about issues, right? Laughter tends to not do that. When I'm cracking up and thinking something's funny and hilarious, I'm not really thinking about things too deeply. Laughter tends to cause me to escape, right? You see the theme here? He's basically saying the same thing. Laughter will not make you think about having a different perspective on your life. Sorrow. Hard times, it'd be like, you know, we need to do something. Right? We need to change something. We need to figure something out. Sorrow makes you make adjustments. Right? Interesting. This is an interesting passage. Huh? Make some changes. Maybe, you know, laughter will not cause you to go in a different direction. Sorrow will cause you to complete 180, won't it? Right? Huh. For sadness has a refining influence on it. It's sober thinking that comes out of sorrow. You think about things that you should change. It's the exact opposite of what most of us would do at a club or a party. If the DJ is pumping, right, and there's people all around you, and you're listening to... Nobody, you're not standing in the middle of the, you know, the crowd just going, you know, I need to really contemplate my life while all that's going on around you. No, sorrow will make you go, you know what? Something needs to change. Sober thinking. What are you saying, basically, here? It's real simple, just to be redundant. There are certain atmospheres and moods that are not conducive for change. There are certain atmospheres and moods that are not conducive for sober thinking. But when you go to a funeral, we're all thinking the same thing. I could be next. How much time do we really have? McDonald says this, one of my favorite theologians, I love this guy. He says, the mind of a wise person maintains poise and serenity in the presence of death. He can cope with sorrow and pressure because his roots are deep. Fools can't stand to face serious crisis. They try to drown out the sound of life as it is with laughter and gaiety. They avoid contact with hospitals. They avoid contact with mortuaries because their shallow resources do not equip them to stand up to the realities of this life and the inevitability of what we're all going to face. Interesting. So let's go back to verse two and let's wrap this up. Ecclesiastes, yes, seven and two. Better to spend time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies, so the living should take this to heart. Here's the thing. You and I, by default, will spend most of our time and most of our lives thinking about ways to make my life or your life better, right? I don't like the situation I'm in. I'm going to do something about it. I want better circumstances, right? So we spend time thinking about that. I want to get married. What do we do? We go to get cute, right? I want to stay married long enough to have some children. What do I do? I go to the gym, right? Right? I don't like the level of education I'm at. What do I do? I try to get some financial aid. These things take time. I got to go to college. I got to better myself. I don't like my mode of transportation. I'm on the bus. I need to get a car. What do I need to do? I need a better job. I'm thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking all along. And by the time I reproduce the next generation, I teach what I've learned to that next generation. Right? And I say, you need to think like me. Think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think. I want better. I want better. Here's the thing. You're not entitled to any of those things I just mentioned. There's no guarantee that anybody is going to give you a good education. There's no guarantee that you're going to get that promotion to get a better job. There's no guarantee that you will actually get that car. There's no guarantee somebody will think you're cute. She's just not that into you. Right? But there is one guarantee. That guarantee is this. None of us will stay here forever. That is absolutely certain. Everybody dies. Unless he's coming through the clouds to come and get us, you're not staying here forever. And he's saying, you should take this to heart. And yet, if you're like me, most of us are thinking about everything but that. Right? I got to get better. I got to get my children better. I got to, you know, I got to do this for my baby. He's saying, listen, you know, this reminds me, thank you, Holy Spirit. The disciples were walking around with Jesus and Jesus was, you know, they were making a big fuss of things. And Jesus said something like this. He said, you know, these temples that you're seeing right here, they won't even be here in a couple of years. What was going to happen? Jerusalem was going to fall. He was using that as a metaphor to say, listen, don't get comfortable trying to get everything here. All of this is going to be gone. Yet, we're not thinking that way. We're not programmed to think that way. Huh? Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies. Everyone should take these things to heart. There's no guarantee that you'll get all the things that you think you're entitled to. The one guarantee that we have is that we will die. The living should take every opportunity for what I always call the reality check. Right? What's the reality check? The reality check is when I get to think soberly about how things are really going here. How we're really living. What life is really about. What's getting ready to happen. What am I trying to escape? Let's try it again. Isaiah 5, 11 and 12. Isaiah 5, 11, 12. This says something similar, but not quite. Another added piece of this. What sorrow for those who get up early in the morning looking for a drink of alcohol. I'm not saying I know anything about your life. I'm just saying that this scripture is basically saying here that there are people that get up and want to escape the whole day. I don't want to think about it. I don't want to face it. This is how I cope, right? He's saying, and spend long evenings drinking wines and making themselves drunk. Verse 12, here we go. Bring back the party. They furnish wine and lovely music at their grand parties. Right? Bring in the lyre, bring in the harp, bring in the tambourine and the flute. But here's the catch. He said, but they never think about the Lord. They don't even know what he's doing. They don't even know what he's up to. I just don't want to think about the fact that I could not be here one day. I want to escape whatever I'm dealing with in my circumstances. I only want to think about things being better for me. He said, all that's well and good. However, have you thought about the Lord? Escape, escape, escape. But there is a God, people. Death causes you to think about whether or not there is a God. whether or not you will face him, what's going to happen in eternity, what's going to be the afterlife for you. We're seeing people, I don't know what's happening, but there seems to be an accelerated time where people are just checking up out of here. And most of us are like, I don't want to think about it. And the Lord is like, yeah, well, I'll take your neighbor. I'll take your cousin. I'll take your friend. I'll take your loved ones. I'll take people that you never thought would die. They'll be here forever. And here we are trying to escape. Hey, turn up the DJ. I don't want to face it. I want to deal with it. He said, they do all this. They party. They put on the music. They have the alcohol. or whatever you take to escape that reality. He said, but you're not thinking about me. Anything to not think about the Lord. Wow. Here we go. Sober thinking is the reality that God wants to place us in. What do you want to think? He wants us to think there is a God. There is a God who has an expectation for your very existence. Huh? All this time is going by and nobody gets to stay here at the party forever, right? So God plans in his wisdom and makes times of sorrow. Funerals, people pass away. Bad things, quote unquote, happen. Events in life happen. We hear of wars and all kinds of catastrophes for a particular reason. That's God's wisdom to get us to go, wake up! Don't get comfortable. Amen? It's an opportunity for what? Sober thinking. Not to escape, but to think. And here's the thought that God wants us to have. Listen, let's try it again, saints. Solomon had access to everything. And in the very first verse, I showed it to you in Ecclesiastes 7, I mean 1 and 1, it says he's Solomon or David's son, but he says the teacher. That word the teacher means the gatherer. Solomon, the gatherer. He gathers a crowd in order to say something that maybe everybody doesn't want to hear. There are events that happen in life where there is a gathering, amen, where they bring people together to have, you know, one thought. And in a funeral home or a funeral situation, when someone dies, what happens? You see family members you haven't seen in a long time? You ever notice that? People begin to, you know, when there's a catastrophe, people kind of gather together and kind of cluster together to hear what? Solomon's saying, I'm telling you this verbally, but are you noticing the signs in your own life when God is gathering you together to say something? Amen? What is he trying to say? He wants you to hear something. The wisdom of the teacher. He assembles a crowd to tell you something important. What is the important thing that he wants you to see? Saints, guess what it is. There is a God. You didn't bring yourself here. If you didn't bring yourself here, someone did. Do you know who he is? Have you thought about why he put you here? Have you been busy doing the things that he's told you to do? Are you clued into that even? Do you know what those things are? How does he feel about the fact that you're not doing what he's asked you to do? Is God okay with you just existing and ignoring him? Does God have feelings about that? Is this your time or is it his time? Whose time are you using? How angry is God about that? These are the things we don't want to think about. So he's saying, every now and then, I shake things up so you can think. Amen? Psalm 90 and 11. Psalm 90 and 11. The Word of God says, who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve. Wow! Are we minimizing God's anger? Is it even on our radar? Are we spending so much time at the party type of situations that we don't think about that? Huh? At the Super Bowl, not thinking about God. Huh? At the concert, not thinking about God. At the comedy show, having a good time, not thinking about God. Right? Do we even really know what's at stake? Verse 12 says, teach us to realize the brevity of life. Wow. So that we may grow in wisdom. Huh? Do we think we have a lot more time? Are we being wise here? Have you thought about how short life really is? Have you looked in the mirror lately? Is this thing going in one direction consistently or the other? Are we going back to looking like we were in high school? No! This thing is going this way and tomorrow you'll get up. It'll still be going this way three years now. It'll still be going this way before you know it. I'm not going backwards. You're not going backwards. He said the brevity of life so you can have wisdom. Teach us, Lord, about the brevity of life, realizing how short time is. We're not getting younger. We're headed towards the very thing that we're trying not to think about. Wow. And we're all guilty of it, saints, okay? There's a certain amount of time we've been given, and what do we do? How much smoke can I grab? How many vapors can I actually hold onto? I'm trying, but I keep coming up with nothing, but I'm gonna get up tomorrow and do the exact same thing. Right? Wow. I thought this was gonna turn out to be like this. I thought it was gonna be amazing, Jamie. I was so excited about it when I told you about my testimony. What happened? Same thing that happened last time. Wow. That's a little depressing, right? But listen, here's the thing. The scripture is saying that God's anger about these things, his wrath is real. We can't even calculate it. We can't even comprehend it. His wrath is as large as his name and his glory and the fear of him deserves. Amen? How can we fix this? Can we fix this? No, you can't fix this. But God can, and he already did. Here's the good news. As much as we have wasted time chasing smoke, Jesus paid for all that smoke we was chasing. Did he not? But we must respond to what he did to fix that. Our rebellion and our sin against God, we must respond to what Jesus did to fix our problem, our default setting of smoke chasing. Amen? What did he do? Romans 3.23. If we can't fix it, we're not good enough, we don't have the grace that we need in ourselves, we don't have the mercy we need in ourselves, what did he do? He said, for everyone has sinned, we all fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3.23, right? We all fall short of his standard. Let's admit it. We've all sinned against God. We've all lived lives where we're chasing after things and not chasing after him and thinking we've really got something. We've done it. I've done it. You've done it. Let's just be honest with ourselves. Smoke chasers? But what did Jesus do? He saw all of that and gave his life for us anyway. died on the cross to set us free, get us off the wrath of God, huh? To where God does not look at us like we wasted all his time and said, you know what? The perfection of Jesus is now placed on you and your sins are now placed on him. He dies, sin is canceled out, and now we are living in a position that we never could have actually earned. Jesus did that. Amen? We can't fix the problem. Jesus paid for it. Amen? Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin and death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus is the gift of God. He paid for our sins. Amen? He shed his blood. What I'm trying to say to you people is you and I have a default way of thinking that if the Holy Spirit does not invade us and meet us at the crossroads, we will do this smoke chasing Forever and ever for the rest of our lives. Right? That's what we'll do. So what we needed was Jesus, right? Here's the thing, saints. Solomon came up with an understanding. He found out that life was meaningless and pointless and he had everything. What's the issue? We deceive ourselves into thinking that we're really living. We deceive ourselves into thinking that we're accomplishing something. Not realizing that living life without living for God is not living at all, saints. It's not living at all. So now, here we are, not realizing that some of the good times, thank you, Lord, and the bad times that we are encountering, we're not realizing that all of that is God's goodness. Amen? The sorrow that we face, that we want to get rid of, guess what? Some of that is from God and it's actually good for us. Wow. Right? 2 Corinthians 7.10 proves it. 2 Corinthians 7.10. For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away. Did you see that? Wait, let's go back. For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience. What? Did you read that? I read that almost too fast. Did you get that to you? The sorrow that God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and the result is in salvation. Amen? And results in salvation. There is no regret for that kind of sorrow. Amen? No regret. Amen. Let's just move. Romans 8.28. Real popular scripture. We love the scripture. We quote it all the time, but do we really think about what it's saying? Keisha kind of alluded to it today when she was exhorting. Good times and bad. Romans 8.28. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God. and are called according to His purpose for them. Everything, He causes everything to work together, even bad times. What are you saying, Pastor? The bad times may actually be a gift from God to realign our thinking so we don't continue in the way where we're not thinking soberly. So we're getting upset saying, God, why don't you change this? But sometimes the very thing that you're in is the very thing that's rescuing you from your foolish thinking. Otherwise, I'd be stuck here. I don't like this guy. What is it? It's going to cause you to change. It's going to cause you to be like my son. It's going to cause you to think about things in a way more important. You're running out of time, and I need to accelerate this situation to where you start to think how I want you to think. And I'm kicking and screaming, going, God, and asking everybody to pray for me. Lay hands. Get me some oil to get me out of this situation. Huh? Just smack. Yeah, yeah. Be delivered from the very thing that God wants you to stay in. Wow. Why? Because the party doesn't cause you to think like he wants you to think. It's those tough times that cause you to go, you know what? I need to get together. Hold on, Jesus is coming back. I sit up here and focus on what I'm trying to keep right here. There's wars going all around us and things are circling around and looking crazy and we have an interesting, crazy elections and all kinds of stuff and everybody's heartbroken about those things and God is saying, good, I got you right where I want you. Because if I just let you have a party, you will self-destruct and kill yourself. My son is coming back to rule and reign. He's going to fix all this stuff anyway. Why are you holding on a bunch of stuff that's going to change? Jesus is going to reign. He's going to rule, and you're going to rule with him if you suffer with him. Why? Because you'll be just like him. Right? My God. Here we go, Rick. Beloved, make it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you. It has a purpose. I don't like my circumstances. Oh, but if we can rejoice in those circumstances. Verse 13 says, but rejoice in as much as you are partakers of Christ's suffering. If you're going to roll with Jesus, you're going to have to take some suffering, people. You're going to have to look like a family member. And the family members of God look like they haven't been through something because Jesus has been through something. So to keep asking God to get you out of all the somethings is not exactly what God's will is. We gotta find a place where we actually begin to mature and go, you know what, Lord, I don't like this situation. Everything in my flesh does not like this situation, but I know you're good. I know you are God, and I know you would not allow this if you weren't trying to change something in me and prepare me for, you know, an eternity of blessings while I suffer temporarily. Did you catch that? I'm going to go through a little bit. You know, I sit through the wait for just a little bit, but then I enjoy the benefits. You stand up under the wait for just a little bit through your trial. I'm standing up under this situation. I'm standing up under my finances not working out. I'm standing up under my children not acting right. I'm standing up under my job pressure. I'm standing up under my, you know, there's barely any food on tape. I'm standing up under my family members dying. I'm standing up, I'm standing up, I'm standing up. But in a minute, I'm going to be glorified with God, and I'm going to enjoy an eternity of happiness. It's temporary. We can't stay at the party forever. That kind of thinking will destroy you. We cannot escape and cope in a way that does not allow us to have sober thinking. I'm done. Ah, it's tight, but it's right. It's tight, but it's right. Then I was thinking, what would happen if Jesus came here and lived your life for you? Huh? What if he had a moment in time where he could just come in, just do a few years, where you could sit back and watch how he lived your life? Huh? Where he went through some things. What kind of perspective would he have on what you're going through? Would it be the same? Probably not. Probably not. Would he try to escape everything? Probably not. Would he like everything? No, just as much as you don't like it. He's God and human, right? He understands. He's not looking down on you for not liking it. What he's saying, though, is he doesn't want you to have a joyless life because of it. I'm just not done. I can feel it. I'm just not done. He said, the wise think about death all the time, right? That's what he said in Ecclesiastes 7, 4. The wise think about death all the time. He's not talking about you being some morbid person where there's complete and total joyless You know, a personality or something like that. He's saying it's wise to think about death. I don't know what's on your mind all the time, but are you thinking about what's happening, where you're headed? He's saying it's wise to you to think about death. Huh? I'll tell you another death we should be thinking about all the time. It's wise to think about the most incredible death that we've ever seen, the death of Jesus Christ. Huh? It's wise to think about his death. Right? That's the death that set me free. That's the death that delivered me. It's wise to think about that. Is that what I'm thinking about all the time, or am I just trying to get out? What would that do to my perspective if I could have some joy in my suffering? What kind of disciple would I be if every time you saw Jamie, and every time I saw Beverly, and every time I saw Doretha, it was just like, these people, there's just nothing that shakes these people. They're just smiling through all of this craziness. We're losing our mind and they're just like, you know what? All right, Lord. You know, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and his righteousness. Right? Everybody else is losing their mind and you just pray to the Lord. Right? Paul in the jail, I can't shut up. Paul in the jail, right? You know, he's got shackles on his feet, right? He's in prison, right? And what happened? They start singing. Paul or Peter, one of them two. Correct me, I think it's Peter or Paul. Yeah, Peter. They start singing. Stuff comes off their legs, walk out of jail like nothing happened, right? You would think that they wouldn't do that again and get in trouble again. They don't want to preach anymore. They're looking for him. Where is he at? I think it was Paul, yeah. Where is he at? He's out preaching again, trying to get in trouble again. Why? He's got his mind on bigger things, right? He's got joy in his heart. You can't stop him. That's what I'm trying to tell you, Saints. There's a different perspective, right? You should think about where we're headed. Don't stay at the party too long. There's a time for sober thinking. Think soberly. All right, I think I'm done. Father, first of all, we just thank you so much for blessing us, blessing this church with your presence, blessing us with the word, God. Thank you, Lord, as you bring the word in such a way, Father, that it changes us, gives us new mindsets for everything that we're dealing with. I asked Father this week, Father, that I know that trials will come, just as Pastor Rick came up here and he said so many things that we're facing and seem like we don't get a break from that or we're either dealing with grief from what already happened, God. I pray, Father, that you would give us joy in spite of that. Help us to think soberly about these things and not stay in a position where we're escaping or coping in a way that's not like you. But help us to think soberly about these things so we are preparing ourselves for your return. You're going to come and get us. We're not staying in this kind of situation. You will rule and reign and we want to be with you, God. Help us to think about what you expect of us. And be grateful for what you did to fix everything that we did wrong. We thank you for these things in Jesus' name, amen and amen. You are dismissed, I love you. If I don't know you, come see me. Oh.