Dear Family at Christ Community, We have the blessing of receiving the nourishing gifts of the elements from the Lord's table to remind us of who and Whose we are this Sunday. Given the emphasis in Ecclesiastes of taking joy in the gifts that God blesses us with, we would do well to reflect on the greatest gift of all: our salvation in Christ! We can take joy in the br...

Gracious and Merciful Father, We come before you to confess our sin as Your redeemed and beloved children. May Your Spirit alone convict us of our sin and remind us of our pardon in Christ through repentance. We confess that we too often fail to remain dependent on You to receive wisdom as a gift in Christ (Ecclesiastes 7:21-29). We confess these things before You because...

Gracious and Merciful Father, We come before you to confess our sin as Your redeemed and beloved children. May Your Spirit alone convict us of our sin and remind us of our pardon in Christ through repentance. We confess that we too often fail to run to You in faith in Christ for wisdom and comfort amid life's unsolvable paradoxes (Ecclesiastes 7:14-20). We confess these t...

Gracious and Merciful Father, We come before you to confess our sin as Your redeemed and beloved children. May Your Spirit alone convict us of our sin and remind us of our pardon in Christ through repentance. We pause now to silently confess our individual sins before confessing together as a congregation from the text in Ecclesiastes. We confess that we too often fail to...

Dear Family at Christ Community, On Sunday we will hear the Gatherer teach us that "it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting" (Ecclesiastes 7:2). Although shocking, this proverb does not contradict his repeated invitation to enjoy God's gifts. Instead, it warns us about the danger of using God's good gifts to avoid the hard realit...

Gracious and Merciful Father, We come before you to confess our sin as Your redeemed and beloved children. May Your Spirit alone convict us of our sin and remind us of our pardon in Christ through repentance. We confess that we often use distractions to avoid facing the realities of our sin and death (Ecclesiastes 7:1-6). We confess these things before You because You are...

Gracious and Merciful Father, We come before you to confess our sin as Your redeemed and beloved children. May Your Spirit alone convict us of our sin and remind us of our pardon in Christ through repentance. We confess that we struggle to find joy in You given our perpetual appetites and the ephemerality of life (Ecclesiastes 6:7-12). We confess these things before You b...

Dear Family at Christ Community, How much is enough for us to be able to enjoy life as God's good gift? This is a key question that the Gatherer has been wrestling with in his search for joy and meaning. It's also a key question that we're wrestling with in a fallen world. In Ecclesiastes 6:1-6, our text for worship on Sunday, the Gatherer dispels the myth that the ...

Gracious and Merciful Father, We come before you to confess our sin as Your redeemed and beloved children. May Your Spirit alone convict us of our sin and remind us of our pardon in Christ through repentance. We confess that we struggle to joyfully believe that Jesus is enough for us and that we're made enough for You in Christ (Ecclesiastes 6:1-6). We confess these thing...

Gracious and Merciful Father, We come before you to confess our sin as Your redeemed and beloved children. May Your Spirit alone convict us of our sin and remind us of our pardon in Christ through repentance. We confess that we don't really believe that You want to occupy us with joy in life more abundant in Christ (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20). We confess these things before Yo...