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 trust in Your sovereign governance in Christ over all things (Ecclesiastes 8:1-9).

We confess these things before You because You are faithful to forgive us in Christ.

Bless us with the assurance of our pardon by Your Holy Spirit in Christ alone by faith alone through Your grace alone from Your Word.

Amen.

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 broken bread given for us, for it signifies the absolute forgiveness of your sins past, present, and future in God’s overwhelming mercy. Please joyfully consider how this frees you from the crushing weight of shame and guilt as well as the looming threat of judgment for your sins. We can take joy in the overflowing cup freely offered to us, for it signifies the fulfilling of the New Covenant promises in God’s incomprehensible grace. Please joyfully reflect on the new heart and abilities afforded to you to glorify God in the resurrection power of Christ through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. What greater banquet of gifts could be offered to us than what we’ve been given in our salvation in Christ?

       The gift of our salvation should stir us to pray similarly to David in Psalm 51:12-17:

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. ¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. ¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. ¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. ¹⁶ For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

       All of us will struggle with the joy of our salvation at some point. All of us will wrestle with willingly doing what would glorify God especially when it might prove costly to us. However, we’ve been hospitably invited to run God’s throne of grace to receive His wisdom born of His mercy and grace to us. This joy of our salvation and willing spirit, then, become gifts that we can offer to others in evangelism and discipleship as well as to God in loving worship.   Please join me in asking the Holy Spirit to grant joy in salvation through a broken and contrite heart.

In Christ,
Cameron

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 You are faithful to forgive us in Christ.

Bless us with the assurance of our pardon by Your Holy Spirit in Christ alone by faith alone through Your grace alone from Your Word.

Amen.

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 things before You because You are faithful to forgive us in Christ.

Bless us with the assurance of our pardon by Your Holy Spirit in Christ alone by faith alone through Your grace alone from Your Word.

Amen.

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 seek wisdom through the Holy Spirit as to how to enjoy life and Your good gifts in Christ (Ecclesiastes 7:7-13).

We confess these things before You because You are faithful to forgive us in Christ.

Bless us with the assurance of our pardon by Your Holy Spirit in Christ alone by faith alone through Your grace alone from Your Word.

Amen.

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 realities of sin and death in this fallen world. These are weighty realities that are difficult to face. We need a “ballast of assurance” to face these weighty realities head on. So, as you prepare to come to the Table, ponder Jesus’s promise to bring us home to His Father’s house in John 14:1-3:

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

       Jesus’s promise to prepare a place for us in His Father’s house enables us to face sin and death without abandoning hope and joy. Yes, the Gatherer is right to warn us that death “is the end of all mankind” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). And yet Jesus speaks an even better word to us: death has been defeated and our forever home is with our God! Although we have not yet arrived at our Father’s house, already Jesus invites us to feast with Him at His Table. Come to the Table ready to experience it for what it truly is: a foretaste of the joy to come when Jesus takes us to His Father’s house—a house where all mourning will give way to everlasting joy with our God!

Yours in union with Christ,
Matt

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 faithful to forgive us in Christ.

Bless us with the assurance of our pardon by Your Holy Spirit in Christ alone by faith alone through Your grace alone from Your Word.

Amen.

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 because You are faithful to forgive us in Christ.

Bless us with the assurance of our pardon by Your Holy Spirit in Christ alone by faith alone through Your grace alone from Your Word.

Amen.

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 gift itself grants the ability to enjoy it. He also makes it clear that neither more of the gift itself nor unlimited time can solve the problem. There is nothing under the sun that can help us to be satisfied with what God gives us as more than enough. There is nothing under the sun that can help us to see that we’ve been made more than enough in union with Christ. Only God can grant the ability to enjoy His good gifts for His glory and our joy. Only God can declare us as more than enough for Him in Christ. Philip G. Ryken describes this truth in Why Everything Matters: The Gospel in Ecclesiastes:

(Ecclesiastes is in the Bible) to convince us that satisfaction only comes in God Himself. The world is not enough. Ecclesiastes does not show us this to make us discouraged or depressed, but to drive us back to God. This is not all there is. We were made for another world. There is a God in heaven, who sent His Son to save us and then to satisfy us.

       
       We have the gift of being reminded that Jesus is more than enough for us as our Redeemer and Friend as He invites us to His table. We also have the gift of being nourished by the bread and cup in the reality that Jesus has made us more than enough as sons and daughters of the God most high. Please come prepared to celebrate this bountiful enough-ness

In Christ,
Cameron

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 things before You because You are faithful to forgive us in Christ.

Bless us with the assurance of our pardon by Your Holy Spirit in Christ alone by faith alone through Your grace alone from Your Word.

Amen.