Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Ecclesiastes 11:1-10 ESV
1 Cast your bread upon the waters,for you will find it after many days. 2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. 3 If the clouds are full of rain,they empty themselves on the earth,and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. 4 He who observes the wind will not sow,and he who regards the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. 6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. 7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. 8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. 9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 ESV
1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— 5 they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— 6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

I.DON’T BE HELICOPTER MOMS (1)
A.Cast your bread upon the water and take some chances in life.
B.Kids need to learn to take some chances so that when God makes big asks of them they are ready to say yes.
C.Living by faith makes life more fun.

II.DON’T BUY ONLY MCDONALD’S STOCK (2)
A.Diversifying allows us to minimize risk.
B.The diversity in the kingdom of Jesus leads to better decisions and more getting done.

III.TRYING TO HARNESS THE WIND (3-6)
A.Risk is unavoidable because life is unpredictable.
B.Life may be unpredictable but that does not mean it is out of control.
C.God’s sovereignty means we can rest from worry but not work.

IV.BE A DREAMER AND A DOER (11:7-12:8)
A.Don’t ignore your dreams or you will get old and forget how to dream.
B.We age and die well when we have few regrets in life and death.
C.We die well by living well.

NEXT STEPS:
1.Risk is right when for the glory of Christ.