Ecclesiastes teaches that life under the sun is characterized by vanity and meaninglessness, yet God provides purpose and fulfillment through faith and community; the key to finding meaning is to focus on what you have rather than what you lack, embrace both prosperity and adversity with gratitude, and ultimately fear God and keep His commands as the path to true fulfillment.
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>> [music] [music] >> Everybody, my name is Asher [music] >> here at Adventure Youth and are here to share some upcoming events.
>> First, we want to highlight youth services. [music] We meet every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. and every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. here at Adventure. This is for anybody in grades 6 through 12. Next is Venture YA. The young adults have services every second and fourth Sunday at 6:30 p.m. If you're a young adult, Pastor Connor and his team would love to see you there. The next service is tonight.
>> Internships applications are open. If you are interested in going back to school to get your associates, bachelors, or even your masters. Venture partners with Northwest University for online schooling. Their internship has a fully online option. Or if you want to get some hands-on experience, they have a fully in-person program as well. Check the table in the lobby if you're interested or if you have questions.
>> Last time announcement we have is summer camp coming from July 21st to the 25th.
This is for any students going into sixth grade who have just graduated 12th grade. Summer camp will be at Northwest University and we will be there with several other churches. Prices go up on June 15th, so if your student is interested in attending, make sure you sign up as soon as possible to get the cheapest price. There's also a table in the lobby with a link to sign up.
>> All of these events can also be found in our app with more info. Thank you for joining us today and we hope you enjoy the rest of the service.
>> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat.
[music] >> [music] >> Well, good morning. Good [music] morning. Welcome to Venture Church. My name is David Diaz. Want to invite you all to stand if you're able. It's a good day to be at church. Amen. Come on. Is it a good day to be in [music] the house of God? Amen. Come on. So grateful you joined us today. If you're in the lobby, we want to go ahead and invite you inside. We're going to start church.
Come on. This Sunday looks a little different. It's grad [music] Sunday and so we thought it'd be a good idea to ask our youth ministry to lead worship with us. We was grateful and excited about our youth ministry being with us today.
You know, here at [music] Venture Church, we believe that uh the next generation is in the church of tomorrow.
No, they are the church today. They are just as able, if not more, with their young, fresh faith. Come on. I'm just so proud of you guys. So grateful that you guys are with us. Let's go.
Cadence is going to lead a song [music] this morning. So excited about that. If you have a need, we'd love for you to come forward, receive prayer for that need. We also want to let you know that we [music] have uh communion available in in the back of the room if you'd like to make that a part of your worship. I want to encourage us with a scripture this morning. It's this. And I don't know I don't know if this is for you. I don't know if this is for me. Maybe it's for all of us in the room. But the scripture says this, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is the faithfulness of God." I don't know who needed to hear that, but God's faithfulness is for you.
it's for me. His steadfast [music] love never ceases. In fact, he is so good that he renews those things for us each [music] and every morning. And so, if you'd like to receive that, I just want to encourage you to lift up your hands as a sign that you surrender. As a sign that you are here for an encounter with the Lord, that you desire his presence in your life [music] and in this church.
Jesus, we draw near to you knowing that you draw near to us. Lord, we worship you because you're worthy to be praised.
We worship [music] you on the foundation of the fact that we know so many great things about you, including the fact that your steadfast love never ceases, that your your mercies come to an end, the that you're new every [music] morning, Lord. And so, Lord, we surrender to you completely. We yield ourselves to you in your spirit, God. We receive your spirit this morning. We just pause and we wait on your spirit.
We wait on your presence, Jesus. We wait on you today. [music] There's no one more worthy than you being thrown in our praises this morning. [music] We thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Lord.
[music] [music] [music] I'm shaking off the heaviness.
[music] I'm getting out of my regrets.
the th [music] and I am not ashamed to praise.
So I say it's foolishness [music] but I say it's worth the risk [music] and I can't forget what Jesus said.
I [music] am no shame.
[music] [music] Yeah. Heat.
[music] Heat. Heat.
[music] [music] Heat. Heat.
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[music] Heat.
Heat.
[music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] God, [music] I'm free. You took your cross and you broke your body.
You shed your [music] blood. Now the sinner can't.
My dead is fing the record is I couldn't [music] do it. You took your cross. You took the cross and [music] you sh [music] [music] [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat.
[music] Heat. Heat.
[music] [music] I'm free. I'm free. I'm free.
I'm free. [music] [music] Heat. Heat.
[music] [singing] [music] Yeah.
Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat.
[music] [music] Yeah. Heat.
[music] >> [singing and music] [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat.
[music] Yeah. [music] Heat.
[music] [music] >> [music] >> God give him praise today. Amen.
[music] I worship you, Jesus.
[music] Oh, you're worthy of my praise every day, Lord.
>> [music] >> Come on, let's sing this song together.
We sing. When I [music and singing] could see your name for all my life [music] and [singing] still find more to love each time.
Jesus be the name [music and singing] ever on my lips.
It's sweeter every [music and singing] time that I call on it. There's just something about your name.
There's just something about your name.
[music] There's just [singing] something about your name [music] that makes me cry holy.
There is no other name.
[music and singing] There is no other name.
There [singing] is no other name.
[music] Jesus, you're worthy. [singing] You [music and singing] have been the friend who [music and singing] ever left.
I [music] forget your [singing] faithfulness.
[music] Jesus be the name ever on my lips.
It's sweeter every time [music and singing] that I call on it.
There's just something about your name.
There's just [music and singing] something about your name.
There's just something about [music] your name.
It makes me cry.
There is [music and singing] no There is no other name.
There is no [singing] [music] There is no Jesus. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Jesus [music] in the darkness [music] [singing] the resurrection and the life Jesus.
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[music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] >> Oh Jesus be the name and Jesus be the name [music] and Jesus be the name [singing] [music] that gets all the glory. Sing again. Jesus and Jesus be the name.
[music] Jesus be the name.
And Jesus be the name that gets [music and singing] all the glory.
[music] [music] [music] >> [music] >> Who thought [music] I'd find you at the lowest place?
Who [music] thought you'd feel me in the crowd?
Who [singing] knew you'd make good of my mistakes? [music] You're nothing like I thought you were.
You're better. [music] What a god.
What a god. [music] What a god. What a god.
[music] What a god. What a god.
[music] >> [music] >> I thought you show for perfection [music] cuz what [singing] kind of god is for the lost [music] and they say it's over you say no [music] it's not you say [music] no it's Heat.
[music] Heat.
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[music] Yeah.
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[music] [music] A [singing] [music] [music] Yeah. Heat. [music] [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Yeah.
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Hallelujah. [music] [music] I I I want you to consider this morning those words that we just sung. If [music] the highest place we ever reach is at the feet of Jesus, then I've seen it all. I've seen it all.
>> [music] >> That's a confession that says, uh, if God never does another thing in my life, then he has already done enough to deserve my whole life to be worthy [music] of all of my praise and all of my trust. So, in here this morning, if you believe that, would you lift your [music] hands to heaven? Would you lift your hands to the Lord? And would you pray with me? Jesus, that is our confession this morning that you are enough [music] for us. So my soul, my mind, my heart, why are you downcast?
Why Why would I [music] worry knowing that you, Lord, are over all things? You are over my life. [music] You are over it all. You are more than enough, Jesus, in this place to deserve our attention, to [music] deserve our worship, to deserve our praise. So we fix our eyes on you now. We give you everything, Jesus, [music] because you are worthy of it all. We love you, Lord. We pray all of these things. And if you believe it this [music] morning, shout amen. Amen.
[singing] Amen. Come on.
Hey, uh, as you're heading back to your seats, [music] why don't you turn to your neighbor, greet them, say hello, find out how their weekend was, and we'll be right back here in just [music] a moment.
[music] >> [music] >> Welcome to Venture Church. [music] We're really glad you're here with us today.
My name is Kani. I'm one of the pastors on staff here at Venture. If this is your first time joining us, we want to give you a special welcome. We'd love the chance to meet you. Stop by the info booth in the middle of the lobby and say hello to some of our team. One of the easiest ways to stay connected [music] is by downloading our app. Just search for Church Center in the app store, then select Venture Church Mil Creek as your home church. You can also scan the QR code on the seat back in front of you.
Inside the app, you can give, explore next steps from today's message, check out upcoming events, and submit prayer requests. If you're wondering where to start, we'd love to invite you to Discover Venture. It's a monthly dinner where you can hear more about who we are and how to get connected. You can sign up under the events tab in the app.
Another simple way to connect is by filling out a connection card. You'll find it at the top of the app, or you can use the paper card in the seat in front of you. If you have any questions at all while you're here today, feel free to stop by the info booth. We'd love to help. Thanks again for being here. We hope you enjoyed the rest of the service.
>> Yeah. Come on. Announcements, am I right? Come on. Hey, uh well, good morning, Venture. If I haven't had the chance to meet you, my name is Connor.
I'm the young adults pastor here at the church. It is great to see y'all this morning. Uh, man, how many of you just love the sun? Come on. Yeah, love the sun. Brings out the best. And um, also love that the Mariners are actually good now, you know. Come on.
>> I So many people have told me that this morning. Um, it is great to see y'all this morning. Hope you're doing well.
Hope you've had a great weekend. Um, hey, I just want to bring your attention to a few things this morning before we move on with service. First thing is this. Um, every Sunday is a great Sunday here at Venture, but this morning is a particularly special Sunday because we get to honor our amazing graduates this morning. Come on, can we make some noise for our graduates? Here's a list of names. You can see them. Yeah. We got high school, we got college, we got some grad school graduates. Uh, if you are in here and you are graduating in one form or another, would you just raise your hand? Raise your hand. We got some high school, college. Hey, can we make some noise for them, you guys? Can we congratulate them? [applause] >> You excited for summer break?
>> Kind of. Kind of. Sort of. How many of you Hey, you guys miss summer break.
Those adults in here, you guys miss summer. It is a How sad is it that you just will never get to experience that again. Uh summer summer break. It's great. Enjoy that time. Congratulations graduates. Um we're going to have some special time for all of you after service. We're going to have some root beer floats outside. Hope you love root beer floats. Nothing better than some Bars root beer at like 11 a.m., right?
Yes, it is good. It's a good day to be here. Uh hey, a couple other things that I just want to bring your attention to.
When you head out in this lobby after service, you're going to see a few different things. You're going to see our our students representing out there in the lobby. Two different things.
You're going to hear a little bit about the summer camp, summer retreat experience that our youth has in store for them this summer. It's going to be an amazing week. You're also going to see a table out there for our venture internship. Make some noise for our venture internship. Amazing [cheering] internship program here at the church.
If you or somebody you know would be interested in diving into getting real hands-on practical ministry experience next year. Um would encourage you to check out that venture internship table out there while also getting college credit at Northwest University. It's a great opportunity. And so that is going to be um out in the table there. You can find some more information there. Uh the second thing I just want to put on your radar is that next Sunday we are going to have a revival night, a worship night here at the church uh at 6:00 p.m. I believe I believe it's at 6 p.m. 6 p.m.
right there. Um would love to have you out. Quick show of hands. How many of you guys have been to a revival night here at the church before? Amazing time.
Amazing time. If you have never been to a worship night here at the church, I want to encourage you to join us next Sunday night at 6 PM. It is a powerful evening of worship and prayer where we just get to get into the presence of God together as a church, worship and pray with one another. So, I want to invite you join us next Sunday at 6 p.m. It is going to be a very, very great time. Um, hey, before we go into our our tithes and offerings this morning, I just want to highlight and take a moment to pray for together as a church, a mission trip that some of our venture vets are going on here coming up pretty soon. Um, we have a a venture, if you're not familiar with our venture vets ministry, it's a veterans ministry here at the church led by Pastor Michael Cummings. And, uh, he's just an amazing pastor here. It's an amazing ministry of support and care and figuring out what it looks like to follow Jesus here on this side of serving uh in the military. And they get to go on a trip here coming up to France for a World War II reenactment reenactment mission trip where they just get to serve the community. They get to share their love for the Lord with other people that are going to be there and get to pray with and minister to other veterans that are going to be there in France. Um, so I would love it if we could just take a moment, lift up that group in prayer and pray for a fruitful time in France together. Would you guys just join me in a moment of prayer?
Lord, we pray for your blessing, your leadership and guidance over the group of venture vets and pastor Michael as they go and minister to other veterans.
As they go and minister to others in France this summer, Lord, would you bless that trip? God, would you would you encounter people in real ways there?
Would you use the people here [snorts] going there to minister to to share your love and your truth with others, Jesus, use them in a powerful way. Do what only you can do through them. Lord, we love you and we pray these things in your name. Amen. Amen. Hey, I want to invite our ushers forward to collect today's tithes and offerings. We uh we celebrate the opportunity to worship the Lord through the giving of our tithes and offerings. A few different ways that you can give. Um you can scan the QR code here on the screen or the QR code on the seat back in front of you. There's also some envelopes in the back of your chairs if you'd prefer to give that way as well as the ushers pass those buckets around. You can place those envelopes there in the buckets. Would you um just join me in a word as we pray over our offering this morning? Um God, we we celebrate and we are grateful for the opportunity to give. We're grateful for the opportunity to be generous with what you have given us. So Lord, I pray that you would bless this gift, bless this giving, bless the gift and the giver and do more than what we could imagine with it. Lord, we give it to you. We trust you with it. It's in your name we pray.
Amen.
tonight by midnight because the early bird pricing is going up from 3:30 to 3.95. You can register on our website tonight as we get ready to join with over 600 other students in our network to learn more about God, worship him, experience breakthrough, and have a ton of fun in games and competition. [music] So, parents, register your students today.
>> Hi, Venture families. Jonathan here. I am so excited because BBS is just a few weeks away, June 23rd through the 25th.
We are inviting kids from kindergarten to fifth grade to attend the great build. We are bringing Lego bricks [music] to Venture Kids and we are super excited. Be sure to sign up on our website as we learn to build a firm foundation on Jesus. Hope to see you there.
[music] Heat.
[music] Heat.
[music] >> [music] >> Venture Youth. Good morning. How we doing today? [cheering] >> Stop. Stop. Get out of here. If we haven't met yet, my name is Johnny White. I have the honor privilege of being the youth pastor here and overseeing our internship. Uh before I open up, I want to give honor where honor is due. Uh by showing love to our lead pastors, Pastors Brandon and Pastor Dy Beiels. Can we show them some love?
Come on. grateful for you guys. Thank you for leading us so well. You guys are awesome. Um, I have the honor and privilege of closing out the first half of our Chasing Purpose series. And I need to be honest, I've had this circled this date circled forever because Ecclesiastes is my favorite book in the entire Bible. Um, I've walked our youth ministry through it. I've I've I've done it all. And the reason why I think it's so important, why why I love it so much, it is like a humility pill from God.
Like whenever I get a big head, it's like it's a needle that pops it. Uh it is one of those things if you've never read the read the book of Ecclesiast classes, it's your first time with us, uh I want to encourage you to check it out because it is one of the things that simply it's this. It's nihilistic without it being nihilism. If you haven't heard of nihilism, it's like essentially this admission that there is no absolute meaning or purpose to life.
And why I say it's nihilistic but not nihilism is because it goes through the entire book saying this that everything is meaningless. But it points to one thing. And I'm grateful that it points and illuminates that if it's outside of God, it's temporary. It's fleeting. But God brings sustaining, everlasting love, hope, and fulfillment. Is anybody grateful for that this morning? Come on.
And so as we begin to unpack this, I want to make sure we're all on the same page of where we're starting at. Um the quick review, you'll see a lot of words in the book of Ecclesiastes. Um vanity, meaningless, futility. All of these translate to this word called he say he >> occurs over 38 times. Uh means vapor and is in reference to life as it being temporary and naturally an enigma. It's paradoxical in nature. Um, and something that you'll also notice is the phrase under the sun. Someone say under the sun.
>> Under the sun.
>> Just making sure you guys are with me.
And that's mentioned over 30 times. And I mentioned our time here on earth. As we close out uh Ecclesiastes in this portion of our sermon series, I really want to have a conversation on mortality. I think to have a full awareness and observation of life, you have to have the end in mind. Uh Ecclesiastes 12:1 says, "So remember your creator in the days of your youth before the days of adversity come and the years approach when you will say, I have no delight in them." Um earlier uh last week, Pastor Brandon hit on chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12 uh of Ecclesiastes, which really revolves a lot around death, the end of time, how time is limited in everything. And I believe we have to have the end in frame to have a full observation of what we're talking about, where we're at, where we're going. And as I hit on chapters 6, 7, and 8, we're talking about applying wisdom in a life that is full of vanity, a life that is full uh of no meaning.
What does that actually look like? Um, and I think it's important. Age and death have a way of bringing what's actually important to the surface. I want to teach you guys a concept this morning called momento mory. Someone say momento.
Someone say mory.
>> Cool concept. You didn't know you were learning Latin this morning, but I'm filling you in. This phrase means remember you must die. Practiced by Stoics, Christian monks a lot in the middle ages. It's a whole genre of art.
I want to show you what uh momento mory art looks like. Usually it revolves around living things or the reminder of something dies. So usually it's a flower or a fruit. It's a skull. It's an hourglass. essentially communicating the same thing. No matter who you are, no matter what you got, no matter what you possess, no matter what you earn, what you strive for, we all die. How encouraging for grad Sunday. Oh man, love it. But this is meant to be a reality check. We don't live forever. We don't know what tomorrow holds. We don't know what's happening in the near future and beyond. But these momentos with these reminders are meant to be how are we living today? If this was my last day on earth, what how do I want to spend it? How do I want to live? Am I living with intentionality? This would be a reminder for champions after battle when they came back victorious where they could feel uh over the moon. Hey, that was great. But remember, tomorrow's not promised and the victory of the next battle is not promised today.
Ecclesiastes is like that. It's hard truths that we are meant to uh embrace and reflect. When you read the book of Ecclesiastes, you're supposed you're supposed to reflect over your own life.
It's not outwardly. It's like, man, how am I living my life? And what it is is it refineses and it points to what's important, what's critical, what are we actually looking at? It's hard conversation. Ecclesiastes 12:11 says, "Then the sayings of the wise are like cattle prods." The NLT adds painful but helpful. Wise words like from Solomon in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes and beyond can bring moral and intellectual stability into our life. I would equate it to a good friend who punches you in the face.
Cuz more often than not, you probably needed it. Like we've all had those moments of like, hey, you're only saying that probably cuz I needed it. And that's what the book of Ecclesiastes is meant to be. A reflection of how are you living your life right now? What is the most important for you right now? So over the next couple of moments, I want to submit to you some key nuggets of wisdom in living in a life full of vanity. And the first thing that I want to tell you is that more will not satisfy you. More will not satisfy you.
Chapter 6 opens up about the person who works their entire life for wealth. But there's a tragedy that sometimes occurs where people don't get to actually experience it. That actually people that we'll never meet or never know will actually benefit from our toya and work.
And this is such an idea that it occurs every day. People get brought into I'll make time for them later. I'll make time for my spouse later. I'll make time for my kids later. I'll make time for my family later. I need to put my head down in work. I need to strive for all these different things. And as I'm reading and reflecting on this, what just screams out to me is like that is such a mentality of entitlement that like we get that time. Like who's to say we actually get that time for the person who slaves away and is gone and absent from the house and everything beyond that, hey, I'll I'll pay it back to them later. I beg the question, what if later comes?
Who is to know the day of their death?
Who's to know when things stop?
And when we look at it like that, it puts everything in perspective.
Ecclesiastes 6:7 says, "All a person labors is for his stomach. Yet the appetite is never satisfied." That word appetite uh is nephesh which means soul.
So if I read it again, all of a person labor is for his stomach yet the soul is never satisfied. I want you to hear this. The bread of flesh is not food for the soul.
What it craves, what it naturally we are innately sinful and what we will naturally bend to are the things that Solomon highlights as it's not really worth it at the end. It's not it's not all that it's cracked up to be. He continues on asking what advantage each person has. What advantage then does the wise person have over the fool? What advantage is there for the person who knows how to conduct himself before others?
It's the same question. It's a statement of morality. The wise and the fool both share the same fate. The rich and the poor both share the same fate.
Everyone's susceptible to disease.
Everyone is susceptible to tragedy.
Everyone is susceptible to the events of life. Who can predict them?
He continues in this final line saying, uh, better what the eyes see than wandering desire. This, too, is futile in a pursuit of wind. And here's the thing, I can get it. I understand. I'm a single youth pastor. Don't got no kids, nothing like that. I not rich, not in the top 10%. I mean, who thinks a youth pastor's rich? Let's be honest. Come on.
But, hey, y'all laughed a little too hard at that one. Let's calm down. All right, everybody settle down a little bit. But it's a key, of course. It's key to acknowledge this comes from Solomon who's lived all and be all. But I, as I was thinking about it, there's someone um who is like a modern example of this and his name is Will Smith. Anybody know who Will Smith is?
>> Okay, if you don't know who Will Smith is, you're living under a rock. It's Fresh Prince, Men and Black, Bad Boys for Life, the fourth one. Everybody say your favorite Will Smith project on the count of three. One, two, three.
>> That's That's mine, too. Yes. Whatever you said, the answer is yes. Pursuit of Happiness will make you cry. And if you don't cry, I'm praying for you cuz something's wrong. Okay. Anyways, Will Smith was on an interview uh on a podcast with Larae. He's a Christian rapper and he was speaking. He says, "A lot of people can resonate with rock bottom, but I've had the luxury to speak of what I like to call mountain top where pretty much he communicates, I've touched the bottom of the material world. There is nothing out there that I can't buy. There's nobody I can't meet.
There's no experience or destination I haven't seen. So Lra asked him, "So you've done all these things. What how did you feel? What what is it? What is the sense?" He says, "It didn't matter.
There was nothing else. There was nothing there. It was meaningless." I'm coming from the perspective of like, you know, it's kind of easy to not be materialistic when you've never had materials.
But when you like like I lost, oh no, I lost nothing. and nothing is nothing else. But people who have everything when they can speak from this place of somewhere I'll never see it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter. It is all vanity. It is all meaningless. It is all futile.
Wealth and knowledge are good but they should not dictate our value on ourselves.
I think that this the statement of what talks about take take hold of what you actually see not just what your heart desires. God is not anti- ambition. God is not anti-wealth. God is not anti-experiences. God is not anti you enjoying life. But if the pursuit of what you do not have overtakes your ability to be content with where you're at, that robs you of the fulfillment God is trying to supply and extend to you and I. We are inherently built for longing for more. Seeing what what is on someone else's plate. Seeing what another paycheck may look like. Seeing what another life may look like. The grass is always greener on the other side. And God trying to raise it up. The grass is greener where you stand because I've ordained it to be so. These are hard conversations to look and reflect with where we're at. And it can be easy to be like, "Here's what I lack. Here's what I'm missing." But God is trying to bring under this point of what you have is everything you need. What you have is everything you need. So I want to ask the question, what has God placed before you? What has God placed before you that could be honestly like celebrated honestly gratitude shouted shown to it?
The preacher knew, Solomon knew that in a world of such uncertainty, absence of meaning that what one can actually see is always going to be in what merely in what one merely desires. We never know if we'll attain that dream, but it happens along on the journey. And that's what I want to really commit uh communicate today that the journey is something that we need to spend our time on. That it's not a fast track. We're not trying to end it as soon as possible, but to enjoy life as we experience it. So more cannot satisfy you. Secondly, difficulty can shape you.
Difficulty can shape you. Ecclesiastes 7:1 through4 says, "A good name and name is uh synonymous with reputation is better than fine perfume. And the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart." Grief is better than laughter. For when a face is sad, a heart may be glad. The heart of the wise is in a w is in a house of mourning. But the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure. Solomon is aware of the tendency uh that we can have to avoid or not talk about the inevitable. There's an end. Sometimes we shy away. Sometimes we don't acknowledge it. But that is actually better to face it head on to process everything that would actually happen. second part of that verse that says uh the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth. I thought about that for a second. Here's the thing. Births are amazing. Babies, we love babies. Um the potential, what they'll be, who they are, their first steps, their personality showing, who they'll become, their achievements, their first sport, everything and beyond. But it's all potential. It's all hypothetical. We don't know what lays ahead of them in death. It is the observation of what a person's life has equated. Who they are, who they affected, who they connected with, who they invested into, what they worked for, what they labored for, their life as a whole. And he even talks about like grief is a human experience that even when the heart is sad or even while we may be sad in the house of mourning, the heart may be glad. You know, grief is a price for caring. Grief is a a price for love. that there are people we've met and come across that have impacted our lives, that have been an example in our lives, that have been a light in our lives, that have just made us a better person. And it's in the house of sorrow, in the reflection of a person's life, we actually hold on to, man, I'm I'm not the same because I've interacted with this person. I'm not the same because of who this person was for me. There's a story that I heard that I thought sums this up so well. Um, there's a comedian by the name Dave Chappelle. um he uh has this uh he has this uh he was on his podcast and he was talking about one of the things that changed his life for forever and he recount he he recalled when he was 19 years old he had the honor and privilege of opening up for a comedian named Richard Prior. Um if you don't know who Richard Prior is he is highly regarded in the space of comedy.
Um if you're an order or a communicator he's highly respected for the skill and what he does. All that to say, it is a big deal that a 19-year-old is opening for Richard Prior. Like, this is like this speaks to the testament of what the natural ability that Dave had and everything. And he recalls wanting to honor Richard and one of the goats in comedy um and by doing just a safe set.
Nothing controversial, nothing cancelable. He got into that later. Uh, but [laughter] anyways, um, so he does a safe set and he goes through the show and as he meets with Richard, he notices Richard Prior is visibly sick. If you guys don't know, um, Mr. Prior was diagnosed with MS, passed away, [snorts] cardiac arrest. Um, and he sees him and he's just like, man, this is this is this is hard to watch, hard to see. He steps back, he finishes the set to watch greatness. Richard P takes the stage and he goes for about 30 minutes and it's just it's just not hidden. And Richard stops and Dave says something I didn't even know that you could do. He stops and the crowd he just gets silent.
He looks out. He says, "Guys, I I'm grateful that you're here tonight. Um, thank you guys for spending money just to see me. I got to be honest. If if you can't tell, if you if you don't know, I'm sick. And I'm really sick. And I I really want to do this for you guys, but I but I can't. I just I just don't got it in me tonight. A whole room falls silent.
Just like this.
Somebody in the back top balcony just like over here. Just like that person on their phone. I'm just kidding. There's nobody on their phone. There's nobody on the phone. Everybody calm down. People were like, "Dang, I'm never coming back here again. That's okay.
Person in the back of the room stands up on his feet, says, "I love we love you, Richard. We love you." And the entire place explodes.
People are cheering, clapping, standing up on their feet. People are crying.
Dave's never seen anything like this in his life. And he's like, "Why? What is What is happening?" And he clocks to him, "What? This is probably the last time they're going to see Richard Prior alive." And what they're clapping and celebrating is not what he's presented to them. Not the product of what he is, but what he stood for, what he represented.
That they're acknowledging, man, we're probably not going to see you again, so we want to give you your flowers now.
And that changed something in Dave. He said, my goal at the time when I was 19 was to be as famous as I could be, and I realized that didn't matter. I wanted what Richard experienced that night. I I wanted to be loved. It's something to be known, but it's another thing to be loved.
And I can't think of how many other lessons are reflected in the people that we love, who they are, what's communicated. That as we travel through the house of sorrow says that the wise person thinks about death, but the fool lives in ignorance.
There are things that we can take away.
There are things that we can learn from those who leave, who grieve. And also in age, I don't think it's just from the byproduct of spectating and and watching passing, but also as we are aware of the futility of life. We don't move like we used to. Things are getting a little bit difficult than how they used to be. And then what is meaningless essentially begins to be refined away and we begin to ask the question, what actually matters? How do I want to spend the remainder of my days?
What a person's life represents and sees into our lives around them is precious.
And what is full acknowledgement of someone's life without the end in mind.
The heart of the wise is always in a place of processing what's happening in front of them. Ecclesiastes 7:14 says, "In the day of prosperity, be joyful.
But in the day of adversity, consider God has made the one as well as the other so that no one can discover anything that will come after him.
Church, I need you to know God is equally present and sovereign in good times and difficult times. He's with us.
He's for us. He stands in the gap. And the one who brings fulfillment in the gap is God himself.
The goal of Christian life and in maturity and information is not a fulfillment that comes off outcomes. I love how scripture names it plain. You will have hard times. There will be hardship. There will be joyful times and we should honor and celebrate those. But when hard times come in despair or my fulfillment is not content in surroundings.
It's not marked in that. But I know that there's a God who loves me and a God who cares for me and I'm submitted under a presence that God sees me. It is a powerful prayer in the nature of time to ask the question, what can I do with where I'm at? What can I learn from the season I'm in? It's a powerful prayer to ask God, can you help me see what this is? God redeems and transforms every situation. God has the opportunity and ability to bring purpose to the troubles and triumphs that we walk through. And Solomon sees what you and I see on every given day basis. Ecclesiastes 7:15 says, "In my futile life, I have seen everything. Someone righteous perishes in spite of his righteousness, and some uh someone wicked lives long in spite of his evil. Don't be excessively righteous, and don't be overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Don't be excessively wicked, and don't be foolish. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them. And this is one of the things we got to like, you can't just like read it with a grain of salt.
Like you always want to make sure you get the full context of what's happening because you could read something of don't be too righteous and it's like the Bible's telling me not to be righteous.
Further than that, don't be too wicked so I can be a little wicked.
That's not the takeaway from any of this. Like well pastor said no that's not what I said. Don't hear what I'm not saying. Okay. This is a message against being so zealous and trying to be perfect that you are just too hard on yourself. I can't tell you the amount of people that I have walked with, counseledled, pastored that it is not God's grace reaching them. It is them not being able to receive God's grace.
And I here's the thing. Can I tell you this is like a tangent that's rooted in pride? Cuz what would separate your sin from everyone else's sin that Jesus paid for? Like these are hard conversations that Ecclesiastes brings to the surface.
But it says that you cannot be perfect.
So you need to allow yourself grace.
Likewise, you shouldn't be rampid in wickedness. Who are we? We We shouldn't live recklessly. We shouldn't live in ignorance.
But also, he speaks to the reality that you and I have witnessed. We've seen people who have done it the right way.
They are caring. They are integrous.
They are generous. They are faithful.
Yet, they are giving the roughest deck of cards. And we have witnessed people who are operating out of greed and envy and all these different things get everything they want and more. I mean, I don't know about you guys. Have you seen that? I've I've witnessed that. I've seen people who deserve the world and more get absolutely crushed. I've also witnessed the people who deserve not the world and more get the world and more.
What I appreciate about Solomon is he makes what the paradox of life plain.
This is a fallen world that fallen things happen.
The inadequ the inadequacies of a fallen world is sin prevails. Sin's around. But I'm here to tell you God brings order to what actually matters. God brings victory to what actually matters. And this is important because uh as we continue to just acknowledge the fact that life isn't fair, favor isn't fair.
We have to trust God when life feels unfair.
We have to trust God when life feels unfair. Ecclesiastes 8:7 says, "Yet no one knows what will happen because who can tell him what will happen? No one has authority over the wind to restrain it and there is no authority over the day of death. No one is discharged during battle and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape.
Solomon continues on with that same thought that we just talked about where he's witnessed the wicked be honored, celebrated, and succeed.
But it is our inability to understand all that God is doing and our in our inab inability to understand what God is doing that should not be a hindrance to the happiness that you and I experience.
What do I mean? We will see injustice.
We will see people done wrong. And if we harbor purely on them getting theirs, like we want to see vengeance happen to them. We preoccupy ourselves to enjoy what God has actually given us. Some of us get so captivated on waiting to see the pride fall. I can't wait for the day that you get yours. I can't wait for the day that God finally catches up to you.
And God's saying, "Worry about your own life."
Maybe that was two pointed. Is that okay? Are y'all still love me?
>> Okay. Okay. Cool. Cool. Cool.
>> If we are so preoccupied in a place of malice, vindettas, bitterness, we will miss out on everything that God has for us. Ecclesiastes 8:15 says, "So I commend enjoyment because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself. for this will accompany him in his labors during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun. This is not a message about going getting drunk and living recklessly. This is about a joy in what God offers every individual. Whether it's a small glimpse or glimmer, it's something you working a full long week and you get to watch your show Friday 7 p.m. Central time, 6:00 p.m.
That's a that's a joy. You look forward to it. You having people over at your house after a long week and y'all just get to kick it and play games, that's enjoyment. You just being able to listen to your song on the highway and you hit every single green light. It's the small things.
>> But if you're so caught up on man, what I don't have or I can't believe they got the promotion and not me, we're robbing ourselves of the fulfillment God is trying to bring into our lives.
These are things that we have to consider. These things that we have to meditate on. Can I tell you, it's a blessing to go home to a family that loves you.
>> It's a blessing to go home to a spouse that cares about you. It's a blessing to have people, pastors, leaders in your life who speak value into your life, who speak wisdom into your life that you don't want to hear.
>> It's a blessing.
>> I got this quote from this book from Make Your Home in Illuminous Dark. It says this, "The faithful do not despair, but cling to God in the midst of the unknown. The God of the unknown deserves our trust, and they can leave it to him to sort it out while we seek to learn what it means to fear God and keep his commandments."
Church, I want to say, you don't need to fully understand your future to faithfully walk with God into it. You won't know what's going to happen.
And I think that's that's what I that's why I got Like when I was reading this and thinking about just the whole direction of where we're actually going, it was this.
Purpose is in the midst, not at the end.
Purpose is in the midst, not at the end.
Purpose is in the midst of what you lack and don't have. Purpose is in the midst of what of loss and a difficult time.
Purpose is in the midst of when life feels unfair.
What will your life look like? I can't tell you. Graduates, let me be honest.
Will you use your degree after you study so hard? I honestly don't know. Does anybody here like got a degree and they work in something completely different than what they got their degree in? Put your hand up. Put your hand up high.
Let's be real. Okay. You might change your major three or four times. You didn't get into the school that you desire. Can I tell you, God's not caught off guard by these things.
>> I'm thinking about the intentionality of God in our lives. That the intersect on which you operate is not by chance. We can't believe in chance. Like I think about the school I went to at the time I went to it, the semester I enrolled into it, the job that I got cultivated my life. Like it's crazy to think about for some of you guys know my story. If I wasn't scrolling TikTok at the right time, I would have never discovered Venture Church and I'd still be in Texas State right now.
Like and we still think like but I got rejected from the dream school so it's not all going to work out. Who said that?
It's just that's too much weight that we're putting on ourselves. And purpose in the midst is not looking for the finish line, for the victory, for just walking across the stage. This is a life that we are called to enjoy. And Keys, you can come up. Ecclesiastes 8:16 says, "When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the activity that is done on earth, I observed all the work of God and concluded that a person is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun." Even though a person labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it. Even a wise person claims to know it, he is unable to discover it. Solomon's conclusion is this. In your work, in the toiling, in your seeking endeavors, and in your skill and experience of wisdom, they will not unravel the mystery of life. They are actually the means to enjoy the mystery of life. The goal of life is not to figure out the meaning of life. It is to enjoy the life that God has set in front of us. Joy in the midst of work, joy in the midst of learning, joy in the midst of seeking that he would have us.
Con uh Ecclesiastes 12:12 says this, "But beyond these, my son, be warned.
There is no end to the making of many books, and much study worries the body.
When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this. Fear God. Keep his commands because this is for all humanity. For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil. Solomon ceases all complexity by saying, "You want to attain the meaning of life? You want to attain fulfillment? Fear God and trust his commands."
>> They weren't given by accident. They weren't like, "Oh, that just sounds nice." God has given us the keys to finding fulfillment and purpose into our life. Francis Chan does this illustration um where he talks about like this rope and I bet you people have probably done it, but it's like this colored piece of the rope and you see there like a wax handle and it's like this is your life here on earth and then the rope goes off stage and it's like and this is the rest of eternity and the goal is to have you thinking about man like what decision do I want to make?
Like am I making decisions for eternity or not? I want to change that illustration a little bit. This portion, the colored portion, your life here on earth matters.
>> Like it is a gift that like it is still a part of the rope and God created the rope. So eternity and our presence under the sun. He he has something for us in it. He has something for us here to experience.
Life is not [snorts] linear. We can't be occupied comparing our timeline with someone else's.
But fulfillment is where you are and where God has you.
Our journey is not done on this side of heaven. But I'm telling you, church, we need to enjoy this lap because it's not forever.
I want to invite you guys to close your eyes and bow your heads. Maybe you're in this space and honestly, you were like me.
You've been stuck in this routine cycle of nothing actually matters. like you actually have no hope. It's felt empty.
It's felt meaningless. It's felt like there's just no actual purpose. [music] I want to point you to someone who gives purpose. [snorts] I want to highlight someone who dreamed, loved, and formed you before you even knew you could actually be in relationship with him. He thought about you. He thought about your life. He thought about your circumstance.
And if you're in this space and you don't know Jesus, but you want to. He's the one who redeems. He's the one who transforms. If you're in this space and that's you, I'm I'm not even going to count the three. I just want you to stick your hand up. It's just you and me in this room. Whether it's for the first time or recommitment, whether it's one, some, or none.
Come on. I see that hand.
Thank you, Jesus. I see that hand.
Here's what I want to do. Church, would you uh repeat after me? Dear Jesus, I thank you [music] for your heart.
God, I accept you as my Lord and Savior.
Transform [music] me. Fulfill me. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. There's one more thing I want to do. One more thing.
Um, you've struggled to find purpose [music] and joy in the midst.
You're already saved. you already know all these different things, but man, [music] it's it's been hard to navigate a life of vanity cuz what's what God has highlighted as meaningless, you're saying it's holding a lot more weight than nothing. It's holding a lot more weight than vapor.
Believing God wants to break that off of you this morning. And if that's you right now and this applies to you and this is for you, [music] would you just stick your hand up? We're not going to have you guys bow your heads, but man, this is this is for people that God's in the midst. I just want to here's what I'm want to ask. [music] Um, if you see somebody raising your hand next to you, would you just put your hand on their shoulder? Keep your hand up. It's okay.
The church can pray for each other.
That's okay. We got some people in the back. We can stand around, move around.
Yeah, it's right there. You guys have the same authority as me. I promise you.
Dear Jesus, I thank you for these individuals. I thank you for the people who are looking for joy in the midst.
God, you see them. You're not caught off guard. And Lord, I pray that our eyes would be open to purpose. Our eyes would be open to the love and fulfillment that only you can bring. [music] God, we let go of what we made an idol. We let go of what has overtaken our worship. And God, we give it to you. And it's in your name we pray. [music] And somebody say, "Amen."
>> Amen. Amen. Brother David, thank you so much, man. Um, hey, thank you. Yeah, you guys are awesome. Uh, [applause and music] for my graduates, and this is special. I know I'm going over, but it's also the 10 a.m. service, and most of our graduates are here. Um, if you're a senior, I want you to stand up on your feet like you're graduating, like you're a graduating senior. Stand up on your feet. Come on. Shout out. We love him.
We love him. It's amazing. It's amazing.
Hey, [applause] man.
Proud of you guys. Caleb, Adam, Braden, Alexander, Kylie, you think Gabriel's up there? Um, man, we're proud of you guys.
Cameron [music] in the back. I see you.
What the future holds, nobody knows, but I know that God has you and God's seen it. God's for you. And I want you to know that you have a church that's praying for [music] you alongside your families. Church, I want you to just stretch your hands out toward these people really quick. God, I pray for every single one of these uh seniors as they go out into the next season of their life, [snorts] Jesus, that you would put a shrub of protection over them. You'd put your wisdom over them, God. That you would put godly community around them, God. God that as they would walk out that they would feel [music] your presence has not escaped them or left them, but you see them and are for them. God, every door you close and every door you're open, we know it's for a reason and a purpose. And so God, we give it to you. [music] In your name we pray. And someone say, "Amen." Amen.
Amen. Can we give a hand clap for our our uh graduates one more time? Okay, [applause] we got one more thing that we got to do.
I'm so sorry, but also I'm not because we do something special on Grad Sunday and we give away two scholarships every year. And so I'm going to give away these two scholarships. And as loud as you guys were, that was cool. I want you guys to be even louder for these people.
Every year we give two scholarships away. Um the first one is the Randall Gay Scholarship. And I also want to shout out Kingdom Builders in this because through Kingdom Builders, we're able to send off some of our students well into their next assignment. into their next task of what they have going on. Part of Kingdom Builders is supporting future leaders. [music] And that's what the youth ministry is. If you're not familiar with the Randle Grace scholarship, the Randle Grace scholarship came from a man who was at a hospital sick and he was calling around just for a visitation. One of our pastors on staff was able to swing by.
This was a long time ago. [music] Um, and just to pray with the man in his final days. after his passing, uh, months went by and we got a a package in the mail and in a ch in a time where the church was in a financial struggle, um, it was a huge blessing that this man had actually signed over part of his estate and really bailed out everything that Venture was doing through the providence of God. And this is something that as we continue to honor and give out uh these uh scholarships, we want to honor uh Randall Gray. And so uh this first scholarship that we're going to give away um it's something that represents selflessness. It's something that represents generosity. And uh for our Randall Gay Award recipient of 2026, would you guys help me welcome up Alexander Marto?
Come on, get up here.
[applause and cheering] Alexander, we're proud of you. You're amazing. Come sit with me. You get to see what I see every day. Come on.
[applause] We love you, brother. We're grateful for you. Um, is your family here? Where's your family at? Where's Where's mom and dad? There's mom and dad. Come on. Oh, amazing. Your sister's there, too. It's amazing. Okay, I want you just join me up here cuz I'm going to call up the second person. You just hang tight. Look good. Smile. Waves at the people. Um, Alexander's going to the University of Hawaii starting in the fall, which you're excited about. She went away.
That's right. Come on, alumni. Let's go.
Okay. The next, uh, the next scholarship that we're going to give away is the Alex Hopkins scholarship. Uh, I want to make sure I give justice to this. Um, this scholarship is meaningful, [music] uh, as it's a reminder of Alex Hopkins.
If you don't know who Alex Hopkins or the Hopkins family, um we are joined by uh Amanda Anne and Brian Hopkins somewhere in the back. Come on, there they are. The Hopkins family. Amazing.
[applause] Um this scholarship was created as a legacy to celebrate Alex's life. Uh Alex was the kind of person who made an impact. He had a servant's heart and he was deeply committed to youth ministry.
He led in a way that made people feel seen, valued, and cared for. And he was a leader in every sense of the meaning.
Each year, this scholarship is awarded to a graduating senior who reflects the same qualities. Someone who serves faithfully, leads by example, and has made a lasting impact at Venture Youth.
It's with great opportunity, great pleasure [music] that we celebrate this person. This is someone who's felt their impact for years on end. That he is leaving Venture Youth way better than how we found it. And that person for the Alex Hopkins Memorial Scholarship is no one else besides Braden Bule. [cheering] [applause] >> Get up here, man. I'm already over.
Let's go.
Venture Church, these are your 2026 scholarship award winners.
fellowship and all. We're proud of you.
We're cheering you on and we love you.
[applause] For everybody else, you guys are officially dismissed. We have a celebration out front. Free rubber floats for everybody. If you're interested in going back to school, swing by that table. Start something.
Finish something. God bless you all. Get out of here.
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