God offers us a full life in an empty world. 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. Ecclesiastes 11:1-4 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. Ecclesiastes 11:9 (A) “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? > - Jeremiah 17:9 > 17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. -Ecclesiastes 2:17 > > “…But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.” > -Ecclesiastes 11:9 (B) ‘How do I follow my heart that is wicked and my eyes that are misleading and avoid the wrath of God when judgment eventually comes?” “12 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” -Ecclesiastes 12:1 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. -Ecclesiastes 12:3-8 “Remember Your Creator (God) while you still can.” When applying ‘remembering” to God’ what we get is an active submission of our self to God in all things. Eliminate the Sacred/Secular Divide We are Stewards, Not Owners A stewardship mindset vs an ownership mindset says it’s not about what’s comfortable, it’s about what best helps us follow Jesus. For long-term church health, we need a healthy balance of serving (Serving on a Sunday Morning) and receiving (sitting on a Sunday morning).