Check the Events Page for What is Happening (not everything is listed here) (waterschurch.org/events):

NEW ENGLAND LOCATIONS:

Family Research Council’s Center for Biblical Worldview Workshop – If you are interested in attending this workshop, please click the link below to register.

Biblical Worldview Workshop

Abundant Hope Fundraiser: REMINDER** Please have your donations in by this weekend! Thank you!

PAT BARRET CONCERT INFO:

NEW BOOK BY PASTOR TIM: “ENDING EMPTINESS” now available in our Lobbies, Kindle, and Nook endingemptiness.com

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Reminders:

✳ Please regularly check your Planning Center profiles for requests to join your life groups, remove members from the list that no longer attend, or add members not listed. Please ensure that you have added no-reply@churchcenter.com to your email contacts so that you do not miss an email from Planning Center and encourage your members to do so as well.  This will ensure you do not miss a member request or any emails that come from the Planning Center site. Thank you!

Waters Class Schedule:

• 1st Sunday: Discover Waters – after 1st service
• 2nd Sunday: NO CLASSES
• 3rd Sunday: Connect Class – after 1st service
• 4th Sunday: Baptism Class – after 1st service

Waters Help: Need marriage and family care  or have a group member in need of marriage and family care?   Click here:  help resources page  or visit waterschurch.org/help

Location Text Alerts:

Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 3

Ice breaker

Q. Where was your favorite place to play growing up?

We all have frustration in our lives.  You get to the moment of frustration in your life when you realize you need to fix some things from your past and make an impact for the future.

There are two stages in life, the first one is ‘getting and having’, and the second is one is ‘giving and doing.’

In the second stage, you realize there has to be more to this life than just getting stuff and you want to make a difference in the world.

This is the point when you get frustrated.

The Frustrations of Later Life:

1. Life is filled with CHANGE.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (ESV)

Change can be frustrating.  You just get used to where you are and the whole apple cart gets turned upside down.  You finally figured out the season you are in and then something suddenly happens: sickness, problems in marriage, lack of communication in relationships, problems on the job, etc.

Season in Hebrew can mean occasion, occasionally, occasional.

What ever you are experiencing right now it is just ‘occasional.’

We all live between two extremes the ‘wow’ and the ‘why?’

It takes a solid amount of faith to worship God when you are going through the ‘whys.’

Life changes without your permission and nothing lasts forever.

You need to learn to enjoy each season.  Enjoy what you have and don’t obsess over what you don’t have.

Q. During the ‘why’ seasons of your life, are there any particular scriptures, prayers, or practices that provide you comfort and strength during these times?

2. Life is filled with UNCHANGEABLE realities.

Ecclesiastes 3:14–15 (ESV)

Things you cannot change can be even more frustrating.

Example: The older you get the more frail your body becomes.

No matter what you do to make yourself look and feel better, aging is inevitable.

You cannot determine when and where you are born, what your gender is, or choose your family.   You can play ‘dress up’ physically, emotionally, and spiritually, but these are unchangeable. 

Q. What practical steps can you take to focus on the positives for those things you cannot change in your life?

3. Life is filled with INJUSTICES.

Ecclesiastes 3:16 (ESV)

Solomon was king and he still was looking for justice.  He was asking why life is so unfair. 

Ecclesiastes 4:1 (ESV)

Even though he was king, he still could not fix the peoples problems.  Solomon was begging for a true, righteous world and there is no such thing until the True and Righteous One comes and rules

4. Life is a RAT RACE with no WINNER.

Ecclesiastes 4:4 (ESV)

This is the smoke we are chasing after.  Be careful not to spend money you don’t have to impress people who don’t care.  Trying to keep up with the Joneses is a fools errand.

Ecclesiastes 3:9-12 (ESV)

Solomon is begging for Jesus. There is more to what he sees and feels. 

Life is more than the five senses.  You are made in the image of God and this life will not satisfy you, but God gives you something the world does not have for you.

Q. How do you navigate the ‘rat race’ of life and avoid the trap of trying to impress others or keep up with societal expectations?

Moving from Frustration to Freshness:

1. Jesus gives CONTENTMENT.

Ecclesiastes 4:6 (ESV)

Solomon is talking about having something that does not push you into the constant chase of things that make you happy. 

Only Jesus can.

Proverbs 15:16 (ESV)

1 Timothy 6:6–8 (ESV)

You get godliness from repenting of sin and realizing you need a Savior, acknowledging He died for your sins and confessing Him as Lord.  Then all your sins are washed away! You are justified –   “Just if I never sinned’

You are not longer who you were and you don’t need others to praise you or your resume of all your accomplishments because you have Jesus!

He gives you contentment that this world cannot give you. Unless you have the blessing of God it does not matter what this world has for you. 

Blessing is not the experience or what others think.

Q. Can you share a testimony or story where embracing Jesus’ contentment transformed your perspective on life’s challenges?

2. Jesus brings JUSTICE.

When the true King comes back we will have justice.

Ecclesiastes 3:17 (ESV)

We all say we want justice for all the wrongs we perceive being done to others but we ignore the things we have done to other people.  It is then, we want mercy and grace.

There is a Judge name Jesus who is coming,

John 5:22 (ESV)

Jesus is the Judge.  He is a righteous judge and will make sure every wrong is made right.

At the cross Jesus took your justice.  We were the ones who should have been killed for all our crimes against humanity but Jesus took that on Himself at the cross and no longer holds your sins against you.

Jesus pays for your sins at the cross or you pay for them for eternity.

Q. Can you share a personal story of how embracing the truth of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross has transformed your perspective on justice and forgiveness?

3. Jesus creates COMMUNITY.

Ecclesiastes 4:7–8 (ESV)

The older we get the lonelier we become just by nature.  You realize being alone is not the answer either. 

Jesus saves you, sanctifies you and sets you in the family of God.

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 (ESV); Ecclesiastes 4:13 (NCV)

The key to COMMUNITY: CARE about OTHERS.

4. Jesus gives you a CHURCH.

A. SHOW up.

Ecclesiastes 5:1 (ESV)

B. SHUT up.

Ecclesiastes 5:1b2 (ESV)

Dont come with what you think God should say or do. Let God be God.  You need to listen. 

Psalm 16:11 (ESV)

C. GIVE up.

Ecclesiastes 5:2b (ESV)

Challenge: Reflect on what you need to surrender to God. It could be worries, plans, or control over certain areas of your life. Write it down and pray about it, asking God for the strength to fully surrender.

Sermon in a sentence:

I can build a FRUSTRATING life without God or a FRESH life in Christ. The choice is mine in every SEASON.