A Time for All Things

January 4, 2015
Opening Hymns:

Forward Through the Ages  http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh555.sh

Scripture Reading:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet^[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

 Prayer

Dear Lord, as we study Your word, and focus our hearts on You, let Your light shine on us. Let us draw closer to You. Let us feel Your love surrounding us. Amen.

Message:
2014 has come and gone, and the year 2015 has greeted us. The New Year has often been a time to reflect on our past year, and look forward to the next year. Many people make New Year’s Resolutions, and look forward to the changes that can be made in the year to come. 

The scripture reading for today has helped me reflect on different ways I can strengthen and grow in my relationship with God. None of us are perfect, we have all fallen short of what God asks of us. I know that I am no different, but that means that we can each strive to grow, and improve from one day to the next. There will always be room to make a new, New Year’s resolution. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 is a scripture that both gives me a sense of peace and despair. It calls us to accept things as they happen in their time. There is a time for us to laugh and a time to morn. I love this passage, and always have, but often find myself not accepting it as it becomes a reality in my life. I don’t want to have the time to hate, or the time to morn. It can be so hard when it’s someone’s time to die! Accepting things when they are out of our control is a challenge.

I remember as a child wishing I was older with more privaleges… and in recent years have found myself yearning to be younger once more. Sometimes when we reject the season that we are in, it prevents us from enjoying the beauty that is around us in the here and now. This scripture helps us find peace in the things that only God can control. We cannot choose when to reap from our gardens, but must wait for the season.

As I look forward to the new year that awaits me, I’m striving to be better at accepting the things that are out of my control… and to recognize the things that I can change. I strongly believe that in every season of our lives, both good and bad, that God is always with us. Guiding us, watching over us, and leading us. We can’t always change what is going on in our lives, but we can always hold out our hand to God who will give us the strength to get through everything.

Time of Prayer
Dear Lord, let us call on You when we are in the tough seasons of our lives. Let us rejoice in You when our hearts are filled with joy, and let us cry to You when we experience loss. Guide us, protect us, love us, and lead us. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Closing Hymn
A Time for All Things:

To everything there is a season, there is a time for all good things; A time to plant and a time to reap, a time to lose, a time to keep; A time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, a time to dance. To everything there is a season; there is a time for all good things. A time to follow, a time to lead, a time to speak and a time to heed; A time to sleep, a time to wake, a time to give and a time to take. For all the blessings of our God, are given us that we might have A time to live and a time to share, a time to love and a time to care. A time for all good things.

 

·         If you do not know the melody, please listen to this beautiful recording of this touching song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iiSxLLAz2c

May the Lord bless you and keep you: May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you: May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Amen.

Go in peace, serve the Lord
Thanks be to God