Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
Book Overview
Getting Started
Does anyone know anything about Ecclesiastes?
Has anyone read it before? What did you think of it?
Who may have written it? When? Why?
What kind of book is it? Are you familiar with any of its themes, often quoted phrases, etc.?
Why do you think we’d want to go through this book as a church?
Feel free to watch the Bible Project videos on the Overview of the book or the Wisdom of it (linked above). You can also look at the Series Setup!
Everything is Futile, Nothing is New
Read this first section (1:1-11). What are you thinking and feeling after reading it?
How does The Teacher describe life, the world, and what we do in it?
Would you describe anything similarly?
Is it surprising to you that the Holy Spirit would inspire something like this? Why? (…or why not?)
Regardless of our reaction to what The Teacher says, is there any truth to it?
Is there anything that you would say isn’t true (or at least not fully true)? Why?
We know that after this was written, Jesus arrived on the scene, redeemed his people, and inaugurated the kingdom of God by the power of the Spirit into the world, which will one day be made new.
With that in mind, how can both Teachers - the one in Ecclesiastes and Jesus himself - be right?
Which gospel truths speak into the fact that…
…our labor sometimes gains us nothing?
…our senses are never satisfied for good?
…we probably won’t be remembered a few generations from now?