Week 14: WISDOM AND AGEING

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On Sunday at church Travis preached on what Biblical Wisdom has to say about ageing from Matthew 6:25-34. Please make sure you have watched Sunday’s sermon before Community Group.

Read this overview

On Sunday at church Travis preached on “Wisdom and Ageing” in which he asked the question, “What does the Bible say about living faithfully for Jesus in various ages and stages of life?” Using Ecclesiastes as a baseline, we discovered three principles (which will be flesh out more in this study): no season of life is “better” than another; God is eternal but the things we go through are not; and we are invited to enjoy life now, whatever season that may be.

Begin with silence and prayer

[5 minutes]

Sit down, get comfortable and ask someone to pray aloud for the study.

Then spend a few minutes in silence. Ask God to help us remove distractions from our minds, listen to what He is saying to and through each of us and change our lives accordingly.

DEBRIEF

Reflect on last week’s study application (smaller groups)

[10 minutes]

Last week Leon spoke on locating wisdom in our longings and desires. He shared from Proverbs 5 of a father giving instruction to his son in which the father exhorts his son to stay away from “Madam Folly” who promises quick fixes with tempting words but really is a path of deadness. Instead we ought to have an eternal perspective, understanding that God is the ultimate fulfilment of all our desires and longings and to place our trust in Him.

In the study last week, Leon invited us to practice the following actions:

1. Spend time in “examen” – a time of deep prayer and meditation; asking God’s Spirit to enter and speak.

2. Set aside time to practice confessing our longings, desires and even shortcomings to God.

3. Find a trustworthy friend in Christ and seek accountability with them as you confess, cry out together and encourage one another.

Were you able to put these practices into action this week? Why or why not?

What might your life look like if you made regular space to spend with God in prayer and confession?

How can you set up a system of accountability for yourself? How can this benefit your walk with Christ?

DEEP DIVE

Open to the Bible together (whole group)

[15 minutes]

Read through Ecclesiastes 2:1-23 (yes, it’s a big chunk)

Which stage of life would you match up with the following series of verses:

Verses 1-3

Verses 4-11

Verses 12-16

Here the “teacher” takes us on a trip through a lifetime; attempting to find meaning and purpose at the various ages of life (youth, middle adulthood, old age). Throwing himself into pleasure or work or one’s legacy, what is his ultimate conclusion (verses 17-23)?

What does the teacher mean by saying all of it is “meaningless”? Do you agree with his sentiment?

REWIND
The word translated “meaningless” is the Hebrew word “havel”. We looked at this word a few weeks ago, but the basic way to understand “havel” is not so much as “meaningless” but “breath”. In other words, when the writer attempts to find happiness or purpose in youthfulness or wealth or work, he realizes that all of these things are “havel” – a breath, here today and gone tomorrow. They won’t last.

How is the idea of life as “havel” confronting?

How is it freeing?

Read Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 and 3:9-14

In light of his conclusions on finding purpose in youth or work or old age, what does the teacher here encourage us (the reader) to do?

Travis indicated there are three takeaways from these lessons:

1. Practice living in the present rather than looking backward to the past or forward to the future.

2. Remember that God is eternal and everything else is “havel”. So cling tightly to God and hold loosely to everything else (see Luke 9:23-25).

3. Live life well now and doing good and finding enjoyment wherever you find it.

How do you put these three things into practice? What does it look like to live in the present instead of the past or future? How can we cling to Jesus and hold loosely to everything else? What does living life well right now even look like?

DISCIPLESHIP

Application for the coming week:

[5 minutes]

There are a lot of ways we can put these ideas into practice and each one of us will likely apply these things differently depending on our personality, our time, our energy levels, etc. But here are some simple questions that hopefully will get you started on how this might turn from head knowledge to practical application.

1. What do you actually enjoy doing? How can you invite God into that space?

2. Are you thankful or critical? There is certain a place in our lives for critique, but many of us spend too much time complaining and talking about what we don’t enjoy rather than participating in what we do. Make a list of things and people that you are thankful for. Spend time praying and say thanks to God for those things and think of ways you can continue to enjoy them.

3. Are you serving? The teacher in Ecclesiastes keeps telling us to “do good”. In the Bible, doing good is a response to God’s goodness to us. It’s a display of thankfulness of the love and generosity He has shown us. So if you’re not serving, it may mean you’ve taken God’s grace for granted. How are you serving now? How is that building up God’s kingdom? Or if you’re not serving in some way, how can you start? What area of life excites you that you can see yourself getting more involved in?

4. What sort of things are things that will last that you can get involved in (hint: things that are connected to the eternal nature of God)?

Close in prayer