Made for Meaning

We were never meant to settle for empty pursuits. Achievement, pleasure, and wealth all fade, but God offers a deeper purpose that lasts. We’ll discover how to trust Him in every season, hold our lives with gratitude, and walk with others in community as we study the book of Ecclesiastes together.

Weekly Lineup

Week 1

What Are You Really Chasing?

Ecclesiastes 1:2–3; 9, 11; 2:1; 10-11; 24-25

Week 2

Finding What Really Matters

Ecclesiastes 3:1–8; 4:4–12

Week 3

The Deception of Wealth

Ecclesiastes 5:10–20; 6:1–2

Week 4

The End of the Matter

Ecclesiastes 12:1-14; Psalm 90:12

Sermon Discussion

Follow along with the sermon with these helpful questions.

Music

Worship with our playlist throughout the week.

More on the Book of Ecclesiastes

The book introduces its speaker as “the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem,” which points to Solomon. Many traditions hold Solomon as the author. Scholars suggest it may have been written later, with someone using his voice (Qoheleth) to show that even the man who “had it all” found life empty without God.

If Solomon, around 900 BC. If later, more likely 500–300 BC during Israel’s post-exile years. Either way, it speaks into a world like ours that chases success, wealth, and pleasure, yet still asks: Does any of this last?

Historical Context: If Solomon wrote it around 900 BC, Israel was at its height—rich, powerful, and respected. Yet in all that abundance, Solomon discovered that wealth, wisdom, and pleasure still left him empty.

If it came later, between 500 and 300 BC, Israel had survived exile and now lived under foreign empires. Surrounded by cultures chasing power, money, and philosophy, God’s people were asking the same question we ask today: Where does real meaning come from?

Either way, the message is the same. Everything “under the sun” is fleeting, but life with God is full of purpose.

Ecclesiastes is found in the Old Testament, right after Proverbs and before Song of Songs. Just 12 chapters long, it reads like the journal of someone who has tried it all and now wants to tell the truth about it.

The people of Israel, many of them weary from exile, empire rule, or disappointment, asking the same questions we do: Does my life really matter? Am I chasing the wrong things? These words landed first on God’s people thousands of years ago, but they have always been meant for anyone who feels the ache of emptiness and longs for more.

Ecclesiastes is brutally honest, naming the emptiness of chasing what does not last. But it also points us back to God. The Teacher reminds us that our pursuits cannot give us meaning. Life is short and fragile. Simple gifts—food, work, friendship—are grace to be received. Real purpose is only found in God. The closing line says it best: “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments” (12:13).

Read Ecclesiastes with open hands and an honest heart. It will not give you quick fixes. It will press on the parts of life that feel empty and frustrating. Let it name those longings in you, and then listen for the thread of hope: every good thing is a gift from God, and real meaning is found only in Him.