https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The-Seasons-of-Life.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. Solomon said, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” –\nEcclesiastes 3:1\n A. Each moment in time, each phase of life, must be treated in a manner appropriate\nto the events – Ecclesiastes 3:11\n B. So many people create problems for themselves trying to stem the flow of time,\nattempting to hang on to past season instead of adapting to the current one.\n C. The goal is to enjoy each season for what they present, both the good and the bad\n– Ecclesiastes 11:7-8\n
II. Youth, spring time, the season of preparation<\/p>\n
A. Youth is a fleeting time to enjoy life – Ecclesiastes 11:9-10<\/p>\n
B. It is a time of innocence – Deuteronomy 1:39<\/p>\n
C. It is a time of idealism<\/p>\n
1. Youth is a time to imagine what life ought to be<\/p>\n
2. And teenagers are so disappointed to realize that life is not ideal.<\/p>\n
a. “It’s not fair!” <\/p>\n
b. Get use to it – Ecclesiastes 9:11<\/p>\n
D. It is a time for parents to instill good habits – Proverbs 22:6<\/p>\n
1. Even in youth we need to remember that God will judge us<\/p>\n
2. Youth has a tendency to focus solely on the here and now<\/p>\n
3. Life revolves around impulses and desires<\/p>\n
E. Youth can be a time to demonstrate faithfulness – I Timothy 4:12<\/p>\n
III. Manhood and Womanhood, summer time, the season of production<\/p>\n A. The apron strings are cut and now is the time to forge a new life of your own\nchoosing – Genesis 2:24\n
1. Instruction to wives – Ephesians 5:22-24<\/p>\n
2. Instruction to husbands – Ephesians 5:25-31<\/p>\n
B. It is a time for starting a family – Psalm 127:3-5<\/p>\n
C. It is a time of strength – Ecclesiastes 9:10<\/p>\n
1. Use your ability to profit – Proverbs 10:4-5<\/p>\n
2. The excellent wife – Proverbs 31:15-18<\/p>\n
3. There is satisfaction in accomplishment – Ecclesiastes 5:12<\/p>\n D. But unless God is involved in this season, what you are building is a house of cards\n– Psalms 127:1-2\n
1. We must continue in the things we have learned – II Timothy 3:14-15<\/p>\n 2. There is a tendency to think that anything you decide to do can be done,\nand it is often so because you have the strength to overcome obstacles.\n 3. But the danger comes from pride. Youth begins to think they have the right\nto anything they conceive of doing – Proverbs 16:18-19\n
IV. Maturity, autumn time, the season of provision<\/p>\n
A. Strength fades but it is replaced with skill and wisdom – Proverbs 20:29<\/p>\n
1. We might not be able to work harder, but we can work smarter<\/p>\n
2. In many ways maturity is the most fruitful period of our life.<\/p>\n
B. It is a time to mature in what we know – Colossians 1:9-12<\/p>\n
C. It is a time for passing on what you have learned – Hebrews 5:12-14<\/p>\n
D. It is a time to broaden our concerns – Philippians 2:3-4<\/p>\n
1. During youth, our view centers on our self<\/p>\n
2. During our young life we focus our spouse and family<\/p>\n 3. But now is the time to raise our eyes and see that the horizon encompasses\nmore than we previously imagined – Galatians 6:10\n
V. Elderly, winter time, the season of preservation<\/p>\n
A. Strength might be gone, but it doesn’t mean life has stopped<\/p>\n
1. True strength is not in the body, but in the spirit – II Corinthians 4:16-18<\/p>\n
B. It is a time of loss<\/p>\n
1. Friends die, family, and even our beloved spouse<\/p>\n
2. For many the time for work comes to an end<\/p>\n C. For those who have invested wisely in the Lord, it is a time of honor – Proverbs\n16:31\n 1. If we wait until old age, we won’t have the strength to invest – Ecclesiastes\n12:1\n 2. Wisdom and understanding come to the aged because of the time spent in\ntheir younger days – Job 12:12\n D. It is time to preserve our experiences in the minds of those we must leave behind –\nJob 32:7; Titus 2:1-8\n
E. Now is the time to endure<\/p>\n 1. The difficult time in a race is not at the beginning when you are full of\nenergy, but the final few laps when you energy is failing\n
2. We must hold to the end – Hebrews 3:14<\/p>\n 3. It must not be a time of complacency but diligence because there are things\nto accomplish and there is not much time left – Hebrews 6:10-12\n
VI. Enjoy each season of life<\/p>\n
A. Yoko Ono wrote a poem called “Season of Glass”<\/p>\n
Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence<\/p>\n
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance<\/p>\n
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence<\/p>\n
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.<\/p>\n B. “When we were growing up years ago in our sleepy Southern town, most of the\nadults seemed rather staid and sober. There was, however, one memorable\nexception: Miss Lucy, a widow lady who lived with her prim and proper sister,\nClara. But Miss Lucy was full of charm and sparkle and enthusiasm. One day Miss\nLucy – in her 60s – asserted that she could still stand on her head. When we\nlooked doubtful, she clamped her skirt between her knees and did so, beaming at\nus upside down. “Oh, Lucy,” said Clara. “Do be your age!” Miss Lucy righted\nherself. “What sort of nonsense is that?” she asked. “How can anyone be anything\nbut their age? The trick is to love your age. Love it when you’re young and strong\nand foolish. Love it when you’re old and wise. Love it in the middle when the\nchallenges come and you can solve some of them, maybe most of them. If you love\nyour age, you’ll never go around wishing you were some other age. Think about\nthat, Clara.” [Arthur Gordon, Return to Wonder<\/i>]\n
C. Life changes, our abilities change, but each is a wonder and a challenge.<\/p>\n
D. “I’m Not Growing Old”<\/p>\n
They say that I am growing old.<\/p>\n
I’ve heard them say it times untold<\/p>\n
In language plain and bold.<\/p>\n
But I’m not growing old;<\/p>\n
This frail old shell in which I dwell<\/p>\n
Is growing old I know full well,<\/p>\n
But I’m not growing old.<\/p>\n
\n
What if my hair has turned gray?<\/p>\n
Gray hair is honorable, they say.<\/p>\n
What if my eyesight’s growing dim?<\/p>\n
I can still see to follow Him<\/p>\n
Who sacrificed His life for me<\/p>\n
There on the cross of Calvary.<\/p>\n
\n
Why should I care if time’s old plow<\/p>\n
Has dug some furrows in my brow?<\/p>\n
Another house, not made with hand,<\/p>\n
Awaits me in the glory land.<\/p>\n
My hearing may not be as keen<\/p>\n
As in the past, it may have been;<\/p>\n
Still, I can hear my Savior say<\/p>\n
Come faltering child, this is the way.<\/p>\n
\n
The outward man, do what I can<\/p>\n
To lengthen out this life’s short span,<\/p>\n
Shall perish and return to dust<\/p>\n
As everything in nature must.<\/p>\n
But the inward man the Scriptures say,<\/p>\n
Ah, the inward man<\/p>\n
Is growing stronger every day.<\/p>\n
\n
Then how can I be growing old?<\/p>\n
I’m safe within the Savior’s fold.<\/p>\n
‘Er long my soul shall fly away<\/p>\n
And leave this tenement of clay.<\/p>\n
This robe of flesh I’ll drop and rise<\/p>\n
To seize the everlasting prize.<\/p>\n
I’ll meet you on the streets of gold<\/p>\n
And prove that I’m not growing old.<\/p>\n
— John E. Roberts<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 I. Solomon said, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” – Ecclesiastes 3:1 A. Each moment in time, each phase of life, must be treated in a manner appropriate to the events – Ecclesiastes 3:11 B. So many people create problems for themselves trying…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[775,41,513,309],"class_list":["post-28314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-elderly","tag-life","tag-maturity","tag-youth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43487,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-good-life-five-lessons-from-ecclesiastes\/","url_meta":{"origin":28314,"position":0},"title":"The Good Life – Five Lessons from Ecclesiastes","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Waters The Good Life","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54490,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-importance-of-sorrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":28314,"position":1},"title":"The Importance of Sorrow","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Life doesn\u2019t remain the same - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are different seasons, which brings different needs \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0No one likes to cry, but life isn\u2019t always going to be rosy. Sorrow has a place in our lives. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The wise know that we need\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28107,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-meaning-of-life-why-are-you-here\/","url_meta":{"origin":28314,"position":2},"title":"The Meaning of Life: Why Are You Here?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 6:6-21 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What is it that you are looking for out of life? 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