At a Glance
Series: Made for More
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 1:2, Ecclesiastes 12:13, Ephesians 5:15-20, 2 Timothy 1:6-7, Galatians 5:16, Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 8:26-27
Summary: Made for More Than the Rut is a sermon outline centered on Ecclesiastes 1:2. Made for More, Week Three Ever feel like life is a broken record?
Source: Adapted from Brandon Cox sermon outline notes from 2019. Transcript, audio, and video files were not used for this draft.
Review labels: clean
Sermon Notes
This resource draft preserves the outline movement of the source file and is staged for Brandon review before any public update.
Extracted Outline
Made for More Than the Rut
Made for More, Week Three
Ever feel like life is a broken record?
So did one of the wisest and wealthiest men who ever lived: Solomon.
Ecclesiastes 1:2 NIV
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
After getting on up in years, Solomon was writing down his thoughts on life and the conclusion he seemed to come to throughout most of the book of Ecclesiastes is just this – nothing we do makes any sense. We’re just living in a rut, a routine, a repeating loop of wasting our days accomplishing nothing.
In other words… life has no real point.
But then, at the very end of his book, Solomon concludes:
Ecclesiastes 12:13 CEV
Everything you were taught can be put into a few words: Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about.
In other words, even our best effort at working hard to earn money, being moral and gaining the respect of others, and building relationships with people we love is all meaningless, IF… if we don’t understand our place in God’s purposes.
In other words… the real point of life is to know, serve, and enjoy God.
Life is full of meaning when we know God and his purposes for our lives!
We’ve all sinned and come short of the glory of God, but God gave his Son, Jesus, to us. He died to offer us pardon and forgiveness, and so much more!
In other words, God has made a way for you to know him – through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, his Son.
To me, there are three categories of people walking around in our culture when it comes to how we relate to God.
• There are those who don’t know or enjoy God.
• There are those who know God, but haven’t enjoyed knowing him.
• There are those who know and enjoy God.
The first two are living life in a rut.
But…
God’s original design for your life did not include a rut. God designed you to thrive.
We truly come alive when we walk with the Spirit of God.
Ephesians 5:15-20 NIV
[15] Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, [16] making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. [17] Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. [18] Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, [19] speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, [20] always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Here’s the problem, though. Knowing that God has a purpose for my life that includes every day and every moment isn’t enough. I also need power. So Paul goes on…
That is be ye, being, continually under the influence of the Holy Spirit…
My willpower isn’t enough, but God’s power is.
My intelligence isn’t enough, but God’s Spirit knows all that I need to know.
My emotions are often a wreck, but God’s Spirit is strong within me.
The Holy Spirit is God, the Difference Maker, living in you!
When You walk in the flesh, you’ll get exhausted. You’ll lose battles. You’ll hurt people. You’ll be bored.
But when you walk in the spirit…
2 Timothy 1:6-7 NIV
[6] For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. [7] For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
Galatians 5:16 NIV
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Romans 8:26-27 NIV
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. [27] And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
If you want to walk in real victory, real power, real love, and real self-discipline… if you want to overcome the patterns of your old life once and for all… if you want to bear fruit that makes a difference… if you want help every time you need it…
Walk in step with the Holy Spirit!
Have you received Jesus? When you do, the Holy Spirit comes into your life, and when you ask God to fill you with his Spirit, he absolutely will!