God in the Vapor
a study of Ecclesiastes
→ Use the content on this page to help you dig deeper into the lessons covered in the sermons, or download/print your own copy of the study guide. Printed copies are available at the Welcome Desk in the church lobby
SERIES OVERVIEW:

If you’ve ever looked at your breath on a cold Iowa morning and thought, “That’s what my day feels like,” you’ll probably feel somewhat at home in the book of Ecclesiastes.

We live in a world that doesn’t always work the way it’s supposed to. Our best efforts don’t always produce the results we expected. Our deepest friendships can fall apart. Our greatest treasures can slip through our hands. We look for security, satisfaction, and meaning in our everyday lives and so often everything comes up short.

Ecclesiastes has a word for this: vapor.

It’s a word that is often translated “vanity” or “meaningless,” but its basic meaning is simply “vapor” or “breath.” Like trying to grab hold of a puff of smoke, or your breath on a cold morning. And according to the Preacher (most likely Solomon), that’s the true nature of everything “under the sun”—all that we can see and experience from our own vantage point under heaven. Everything in this world that we try to take hold of in order to find lasting significance is ultimately fleeting and fruitless.

So is there any hope amid the unpredictable and temporary nature of this world? Any goodness or joy amid the vapor? The surprising answer in Ecclesiastes is yes—because there is God. A God who is sovereign (7:13), powerful (3:14), good (3:12-13), and who cares about everything that happens and everything we do (3:17).

When we look at this world through our eyes and experience, it can indeed look pretty meaningless, like nothing matters. But when we see the world through God’s eyes, from “above the sun,” we see that everything matters. “For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (12:14). And only when we view life from above the sun, will we have the wisdom necessary to live out our days with reverence for God and joy in what he’s given us to do, even if it evaporates. Indeed, our only hope for lasting gain in a fleeting and fruitless world is God himself. 

So join us on Sunday mornings this winter and spring as we work through Ecclesiastes and find God in the vapor.
Click the links below to access the discussion guide for each week:
Part 1:
Part 2: