2. Ecclesiastes: the Big Idea
Life WITHOUT God is
hard, unfair, and meaningless.
Life WITH God is
hard and unfair – but at least it has meaning and purpose.

3. The dark side of money
But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains Timothy 6:9-10
The light side of money
….God richly provides us with all things to enjoy.
1 Timothy 6:17
When God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work – this is a gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 5:19

4. The meaningless pursuit of more money and stuff
GROUP 1: People who want more stuff because those around them have more stuff.
I saw that all labor and all skillful work is due to a man’s jealousy of his friend. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Ecclesiastes 4:4

5. The meaningless pursuit of more money and stuff
Group 1: People who want more stuff because those around them have more stuff.
Group 2: People who are never satisfied – no matter how much money they have.
The one who loves money is never satisfied with money, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile.
Ecclesiastes 5:10

6. 2010 Princeton University Study on
Money and Happiness
Those whose annual household income is below $75,000 experience lower levels of day-to-day happiness than those whose income is over $75,000.
BUT, the day-to-day level of happiness plateaus at $75,000. Those who earn more than $75,000 don’t report any greater degree of day-to-day happiness.

7. The meaningless pursuit of more money and stuff
Group 1: People who want more stuff because those around them have more stuff.
Group 2: People who are never satisfied – no matter how much money they have.
Group 3: People who, in their chase for more wealth, lose it in reckless investments.
There is a sickening tragedy I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm. That wealth was lost in a bad venture, so when he fathered a son, he was empty-handed.
Ecclesiastes 5:13-14

8. The meaningless pursuit of more money and stuff
People who want more stuff because those around them have more stuff (Ecclesiastes 4:4).
People who are never satisfied – no matter how much money they have (Ecclesiastes 5:10).
People who, in their chase for more wealth, lose it in reckless investments (Ecclesiastes 5:13-17).
Our greed and lack of contentment corrupt God’s good gift of money and things.

9. The best way to
decrease greed and
increase contentment
is to give generously toward God and His mission to save the world.