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God is Greater Than: Series Introduction. In ancient times, King Solomon used his wisdom and vast resources to observe everything done under the sun. And what did he find? Life was a vapor, a breath. So much of what we worry about and work for seems to be meaningless. Is there any way to find real meaning and significance in life? Or are we stuck living in depression, denial, or destructive cynicism? Recorded on Apr 24, 2022, on Ecclesiastes 1, by Pastor David Parks. This message is part of our "God is Greater Than..." sermon series. There are several common traps that human beings have fallen into for thousands of years. Traps of believing that certain pursuits are satisfying enough to take the place of God in your life. But in the end, these pursuits reveal themselves to be ultimately meaningless and lead to a hollow and deeply unsatisfying life. Our series will examine the traps of pursuing pleasure, wisdom, work, and wealth before coming to the conclusion that God is greater than all. Sermon Transcript All year, we’re focusing on, The Greatness of God. And today, we’re starting a new, 6-part sermon series from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible called “God Is Greater Than…” God is greater than what, exactly? Good question. Here’s the big idea for this series: There are several common traps that human beings have fallen into for thousands and thousands of years. These traps are traps of faith that can affect everything about how you live your life. Fundamentally, they’re traps of believing that certain pursuits are big/important/satisfying enough to displace, or, take the place of God in your life. What’s tricky about these traps is that they always seem to have the power to replace God for a season, or sometimes for years. But in the end, these pursuits reveal themselves to be ultimately meaningless and lead to a life that is hollow and deeply unsatisfying. What a tragedy. Our series will examine the traps of pursuing pleasure, wisdom, work, and wealth before coming to the conclusion that God is greater than all of these, and it’s only in him that life has meaning which will last forever. So let's learn from the Teacher of Ecclesiastes, let us not waste our lives on things which are ultimately meaningless, and let us see that God is greater than all. If you have a Bible/app, please open to Ecclesiastes 1:1. We’re going to cover the whole first chapter, so we’ll unpack this as we go. v.1. Ecclesiastes 1:1-2 (NIV), “1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: 2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” Let’s pause here. So first, who wrote Ecclesiastes? Someone who says they are a son of David, that is, King David of ancient Israel who lived around 3,000 years ago. After David died, Solomon, his son, became the king of Israel, ruling from the capital city of Jerusalem. It never says directly, but from the clues in the text, Solomon is the most likely author. Some scholars don’t agree, but there really isn’t any solid evidence that it couldn’t be Solomon, and it fits God’s gift of wisdom described in 1Ki 4; let’s look at that together.  1 Kings 4:29–34 (NIV): “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. 32 He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. 33 He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. 34 From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.”