Introduction to Ecclesiastes

Listening to God's word together as a group. 
Ecclesiastes starts with a preacher or teacher who calls together an assembly or group of people to hear from God. In the same manner, listen to Ecclesiastes together as a group, think about what the main idea of the book. There are 12 chapters in Ecclesiastes, which will take about 35 minutes to listen to in the audio bible.  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/Eccl.1

Watch this outline of Ecclesiastes

Listen to Ecclesiastes together again, do you agree with the outline?
How does listening to Ecclesiastes add to your life as a group?


An interesting idea
Ecclesiastes is read in the synagogue on the festival of Tabernacles [Sukkot], the festival of joy; an odd choice on the face of it, for a book that seems to question life’s values. But, here again, the interpretation holds good that the philosophical probings of the book do not lead ultimately to unbelief but, on the contrary, to an appreciation of the higher values which promote true happiness. The book has served as a reminder that God does not necessarily frown on a sincere quest for life’s meaning and significance. For this reason, the book is, in a sense, the earliest encounter between faith and reason, a debate which has been continued by the philosophically inclined throughout the history. (Taken from http://drbarrick.org/files/studynotes/Ecclesiastes/A_Ecclesiastes_Introduction_PBC.pdf)

TSCF Hamilton studied Ecclesiastes in 2016 and this bible study is an adaptation of what the group did together. 

One key aim as I modify these Ecclesiastes studies is to intentionally help students tease out the richness of the biblical story. This means being aware of the historical context of the book, their own context as a student group who have an interested in Anime, the global context of where anime comes from (Japan), the biblical canon and their own walk with God as individual disciples of Christ. The challenge for students as a group and as an individual is to locate themselves in God's big story.

Semester A ended with an Anime Marathon organised by TSCF Hamilton and Pokemon Go became a craze at the start of semester B. Anime does shape the imagination of the current batch of Waikato uni students, I have intentionally included anime elements in the study, with varying degrees of success. Joseph prepared a discussion on God and Anime. If you are interested in preparing a talk on God and the Movies, here are some tips from Mark Day.

If you would like to pray for Japan http://tscfhamilton.tumblr.com/post/145395424845/pray-for-japan click #pray4japan.