Fr. Mike Schmitz

Thank you for allowing us to ask questions and to question reality. Thank you for letting us, inviting us to question reality. goodness and question righteousness and question the mystery of evil and our own mystery of evil in our own hearts. Thank you for allowing us to come before you with all these questions and with all this brokenness that's not just around us, but is also in us.

Thank you for sharing your word, the words of Koala, the words of the preacher. who gets to ask big questions and invites us into asking those big questions. We give you praise and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Okay, so here we are with 1 Kings chapter nine. We're getting to the end of the reign of King Solomon.

Thank you for sharing your word, the words of Koala, the words of the preacher. who gets to ask big questions and invites us into asking those big questions. We give you praise and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Okay, so here we are with 1 Kings chapter nine. We're getting to the end of the reign of King Solomon.

Thank you for sharing your word, the words of Koala, the words of the preacher. who gets to ask big questions and invites us into asking those big questions. We give you praise and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Okay, so here we are with 1 Kings chapter nine. We're getting to the end of the reign of King Solomon.

And so we see a bunch of building, because he is Solomon the builder. We see a bunch of activity that he's doing. And we see, again, a picture of Solomon kind of getting towards the end of his life. And so what we're gonna see in the next two days 1 Kings 10 and 1 Kings 11 is the ultimate, I would say this, the wise one, the wise one ending his wise life in foolishness.

And so we see a bunch of building, because he is Solomon the builder. We see a bunch of activity that he's doing. And we see, again, a picture of Solomon kind of getting towards the end of his life. And so what we're gonna see in the next two days 1 Kings 10 and 1 Kings 11 is the ultimate, I would say this, the wise one, the wise one ending his wise life in foolishness.

And so we see a bunch of building, because he is Solomon the builder. We see a bunch of activity that he's doing. And we see, again, a picture of Solomon kind of getting towards the end of his life. And so what we're gonna see in the next two days 1 Kings 10 and 1 Kings 11 is the ultimate, I would say this, the wise one, the wise one ending his wise life in foolishness.

The builder, the great builder ending his life in ruins. And that's going to be more of Solomon's story as we continue our journey with him for the next couple of days. Even though, as we know, God has warned him. And that second dream that God appeared to him saying, yeah, I will bless you. I will be with you. I will establish your throne like at the throne of your father forever.

The builder, the great builder ending his life in ruins. And that's going to be more of Solomon's story as we continue our journey with him for the next couple of days. Even though, as we know, God has warned him. And that second dream that God appeared to him saying, yeah, I will bless you. I will be with you. I will establish your throne like at the throne of your father forever.

The builder, the great builder ending his life in ruins. And that's going to be more of Solomon's story as we continue our journey with him for the next couple of days. Even though, as we know, God has warned him. And that second dream that God appeared to him saying, yeah, I will bless you. I will be with you. I will establish your throne like at the throne of your father forever.

Just do not turn away and serve other gods. And we're going to find that Solomon does not take that to heart. He might for a day. He might for a week. He might for a couple of years. But you know, so often it's not how we start, it's how we end.

Just do not turn away and serve other gods. And we're going to find that Solomon does not take that to heart. He might for a day. He might for a week. He might for a couple of years. But you know, so often it's not how we start, it's how we end.

Just do not turn away and serve other gods. And we're going to find that Solomon does not take that to heart. He might for a day. He might for a week. He might for a couple of years. But you know, so often it's not how we start, it's how we end.

And speaking of not how we start, not how we end, Ecclesiastes can be a very troubling, very confusing book, but also can be very inspiring if we just receive it the right way. For example, when it comes to endings and beginnings, here's the author Colette, here's the author Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes saying, yeah, the day of your death is better than the day of your birth. Like what?

And speaking of not how we start, not how we end, Ecclesiastes can be a very troubling, very confusing book, but also can be very inspiring if we just receive it the right way. For example, when it comes to endings and beginnings, here's the author Colette, here's the author Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes saying, yeah, the day of your death is better than the day of your birth. Like what?

And speaking of not how we start, not how we end, Ecclesiastes can be a very troubling, very confusing book, but also can be very inspiring if we just receive it the right way. For example, when it comes to endings and beginnings, here's the author Colette, here's the author Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes saying, yeah, the day of your death is better than the day of your birth. Like what?

Better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting. Ah, better sorrow than mirth. It's just like, okay, I don't understand. What are you trying to say? One of the things that the author, the wise one is trying to point out is we recognize that all things are going to have an end. We recognize that all things are going to have an end. Then we live with clarity.

Better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting. Ah, better sorrow than mirth. It's just like, okay, I don't understand. What are you trying to say? One of the things that the author, the wise one is trying to point out is we recognize that all things are going to have an end. We recognize that all things are going to have an end. Then we live with clarity.

Better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting. Ah, better sorrow than mirth. It's just like, okay, I don't understand. What are you trying to say? One of the things that the author, the wise one is trying to point out is we recognize that all things are going to have an end. We recognize that all things are going to have an end. Then we live with clarity.

We can then live with purpose. But if I'm just focusing on the beginning, if I'm just focusing on the start without focusing on the ending, then I will probably live incredibly foolishly. I will live a life of folly as we're going to see that so many people in the scripture and in our lives, what do they do? What do we do? We have good beginnings. We don't always have great endings.