SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 3:21; Psalm 23; John 14:1-8, 19:30, & 20:19-22; 2 Corinthians 5:1-5; 1 Corinthians 13:11-12

YOU CAN ALSO READ KENNY’S MANUSCRIPT FOR THIS SERMON HERE!

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Can you think of a time in your life when something felt unfair or meaningless? How did it affect your view of life or your faith?

2. Kenny argues that the Teacher’s question in Ecclesiastes 3:21 really is the essential mystery for all of us: “Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward?” What would a real answer to this question change for you, or for where you find hope?

3. In what ways might the character of God give us hope for justice and meaning beyond our physical existence?

4. What does the claim that Jesus “breathed again” after his death really change? What does it reveal about life? About death? About God?

5. What changes would you make in your life if you could fully embrace the idea that death is a transition and not an end?

6. The Teacher is right that our lives really are just “vapor”... but does that mean they are meaningless? What meaning can your life have… even if it is brief?

7. Kenny argued that living like Jesus might feel pretty “wasteful” in the world’s eyes… but that there is tremendous value in being a person of realhope in your community. What is that value? How can it make a difference?