Redemption Hill Church

This Sunday we will bring our series, Ecclesiastes: Life is a Vapor, to a close. As we look into Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8 gives us the final teachings of Qoheleth that bring a kind of summary to the entire book. 12:9-14 bring back the voice of our narrator. Ecclesiastes closes with an evaluation of Qoheleth’s teaching, a final word on the fullness of human knowledge and wisdom under the sun. The goal of Ecclesiastes is to serve as a ...

This is the penultimate sermon in our series. So, our journey with Qoheleth comes to a close next week. This Sunday we will cover Ecclesiastes 9:18-11:6. It’s an extended section that includes a lot of practical wisdom and proverbs to help us better work, speak, lead, invest, and live life. We will work our way through the Preacher’s advice as we consider what it is to live this life under the sun in a way that sees past the vanity...

This Sunday we will continue our series with Ecclesiastes 9. This chapter challenges us to consider whose glory we are seeking in our lives. We rely on building our own reputations and listing our accomplishments as the pathways to glory and leaving our mark on this world. Qoheleth has challenging truths to confront us. We will see on Sunday, though, that our pursuit of glory ought not be limited to what we can accomplish before de...

On Sunday we will dig into Ecclesiastes 8:1-15 where we see the Preacher’s roaming path touch on our approach to kings and rulers, teaching on government and power. In this sermon I will work to accomplish the following:

• provide a theological foundation for understanding the varying roles and responsibilities of the Church and the State
• get underneath current partisan narratives and to expose deeper, more lasting realities a...

Chapter 7 is a curious one. The first half is a series of proverbs that seem upside down from the reason or wisdom we might typically have – a funeral is better than a party?! The second half of the chapter is widely regarded as the most difficult section to interpret in Ecclesiastes, one of the most difficult books of the Bible to interpret. So, this will be fun! In our exploration of the text we will see that there is a way to fi...

These two stories show what it looks like to trust in God's promises and God's character when obstacles seem insurmountable, and the way forward is unknown. How do we respond when we come to places in our own lives where we can’t see a way out or a way forward? Do we trust God with our lives and story? Join us as we explore both the faithfulness and power of God who works on behalf of His people to accomplish His good purpo...

This Sunday is Commitment Sunday for the Dwell Midpoint Refresh. I hope you have been prayerfully considering what God asking you to commit to in the year ahead. We’re all in this together and I’m excited to see what God has for us as we all commit to join Him in His good work as we Dwell: An Enduring & Faithful Presence. 

Over the past two months, we have asked you to prayerfully consider two kinds of commitment: 

Church Engag...

This chapter starts the third major section and a shifting focus to life under the sun in light of God’s sovereignty over all things. Our time in chapter 6 will be specifically spent looking into the issue of money, how we use it and how it uses us. Why is it so often the case that when we get exactly what we want, the joy from it fades quickly? We will see on Sunday that there is hope for true joy in our lives, and that freedom is...

This Sunday we resume our study in Ecclesiastes together. Among the topics raised in Ecclesiastes 5, we will focus our attention on the cautions about how we approach God. The Preacher, Qoheleth, warns us to guard our steps before God. Sunday will provide us the opportunity to explore true and false religiosity. Why is it that our approach to God and our spiritual lives can feel like a drag? Many of us have had moments of the overw...

One year ago, we started a journey together to pursue God’s call to us as a church to Dwell as An Enduring & Faithful Presence in DC. The Dwell initiative is really an extension of what we have always wanted to be about – joining God in His good work in our city and throughout the DMV. We are in the midst of a Midpoint Refresh of that journey. Here's what we covered on Sunday:

- The chance to gather, sing, pray, hear God’s ...

This Sunday we continue our series with Ecclesiastes 4:4-16. This chapter raises the problem of loneliness and the importance of companionship. We are in the midst of a loneliness epidemic in our nation. The Surgeon General has issued warnings, HHS is doing studies, and it’s all being reported across news outlets. Loneliness is crushing and can become legitimately life-threatening. 
As we have seen so far, Ecclesiastes won’t all...

This Sunday we continue our series with Ecclesiastes 3:1-22. This chapter starts the second section of the book of Ecclesiastes. Section 1 focuses on life under the sun, pursuing the fullness of the end of human wisdom and experience, and that it all is a vapor, a mist, a chasing after the wind. The next few chapters shift to focus on God’s design for the world as He created it. 
Chapter 3 might be the most well-known passage in...

This Sunday we continue in our series with Ecclesiastes 2:1-26. Last week we were introduced to Qoheleth, the Preacher, and an overview of the book that highlights his teaching concerning the extent of human experience and wisdom under the sun. This week we will see him explore specific pursuits, assessing the ultimate value and end-goals of pleasure, wisdom, and work. Our teacher has had a full life and limitless resources and opp...

I love the book of Ecclesiastes. Reading through it feels like it could have been written directly to DC in 2024. With the uncertainty of the year ahead, anxiety that many are already carrying into another election year, and the difficulty of navigating life in general, we all long for something solid to stand on, something that is unmoving that we can trust. Ecclesiastes helps us by exposing the fullest measure of every pursuit un...

As we close our series, Abraham: Journey of Faith, we come to Genesis 25:1-11, Abraham’s death. Like Sarah’s death, it feels kind of sudden after so much story and time together. There are some interesting details in the passage that we will look into. Most of our time, though, will be spent looking at Abraham’s life. We will look at his importance and place in Redemptive History, God’s plan for redeeming humanity and renewing and ...

This is a long chapter, but we’re going to cover it in one go. I encourage you to take the time to read it between now and Sunday so you can come in with some familiarity. After Sarah’s death, Abraham realized that it was time to find a wife for his son, Isaac. He sent his servant on a journey that led to an intriguing encounter at a well with a young girl name Rebekah. 

The chapter shows us something of God’s care and will fo...

This chapter details the legal negotiations and contract for a piece of land containing a cave in Hebron. At first reading it might feel boring to most. With a closer look, though, we can come to realize that this is the first piece of the land God promised to Abraham that was secured as Abraham’s own, and at a high price. Our focus on Sunday, though, will be Sarah. The reason Abraham bought the land with the cave was to bury his w...