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  5. Transactional Worship Vs Listening Worship | Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 | Sam Jones

Transactional Worship Vs Listening Worship | Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 | Sam Jones

Sam Jones - 5/17/2026

Ecclesiastes 5:1–7 | When Worship Goes Out of Sync | RLF Church
Ecclesiastes 5:1–7

Transactional Worship Vs Listening Worship 

Ecclesiastes 5 confronts a distorted way of approaching God by showing how worship goes awry when we treat His presence like a transaction rather than drawing near to listen with awe.

Series: Life Under the Sun Speaker: Sam Jones Date: 05-17-2026

Sermon Overview

This sermon begins with a searching question: how do you view God? That question shapes how we worship, how we see ourselves, and how we respond when our own plans fall apart.

In Ecclesiastes 5:1–7, Solomon warns that worship becomes distorted when we rush into God’s presence full of words, vows, and self-made agendas instead of coming humbly to listen.

The central burden of the message is simple: treat God like a transaction, and worship goes crooked.

What Ecclesiastes 5 Exposes

  • Guard your steps: God’s presence is not casual, and worship should be marked by reverence.
  • Listen before speaking: Solomon says drawing near to listen is better than offering the sacrifice of fools.
  • Beware of bargains: Vows can become attempts to manage God instead of trust Him.
  • Fear God: Many words, self-driven dreams, and religious performance only add to the vanity of life under the sun.

From Transaction to Awe

The sermon ultimately moves to the gospel. Our worship problem is a belief problem, and the answer is not better performance but the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

  • Jesus welcomes us near so we no longer need to bargain for access to God.
  • Jesus has done what we could not do and opens the way for us to approach the throne of grace with confidence.
  • Jesus teaches us to listen so worship can come back into sync through awe, trust, and abiding in His presence.

Response

This message invites people to lay down transactional worship, bring their crumbled plans and anxious striving before God, and come with fewer words and more wonder.

Instead of asking God to sign off on our story, we are called to listen for His heart, trust His grace, and build our lives on His holiness, love, and truth.

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