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More | Week 6 · Rewind

Rock Point Church

70 min

Pastor Bill Bush · May 15, 2018 · 4 min read · 70 min listen

The big idea

The secret to a life of more is to make it less about you — seek God's kingdom first, and He will provide in ways you never expected.

In this message

The big idea
Point 1 of 7Solomon's search in Ecclesiastes shows that chasing more of anything in this world leaves you with less.
Point 2 of 7Solomon's final conclusion is to fear God and follow His commands as the only true wisdom.

Point 3 of 7Jesus teaches that seeking His kingdom first, not our own needs, is how we receive everything we need.
Point 4 of 7Ruth's choice to give up security and cling to Naomi is a picture of putting the kingdom before self.
Point 5 of 7Boaz's care for Ruth as kinsman redeemer, rooted in his own mother Rahab's story, shows God providing in unexpected ways.
Point 6 of 7The unnamed relative who refused to redeem the land shows the cost of choosing self over the kingdom.
Point 7 of 7Ruth and Boaz's son Obed, whose name means servant, points forward through David and Solomon to Jesus, the ultimate servant and redeemer.
Take it into your week
Transcript

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Scripture in this message

Ecclesiastes 12
Ecclesiastes 12:13
Matthew 6:33
Ruth 1:14
Ruth 2:8
Ruth 4

Rewind AI drafted the Big Idea and some point headings shown here from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Pastor Bill Bush · May 15, 2018 · 70 min watch · 2 min read

More | Week 6

In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

Ecclesiastes 12
Ecclesiastes 12:13
Matthew 6:33
Ruth 1:14
Ruth 2:8
Ruth 4

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

The secret to a life of more is to make it less about you — seek God's kingdom first, and He will provide in ways you never expected.

Real joy, satisfaction, and significance come not from chasing more money, pleasure, or control, but from putting God's kingdom first and making life about loving Him and others. The road of kingdom-first living can look like a road of less, even scary and costly, but it is the only road that actually leads to more.

Key points

1
1Solomon's search in Ecclesiastes shows that chasing more of anything in this world leaves you with less.
Pastor Bill explains that Solomon, the richest and wisest man who ever lived, ran after wealth, pleasure, work, and political activism looking for meaning, and found none of it satisfied. He points out that God built us with a longing for eternity and relationship with Him, which nothing else can fill.
2
2Solomon's final conclusion is to fear God and follow His commands as the only true wisdom.
Pastor Bill walks through the end of Ecclesiastes chapter 12, where Solomon admits he should have listened to his father's advice to seek God first while young. He tells the congregation, especially the young, that this is the smartest thing they'll ever hear.
3
3Jesus teaches that seeking His kingdom first, not our own needs, is how we receive everything we need.
Pastor Bill reads Matthew 6:33 and explains it in context of Jesus' teaching on worry over food, clothing, and provision, applying it to modern worries like jobs, houses, and vacations. He describes the kingdom-first road as looking dark and scary next to a wide, well-lit road that seems safer but isn't where God is.
4
4Ruth's choice to give up security and cling to Naomi is a picture of putting the kingdom before self.
Pastor Bill retells the story of Ruth choosing to leave her homeland and follow Naomi into poverty rather than stay in Moab for a safer, more comfortable life, quoting her vow, wherever you go, I will go. He shows how this looked like the road of less but set up everything that followed.
5
5Boaz's care for Ruth as kinsman redeemer, rooted in his own mother Rahab's story, shows God providing in unexpected ways.
Pastor Bill unpacks how Boaz went beyond duty to provide for Ruth, and reveals that Boaz's mother was Rahab, a foreign prostitute who had put her faith in Israel's God. He argues Boaz extended grace to Ruth because he had seen it lived out in his own mother's story.
6
6The unnamed relative who refused to redeem the land shows the cost of choosing self over the kingdom.
Pastor Bill explains the kinsman redeemer custom and how the closer relative backed out once he realized marrying Ruth would cost him his own inheritance, while Boaz took the risk anyway. He notes the man isn't even named in the story, unlike Boaz and Ruth who chose the harder, less path.
7
7Ruth and Boaz's son Obed, whose name means servant, points forward through David and Solomon to Jesus, the ultimate servant and redeemer.
Pastor Bill traces the genealogy from Obed through David and Solomon to Jesus in Matthew 1, showing that the whole story of Ruth was never really about Ruth but about a bigger story of redemption. He connects this to Jesus, who said He came not to be served but to serve, as the ultimate kinsman redeemer.

Application

Pastor Bill frames the choice as picking the kingdom-first road even when it looks like the road of less, because that is the only road that leads to more.

Identify where you've made life about you
Reflect honestly on where you've been chasing more money, comfort, or control instead of seeking God's kingdom first, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what needs to shift.
Choose the kingdom-first road even when it looks like less
Trust God with the area that feels scary to give up, whether it's money, time, a relationship, or a habit, believing His way leads to more even when it looks like less.
Remember God's love before you take communion
As you take the bread and cup, reflect on Christ's sacrifice as proof of His love, and let that love be the reason you find courage to trust and follow Him.
Put your faith in Jesus if you never have
If you have never trusted Christ, Pastor Bill asks you to pray now, believing Jesus died for you and rose again, and turn from trying to earn your own way to God.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“In chapter 12 of Ecclesiastes, he starts off saying this, don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old”
From the transcript
“And then he ends the book with how do you do that? He basically says in verse 13, that's the whole story. Here is now my final conclusion. Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone's duty”
From the transcript
“But it's it's it's Matthew six thirty three. And in Matthew six thirty three, it it says this. Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need”
From the transcript
“That's where we pick up the story in verse 14 of chapter one. It says, and again they wept together because they're saying goodbye. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi”
From the transcript
“So Boaz went over in chapter two verse eight, and said to Ruth, listen my daughter, stay right here with us when you gather grain. Don't go to any other field”
From the transcript
“and and and so he says, yes. But he says, there's another relative that's higher up on the list. He's a closer one. He has the choice, the first rights. And and so he goes, I'll go take care of it. And in chapter four, you actually see God all over this”
From the transcript
“If you look down in verse 17, it says, the neighbor women said, now at last Naomi has a son in it. Meaning she has an heir, her grandson. And they named him Obed”
From the transcript
“And if you look into Matthew chapter one, starting from Abraham, which was before them, read the genealogy. And that genealogy in Matthew chapter one runs right through Ruth and Boaz, right through Obed, through David, through Solomon”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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Day 1

Solomon had everything the world says should make a person happy — wealth beyond measure, achievements that would outlast him, pleasures of every kind. And at the end of it all, he sat down and wrote one of the most honest books in all of Scripture. Ecclesiastes isn't a pessimist's complaint; it's a wise man's hard-won testimony. He chased more, and more, and more — and found that the finish line kept moving. Sound familiar? There's something quietly exhausting about the way life can feel like a treadmill. You get the promotion, the house, the relationship, the milestone — and within weeks, the hunger is back. Solomon didn't write Ecclesiastes to depress us. He wrote it to spare us the long way around. His conclusion, reached after a lifetime of accumulating and striving, is remarkably simple: fear God and keep His commandments. Not as a list of rules to follow, but as an orientation of the whole life — a decision to live with God at the center rather than yourself. That reorientation isn't a one-time event. It starts early, it starts honestly, and it starts with admitting that the 'more' you've been chasing might not be the more you actually need.

For reflection

Where in your life right now does the hunger for 'more' feel the loudest — and what would it mean to bring that specific longing to God instead of chasing it on your own terms?

Pray

Pray for the honesty to name where you have been chasing more for yourself, and for a willing heart to let God reorient that longing.

Day 2

After exploring every avenue of human striving — wisdom, pleasure, work, legacy — Solomon lands on a conclusion so plain it almost surprises you: fear God and obey His commands, for this is the duty of every person. The word 'duty' can feel heavy, like a chore. But read it in the context of everything Solomon has just witnessed and experienced, and it sounds less like obligation and more like relief. He isn't saying follow the rules because you have to. He's saying this is the shape of the life that actually works — the one that holds together when everything else is stripped away. 'Fear of God' in the biblical sense isn't the terror of punishment. It's a reverent, wide-eyed recognition that God is God and you are not — and that this is actually very good news. When we stop pretending we can manage our own lives better than He can, something loosens. The striving softens. The treadmill slows. Solomon's conclusion isn't the beginning of a burden; it's the beginning of freedom. The question he presses us toward is whether we've truly let God be God — not just in our Sunday language, but in the daily decisions about our time, our relationships, and our priorities.

For reflection

In what area of your life do you find it hardest to let God truly be in charge — and what would trusting Him there actually look like this week?

Pray

Pray for a growing, daily reverence for God that moves from Sunday language into the real decisions of your week.

Day 3

Jesus makes a remarkable promise tucked inside the Sermon on the Mount: seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. He doesn't say the practical concerns of life don't matter. He doesn't say your need for provision, security, or meaning is silly. He says there's an order — and when we get the order wrong, we spend our lives anxious and grasping. The nations, Jesus says, run after food and clothing and security as though there's no Father who sees. But you have a Father who knows what you need before you ask. The invitation isn't to stop caring about real life; it's to stop making real life the organizing principle of everything. Seeking God's kingdom first is the sermon's central turn — the pivot from Solomon's diagnosis to what a life of true meaning actually looks like. And it costs something. Putting the kingdom first means some choices will look, from the outside, like you're taking less. It might mean a financial decision that doesn't maximize your own gain, a relational commitment that is inconvenient, or a step of obedience that feels risky. But Jesus' promise stands: the life organized around Him doesn't end up with less. It ends up with more of what actually matters.

For reflection

What 'thing' are you most tempted to seek first right now — before the kingdom — and what would it look like to reverse that order this week?

Pray

Pray for the courage to reorder your priorities around the kingdom this week, trusting the Father's promise that He knows what you need.

Day 4

When Naomi released her daughters-in-law to go home to their own people, Orpah did the reasonable thing — she left. Nobody blamed her. Going back made sense. But Ruth held on. Her famous words — 'Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, your God my God' — aren't just beautiful poetry. They're a costly choice. Ruth was a Moabite widow walking away from her homeland, her family, her social safety net, and her natural future. She chose a grieving mother-in-law and a foreign God over the security of what she already knew. This is what the sermon means when it says Ruth chose the path that looked like less. From the outside, this decision made no practical sense. But Ruth's loyalty — her hesed, the covenant-love that runs all through the book — was rooted in something deeper than circumstances. She had come to trust in the God of Israel, and that trust reordered everything else. It's worth sitting with that for a moment. Real faith doesn't wait for the path to look safe before it takes a step. Ruth walked forward into the unknown because she had anchored herself to something more certain than her circumstances — and that made all the difference.

For reflection

Is there a step of faithfulness in front of you right now that looks like less from the outside but that you sense God is calling you toward? What is holding you back?

Pray

Pray for the kind of trust Ruth had — rooted enough in God's character that it can take a costly step without needing to see the whole road first.

Day 5

Boaz didn't have to do what he did. Ruth was a foreign widow gleaning at the edges of his field — which was all the law required him to allow. But Boaz went further. He invited her to stay close to his workers, told the men to leave extra grain for her, offered her water, shared his meal, and spoke words of genuine dignity over her. He named what she had done for Naomi, blessed her in the name of the LORD, and treated her as someone whose life had value beyond her usefulness. This is the sermon's portrait of what kingdom-first living looks like in practice. Boaz wasn't making a calculated investment. He was extending grace — the same kind of others-focused, self-giving love that Ruth had shown to Naomi. He was, without knowing it yet, stepping into a role far larger than a single act of generosity. What's striking is that Boaz simply showed up and did the next right thing — and God was weaving something extraordinary through that ordinary faithfulness. You may not see the full picture of what God is doing through your small acts of kindness or costly obedience. Ruth and Boaz didn't. But the story of their faithfulness is still being told.

For reflection

Who in your life right now might need the kind of unexpected, dignity-giving kindness that Boaz showed Ruth — and what is one concrete thing you could do this week?

Pray

Pray for eyes to see the people around you the way Boaz saw Ruth — with dignity, generosity, and the willingness to go beyond what is merely required.

Day 6

The unnamed relative in Ruth 4 is one of Scripture's quietest warnings. He was first in line to redeem Ruth and Naomi's land — and he was willing, until he heard the full cost. Redeeming Ruth meant marrying a Moabite widow, and that would complicate his inheritance and his name. So he passed. His name isn't recorded. He slipped out of the story as quickly as he entered it, and he chose self-protection over the call that was right in front of him. The sermon holds him up not as a villain but as a mirror. He isn't unique. His reasoning is entirely recognizable: this will cost too much, it will complicate things, it isn't practical. These are the same internal arguments that surface whenever obedience gets specific. The unnamed man's story sits alongside Ruth and Boaz's as a reminder that kingdom living always has a cost — and that refusing the cost doesn't preserve your life; it just shrinks it. The road of self-protection looked safer, but it meant walking away from a place in one of history's most remarkable stories. That is the quiet tragedy of self-centeredness: it doesn't just cost you the blessing. It costs you the story.

For reflection

Is there a call or a commitment in your life right now that you've been quietly stepping back from because the cost feels too high? What is that costing you in return?

Pray

Pray for the honesty to recognize where self-protection has replaced trust, and for the courage to step toward what God is actually asking of you.

Day 7

Obed. The name means 'servant.' Ruth and Boaz named their son 'servant' — and that child became the grandfather of David, king of Israel, and an ancestor of Jesus Christ. Two people who chose the path that looked like less, who prioritized others over themselves, who acted in faith when the cost was real — and God wove their ordinary faithfulness into the lineage of the Savior of the world. They could not have seen that. They were just choosing, day after day, to put God and others first. The sermon's great encouragement is this: when we seek the kingdom first, we don't just find personal fulfillment — we become part of a story far bigger than ourselves. That is what Matthew chapter 1 shows: the genealogy of Jesus is full of unexpected names, broken people, and ordinary faithful ones. Ruth is there. Boaz is there. And Jesus — the ultimate Kinsman-Redeemer, who took on our debt at the greatest personal cost of all — is the one the whole story was pointing toward. This week, you've sat with Solomon's wisdom, Ruth's loyalty, Boaz's kindness, and the unnamed man's warning. The invitation now is the same as it was on day one: bring your whole life — your time, your relationships, your resources, your future — and seek His kingdom first.

For reflection

Looking back over this week, what is the one area where you most clearly sense God inviting you to stop making life about yourself and to trust Him instead?

Pray

Pray for the grace to take whatever step God has surfaced this week — not to earn His love, but because He has already proved it.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message asks a question most of us feel but rarely name: why does 'more' never feel like enough? Take a moment and think about a time when getting something you really wanted still left you wanting something else.

Discussion questions

1
Solomon spent his life chasing wealth, achievement, and pleasure — and landed on a conclusion that sounds almost too simple: fear God and obey His commands. What do you think he means by that, and why do you think it took him so long to get there?
2
In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says to seek God's kingdom first and everything else will follow. What do you think it actually looks like — practically, day to day — to seek a kingdom that isn't your own first?
3
Ruth walks away from her homeland, her people, and any obvious future to follow Naomi and Naomi's God. What does her choice in Ruth 1:14–18 tell us about what she believed — and what she was willing to risk?
4
The unnamed relative in Ruth 4 walks away from the role of kinsman redeemer because it would cost him too much. The sermon held him up as a warning. What do you think people tend to miss when they choose the safer, self-protective road?
5
Obed — whose name means 'servant' — turns out to be the grandfather of David and an ancestor of Jesus. Neither Ruth nor Boaz could have seen that coming. What does that suggest about the stories we find ourselves inside when we choose others over ourselves?
6
The sermon pointed to the Holy Spirit revealing one area of life where we need to let go and trust God — not to earn His love, but because He has already proved it. How might a community like this one help people actually take that step?

Pray together

Courage to seek God's kingdom first — in the places where that road looks like less

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Week 6 · 6 messages

Where these passages are preached

Ecclesiastes 12 Matthew 6 Ruth 1 Ruth 2

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