IN THIS WEEK’S UPDATE
• How to Build a Better Life
• Get Connected (Classes/Groups/Serve)
• Outside the Walls
• Last Week's Insights


SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2026
We have a problem. And we know it. Can we accept it? And if we accept it, then what? Do we just limp our way through this unrelenting problem? Or is there another way? Is there a key, a hope, a design that can help us build a better life?

Lots of questions, and seven incredible answers. That’s what we’ll dig into Sunday.

Here is a short script to help you invite a friend: “Yeah, at my church we’re covering the secret of life this week, NBD.”

If you want to build a better life, Ecclesiastes 3 gives the code. See you Sunday.


GET CONNECTED
There is still time to get connected at Woodcrest! It was great seeing so many of you at our recent Connection Open House! If you weren’t able to make it, no worries. You haven’t missed your chance to jump in this fall.

Whether you’re looking to grow, serve, or find community, there’s a place for you:

Attend a Fall Class → Click here

Join a Group → Click here

Find a Place to Serve → Click here

Not sure where to start? That’s okay too. Send us an email at connections@woodcrest.org and we’d be happy to help you find a next step that feels like a good fit.

Hope to see you around Woodcrest soon!


OUTSIDE THE WALLS
JAMAICA MISSION TRIP INFORMATION SESSION
Sunday, October 11 | 11:00 AM | Connection Center

Interested in making a difference in Jamaica? Join us for an information session about Woodcrest's next mission trip to Harmons, Jamaica, where we partner with Won by One to Jamaica to serve the local community.

Whether you've traveled with us before or are considering your first mission trip, this is a great opportunity to learn more, ask questions, and discover how you can be part of the team.

We'd love to see you there!


LAST SUNDAY'S INSIGHTS
Kelly Wright continued our How to Build a Better Life series with Ecclesiastes 2, where Solomon puts three things to the test: pleasure, achievement, and possessions. Solomon had the resources to pursue all three without restraint, yet discovered that having everything still wasn’t enough.

Highlights
• Pleasure makes a miserable god. There’s nothing wrong with vacations, good food, entertainment, laughter, or the things that make life enjoyable. The problem comes when we expect pleasure to satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts.
• Achievement makes a miserable god. God designed us to work, create, cultivate, and accomplish things. But our work was never meant to become our identity. Awards, recognition, accomplishments, and paychecks cannot tell us why our lives matter.
• Possessions make a miserable god. We can easily fall for the “+1 lie,” believing contentment is just one more purchase, promotion, trip, renovation, accomplishment, or experience away. If contentment is always one more away, contentment will never come.
• Good things are meant to be enjoyed, not worshiped. Solomon’s conclusion isn’t that pleasure, accomplishments, or possessions are bad. They are gifts from God. The problem is asking those gifts to provide the satisfaction, meaning, and contentment that only God can give.
• Don’t confuse the gift with the Giver. We can enjoy the meal, vacation, home, career, family, and other blessings in our lives with gratitude while remembering where every good gift comes from.
• Hold God’s gifts with an open hand. The goal isn’t necessarily to have less. It’s to recognize that what we have belongs to God, receive it gratefully, enjoy it, and be willing to release it when He asks.

Takeaway
Jesus is the foundation. Everything else is a gift. Our deepest satisfaction isn’t found in what we have, what we accomplish, or what we experience. The Giver is better than the gifts. We can enjoy the good things God gives us without asking them to carry the weight of our souls. As Kelly reminded us, Jesus isn’t the dessert at the end of a good life. Jesus is the reason we have life at all.

OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF
• Check out Kidcrest, our children’s ministry HERE
• The Loop: sign up for our student ministry newsletter HERE
• Watch services at WoodcrestWorldwide.org
• Engage on Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
• Download the Woodcrest App: CLICK
• Last, but definitely not least: Set up a recurring donation