In chapter 29, Job laments that he is not now in the prosperity that he used to have. But he defends himself before his friends by explaining that he has been righteous. Almost everyone in the community knows it. Others looked to him for wise counsel. He was a leader in his community. Through Job, God showed the world that saved people do not just do good for a temporal reward. They do good because they have been made good by God.

A computer crash prevented us from uploading the sermon audio from Sunday night May 27, 2018. A new computer seems to have solved the problem! The lost message covered Mark 12:1-40.

In this message, we focus upon the idea of divine forgiveness as demonstrated in the life of Jesus. Because the gospel of Luke mentions forgiveness more than any other NT book, we used Luke 5 as a suitable starting point for our study.

We also read Genesis 35.

Our teacher treated the text as if it was the proceedings of a court case, sometimes called in Bible scholarship a "covenant lawsuit." Zephaniah lists three charges: rebellion, pollution, and oppression. It is these sins that God is charging against Israel. Princes, judges, prophets, and priests were accomplices in the crime. Listen in for more!

Job brings us to a better understanding of the problem of evil, something which he knows a lot about. We combined the last verse of chapter 26 and the last verse of chapter 28 to see that we cannot fully answer the problem of evil, and instead, the real solution is to fear God and turn from evil.

Our Q & A dealt with questions about the sanctification of unsaved children or spouses who are in a home with one believing parent/spouse. We discussed briefly the matter of divorce and remarriage, and what "under bondage" means in 1 Cor. 7:15. We made a connection to church discipline and how the unbeliever departing from the sanctifying influence of the believing spouse puts them in a more dangerous place in life.

We discussed the question about the role of husband and wife in marriage--specifically whether the roles were established because sin entered the world, or whether there would have been a differentiation of roles even if sin had not entered the world.

We read 1 Samuel 7. As often the case with our Q &A sessions, there are some parts hard to hear; most of the questions have been cut out of the recording because they were impossible to hear.

In this message, Pastor Postiff addresses a number of sensitive topics that have to do with men and women, including modesty, loving your spouse, keeping the home, purity, and keeping the sexes distinct with hair and clothing style. We also read Genesis 34.

Tom teaches through the opening verses of Ephesians, highlighting the work of salvation that is from God alone. This includes the matters of election, redemption, forgiveness, etc. We see here the timing and motivation of God's work in salvation. The issue of Biblical inspiration is mentioned as well.

We extend our understanding of what God is trying to teach us in the book of Job. Job refuses to agree to the friends' premise that he is wicked, and thus suffers the way he did. Rather, he acknowledges that the wicked will pay the price--eventually--but his experience that they sometimes prosper has to be taken into account. Still, he feels cheated of justice. Connecting this to the prior chapter (especially the last verse), we begin to see an answer to the problems of evil and suffering. That answer is this--that we cannot find out an answer, because God is so vastly beyond us and His administration of things is incomprehensible in the final analysis.

Our Bible study in Mark 11 continues, with a study of the triumphal entry, and another testing of the Lord by the Pharisees, among other things.

God’s holiness demands our repentance, provides our cleansing from sin, and calls for our service. Listen in to remind yourself about the majestic holiness of God, which refers to His separateness from creation and from sin. We also read Genesis 33.