Joel Gilbert

Background As we saw briefly last week with Haggai, Zechariah is one of the three prophets who ministered in Judah after the exile. Ezra tells us that Haggai and Zechariah were prophets who challenged the people of Judah to rebuild the temple - though the book of Zechariah has less to do with the temple…

Getting ready for take-off If you’ve spent any time on an airplane, you may be well familiar with the routine - at least the pre-covid routine. Seats in their up-right position Tray tables locked and stowed away Seat belt fastened low and tight across your lap In the event of an emergency, note the location…

Colossians 3:21 says Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. but it doesn’t say “Children do not provoke your parents to anger” or “do not exasperate your parents.” And yet - as children - it seems like all of us at one time or another have done something to exasperate our…

Violence, Violence everywhere, and no relief in sight! We don’t have to look far to learn about violence in our nation. The response to George Floyd’s death sparked outrage among some, resulting in fires, looting, and destruction in several cities. Anger and hatred seem to run rampant in some cities,…

What brings you comfort? I guess the question that we would need to ask before that is “why do we need comfort?” At various times in our lives - whether individually, corporately as a church, community, or nation - we all experience things that cause us pain or discomfort. This pandemic has brought some…

As we continue our look at God’s Story in Scripture, we’re going to be considering the book of Micah today. Introducing Micah The book of Micah is the sixth of the minor prophets. Of course, these prophets are minor because of their size, not because of their importance or their value of their messages.…

Life on Mission Where would you go for the sake of the gospel? Would you go overseas - to Iran or China or North Korea or Russia? Would you go to the north or to the south? Would you go to Europe? Would you go next door? I alluded to this in the Dear Family message this week, but I thought I’d reiterate…

Obadiah gets a vision for the nation of Edom. Their pride becomes their downfall.

Imagine this scene. A southern, agricultural businessman makes his way to the north. He is out of his home, but in many ways it’s the same country among the same people. He has a southern accent. The man sees various atrocities as he is conducting his business and is inspired by God to say something.…

Remembering 9/11 Do you remember where you were on 9/11/01? I remember driving to work and hearing about it on the radio. I thought it was strange and a fluke accident - and then the next plane hit and then the next and the next. Do you remember the response? The schools went into a lock down mode for…