Joel Gilbert

This sermon begins a series of four that discuss who we are as a church. We gather looks at what a church really is (an assembly) and why we meet (to "one another").

Review: Simeon and the Prophets Joseph as he dealt with disappointment Mary as she responded to God’s call Today, we’re going to consider one more group of people who were involved in the birth of Jesus - the shepherds. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over…

As we continue considering the Characters that are part of the Christmas story, we come to, arguably, the most popular person after Jesus: Mary. Two weeks ago, we began by thinking about Simeon and how his anticipation of the coming of Messiah was impacted by the hope-filled message of the Prophets.…

Introduction Chad Bockius - an author and coach shared this story: It was the summer before my freshman year of high school. My brother, Derrick, was a few years ahead of me and picked up this crazy sport, called pole vaulting. Before school began, he got me out on the track and taught me. From that…

This month, as we celebrate each Sunday of Advent, we’re going to be considering the people that participated in the first coming of Jesus Christ. We often look at Mary and Joseph and the Shepherds - which we will, but there are some other people that God used. Today, we’re going to consider the prophets…

Introduction I’ve heard it said that you will go in the direction of your gaze. This is especially true of motorcycles and bicycles. As your head turns, so do your shoulders. One glance to the side can lead you into a mess. When I was younger, I had a problem about watching where I was going. When I…

Good to Great Over 20 years ago, Jim Collins and his team of researchers embarked on a large scale study of businesses - in fact they embarked on two studies. In one, they sought to understand what differentiated great companies from good companies. What attributes, qualities, systems, structures and…

Summary of the book The story of the book of Ruth is the story of a young Moabite (foreign) widow who shows devotion to her widowed mother-in-law by leaving her own people, travelling with her mother-in-law back to Israel. In Israel, she gleans during the harvest and gets noticed by a man who generously…

Now that God has brought them into the promised land, it is up to the Israelites to faithfully fulfill the mission - to root out the enemies and live faithfully with God. Instead, the Israelites fail to fulfill the mission and ultimately fall into cultural chaos.

Positioned as the continuation of the narrative of the Pentateuch, Joshua depicts the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham and the Israelites as they enter into the land. During this process, God displays His character through His interactions with Joshua and the Israelites.