Gilbert House Fellowship

THE TALE of two kingdoms continues in our Old Testament study this week. We get the stories of the northern kings of Israel Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, and Omri, and the southern kings of Judah Abijah, Asa, and Jehoshaphat. Continue reading →

ENDURANCE THROUGH suffering. That's the overarching message of the epistle of 1 Peter. But there's a lot more in there that we had forgotten. In his letter to the "exiles" -- which probably meant the Jewish converts outside Israel, but could also mean we Christians living in a world surrounded by the Enemy and their agents -- Peter exhorts women to subject themselves to their husbands, and for hus...

THE DIVISION of the kingdom of Israel is the focus of our Old Testament study this week. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, gets some bad advice from his young friends, not just rejecting the request of the northern tribes for tax relief, but doing so with a rather crude euphemism. Continue reading →

CHURCH LEADERSHIP and proper behavior for Christians is the focus of Paul's letters that we study this week. Timothy had been left in charge of the church Ephesus, while Titus had been left on the island of Crete to shepherd the new church there. Both Timothy and Titus faced challenges; Timothy was a young man charged with guiding older men and women, while Titus worked in a place notorious for it...

ENTANGLEMENTS WITH cares of the world, whether it's business, politics, or personal relationships, can distract us from what we're called to do by God. Continue reading →

OUR STUDY in the New Testament this week focuses on military formations and tactics, although it might not seem that way at first. We cover Ephesians 5 and 6, with a lot of time on the passages that instruct husbands and wives on their relationships to one another and a description of the whole armor of God -- and why those verses describe a holding action and not an attack on the Enemy. Note that...

ANOTHER BOOK of wisdom attributed to Solomon is our Old Testament study this week. The collected sayings of "the Preacher" are generally gloomy, but only in that they remind us of the folly of pursuing material things apart from God. Continue reading →

LETTERS FROM Paul in Rome are the focus of this week's New Testament study, and there is a lot of meat here. Paul addressed errant teachings that threatened to undermine the gospel of salvation by grace through faith at Colossae and Ephesus. It appears some teachers had arrived preaching that Gentiles needed to follow the Law of Moses to be saved. Paul was very direct about that: Therefore let no...

PROVERBS OF Solomon copied at the direction of King Hezekiah are the focus of our Old Testament study this week. Themes include the wisdom of accepting correction, the foolishness of contending with fools, and the happiness that results from pursuing righteousness instead of wealth. Continue reading →

PAUL TRAVELED to Rome in A.D. 60, but not the way he would have wanted.  Getting a ride on an Alexandrian grain ship, the biggest vessels crossing the Mediterranean Sea in the 1st century, Paul and his traveling companions, which included Luke and Aristarchus among the 276 people aboard the ship, suffered through a storm that blew them off course and left them adrift for a couple weeks. They final...

PRAISE THE Lord! That's the theme of the Psalms in today's Old Testament study. We examine a half dozen psalms of praise and find divine council language, making it clear that the psalmists knew that other gods existed, but only one God, Yahweh, created all the rest. Continue reading →

PAUL RETURNS to Jerusalem in this week's study, as we return to Luke's historical account of Paul's journey, in spite of warnings from believers from Asia to Judea that he would be arrested and possibly killed.  But Paul already knew that, since he'd been warned by the Holy Spirit that this is what God had in store for him. We also discuss Paul's teachings for Christian living to the church at Rom...

THE CONSECRATION of the Temple on Mount Zion is the focus of this week's Old Testament study. Solomon prays a prayer of dedication and asks the Lord to always see and hear his people when they call on His Name for forgiveness. Continue reading →

IT IS appropriate (and unplanned -- by us, anyway), but appropriate -- that our last New Testament study before the U.S. presidential election includes Romans 13:1-7. It is a command to Christians to "be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." That's not exactly a message we want to hear, especially after e...

WE RETURN to history in our Old Testament study this week. Our readings describe the process and design of the Temple built by Solomon. Continue reading →

THE RELATIONSHIP between the Law and grace is central to our New Testament study this week. Paul makes it clear that while the Law instructs us on the nature of sin, it does not help us overcome sin. That is the work of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Romans is the longest of Paul's letters, and the one in which he most thoroughly lays out the doctrine of salvation. This is why  the Romans Ro...

WE CONTINUE through the Book of Proverbs in this week's Old Testament study. Included are exhortations to seek and value wisdom, to avoid laziness and women of ill repute, and to train children in the way they should go -- a command that is increasingly out of step with our world today, which is embracing the idea that children should be free to choose their own paths even when they run counter to...

Our study of 2 Corinthians concludes this week as Paul counters criticism from "super-apostles" who had apparently wormed their way into the church at Corinth and turned them away from the gospel with impressive public speaking skills. Paul critiques and encourages the Corinthians, and in so doing reminds us that judging one another on our physical gifts -- not just appearance, but speaking abilit...

A COMMON thread through the Proverbs is the wisdom of listening to correction or reproof. As hard as it can be to hear that we need to rethink the way we're doing things, true wisdom comes from listening to guidance. Continue reading →

THE GIFTS of the Spirit and Paul's instructions for their application are just part of this week's study based on Paul's letters to the church at Corinth. We discuss the resurrection of the dead, apologetics based on eyewitness testimony, and the death of the gods as we cover some of the most remarkable chapters in the New Testament. Here is the link  to the podcast Derek mentioned, a discussion b...

WISDOM IS a goddess? There are some who would draw that conclusion after reading Proverbs 8. However, in Hebrew, the word "wisdom" is grammatically feminine although there is nothing physical about the term. Continue reading →

WE CONTINUE our study of the most remarkable books of the Bible, 1 Corinthians. This week, we cover Paul's instructions to the church concerning sexual immorality, lawsuits against fellow believers, the right of those in full-time ministry to earn their living in that calling, marriage and divorce, eating food sacrificed to idols, and taking the Lord's Supper with an unrepentant heart. We also dis...

SOLOMON'S WISDOM is legendary, and to the extent it is recorded in the Bible, it is also divinely inspired. This week, we begin our study of the Book of Proverbs. Continue reading →

PAUL'S SECOND missionary journey takes him through Corinth and Ephesus, where Paul's preaching triggers a riot. Apparently his preaching was drawing people away from the patron goddess of the city, Artemis (the Greek version of the Roman goddess Diana). We also discuss the first six chapters of 1 Corinthians, a letter prompted by a report that the church Paul planted was dividing between those who...

KING SOLOMON and his assumption of the throne in Jerusalem is the focus of our Old Testament study this week. We discuss his request for wisdom and a psalm asking God to bless the new king, and then we read one of the most unusual books of the Bible, the Song of Solomon. Continue reading →