L'Abri Fellowship - Southborough

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Ben Keyes This lecture explores two fundamental human desires: the longing to seek new experiences and the longing to come home. Drawing on examples from literature, we will explore the nature of these two longings and ultimately point to their biblical foundations. B...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Mary Frances Giles "Friendship with God" can be a contested topic. For some, it is very easy to call God friend, while for others it seems impossible. IS God our friend? What should we expect out of a "friendship" with the Creator of the world?! In this lecture, we'll...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Abigail Carroll, guest lecturer https://abigail-carroll.com/ What are we, asks poet and author Abigail Carroll, but "a constellation of salts" bearing the diving signature in our "affinity for zinnias, for swallows and plums, and questions about the lives of ferns"? T...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Esther Dalton Fig trees feature in the landscape of the Gospels and show up in Jesus' teachings. It turns out the fig tree family is also an important part of many ecosystems across the world. What might these interesting trees have to teach us about fruitfulness in t...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Dick Keyes We will be looking at a current crisis in our nation over which Christians are divided. Can we get some guidance from our faith through the Scripture? The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this b...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Emily Fellows We live in a culture that is both efficiency-driven and entertainment-driven. On the one hand, reading fiction can be seen as a waste of time with no quantitative benefits; on the other hand, reading fiction can become just another way to indulge our emo...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Esther Dalton "How many times have I been told...by well-meaning people, that it is my destiny and my charge to go out into the world and do great things for God?" So begins a liturgy called "For Those Who Have Not Done Great Things for God." What is the measure of gr...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Sarah Chestnut In this lecture we will ask, what is envy, what does envy do, and most importantly, what can we do with the envy we feel so that it does not lead to sin? Exploring the Biblical narrative, and drawing on the wisdom of Mr. Rogers and the Desert Fathers, w...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Ben Keyes Artificial intelligence is in the news every day in part because it is such a controversial topic. As usual, the loudest voices are at the extremes: "AI is going to usher humanity into a beautiful new era of human history!" or "AI is going to kill us all!" I...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Joshua Chestnut The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeking prior permission from L'Abri Fellowship. ©S...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Eric Johns Empathy is on the decline. Some, even in Evangelical circles, are calling it "toxic" or actually a "sin." This lecture is a chance to reclaim the goodness of true empathy and to consider the slow reading of fiction as a means to cultivate Christ-like empath...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Matt Dickerson, guest lecturer Lament is woven into the story of God's people from the Psalms and prophets to the teaching of Jesus. It is also an important element of the fabric of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. Indeed, through his major works including The...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Esther Dalton The Bible has a lot to say about sin, but sometimes a word can get so familiar we forget what it really means. Additionally, our culture is reluctant to entertain the idea of sin at all, causing the word to slip from our vocabularies. what is sin? And ho...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Sarah Chestnut Over the centuries, poets have sung praises to athletic victories, Grecian urns, and the "wild West Wind" of Autumn, and odes praising the ordinary--socks, tomatoes, drinking water from cupped hands--raise an exultant voice in contemporary poetry. The c...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Joshua Chestnut and Esther Dalton The second lecture portion of the Southborough L'Abri Fall 2025 Theme Weekend: "The Glory and Challenge of Ordinary Humanness." Part 1: Lovely, Finite, Connected: Adjectives for Being Human Part 2: Need, Receive, Follow: Verbs for Bei...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Ben Keyes The opening lecture of the Southborough L'Abri Fall 2025 Theme Weekend: "The Glory and Challenge of Ordinary Humanness." "The model of the Christian life is the recovery of ordinary human experience, says the L'Abri classic Being Human: The Nature of Spiritu...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Dick Keyes This lectures looks at what character has meant, has now come to mean, and how we might respond to the change. The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Ben Keyes Philosopher Thomas Nagel defined consciousness as "what it is like" to be yourself. While we all go about our daily lives as conscious beings, usually without much reflection, consciousness itself remains a deeply mysterious thing. This lecture will explore...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Esther Dalton Can you imagine living a Christian life without the Bible? Five hundred years ago, that was the situation of most ordinary Christians. In fact, at that time, it was illegal to translate the Bible into English. But William Tyndale, a priest and scholar, w...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ Charles Spurgeon commented that Psalm 131 is one of the shortest Psalms to read but one of the longest to learn. With the help of theorists Hartmut Rosa and Byung-Chul Han, this lecture will consider unique characteristics of our moment that might be playing a contributi...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Dr. Tom Petter, guest lecturer What is the argument of Isaiah as a book? Is there even one? We are considering the internal evidence and come to the conclusion that yes, indeed, there is a coherence to the collection of the oracles spanning 66 chapters. This is why we...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Esther Dalton At L'Abri we think and talk a lot about hospitality. Most Christian teaching about hospitality focuses on the role of the host, on opening our hearts and our doors to others, even strangers. But what about the other side of the door? This lecture will ex...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Ben Keyes In this lecture, we will briefly discuss the doctrine of the Incarnation as the central mystery of the Christian faith. Then, with the help of "interruptions" as a guiding metaphor, we will explore the way in which the birth of Christ redemptively disrupts h...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ with Ben Keyes, Joshua Chestnut, and Marta Crilly Part of the Summer 2025 Theme Weekend, A Hall of Portraits: Imitating Christ by Imitating the Saints.  The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publis...

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit  https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Joshua Chestnut Part of the Summer 2025 Theme Weekend, A Hall of Portraits: Imitating Christ by Imitating the Saints.  The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in...