Sabbath School From Home

Faith has two sides: the kind that moves mountains, and the kind that endures when the mountain stays put. We explore the idea that faith is a belief held strongly enough to change your actions — and sit with the tension between those two postures. We also push back on the wistful assumption that faith would have come easier in biblical times. The Old Testament can sound like God was vivid and ine...

Unanswered prayer is a genuine part of Christian experience — not a failure of faith. Many of the tidy explanations we reach for turn out to be exactly the arguments Job's friends made, and God doesn't vindicate them. What the lesson largely misses is lament — a legitimate, biblical response to things going badly. Elijah after Mount Carmel is a fascinating case: he prays to die, and God's response...

Prayer is a bit like calling emergency services — in the moment you need it most, technique and philosophy are the last things on your mind. We explore a tension that sits at the heart of how we're taught to pray: 1 John 5:14 seems to say pray according to God's will, yet the persistent widow of Luke 18 is celebrated precisely for refusing to take no for an answer. We land on the Psalms as a model...

Sometimes personal study isn't enough. We explore three stories where genuine biblical insight only emerged in community — the road to Emmaus, Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, and the Jerusalem council with its remarkable conclusion that "it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us." The lesson has plenty to say about studying and then teaching others, but is quieter about the moments we need to a...

The Bible speaks to each of us today — but how does that actually work?  We land on 2 Timothy 3:15-17 as a solid summary of Scripture's purpose, but spend most of our time exploring the remarkable range of genres the Bible contains (and what that variety itself tells us). Along the way, we push back on the idea that questioning absolute truth means anything goes: a cloud can be rain, shade, a ther...

Pride has a support network.  Luke 18 gives us two characters whose postures before God could hardly be more different, but we explore the broader ecosystem that pride creates — the enablers who gather around it and benefit from it. Seeing that dynamic from a heavenly perspective changes everything.

No one person — or tradition — can fully represent God.  The lesson this week raises the idea that the Bible is the "truest, clearest, and most consistent" revelation of God, but we explore the more subtle ways we construct images of Him that aren't golden calves, yet still fall short. The roles of prophet, priest, and king suggest that even Scripture uses multiple lenses to reveal God's character...

We're starting a new season on the topic of growing in a relationship with God.  There's a lot of great questions in the lesson this week, but we notice an interesting emphasis on us as "Christian  individuals ". The lesson takes Revelation 3 as a context, which is a passage full of messages to churches - so we look for any additional value in asking these questions more broadly.

We revisit the verses about mutuality in relationships that straddle chapter 3 and 4.  Although these were the topic last week, various ensuing conversations have generated a number of comments and new insights worth sharing. We notice in particular that all of the "submission" verses apply universally to followers of Christ! The book of Colossians wraps up with some personal greetings that help r...

It's not easy for us in the 21st century to read Paul asking slaves to submit to their masters.  It is fascinating to realise that his matching remark to slave-owners is that they also have a master. All of the "instructions to submit" that are in the second half of Colossians 3 are more balanced than they first appear, and we are intrigued by the search for modern equivalents to the slave owner s...

The main metaphor framework in this chapter seems perhaps surprisingly violent.  There are passages about "putting to death our bodies", and we notice that some translations are especially hard to understand here. What does it mean to be "dead to this life", and to have a "real life hidden with Christ"? Strikingly, the answer cannot be merely about actions because a number of the sins called out i...

This chapter is beautifully passionate about the way that our completeness is in Christ. Everything that really  matters about us is best expressed in relation to Jesus. A number of contrasts are made, and we identify a rejection of Performative Christianity. There is a lot to ponder in the idea that we have "died with Christ", and the resulting freedom.

This week, we wrap up our look into Colossians 1. From Eugene Peterson’s poetic rendering of scripture to the core idea that "Christ is enough," we explore the life-changing truth that Christ’s presence in us is the foundation of our faith. We discuss the tension between conviction and complacency, and why Paul’s words remind us that our commitment to God isn’t a one-time decision but an ongoing t...

After introductory greetings, the book of Colossians launches into a glorious passages of praise to Christ.  It is widely considered to be a poem or perhaps even early Christian hymn, and we are intrigued by the variety of ways this is typeset in different translations. The most cryptic phrase to our ears is the part about Jesus being "firstborn from the dead", and we discuss the idea of His preem...

The closing chapter of Philippians seems to oscillate between extremely specific remarks and some thoughts that are truly general.  Being separated in time and culture from the first audience, we naturally gravitate towards the grand sweeping statements. Interestingly, the very fact these are abstracted from specific circumstances makes them more (not less) practical. We dwell on the idea of "fixi...

Paul highlights that Christ is our confidence, and makes a vivid contrast with the attitude of confidence in our own human effort.  It is remarkable that the contrast is illustrated not by "worldly" aspirations or desires, but rather by religious adherence. Despite "obeying the law without fault", Paul considers his religious accomplishments to be worthless compared to  knowing Jesus . We explore...

Avoiding "worldly" demands and customs is a long-standing passtime for Adventists and other protestant denominations.  The lesson this week assumes this is the same as Paul's emphasis in Philippians 2 that we should "shine like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people." We explore these verses, and they way they relate to living as agents of God's kingdom. Perhaps the focus on...

The lesson this week explores Unity through Humility.  Philippians 2 builds on the themes of chapter 1 (love, joy, patience) and draws attention to attitudes that can build community. Paul's seems to quote a poem or hymn, outlining Jesus as our example. It is interesting to think of these words in relation to the 12 disciples, as well as directly to the church in Philippi. 

Paul's evaluation of life and death is famous but still surprising.  We explore only a few verses in Philippians 1, but they are enough to stimulate an exploration of how a Christian might "understand" death. The lesson succumbs to a strong temptation to highlight the Adventist understanding of death as an unconscious sleep, although this seems not to be Paul's focus in these verses. We are struck...

There are plenty of similarities between the opening parts of Philippians and Colossians.  We love the salutation "grace and peace", and are intrigued by the emphasis on knowledge and understanding. Both passages have phrases which might seem to point towards legalism and a kind of perfectionism, but our conversation leads us to quite a different understanding. 

Our new season exploring Philippians and Colossians starts with consideration of their context.  Paul was writing from prison, and certainly had experience of circumstances going against him. This gives an interesting complexity to the famous verse about him being able to do all things through Christ. We share some personal reflections about the book of Philippians and discuss a few other verses t...

The final chapter of Joshua seems to focus on themes of God's agency, idolatry, and continuity.  There is a strong emphasis on God's actions that have led the Israelites since Abraham - and especially since the Exodus. The history that has unfolded in Joshua is described as God's doing. Calls against idolatry are perhaps an expected theme as Joshua nears the end of his life, since this issue has b...

The narrative changes gears considerably in the last two chapters of Joshua.  We get "the years passed" and mention that "Joshua was now very old", and it is clearly a conclusion to the story of this mighty leader. It is interesting to notice the ways in which Joshua himself can't easily see how emphases might change as God continues to lead his people. This entirely normal human limitation is per...

We're back at Joshua 22, and the story of avoided conflict continues to fascinate us.  Despite some difficulties with logistics and audio (sorry for lower quality this week) we explore a few new ideas from the story of a contentious altar. It is interesting to connect this with the phrases used in Joshua 4, when stones are also erected as a memorial. We discuss a connection with the tradition of c...

Joshua and Jesus are the same name, but how well does the Old Testament character point to the Messiah?  The lesson dives into slightly technical detail about "type" and "antitype", and we explore how Joshua might be interpreted in the light of God's self-revelation through Jesus.