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 — and maybe that's by design.

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.

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 remind us of the context, but also highlight Paul's authority to speak as a "slave of Christ". 

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 situation.

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 in this context are a deeper part of us than just what we do. We find value in the contrast that occurs when Paul begins listing admirable qualities as our aspirational goal.

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.

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 preeminence more generally in these verses.

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 "fixing our thoughts on what is true", and are fascinated by how the "peace of God" relates to the "God of peace".

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 this comparison, and ponder what it means to know Christ.

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 being different and increasingly set apart from the world is less helpful than a focus on being more similar to Christ.

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. 

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 by the way he expresses death as "gain" and life as an offering of service to Christ.

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. 

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 that can initially seem like platitudes - but Paul's life suggests something more substantial is intended in these statements.

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 been one focus of his leadership through the conquest of idolatrous nations. It is fascinating to reflect on the idea of continuity as we continue to learn from the story thousands of years after it was first written down.

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 perhaps just as true of any generation, and we are intrigued by the way Old Testament history proves God is more gracious than Joshua imagined.

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 communion and also ponder Joshua's absence from the story. 

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. 

This is a re-publication of an episode from 2021 (season 7 episode 5 if you're counting) because life has been hectic, and it is slightly pre-empting a bit of the lesson coming up in 2 weeks. This conversation explores a lesser-told story in Joshua that grows out of an important rule in Deuteronomy 12.

It is amazing to read him at 85 years old asking for the hardest cities to conquer all because he "is as strong as" when Moses sent him on the spy journey 45 years earlier. The story of Caleb seems to play a few roles in the narrative of Joshua, and we are intrigued by a part of the story devoted to his daughter.

This leads to a Sabbath School lesson emphasis on the need to prioritise time with God even amongst adverse circumstances. But reading the book of Joshua suggests that the Israelites may not have seen these events in this context. We've already seen how the military and religious aspects of entering God's Promised Land were entwined in ways that make us a bit uncomfortable. We're drawn to words of the great Joshua of the New Testament - Jesus himself - which seem to provide greater clarity.

Achan and his family stole plunder from Jericho against the specific command to set these things apart for God. Worse, they lied about it and buried the treasure suggesting deliberate deception. There's a lot to be horrified in this story, but perhaps the most intriguing thing is that it shows sin and disobedience within Israel. We discuss how this obvious truth impacts the overall narrative of conquering the Promised Land.

The lesson this week follows closely on the topic from our previous episode, expanding on some of the context and background of the conquest of the Promised Land. In many places the people being dispossessed had deeply troubling rituals and traditions, and we ponder the tricky idea that (at least in principle) there could be "cultures" or "worldviews" that do legitimately need to be eradicated. However, we are also attentive to the exceptions even in the book of Joshua - God's covenant in Joshua 8 is read to a multitude that included foreigners.

Joshua has already been described as a warrior, and asks whether the stranger is friend or foe. The response famously is "no", with an implied reminder that God's side might not be as simple as our human allies or enemies. This passage is only brief, but resonates with other parts of the Old Testament that speak somewhat against any trivial reading of the conquest of Jericho and other lands.

This story is told in Joshua 3 using a lot of dialog, and it is striking how many different messages are given to different groups. In some ways it highlights the connectedness of the community, and at the same time it almost seems to speak of a stricter organisational hierarchy.

Even more fascinating is the way a similar kind of thing happens slightly later with the Gibeonites, but the narrative frames it differently. Rahab is often lauded as a brave hero, but upon finding out who the Gibeonites really are the Israelites grumble and Joshua "says a curse". But they keep their word and do not kill the Gibeonites. We explore some of the similarities and differences between these deceptions, and are reminded of other Biblical examples that add to the dilemma.

It is hardly surprising that he needs to be encouraged to be strong and courageous! There are a number of details in this opening chapter that foreshadow key ideas that feature in the ongoing story of Joshua as leader of the Israelites. 

In many churches there is an awkwardness involved with celebrating human excellence. It somehow seems in conflict with gratefulness to God, but what if this distinction is not actually very useful?

We are delighted to draw attention to some excellent reflective questions posed by the lesson this week, and we turn our attention to Exodus 33 and 34. After the golden calf incident Moses continues his advocacy to God on behalf of the Israelites. The narrative seems to suggest that God is keen about leading Moses, but less excited about all the people. This passage has the well-known self-revelation God provides of Himself to Moses, but we notice other interesting aspects along the way.

The story of the golden calf at the base of Mount Sinai is well-known, but a pointed question about the substitutionary model of atonement gives us a particular lens through which to explore this part of Exodus. Some well-known details turn out to be in a different sequence, and we are intrigued by a sort of blame-game between God and Moses. In the end, it almost seems as though "substitution" and "atonement" are featured separately in this passage rather than in partnership.

Last week we saw how the Sabbath entwined with justice at the beginning of God's instructions, and in this episode we find Sabbath featuring at the end. In this case the emphasis seems more on holiness than on justice, and we explore some of these juxtapositions.

We're struck in this chapter by how strongly Sabbath is connected to broader ideas of justice. God seems highly focused on the plight of the poor and the foreigner, and the Sabbath is to be a blessing for them as much as it is for the blessed and wealthy. There are challenges here for anyone wishing to be a Sabbath-keeper.

Before the 10 Commandments are given, Moses goes up and down the mountain numerous times. In fact, this chapter starts with a wonderfully direct statement by God which is willingly agreed to by the Israelites. It almost seems as though the friction is gone from the story, perhaps highlighting the disobedience which eventually occurs. We explore a some of the motivation attributed to God in this chapter.

The lesson this week poses these challenges as "tests of Israel's faith", but we wonder whether some of the issues that arise might be better categorised as raw disobedience. How much does it change our reading of the story, and what does this mean for us today?

It is fascinating to explore the way it is described using collective language. Again we're challenged to ponder the ways in which we might be a bit like Pharaoh, and of course it is dramatic that the Israelites cry out in dismay so soon after the Plagues which spoke of God's power.

It is a striking calamity throughout Egypt, and there is a lot to think about here. The lesson has an interesting prompt - asking us to ponder what our decisions and actions might be in situations of responsibility like Pharaoh. We explore this story from a few unusual angles.

This was published originally on October 1, 2021, and so you may have forgotten a few of the details. It was an episode that we particularly enjoyed, and Cameron shares some interesting insights about the Plagues on Egypt that featured in a sermon he preached.

This week we focus on a strange story that occurs between the burning bush commission and Moses's return to Egypt. It is yet another apparent hiccup in the flow of the Exodus story, and we are challenged by the way God is described as being angry with Moses. Given everything that takes place, it is fascinating that the "the people of Israel were convinced that the Lord had sent Moses and Aaron."

Two great things happen in Exodus three: God introduces himself by "name" with the famous "I am", and we have one of the greatest-ever stories of God's calling. It is interesting to ponder how reluctant Moses is, and we explore various ways this challenges us today.

By the time baby Moses gets his name in this story, the only other named characters are the midwives Shiphrah and Puah. In fact, almost all the people doing anything proactive are women! We notice a few fresh perspectives on this well-known narrative, and are interested to see how even chapter 1 and 2 set up some of the things that will feature in the Exodus.

There is a widespread idea of some prophecies being conditional on our response, and others being unconditional. The more we look at it in the Old Testament the more it seems this distinction is not often all that clear in the prophecy and its wording. We are intrigued by some of the implications for reading and applying prophecy today, especially as Adventists.

We can't help focus on the Sabbath commandment, which features so prominently in in the "Seventh-day Adventist" name and also in our reading of last-day prophecy. It is striking that Jesus stirred up considerable controversy over his Sabbath actions, and the lesson this week has an intriguing description that leads us into a broader discussion.

The story of Ruth is well-known and widely loved, and for good reason. It's a love story, with vivid characters and fabulous prophetic echos of Jesus the Redeemer. Interestingly, it also intersects with the idea of moral decline that came up in last week's episode. We are challenged to look deeper than the all-too-easy dismissive judgementalism that can be so tempting.

The first situation sounds like confidence and an assurance of being right, while the second is all about recognising the insidious ways we can become the monster we claim to fight. Probably each individual christian feels more at home in one or the other of these extremes, and there are plenty of positions in between. It is humbling to recall the experience of David accusing himself after a story from the prophet Nathan.

However, it is possible this is due to such things being an almost universal part of human experience. The lesson this week asks us to consider how Psalm 67 might inform our understanding of the role of God's people in end times. At first glance it seems more interested in telling us about the role of God himself, and it is possible that the application to God's people might be more timeless.

The lesson this week comments on judgement themes in Psalm 5. We find it somewhat difficult to identify all the connections, but find value in the challenging poetic images. We are particularly intrigued by what it might meant to recognise some of the "bloodthirsty and deceitful" aspects in our own lives. Can we cope with the idea that someone might be praying these ideas about us!

In the end, the Bible says in so many ways, God and goodness do triumph. Prophecy seems to use this long-term hope for the future as a lens through which to examine and evaluate present actions. We examine the beginning of the book of Ezekiel, where a prophet is called to speak God's words "whether the people listen to them or not". 

One interesting aspect of the sacrificial system in the Old Testament is that God sometimes declared he rejected it! Does this perhaps illuminate what might be the actual substance behind this ritual? We explore how "simply going through the motions" can perhaps be valuable spiritual discipline and yet can also be dangerous disengagement from the mission of God in our world.

This episode follows on from our last one, exploring issues of human government and nation-states. There's an interesting connection with themes in a recent Ezra Klein Show podcast from the New York Times. Jesus reminded the people who were proud of being Abraham's descendents that God could make stones into children of Abraham. Maybe even some secular institutions can be used by God for his purposes. When Christ wanted to typify the sort of spiritual illness to which self-righteous religious people are susceptible, he contrasted a pharisee with agent of the state (tax collector).

Sorry for some audio quality being lower than usual this week.

When listing the nations descended from Noah, Genesis 10 points out that Nimrod built a kingdom including places such as Babel and Ninevah. That's somewhat foreboding given our knowledge of the subsequent stories. Although it is good to be counter cultural, is the government (or government in general) always bad? 

It is interesting to see that God is able to reveal aspects of himself through this image both when marriage is at its best and also when it doesn't go as hoped. 

But it is fascinating to reconsider just how detailed these introductions actually are. What is the resolution of the imagery in Genesis, and does it add value forwards through time? Could some of it only make sense in retrospect? We focus particularly on themes of "the lamb" and sacrifice, and it seems much is left unresolved (from our Christian perspective) in the book of Genesis itself.

But it does sometimes seem strange then that He chooses such mysterious analogies and images. This new season will explore a few of these allusions, images, and symbols. One key issue with prophecy is whether these aspects should be interpreted literally or figuratively, but there are numerous other contrasts that could be explored: prosaic-vs-poetic, understated-vs-exaggerated, right-vs-wrong, etc. Maybe some Biblical passages don't neatly fit into some of these categories.

This may not be the most helpful juxtaposition. The Adventist lesson guide this week asks "how could we express love to God, or love to others, if we are violating any one of the Ten Commandments?" In one sense this seems reasonable (the Commandments do relate to loving God and others). But in the light of Jesus famous Sermon on the Mount it seems equally reasonable to suggest that no sinner truly "keeps" the Ten Commandments. Does that really mean we are incapable of expressing love?

This Psalm is only brief, but resonates deeply with numerous bible passages about God's passion for justice. How can we engage with Him in "upholding the cause of the poor and the oppressed", and how do we make sure to avoid "defending the unjust"?

An interesting feature of the Sabbath School lesson this quarter is that it consistently assumes there is comfort in knowing why bad things happen. This may well be true in some situations, but we ponder on the story of Job who was never told the answer to this question. The question of what more God could have done is posted in Isaiah 5, but not about God's actions to prevent suffering. Instead, it is an expression of God's yearning for his people to exhibit justice and become "the vines he delights in". Perhaps we can do this even without really understanding pain and suffering.

The lesson this week sets out to explore the "rules of engagement" in the conflict between God and Satan. Is this a helpful framing of the situation if Satan - the great deceiver - disregards any rules and tries to cheat? The idea has value in attempting to explain why God might not step in sometimes as we wish, but we explore a surprising alternative idea.

This conversation grows out of the previous episode, revisiting the idea of comparing or weighing good versus evil in the world. In a profound sense it seems that goodness really must outweigh all the suffering. This is the fundamental core of hope in the Christian message, and there are some provocative ways in which this idea can intersect our experience.

A lot has been said over Christian history about how we might understand God's will, His providence, and the difficult wording of predestination used in this opening passage of Ephesians. Our discussion turns to the implications these somewhat theoretical ideas have on the very practical experience of pain and suffering. There are obviously multiple ways to put it all together! We reflect on how it tends to be more fruitful to focus on God's Love and Grace.

Exploring aspects of perverted justice invariably leads to any number of scenarios that defy the just/unjust categorisation. What are we to do in such situations? While Micah 6 calls us to do justice, it also reminds us to love kindness.

The idea of justice appeals to everyone who feels ripped off, but "God's judgement" can sound threatening. There are aspects of justice that are difficult for us to comprehend, let alone achieve. 

In fact, this attribute of God is perhaps more prominent in the Bible than in many contemporary expressions of Christianity. It makes sense for us to tend to avoid thinking about it, given the abundance of situations in which human anger is unhelpful. We discuss how anger might fit in to our understanding of God? Is anger ever ok for us? Can we have rigeous indignation without it simply being self-righteous indignation?

We (meaning humans in general and Seventh-day Adventists in particular) tend to be somewhat distrustful of emotions, but it turns out that similar critiques can be applied to reason and other aspects of human experience. One intriguing emotional word used in the Bible to describe God is "jealous", but elsewhere we read that love is not jealous! This is slightly unfair word play because many translations use "envious" or other words instead of jealous, but stimulates interesting conversation. Maybe God's jealousy in the OT is an expression of love.

Some disruptions are referenced at the start of the conversation, and others persisted long enough to delay this episode by more than a week (sorry)! Thinking about pleasing God often leads Christians to ponder the corruption of sin - but the Parable of the Lost Sons in Luke 15 is a great way to remember that sin doesn't eliminate God's love for us. Indeed it was while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us!

This question from the quarterly introduction leads in many productive directions. It comes up in this context because many Christian traditions picture God's justice as somehow being associated with His anger. We explore a few lines of thinking about anger and love, and also have a preliminary go at the related question "How do Love and Justice go together?"

There's a lot in Christian history that suggests love and justice are somehow opposing attributes of God. We suspect this may not be the case, and in this introductory episode on this theme we tackle a few of the questions in the Sabbath School introduction. When discussing God's love, Isaiah 53:11 is a helpful reminder that there doesn't need to be a contrast between sacrifice and delight. 

This is a well-known passage, but worth revisiting. It is interesting that nobody seems to recognise the resurrected Jesus at first encounter, and we explore some other aspects of this chapter.

There may be no "book of Pilate" in the Bible, but there are some interesting aspects of this character worth exploring. There are themes of power, control, and God's mission. This is not the most important part of Jesus going to the cross, but we turn to it as a stimulus for good conversation.

This is a simple statement Jesus makes in John 16, but it seems at first glance quite counterintuitive. The answer hinges in the text on the Advocate who is to come, and we explore this idea. We apologise for this episode being published a week late!

It is interesting to see some patterns in these various passages. People listening typically have difficulty accepting what Jesus is saying, and there's plenty to ponder in what he claims to be. We end up realising the importance of not just "having truth", but finding effective ways to express it.

This phrase in John serves a similar role as the phrase "Kingdom of God" in the synoptic gospels. We explore how these different phrases can help inform each other, and land on some challenges that arise from this theme. There's even a touch of mystical mathematics!

The resurrection of Lazarus is a fantastic story, and features in quite positive detail two characters who are typically maligned: Thomas and Martha. We explore their actions and statements in this story to ponder what it might look like to be blessed for believing.

The lesson study guide this week poses this idea as a comfort for people who feel like they are in the minority, like Adventism is within Christianity on some issues. Ironically, denominations mean that "minorities" tend to cluster together into communities of worship where they can feel the sense of belonging that is enjoyed by a majority. We explore this idea through the story of disciplies finding it difficult to follow a train of thought Jesus has about eating his body.

We spend some time rehabilitating this woman's reputation somewhat, and exploring how Jesus interacts with her. There is power in her testimony and "many from the village believed", but what about her experience and proclamation was so compelling?

The story is about Jesus calling his early disciples, and them also calling others. It seems at first glance that they really "got it", calling Jesus "the Son of God—the King of Israel!” And yet, we know from the rest of the story that they were regularly confused by Jesus and his actions. It seems possible to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah and simultaneously misunderstand most of what he is trying to achieve. That's worth pondering.

Humans are story-telling creatures and so good analogies and narratives captivate us. The opening "prologue" of John's gospel introduces many of the central themes that reappear throughout the book. Perhaps it is possible to get things mixed up if we end up focussing more on the analogy than on Christ himself.

The well-known story in John 6 tells about Jesus miraculously feeding the 5000, and it seems an interesting context to explore the nature of God.

The healing at the Pool of Bethesda is a great story, but the more we look at it the more questions arise. One obvious one is why just this man was healed when there were 5 covered porches of "sick crowds" by the pool. It is also fascinating that John records this miracle as a sign that can help believers maintain confidence in Christ, and yet the religious leaders who witnessed it were far from persuaded.

The Book of Mark seems to have multiple endings, and the earliest manuscripts lack the final few paragraphs we typically find in our bibles. There's a lot to ponder in the resurrection story, but it turns out that the original ending to Mark is not perhaps as abrupt as it first appears.

The menu for the meal recorded in this chapter was almost certainly quite familiar everyday food for Jesus and his disciples, and yet it was also a Passover meal with deep historical and ritual significance. This same juxtaposition shows up in the various ways that Christians celebrate communion - is it the actual body of Christ, or could it be best done with a Big Mac and diet Coke? However we find the most meaning in this story and tradition, it seems clear that Jesus claiming the Passover meal as representing his own body is a vivid picture of God's gracious desire to save.

This chapter is almost entirely a sustained speech by Jesus, which is prompted by some observations about the impermanence of the temple. Some of it seems quite specifically about the temple in Jerusalem, and this makes the most sense of some of the details. Other sections sound a lot like the apocalypse, which is how the Adventist church usually reads it. We discuss wars, famines, and rumours-of-wars - but can't help comparing the weighty topics of this chapter against the way Jesus points out a generous widow in the preceding verses.

We focus on the story of Jesus cursing a fig tree, which seems somewhat unfair given that it was not the season for figs. There's something interesting here because when the disciples ask about it Jesus answers with comments about prayer. We find a few connections, but are unable to fully resolve our questions about this passage. Helpfully there are plenty of other passages that make the important things clear - even in this part of Mark.

At first it seems almost strange for a proven healer to ask a blind man what he wants, and yet that is the conversation between Jesus and Bartimaeus. We explore this story and some others with similar phrases to ponder the depth of choice and agency that God seems to want embedded in His creation.

It is fascinating to connect this conversation Jesus has with his disciples with the story of the Transfiguration which happens soon afterwards. The preceding healing of a blind man is the only recorded time that Jesus has to touch twice to heal, and it could be a masterful teaching technique. The disciples are confused by their inability to cast an evil spirit out from a young boy, and the explanation Jesus provides is not all that clarifying!

We can't fully understand why Jesus responded to the Syrophoenician woman as he did, but her response teaches us as well as His disciples. She understood the vast power of God (thus her request was for mere crumbs), and she reminds us that there were crumbs below the table precisely because the children had dropped dropped and rejected them. There's a challenge for all of us who want to be the Children of God.

We briefly discuss Jesus calming the storm at the end of Mark 4, and then spend some time examining the demon-possessed man in Mark 5. The second half of this chapter tells of a woman healed and a girl resurrected, but we can't add to the stimulating comments way back in episode 8 of season 2 of this podcast! We get a bit deep in the geography of the Gerasenes, Gennesaret, and the Decapolis - but find our way back to an important reflection on what these stories are trying to tell us about Jesus.

It is interesting to see how useful the agricultural analogy of seeds are for Jesus and other biblical writers. We explore a few examples growing out of this chapter, and end up somewhat sympathetic to the disciples who later "asked him what the parables meant".

The paralysed man being lowered through the roof is a well-known story, but has plenty to discuss. The four faithful friends are one of the best examples of the power of intercession, and it is interesting to honestly examine whether we might be inclined to an attitude similar to "the teachers of religious law."

This is a short episode recorded in somewhat adverse circumstances, and we notice the emphasis on Jesus' authority and authenticity. We look forward to exploring these themes as we progress through Mark.

One of the interesting themes in this opening chapter is time.

The Adventist church has various more-or-less clear pictures it regularly tells about the closing stages of the Great Controversy. It is certainly not unique in its fascination with the apocalypse and transition to a restored resurrected eternity. We discuss a few details which seem not to mesh all that well with the loving revelation of God in the life and ministry of Jesus, and conclude with a resounding endorsement of focussing on His love.

The lesson this week states it is a battle between "truth and error", but quotes from John 8 where Satan is called the "father of lies". It doesn't seem that error means exactly the same thing as lies, and so we explore this passage in John to see what might be the opposite of Truth. We strongly suspect the issue at hand might go deeper than erroneous intellectual ideas.

The lesson this week takes a deliberate focus on the Catholic church and the pope, but we can't help looking broader for the Beastly powers mentioned in Revelation's description of end times. Our lived social experience no longer resounds to the great dichotomy between catholic and protestant - indeed there's a variety of societal divides which seem far more entrenched. Illicit drugs and family violence are deeply destructive of human society and does not seem any exaggeration to call them beastly tools of the devil. We don't have all the answers, but feel drawn to reflect on the primary importance of true worship in the care for poor and widows and orphans.

The topic for this week is satanic deception, which the Adventist lesson guide identifies quite specifically with spiritualism. 2 Thessalonians 2 has a lot to say about a "man of lawlessness" instigating grand deceptions, but we find some of the details are not straightforward to understand. We are drawn to a question from the lesson that has broader relevance beyond its context: "what kind of deceptions will people face in the last days?"

We explore how God's Law (and the Sabbath) impact our picture of who God is. Are they the only way (or even a good way) of understanding God's character?

A listener comment points us towards Zechariah 4, which mirrors many elements from Rev 11 that we discussed recently. It also speaks of the sanctuary both literally (foundations being laid) and figuratively (lampstand metaphor). The New Testament seems to take this temple idea and radically apply it to the community of Christ.

Prophets are fascinating and unsettling in an incredible variety of ways throughout the Bible, but one consistent theme is anticipation of the future. We look at Joseph's teenage dreams and explore how things don't turn out the way he probably expected. It seems one important role of prophecy is to remind us of hope.

The lesson this week makes quite a strong statement about this chapter pointing to the French Revolution. We discuss a few cautions about confirmation bias, and don't see this connection particularly vividly in the text itself. Rather than try to reach a definitive interpretation, we explore some details in this passage and meditate on the power of God despite the observation of suffering and oppression.

The bible has numerous accounts of "reformations", where followers of God either re-found truths of old or expanded into new truth. We mention a few examples before looking a bit more closely at Ezra. There is much to admire in this reformation story, but some details are troubling. Reformation seems to be needed in an ongoing or repeating manner, and it is challenging to consider the idea that we could be the odds against which valuable reformation might fight.

[edit: audio fixed to remove silent section part way through]

History is full of people who passionately defended what they felt was true, but which seems more questionable to us in retrospect. This problem is not new - exactly the same thing occurred in Biblical times. Throughout the Gospels people struggle to accept the Truth in Jesus because of their passion for defending truth they inherited or developed. John 9 tells a fascinating story all about knowledge, which highlights the way that conversations about truth are often motivated by working out who is in and who is out. We take comfort in Jesus being "the way the truth and the life", and it seems that standing on the truth still allows room for growth and even uncertainty.

Christians take that name because of their belief in Jesus as God incarnate - the whole point is that He had to become human in order for us to better understand who God is (and what we mean to Him). It seems reasonable to encounter the Bible in the same way: inspiration but through genuinely human authors.

It might seem strange not to contrast love with hate, but the book of 1 John spends a lot of time on the relationship between love and a focus on what is best for others. It is quite a stimulating perspective on love and its role in the revelation of God. We realise that love can have many "opposites", each of which represents a somewhat "great controversy" that we each must navigate in the particulars of life.

It is easy to get tied up in knots with this sort of thing, ending up squeezed into a rhetorical corner that sounds like God is responsible for bad things in the world. In a way that's the whole point of this theme and exploration - searching for a way to express a deep conviction that God is good and just even while we acknowledge pain and suffering. We definitely have more questions than answers, which is perhaps appropriate for this introductory episode of the season.

One helpful thought is that things are never "just symbols" - human societies are too much dominated by story-telling for that to work as a dismissive statement. Symbols matter, and feelings matter, and we find that validated by the Psalms.

Psalm 134 is extremely brief but packs in a number of interesting thoughts. There's a suggestion that worship is valid at all times and all places, and we are invited to explore what it means to bless someone. 

The idea of pilgrimage has been central to much of religious history, and yet is largely absent from protestant Christianity. Are we missing anything of importance? How might the idea apply to our own experience? 

This Psalm is dominated by an overview of Israelite history, with a remarkable focus on where they failed to stay faithful to God. It seems the main point is that "God cared for them" even though "the people kept sinning". It is interesting to reflect on how well lessons from the past are handed between generations in our own society, and indeed which lessons are most important to pass on.

Some psalms obviously (to our eyes) foreshadow aspects of the earthly life and ministry of Jesus. Psalm 22 and 23 contain perhaps the most prominent examples, which we enjoyed in the first season of Sabbath School from Home. Psalm 2 makes mention of "submitting to God's royal son", but there's some cultural and linguistic context worth exploring. We ponder the challenges of prophecy, inspiration, and messianic interpretations.

It is clear that controlling what we say is a core step towards wisdom, and this psalm also contains a vivid reminder of how important it is to be open to correction. These are both harder than they initially appear, and we explore the themes and challenges within these few verses.

Psalm 57 is a beautiful celebration of God's mercy, but this concept keeps popping up all over the Bible. It is clearly an emphasis worth dwelling on.

The Sabbath School lesson falls into a fascinating trap by using fairly heavy "us" and "them" language to describe the poor and needy. We don't claim to be in this category, but it is likely that some readers of the lesson will be. Psalm 41 actually addresses this in a subtle way by switching from 3rd- to 1st-person part way through!

Exile in a foreign land is a substantial theme for many biblical authors, and the lesson this week applies the idea to our sin-bound world. This resonates with our calling to enter God's Kingdom, but it seems possible to get too carried away with this analogy. Is sin becoming more prominent in society, or less? Is the world becoming more of a strange land, or more of the homely Kingdom? Maybe the challenge is to reflect on what kinds of places feel most like home and what that says about us.

This well-loved Psalm strongly endorses God's protection, and we find the passage to be uplifting and helpful. But it is certainly easy to find counter examples provided by people who weren't kept from all harm, and we discuss how this all holds together. 

What does it tell us about God, and is there any helpful alternative imagery? We dwell on Psalm 100 to ponder the greatness and goodness of God.

Perhaps the most striking thing about Psalm 44 is the rawness of complaint and accusation against God. Clearly a person of faith must be "allowed" to express their feelings - both in contentment and in anguish. We usually gravitate towards praise and worship, but it is OK to be honest. In fact, we realise that complaint and lamentation can be an expression of faith.

Our initially general discussion of Inspiration leads to the reasonably profound idea of transferring a thought between two people. There are some interesting insights from mathematics, but some thoughts are not so easy to transfer to another person in high fidelity. The Psalms seem to be the result of many repeated attempts all building on each other and combining to provide a richer picture. We conclude by noticing the collective pronouns that end Psalms 33, and propose that one good way to read the Psalms is to do it together in community.

The lesson poses a question about what the end of God's mission might be, and it is a difficult thing to qualify with thresholds. The metaphors in 1 Peter chapter 2 seem to suggest that God's mission is always ongoing, as He attempts to build His creation into a better temple.

This complication arises from the implicit role of God in numerous surprising coincidences, and yet the complete absence of explicit mention of God. It is also difficult to find much helpful contemporary mission relevance for the bloodthirsty conclusion to the story. Fear seems to be a substantial element of the "mission activity" described in this story, and we ponder a few responses to the challenging aspects of this book.

As anticipated, we follow on from last week's topic of "the unreached" by considering what it could mean to be reached. This passage in Jeremiah 7 is one of many that make it quite clear that many who self-identify as "reached" by God still have glaring deficiencies in understanding. 

We look at the well-known story of Paul in Athens using a statue to an unknown god to launch a conversation about Jesus. The trouble is that the analogy worked because these people were perhaps "partly reached" more than "unreached". In fact, it might be a useful challenge to ponder how reached we are ourselves rather than feel smug in our current state of knowledge and belief.

A number of biblical examples are illustrative, but perhaps the most iconic is the story of Daniel and his friends making a point to King Nebuchadnezzar about their overarching commitment to God.

This topic is particularly timely for our world, stretched by financial pressure and prominently torn by conflict. It is worth pondering the thought from James 1 that pure religion is looking after widows and orphans.

Although so well-known, this story has so much capacity to challenge us. It provides an excellent perspective on key aspects of "mission", and we ponder what it means for us today.

Some of the motivations experienced by friends of Jesus in the New Testament don't correspond all that well to our experience as followers of Christ millennia later. Other stories map more closely, and Cleopas walking with a friend to Emmaus seems a great example.

Looking at the story of Jonah exposes a much more challenging idea: what if we avoid mission simply because we don't actually agree with God that someone else needs and deserves His mercy?

Talking about comfort zones in the context of God's mission reminds us just how powerful the pull of comfort can be. Do we get uncomfortable in our inclusive acceptance of people, or do we expect them to leave their comfort zone when joining our Christian community? 

It's a command to go, make disciples, baptise them, and teach them to obey. All of these aspects deserve to be unpacked a lot, but a somewhat obvious idea is that this task might not involve all that much preaching and Revelation seminars! What if we accidentally turn mission into making people more like us, rather than more like God?

This new season will explore the theme of "God's Mission, My Mission", and we have to recognise that the word "mission" means a wide range of different things to different Christians. In fact, our initial reaction to this title probably depends on what kind of mission we are picturing. This idea will need to be explored more fully in upcoming episodes, but first In this introductory episode we focus on the God of mission as revealed in Jesus.

This episode is a bit of an experiment - does listening to the entire book of Ephesians work for you after 13 episodes exploring it bit-by-bit?

Peace seems at first to be the flip side of the aggressive military imagery of God's armour, but it might not be that simple. The peace and unity described throughout Ephesians is something that must be built up - it does not just appear by default.

This passage is perhaps the most well-known part of Ephesians, and yet it actually feels somewhat strange juxtaposed against the deep theme of unity that we've seen throughout the book. We discuss the aggressive aspects of this analogy, and find lots of overlap with our discomfort at the preceding slavery passage.

It is hardly surprising that the New Testament mentions slavery (it was a cultural norm), but it is a shame that the various authors were not more clear in condemnation of the practice. We explore why some situations do seem to call us to obey and be sincerely respectful of authority, and yet many other situations seem to call us to resist and agitate for change. 

...except that after the emphasis on unity that has been observed consistently throughout Ephesians so far, it seems most likely that this part is not talking about submission and power balance at all. It is a radical call to inclusive and united love, and it's actually quite fascinating that Paul suggests marriage relationships can help us understand the mystery of Christ's unity with the Church.

The chapter opens with a stark juxtaposition between "worthless deeds of evil and darkness" and choices "that please the Lord". It is valuable to ponder the inclusion of greed at least as prominently as sexual immorality - an emphasis that has perhaps been lopsided in Christian history. There's also some interesting comments on music which circle back to themes of unity and community.

There's an interesting comment on anger, but we end up spending most of our time exploring the admonition to "watch the way you talk". The bar of "saying only what helps" is a very lofty goal, and has direct relevance to the way we interact online in modern society.

This chapter starts with an exploration of the reason for and mechanism of unity: love. This emphasis is expressed explicitly through some wonderful verses, and also poetically through a pattern of 7 that culminates with God our father of all, "who is over all, in all, and living through all." We are intrigued by the role that teaching and doctrine plays (and specifically does not play) in all of this.

Even while taking some diversions to obliquely reference his own calling and situation, Paul sticks with the tone and theme that he has developed in the previous chapters. A few key metaphors and images jump out at us, including "mystery", "prisoner", and inclusive unity.

We continue our steady meander through Ephesians, which this week is up to the second part of chapter 2. There are a range of meaningful metaphors here describing the inclusion of Gentiles into God's plan, culminating in sanctuary imagery that speaks of the unity God seeks to have with us as his creation.

This is such a clear description of the idea that God saves us by his grace and because of his love (not as a reward for our actions or attitudes) that it is hard to work out how some Christians have seen things differently. We are particularly intrigued and puzzled by a few phrases Paul uses here, such as "children of wrath" and the past tense of God having "raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms". 

There are two prayer sections in Ephesians (1:15-23 and 3:14-21), and we notice they have a lot in common. Even though they're positive and uplifting, we are vaguely uncomfortable because of hearing numerous didactic and disciplinary prayers in the past. Thinking about various "cultures of praying" turns into somewhat of a mirror in which we examine ourselves and personalities, and we are challenged by the idea to pray constantly.

Paul seems keen to introduce themes of unity, redemption, Spirit, and inheritance. Each of these are likely to be developed further in the epistle, but even in the first 14 verses there is a range of rich ideas worth pondering. In particular, the unity described as God's plan is astoundingly wide-ranging.

There are a number of anecdotes recorded about Paul in the city of Ephesus, and most of them seem to highlight the prominence of his activity. It seems he regularly "went viral" in the society of the day, and stayed there for some years having significant impact. 

Exploring (nominally) the "3 angels messages" of Revelation 14 has been hard work at times this season, and we approach this final episode with a slight sense of exhaustion. We certainly haven't resolved all the questions that arise from these chapters! However, there is a hope and peace that seems central to the book, and comes more prominently to the foreground in the final chapters of Revelation. This is worth some attention.

Thinking about "marks" in general leads us to wonder what it might mean for somebody to be Graffitied by the Beast. It is remarkable to find that Peter is declared by Jesus as the rock of the church and also decried as "Satan" within only a few verses of Matthew 16. We suspect there is room for considerable humility when thinking about beastly marks.

There are a surprising number of connections and similarities between Job and the more recognisably apocalyptic writings of Daniel and Revelation. There are scenes in heaven, and even beasts from the land and the sea!

The lesson jumps straight into some well-worn Adventist slippers: the State of dead (which we mostly skip over), and the 7th-day Sabbath (which we focus on a little more closely). It is interesting to observe that Adventists in practice often end up loving Catholics while excoriating the Catholic church, which actually suggests some equivocation about our conventional narrative.

John 11 tells of the pharisees recognising that Jesus will rise against Rome, but not wanting this messiah they profess to believe in. It seems deception can be subtle - what other temptations or deceptions might be more destructive to God's kingdom? 

It is interesting that Babylon is invoked in Revelation to represent great evil. A number of pretty terrible regimes intersect with the Old Testament stories, and taking another look at Babylon leaves us feeling that it might not have even been the worst. We discuss the different approaches to life that can arise from a focus on apocalyptic Babylon.

The lesson this week sets out to discuss Sabbath and issues of worship in the End Times described by Revelation. It quickly stumbles into a bit of a creation rut, which is a topic we already discussed in the previous episode. Taking some of the rhetorical questions at legitimate face value turns out to be a productive line of conversation.

There is a wide variety of Christian pictures of the "how" of creation, and some of these are explicitly repudiated in this week's SDA Sabbath School lesson. Certainly there are some questions that arise from some of these understandings, but it seems that such questions are not simply solved by adopting a more conventional traditional interpretation of the Creation Week in Genesis. Perhaps it is worth pondering what might actually be involved in "worshiping Him who made".

The Adventist church has a deep penchant for timekeeping, most vividly on display in our 7th day Sabbath focus. The second most prominent example is an obsession with time periods in the prophetic visions of Daniel. It is fascinating to ponder Time as the Temple of God, especially in the light of eschatology. How should we live now in the light of expectation - how will the future shape your present?

This combination of adjectives is striking, and goes straight to the core of a traditional Adventist understanding of the final judgement. The lesson seems to squirm a little when trying to explain how this is good news, and we agree that there's often a tension here. Perhaps judgement makes more sense as good news when you're oppressed and exiled under evil earthly powers. We look at Revelation 14:6-7, and turn back to Daniel 7 to see a picture of Judgement as "vindication".

The angel in Revelation 14 who shouts "fear God" is unique in the Bible, because no other angel is recorded with this message. In fact, the phrase "fear God" is not all that common in the Bible. However, plenty of angels come with the message "do not be afraid", and we turn to some of these examples to stimulate thought and conversation. We look at Hagar (Gen 21), Gideon (Judges 6), Balaam (Numbers 22), Elijah (2 Kings 1), and Mary and Zechariah (Luke 1).

This section of Revelation 14 has seemed fairly scary to many throughout history, but the Adventist Sabbath School lesson goes out of its way to argue for reading a narrative of grace. We discuss the text in the context of these two different approaches.

While this passage is often referred to as the "Three Angels' Messages", we're looking at the second half of the chapter which only starts after those three messages have been described. Additional angels continue to feature, with further messages! It does seem strange to be working backwards through Revelation 14, but there's a valuable discussion about the "Son of Man" character in this part of the chapter. We also ponder the idea of harvest and being "ripe".

This season will focus on the Angels Messages in Revelation 14, and we begin by acknowledging a few reservations about the way this topic has often been delivered. Revelation has so much poetic power to stimulate conversation and thought, but particular interpretations have occasionally been used as tests to declare people "in" or "out" of community. The story of Balaam reminds us that receiving angelic messages might not necessarily mean you're anything other than a donkey!

At first, "rewards" seems to be difficult to isolate from a merit-based picture of our relationship with God. In fact, the words of Jesus in Revelation 22:12 seem to exacerbate this conundrum! The key question here in the context of stewardship seems to be motivation, and we discuss a few ways to think about this topic. This is also an opportunity to reflect on some of the ideas that have developed this season.

We turn to the story of Nehemiah rebuilding Jerusalem after the exile, which presents a fascinating case study of holding these two elements in combination. Nehemiah both prays to God for protection and arms the builders. The surprising observation is that we are also capable of this blurring, and health turns out to be a fruitful analogy.

Yet again we find a tension between "responsible financial planning" (ie saving for retirement) and "good spiritual stewardship" (ie living generously without worry for tomorrow). In Luke 12 Jesus tells a parable about a rich fool, who stored up the proceeds of a fantastic harvest only to die before enjoying any benefits. In a society like Australia where superannuation (retirement savings) is required of every employer, hopefully it is indeed possible to "have a rich relationship with God" despite storing up earthly wealth!

Coveting is called out in the Ten Commandments, and certainly fits in the broader theme of stewardship for this season. We try to focus on a few biblical examples of covetousness, but they're invariably not very nice stories. It proves difficult for us to look past the culturally inaccessible punishments and consequences that arise from the covetous actions of Achan, Ahab, and Ananias. Perhaps one obvious take-away is that covetousness is indeed a serious issue.

A tension seems to exist between being a good and responsible steward of our resources (money, time) and being wholeheartedly generous and self-sacrificing. We launch from an interesting passage in 1 Timothy 5 that describes our first responsibility as being to care for family - in fact "those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith". A number of lived examples highlight the sort of conundrums that are inescapable.

We resonate with this sentence from the Sabbath School lesson, and explore the famous parable of sheep and goats. The Christian call to live generously towards the poor is easy to acknowledge in principle, but in practice there are a few ways it can get hard to optimise.

There seem to be a variety of ways to think of this concept, and we notice a few that don't work so well for us. The contrast in Mark 8:36 is between gaining the whole world and losing our soul, so does this help clarify the heavenly treasure?

The lesson this week makes some bold statements about the undesirability of debt, and even the Bible sounds similar in passages such as Deut 15: "You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow." Loans and finance are an almost inescapable part of contemporary society - are they actually all that similar to the way debt worked in Biblical times? Our conversation ranges to other non-monetary kinds of debt, and we suspect there's some valuable nuance in this whole topic.

In Christian vocabulary, Offerings are regularly found close to tithe - but the words are not synonyms. We read from the passage about an offering being given to support needy Christians in Jerusalem, and it seems this idea is perhaps more prevalent in the New Testament than the simple formula of tithe. A great number of questions quickly arise about how to choose wise offering destinations and what amount of giving actually constitutes generosity.

It is all very well to say that the Old Testament tithing system was to support the Levites, but what did they actually do? What was tithe used for, and how was it "paid"? We have many more questions than answers in this conversation! Exploring how the biblical system might map across to contemporary tithing ends up with us pondering what tithe could look like in the future.

There are clear words on the page in Malachi 3 that suggest a tight relationship between tithe and blessing, and yet history has plenty of counter-examples. What can we do with this passage, and how does it connect to the idea of tithing as practice for generous living?

The Sabbath School lesson for this new season explores the theme of stewardship, and we are reluctant to jump in with all our most prominent thoughts because they'll invariably form themes for the coming episodes. We share some reflections on family that arise from the recent Christmas season, and anticipate a few key ideas that will surely come up in the next few weeks.

At the end of a season discussing beliefs about what happens after death, we finish things off by pondering just how much these beliefs impact the way we live. Through a variety of hypotheticals and a few unpleasant historical stories we identify a lack of direct logical connection between these things. In the end we can't do much better than accept the advice in Ecclesiastes 12 to "Fear God and obey his commands".

Coming near the end of this season exploring death and the afterlife, we explore how beliefs on this topic fit into the bigger picture of living a Christian life. The Adventist church has a fairly strong focus on the "state of the dead", and what if someone agrees with the doctrine but not the emphasis? With a fascinating touch on the issue of gambling, we ponder whether there might be too many things that are right for all of us to focus on all of them.

Being a Bible-valuing and Spirit-led follower of Christ can lead to tension - sometimes we need to be led beyond our existing interpretations and applications of scripture. This tension has existed since the earliest days of the Christian movement.

We turn to the parable of the building on sand versus rock foundations in an attempt to discuss the role of doctrine, heading towards a conversation about "false teachings" about experiences after death. However, we end up substantially side-tracked by a rousing critique of phrasing in the Sabbath School lesson. Is there even a contrast to be made between the person and the teachings of Christ? 

The lesson explores the fires of hell and the theory of purgatory, and from an Adventist perspective it is easy to roundly dismiss both of these ideas. But does it really get much easier when we shift our focus to "the Kingdom of Heaven" itself? The parable of a wedding guest being thrown into outer darkness over a dress code violation poses more mysteries than we manage to resolve.

This season on death and resurrection would certainly be incomplete without a discussion of the parable Jesus tells about a rich man and a pauper named Lazarus. The story has seemingly preposterous geographical details about the afterlife. This takes us to a broader conversation about how we might work out what to interpret literally? What does a literal interpretation actually mean? Along the way we notice some satisfying similarities between this parable and the story of Job.

We explore the fundamental conundrum of waiting 2000 years for the "soon" return of Christ. There are a variety of ways to make some sense of this dilemma, but it is not well served by simple or trite answers. As well as Bible passages in 2 Peter 3 and Psalm 90, we reach for "friends of the podcast" C S Lewis and George McDonald for some provoking insight. 

The Bible contains a few fascinating anecdotes about how the disciples responded to the resurrection. We start with the road to Emmaus and then think about whether or not Thomas deserves his "doubting" title.

It almost seems a silly question, but there's a surprising variety of aspects to unpack on this topic. We consider a question from the lesson about "adding to what Christ has already done for us", and briefly explore what kind of understanding of the death of Jesus is revealed in Gamaliel's wise counsel in Acts 5.

We look at the story of Elijah saving a young boy's life twice - and the second time is after he's died. Like many of the Old Testament resurrections, this story is remarkably connected to people outside the explicit community of God.

Some OT passages seem to fit our picture of the resurrection, but there are others which seem to come from a different picture of hope for the future. We explore a few of these that represent the variety, and see what we find out about hope.

This is a shorter episode because life seems particularly busy for us at the moment - and maybe it's the same for you! Ecclesiastes 12 has verses which sometimes contribute to discussions about what happens after death, but the passage seems much more focussed on how we live here before death. 

Travel plans over the long weekend made it difficult to schedule a recording. Instead, here is a tasty morsel of contemplation that emerged during our post-recording "cool-down" conversation. Luckily it was captured in our backup recording, and we hope you enjoy this episode even though it is rather brief. This will make the most sense if you listen to the previous episode first, or at least take a look at Ezekial 28.

To launch a new season on death, dying, and the future hope, we dive into a malediction given to Ezekial about the King of Tyre. There is a bunch of imagery here from the Creation story, so is it valid or useful to read Satan into this passage. After a robust conversation we stumble on a gem: maybe the point is not just that Lucifer fell, but that he is always falling - and perhaps we might continue to fall also.

These are recorded in both Matthew and Luke (with an interesting difference of sequence), and immediately precede the beginning of Jesus's ministry. The story seems to link back to Edenic temptations and also prefigure aspects of the struggle in Gethsemane before the crucifixion. We ponder the ways in which these clearly labelled "temptations" match that term, and some subtle ways in which faithful Christians might be tempted.

Luke 8 has featured previously (season 2), but Cameron wants to preach on it and so we do an experiment in this episode: can a podcast discussion and sermon preparation be combined into a single activity?

We start with the story of David being anointed king in 1 Samuel 16 David - well before he actually takes the throne. So many of our favourite stories actually come from this long period of waiting. Cameron refers back to Season 2 Episode 8 for some examples of Jesus not wanting to make people wait, and we end up pondering the parables in Matthew 25. It seems important that we should be at least ready for a long wait.

The story of Ezekial being instructed by God not to mourn after his wife suddenly dies is not so well known, and takes us in a few directions. The Sabbath School lesson refers to this passage as it muses about meekness, which is an attitude not always associated with life's crucibles.

It is not always easy to see how God's actions all fit together, and sometimes praise doesn't feel quite honest. This story in 2 Chronicles has a very prominent military positioning of the "designated praisers", and the outcome is a good one. But sometimes the outcome is not so good - what do we do in these situations? 

The Sabbath School lesson talks about "Seeing the Invisible", especially when times are bad. This sounds a bit like a call to persevere in faith, but it seems that actually seeing the invisible realm might provide additional evidence that diminishes the role of faith. What does it mean to have a strong faith even when times are tough?

This part of the Sermon on the Mount is well known, and is often puzzling. Cutting off hands and gouging out eyes sounds extremely draconian at first - but is this passage even talking about hands and eyes? We explore the idea of self-control, and some things that are not self-control.

The lesson places a bit of attention on Job chapter 1, but we feel it is necessary to explore the whole book to arrive at anything like a balanced perspective on challenges and crucibles.

What does it mean for us to be "conformed to the image of His Son", and how does this relate to crucibles and life experiences of refinement? We meander a bit through some hurdles in this part of Romans, but find a resonance with the way Peterson expresses this concept as the "intended shape of our lives" revealed in Jesus.

This episode comes to you from a shack on the north west coast of Tasmania, where Cameron and Lachlan ponder the variety of biblical advice for people experiencing crucibles in life. Christians reach a wide range of conclusions about these situations, and there seems to be an equally varied set of perspectives present in the Bible.

We push the metaphor here in 1 Peter slightly too far to explore what it might mean for us to have an adversary prowling around like a lion. The conclusion surprises us, but comes directly from the text itself!

For the first time ever, we turn back to a chapter that we've already discussed. That was way back in Season 1, and our world has changed enough in 2 years that we have new questions to ask of the text.

Awareness of some of the cultural expectations around marriage, descendants, and inheritance does help make sense of the story of Tamar, but it remains quite unusual to our culture-shifted ears. Tamar regains substantial agency in a fraught and powerless situation, and it seems she gives Judah a live-changing lesson. It is remarkable to observe how significantly Joseph and Judah both grow in character as they go on to feature in the closing (and climactic) stories of Genesis.

Jacobs wives, Rachel and Leah, compete in some "competitive childbearing" that echoes all the conflict between Jacob and his brother Esau. This beginning of Joseph's story has many strange details and may help us understand this character that will dominate the remainder of Genesis.

This episode is a step back into the story of Abraham in response to a bit of a theme that seems to be emerging in Genesis. God clearly has a plan, but often it seems rather opaque. Abraham and Sarah take a long time to grasp what God has in mind, but when we dig a bit more at the story it seems that God didn't go out of his way to make the particulars all that clear from the start. Fascinatingly, it seems the morality of an action doesn't seem to have much bearing on how much God can use it for his plan.

Genesis 34 tells the difficult story of Dinah, which certainly contains adult themes and unpleasant behaviour. In fact, it is hard to see anyone who acts in the right. After some comparatively strong women of agency (Hagar and Rebecca), Dinah has her voice almost entirely suppressed by the narrator - and we are left very curious about her opinions and perspectives on the events that unfold.

A number of remarkable things happen when Abraham's servant travels to find a wife for Isaac, who is only a minor character in the story. Rebecca gets most of the agency, and has much of the dialogue. We are drawn to this story because it has wholesome characters and a cheerful ending - although there are some hints that Laban might yet have a few spanners to throw in the works.

A remarkable detail in the story of Abraham is that he lies about Sarah being his wife twice! The text clearly implies this is out of self-preservation, and we discuss what this shows about Abraham as a person. There are some sharp critiques of his attitudes towards and treatment of the women in his life, but it is valuable to recognise the "impossible possibility of salvation" even for us.

In the previous episode our exploration of Abram and Lot drifted off course, and so this week we come back to discuss how it is that Lot ends up off course. It is particularly fascinating that God reiterates his promise to Abram "after Lot had gone" down to settle near Sodom and Gomorrah. Are there other ways his story could have gone?

We set out to discuss Abraham's nephew Lot, but the phrase "Called on the name of the Lord" leads to an exploration of worship. There are a number of fresh perspectives on some of the activities that dominate "worship" and a few more novel activities which might fit the category.

We notice a number of interesting details linking this story to that of Cain (Gen 4) and of "the Fall" (Gen 3). It is remarkable how specifically the Babel story seems to be undone in the New Testament, and we ponder how the story might best be valued today.

This conversation follows on from last week's episode about Cain, because many of the themes from that story overlap with the story of Noah and the flood. It is fascinating to explore what is missing from these stories, especially given that we've heard them told and retold so many times.

There are many ways to read the story of Cain and Abel: a test of true worship, an allegory of agricultural society displacing nomadic herdsmen, the progression of sin, or an example of family disfunction. Its inescapably a "dead end" story no matter how you read it, and there are many useful challenges to ponder.

Perhaps the story in Genesis 3 is most important not because "it happened", but because "it is always happening". We take a look at some other falls recorded in the Old Testament.

Stories are essential to the way we communicate, and most human societies have found stories to be one of the best ways to transmit meaning and significance. We think of some examples and uncover helpful insights about the ways that Genesis can have impact on our lives.

We notice a few passages here that seem almost to be ideas the author forgot to include when outlining arguments in previous chapters, and dwell particularly on the theme of "doing good and sharing with those in need".

The idea of "the Lord disciplining those he loves" is a delicate one, and there are some ideas here perhaps to unlearn. We explore this concept from a few angles. The author seems again to be trying to encourage and uplift the audience, calling for perseverance in the face of persecution. 

Lachlan takes issue with some of the inclusions in the list of Faith Heros, and we explore what aspects of their faith led to them "earning a good reputation". We are intrigued that the resurrection hope is so clearly invoked for characters from parts of the Old Testament where this idea seemed less developed. It is also important to notice the list ends with mention of the many who suffered without becoming famous.

Hebrews 10 starts with a nice recap of the previous chapter, and so we focus our attention on the second half of the chapter. In many modern translations it has been given a heading about perseverance, and we again dwell on the role of good works. It is also fascinating to ponder what to do with an exhortation to "not give up meeting together" - especially after experiencing the disruptions of COVID-19!

This topic has been important in various ways throughout the history of the Seventh-day Adventist church, and has also been associated with painful events (starting perhaps with a need to make sense of a failed prediction of Christ's return). We attempt to read the chapter with fresh eyes and are intrigued by the specific contrasts that are made between the Israelite Tabernacle and the Heavenly Sanctuary - particularly the lack of any need to repeat.

The theme of Jesus as priest in a tabernacle has been pre-empted and teased a bit already in Hebrews, but in Chapter 8 it is presented in full. We find the metaphor to be powerful, and are intrigued by the substantial quote from Jeremiah to bolster an articulation of the "New Covenant". It is necessary to acknowledge that some historical readings of Hebrews 8 may have pushed the metaphor too far, and we draw attention to what people can agree on rather than what they might argue about.

The slightly enigmatic character of Melchizedek from the Genesis story of Abraham must have been a bit more embedded in Hebrew culture than his "screen time" would suggest. The logic (and rhetoric) of the developing idea at this point in Hebrews is fun to follow, and opens a few challenging questions. Who are the "Melchizedeks" that come prior to our from outside our own cherished faith traditions? 

This chapter seems to take a temporary diversion from the building "high priest" theme to explore the idea of Christian maturity. We grapple a bit with the agricultural analogy, but the idea of "doing" as well as "believing" is pretty consistent. This chapter seems to suggest aspects of the famous faith-vs-works dichotomy are vastly over-simplified. 

We are particularly surprised by descriptions of Jesus "learning obedience" and the role of His suffering. Some of the wording invokes the Creation narrative, which was something we also noticed last week in chapter 4, and this leads us to some new ideas.

Sabbath inescapably enters this chapter's discussion of God's rest, and the concept is applied with some elegance to the idea of salvation. There's a nicely intricate argument developed here, and the chapter seems to end with a nice recapitulation of the developing themes of the book.

One of the key ideas in this chapter is the connection between belief and action, and this poses some valuable challenges. It is obvious that the book of Hebrews is developing an argument, and we anticipate some of the questions posed here will be addressed in subsequent chapters.

Hebrews 2 seems to present almost an opposite argument to the first chapter: namely that Jesus was made slightly lower than the angels in his humanity. There's a clear statement that his death somehow made him better able to minister as our high priest, and we find various aspects of this passage to be slightly uncomfortable - in a good way that prompts conversation!

The SDA Sabbath School lesson is starting a quarter on the book of Hebrews. We are so taken by the coincidence of this book having 13 chapters that we're going to follow along with the Sabbath School themes while going chapter by chapter for each episode of this season.

Jude mentions a slightly curious conflict between the Archangel Michael and the devil over the body of Moses that connects with a greater tradition about Moses' resurrection. This concludes our study of Deuteronomy, and we discuss how our perceptions and appreciation of this book has changed after studying it for 13 weeks.

This is the first of some shorter episodes over the holiday season.

Deuteronomy tells history in order to establish identity, and a similar "big-picture history" approach occurs in a number of the sermons in Acts. Interestingly Stephen focuses on very much the same part of the story as Deuteronomy. How do we tell our collective story, and how much does this change with the passage of time?

Deuteronomy features in a number of subsequent Old Testament stories, and we look particularly at Josiah (2 Kings 23) and Jeremiah (chapter 7). Blessings and curses feature prominently in these re-engagements with the book of Deuteronomy.

Some of them seem to make more sense than others, but it still feels a bit strange to read the sets of curses in this part of the Bible.

Inspired with a changed view of the world after Jesus, the New Testament apostles didn't always follow the letter of the law from Deuteronomy. Even within a few generations of the context of Deuteronomy there are biblical examples of some flexibility. We look at a few interesting examples, and explore what this means for a contemporary engagement with this book.

We're still "wandering in the wilderness" while the SDA lesson remains stuck in the earlier chapters of Deuteronomy. We will be rejoining the lesson topics more closely soon! This week we read laws about warfare, justice, captives, and trouble children. Many of these passages challenge our cultural sensibilities - and often even our Christian charity. There are certainly difficult passages here in Deuteronomy!

We're still deviating somewhat from the SDA Lesson because it seems a bit stuck around chapter 9. We're exploring the gap of almost 20 chapters that the lesson guide skips, and in this episode we read instructions for "when Israel wants a king". A number of interesting ideas connect this passage to other well-known Old Testament stories.

We continue our slightly uncharted journey through Deuteronomy (mostly untethered from the SDA lesson this week), but there's so much good stuff to discover! Our conversation explores a call to help the poor, and the profound promise of an ear piercing!

The SDA lesson guide dwells on Deuteronomy chapter 10 for a number of weeks, and we've already shared our thoughts on that fantastic chapter. We launch out into some of the chapters that will be overlooked by the lesson guide, and Cameron takes us to a lesser-told story in Joshua that highlights some important issues arising from Deuteronomy 12. 

There was a mistake with the audio file originally published for this episode (some long sections of silence). This has been fixed.

There are some great parts of these chapters, interspersed with "light genocide" that we still find troubling.

This conversation starts with some exploration of current issues arising from COVID-19 vaccinations, and that turns out to be somewhat connected to the themes of Deuteronomy. The focus this week is Deut 4:4-7, where God's Law is anticipated to attract the attention (positively) of surrounding nations.

The lesson this week covers the first 3 chapters of Deuteronomy, but we run out of time after considering a few curious details in this introductory section of the book. It dramatically condenses the story of wandering in the wilderness, and there seem to be some places where Moses exercises exercises "editorial license".

The story of the Exodus is the direct context for the book of Deuteronomy, and so it's a great place to start a season looking at that 5th book of the Bible. Cameron shares some interesting insights about the Plagues on Egypt that featured in a recent sermon he preached.

The Sabbath School lesson this week is about "The Ultimate Rest", and it is interesting to note that the book of Proverbs typically invokes death as a stern warning of consequences for evil. On the flip side, it speaks of righteousness and wisdom "delivering from death".

This episode begins with a somewhat spontaneous conversation about authenticity, and then we pick up a challenge issued by a listener: Can we write a Proverb about Sabbath?

This one is even more tangential to the lesson than normal, but was a whole heap of fun. After looking at proverbs for the last 10 weeks we have noticed some of the structures and word patterns - so we have a few attempts at writing a proverb for today. Have a go at this yourself with friends, and feel free to send your proverbs to us at sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com.

Another lesson exploring the Sabbath presents an excellent opportunity to explore the social responsibilities contained within the 4th commandment. We launch from some verses in Proverbs 29 (v4, 7, 14), and pick out a consistent theme across numerous other parts of Proverbs (17:15, 20:23, 14:31, 17:5, 21:13). Adventists have long held the "7th day" emphasis, and Christians more broadly are rediscovering the "rest" emphasis - but in this episode we consider the "inclusivity and blessing distribution" emphasis of Sabbath.

The topic of "rhythms of rest" naturally takes us back to the Sabbath, which is something we've explored before (s5ep9, s4ep11, s3ep12, s3ep6). This time we explore a new question about the difference between "rhythmic" and "metered". The book of Proverbs doesn't mention Sabbath at all, but in chapter 8:22-36 there is a fascinating account of wisdom which somewhat subverts the creation narrative of Genesis 1 and describes wisdom predating and underpinning all of creation (including Sabbath). This is called "a delight". 

This week we bounce around Proverbs a bit looking at verses that speak to the idea of healing. We can't escape the reality of human experience being inseparably in the mind and in the body. Some of the verses we discuss include: 14:13, 3:5-8, 18:14, 15:30, and 12:25.

This week's lesson "Rest, Relationships, and Healing" is focussed on forgiveness, and remarkably that keyword doesn't occur in the book of Proverbs. It has more to say about vengeance and judgement - but that turns out to offer insight about why we forgive. We look in particular at Proverbs 20:22, and then discover somewhat of a theme in this chapter.

Proverbs has quite a bit of comment on family interactions, and we explore how this relates to rest (or the lack of it).

Proverbs 30 is an oracle of Agur, who seems to be coming from precisely the state of life and mind that Jesus was thinking of when he promised rest. 

Proverbs 6:6-11 has been used for centuries to admonish slackers, in-sleepers, bludgers, and lazybones of all varieties. But it specifically mentions resting, which seems to be a good thing in our helter-skelter society. We try to discuss the theme of "the Cost of Rest", but end up coming back to the Cost of Work! As well as pondering the lessons of the ant, we consider what can be learnt from the pygmy blue-tongue lizard.

Proverbs 4 paints a picture of "the wicked" with particular reference to a kind of restlessness that comes from a need to "do an evil deed for the day". Not all restlessness is of this kind, but there's a lot of food for thought in this idea.

Proverbs 26 is amusing in its description of fools, but verse 12 catches us out. Mocking fools is easy, but it's harder to recognise our own foolishness. This connects to the lesson in its exploration of the Israelites wandering restlessly in the wilderness.

We're starting a new season, and the Sabbath School theme is "Rest in Christ". It will cover a range of associated issues that regularly intersect with wisdom and common sense, and so we're launching into the book of Proverbs for a tangential perspective on rest. This week our focus is on Proverbs 1:20-33, which is one of a number of passages that vividly personifies Wisdom.

Join the conversation by emailing comments or questions to sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com

The remarkable story of King David and Mephibosheth is a great way to ponder the "New Covenant Life". On reflection, it seems that this way of living in God's Kingdom is not unique to the New Testament epoch. 

The author of Galatians (and there's similar sentiment in Romans) seems keen to contrast elements of the old covenant with the new life in Jesus. The more we discuss this in the context of 11 previous episodes, the more we see that most of the key features were included in various ways in those earlier covenants. There's still plenty here to teach and inspire.

Hebrews 8 quotes a chunk from Jeremiah 31 (which we looked at in the previous episode), and so is an excellent follow-on. The author in this chapter seems to be making the argument that there was some "fault", or something deficient, with the old covenant. We ponder what this issue seems to have been, and indeed which "old covenant" is the focus here.

As we approach the obvious destination of this season it is interesting to encounter a "new covenant" in the Old Testament. Jeremiah 31 speaks of some clear differences compared to the old covenant, but also of some details that are less than clear.

The lesson topic turns us back to a contentious comment from earlier this season - the Sabbath is the third of three things identified in the bible as "signs of a covenant". What is a sign for, how does it function, and how can Sabbath be such a sign? This episode poses more questions than answers, and your comments are welcome at sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com (as always).

The lesson topic "Covenant Law" covers some themes we've already explored in recent episodes (such as the election of Israel). We anchor our conversation in Deuteronomy 4, where it is anticipated that God's "statutes and rules" will cause Israel to become the envy of the world. It is particularly fascinating that the Covenant here is described as something we are commanded to "perform".

Yet again technical issues have altered the recording - this week Ken's audio went missing. Editing has restored most of the continuity, but you'll have to imagine your own contributions in places where we refer to wise thoughts from Ken!

The topic of this week's lesson is Covenant at Sinai, and we meander over from Genesis to Exodus chapter 19. Some remarkable elements of this story intrigue us, and it's an opportunity to reflect on how the quarter so far has expanded an understanding of "covenant".

"Israel" is a name given to Abraham's grandson before it becomes the name of a nation, and the transmission of blessings across generations is a fascinating theme in Genesis. It is not always a straightforward inheritance! We are left pondering what this means for us who claim to be in some spiritual sense the "descendants of Abraham". In particular, there's a challenge in these stories to celebrate the way God bestows blessings on those different from ourselves.

After looking at the Abrahamic covenants in Genesis 15 and 17 last week, we backtrack slightly in the story to explore what God had in mind when He called Abraham. The "call of Abraham" is in Genesis 12, and we end up discussing some intriguing details of Genesis 23. This episode is a slightly disjointed because Cameron's recording somehow vapourised, so you'll need to exercise your imagination about his comments in places. As always, comments are welcome at sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com - and bonus marks if you can deduce where Cameron would have quoted Adrian Plass or Lewis!

This week's lesson is titled "An Everlasting Covenant", and although this wording is used in Genesis 17 we take a bit of convincing that it correctly describes the Abrahamic covenant. It seems that everlasting might not be the same thing as universal. The "Covenant" theme this season is really making our brains tick and we've ended up with yet another longer episode - sorry!

It really should be known as "God and the Flood" rather than "Noah and the Flood" - poor old Noah doesn't even have a speaking role in the story until well after the rainbow. The story is in Genesis 6-9, and there are actually two covenants explicitly mentioned. In fact, there's a lot more to this story than most children's-book retellings would suggest!

The lesson this week is a "Covenant Primer" to get us ready to explore this theme through other parts of the Bible. We have some unfinished ideas about Genesis 3 and the story commonly known as "the Fall", but then Ken teaches us some key aspects of covenants. In particular, they are not the same as a contract or agreement - and this is going to be crucial for our ongoing examination of God's covenants.

Obviously "The Fall" doesn't happen until chapter 3 of Genesis, but we take too long to get there and run out of time in chapter 2. However, there's a bit more to this story than is often appreciated!

SabbathSchoolFromHome has been going for a full year, and the need to do everything "at home" is not as prominent as it was in 2020. We're shifting to a midweek (Wednesday) release schedule so that you have more opportunity to listen to episodes before Sabbath School - there's just a chance that some ideas we stumble across here might help seed actual conversations in your Sabbath School communities. As always, send us comments and feedback to sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com and we can make this podcast more participatory.

We've slipped slightly behind the SDA lesson pamphlet, but Isaiah 61 is worth it! Jesus reads from this chapter at the start of his public ministry in Luke 4, and it pulls together many of the important themes that have emerged over the last 12 episodes. As always, contact us at sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com and share your thoughts or comments on this passage.

The lesson "Desire of Nations" explores the subsequent chapters 60 and 61, but we hold off since Lachlan couldn't join this recording. The themes in Chapter 59 are plenty enough food for thought, and we discuss comparisons with the theme of Sin in Romans.

In Isaiah 58 (and the surrounding chapters in fact), the theme of Sabbath is directly connected with images of Salvation and Social Justice. This is a fruitful source of challenges for Sabbath-keeping followers of God in the way of Jesus.

This week's lesson "Doing the Unthinkable" focuses on Isaiah 52-53 and the remarkable foreshadowing of Jesus crucifixion.

The lesson touches Chapters 41-49, but we focus mostly on Isaiah 42. As well as the recurring eyes/ears theme, we notice patterns of flame (flickering candles and consuming fires) and of lands across the sea and islands. God's servant is astonishingly gentle, and this almost contrasts with God Himself. There's a remarkable blending of birthing mother and strongman warrior imagery.

The lesson this week is called "Comfort My People", which is the opening of both Isaiah 40 and Handel's Messiah. After an interlude of historical narrative, the book is back to a more poetic kind of writing. We see similarities here to parts of Job and the Psalms.

We cover a lot of ground in Isaiah this week. In skipping over chapters 15-35 we pick up many recurrences of the "eyes and ears" theme, but our discussion is focussed on the jolt back to historical narrative that occurs in chapters 36-39. This story of Hezekiah and the Assyrians is very similar (substantially word-for-word in many places) to 2 Kings 20. In particular, we ponder the challenging nature of God's micraculous interventions: killing 185,000 soldiers on the one hand, and restoring Hezekiah to 15 years more life on the other (along with a sign "as high as heaven").

We're keeping up with the Sabbath School lesson, which this week is on "Playing God". The passage in Isaiah 14 is explicitly a taunt of Babylon, and has some fantastic turns of phrase. We ponder the validity or role of taunts, touch on the state of the dead, and recall the importance of having mercy.

The Sabbath School lesson this week is on the "Noble Prince of Peace", and the verses in Isaiah 9 are well known. In many ways this passage completes some of the more difficult texts we've covered in recent episodes.

The lesson this week explores the message of Isaiah to King Ahaz of Judah. We do get there, but spend most of our time revisiting the tough verses from last week:

‘Keep on hearing,[c] but do not understand;
keep on seeing,[d] but do not perceive.’

Our focus is particularly on verses 9, 10:

Share your comments and ideas with us at sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com

This season we'll be staying in sync with the SDA Sabbath School lessons progressing through Isaiah. There are way more than 13 chapters in this book, and so it will be necessary to pick and choose excerpts and themes as we go through each week - otherwise the podcast episodes would end up being many hours long!  

Our conversation focuses on "Leaf by Niggle" by J. R. R. Tolkien, and "Pilgrims Regress" by C. S. Lewis, and touches on some other works that help us explore the idea of learning in Eternity.

This episode is a direct sequel to last week's discussion about work and employment, so you may want to catch up on that episode (s3e11) first. During today's conversation we dip into Jeremiah 28 and Romans 12.

Contribute by emailing us at sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com

We found more Bible references to this kind of education than we first thought, and this episode touches on

• Daniel 1
• Judges 6
• 1 Thessalonians 5:21
• Luke 2
• Genesis 2

Send your comments/questions/suggestions to sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com

The conversation turns to Proverbs 22 and Proverbs 2. Feel free to join the conversation by emailing comments/thoughts/questions to sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com.

We're joined by friend and school teacher Clinton Jackson. His school has been using Restorative Practice for some years now, and he shares some of the profound ways that this way of thinking impacts our relationships and theology.

Worship often involves music, but in our church tradition it does not feature poetry anywhere near as much. Pondering this wonderful poem makes it seem as though we might be missing something valuable.

As Kingfishers Catch Fire 

By Gerard Manley Hopkins

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; 

As tumbled over rim in roundy wells 

Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's 

Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; 

Each mortal thing does one thing and the same: 

Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; 

Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells, 

Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came. 

I say móre: the just man justices; 

Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces; 

Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is — 

Chríst — for Christ plays in ten thousand places, 

Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his 

To the Father through the features of men's faces. 

Just like the Sabbath School lesson, this episode continues the theme from last week. We ponder what sort of expertise Jesus would be in the modern world, and discuss the rules he "breaks" as a master - especially the Sabbath!

This week we didn't anchor as closely to a bible passage as we normally do, but exploring the qualities of a master led us to a few references. Philippians 2 speaks of the attitude of Christ, and especially the humility that led him to "not consider equality with God a thing to cling to". 

The bible was written over enough history that it might be better to think of various worldviews represented in the bible. In the 21st century even followers of Christ see the world through very different eyes to anyone in the Bible. This episode features special guest Clansi Rogers, sharing some of the insights she has from studying ancient history.

This episode explores a variety of aspects of the law, and has fairly natural focus on civil law as well as biblical or spiritual law. Romans is an obvious place to turn, and chapters 5, 6, 7 are all brought into the conversation. We enjoy hearing your comments at sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com.

Ken shares a gripping story of having to make an emergency landing after his plane's engine stopped during aerobatics, and it is fascinating to reflect that pilot training is somewhat different to much of the education we experience in life - but perhaps not so different to some of the ways kids learn in families. We're always happy to hear your comments and feedback via email to sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com

At one point in this episode we talk about a fantastic pattern created "randomly" called the Sierpiński triangle fractal, which is difficult to explain in a purely audio format. Cameron has created a video animation of the random walk process to produce the Sierpiński triangle fractal pattern (watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/ITafFpSvjQQ). If you have any comments or questions following on from this conversation please email us at sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com - and perhaps you might like to email a set of digits for Cameron to try and guess the missing one!

Feel free to join the conversation by emailing sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com and we can use your insights and questions to guide future episodes.

The Seventh-day Adventist emphasis on the messages in Revelation has certain similarities to the message Jonah preaches against Nineveh. We explore this story to ponder what it might mean for a message to be "worth sharing". Importantly, we discover that sometimes the benefits of the message are actually intended for the messenger!

You can send comments to sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com - we enjoy hearing from you.

Apollos is mentioned in Acts 18:24 - 19:7, and also in Pauls writings to the Corinthians. This story offers an interesting perspective on the lesson's claim that "We cannot share what we do not have ourselves", and the episode wanders onto other related topics of conversation. Join the conversation by emailing us at sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com and we can share your comments in a future episode.

Small groups have been almost fads in recent church history, but the core idea goes back deep throughout human history. We start with a more general discussion of small groups before focussing on Daniel 2:1-19 as an interesting angle from which to approach this topic. You can share your comments by emailing sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com .

Our conversation is centered around the story of Jesus clearing the traders from the temple, which is in all four gospels. We discuss the version in John 2:13-22 and discover a few surprises. Join the conversation by emailing us at sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com and we can share your comments in a future episode.

Luke shares some really interesting insights about this story that launch a conversation that reaches back to the Centurion's servant and forward to the present day. We look at the story in Luke 8. Share your comments and questions with us at sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com so that we can share them with the broader listening community.

The story of Philip and the Ethiopian is in Acts 8:26-39, and John chapter 1 opens with a delightful meditation on The Word of God. Send comments and questions to sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com so that we can share them with the broader listening community.

The story is in Numbers 22, and we focus on verses 21-35. Although the conversation focuses a bit around the gift of tongues, we explore a number of ideas that relate to spiritual gifts more broadly. This episode also highlights the occasionally useful gift of "tongue-in-cheek".

Send comments and questions to sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com so that we can share them with the broader listening community.

This story is in Acts 10, and we focus on verses 34-48. If you'd like to answer any of our various questions at the end of this episode (or share any other comments), write to us at sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com

The passage contains The Lord's Prayer, and then immediately follows it with a somewhat difficult parable about asking persistently. In fact, this is similar to the parable of the Persistent Widow in Luke 18:1-8. 

If you'd like to answer any of our various questions at the end of this episode (or share any other comments), write to us at sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com

We're delighted to have Clansi join in again this week with some asynchronous comments. In the interests of time, we didn't read the bible passage in full this week. The core of the story that we discuss is John 4:5-26 culminating with Jesus telling the woman that he is the Messiah. Follow the link to review the story if you're not so familiar with it - it is one of the more extensive records of Jesus interacting with a specific person in the Gospels (rather than preaching to crowds).

Send comments and questions to sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com so that we can share them with the broader listening community.

Since it's school holidays and kids are visiting grandparents, Lachlan's wife Clansi joins as a special guest. Luke 16 begins with the parable of the Shrewd Manager, and this turns out to help us explore interesting aspects of the Rich Man and Lazarus. As always, send comments and questions to sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com so that we can share them with the broader listening community.

For Season 2 of Sabbath School from Home we're going to try pulling topics from the lesson study, and this episode centres around Isaiah 49:6 which says (ESV)

This is quoted by Paul in Acts 13:47.

Send comments and questions to sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com .

We're wondering what to do with this podcast for the next 13 episodes, so write to sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com with your comments and suggestions.

Send comments and questions to sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com and we can include them in future episodes.