Shows / Sabbath School From Home
Sabbath School From Home
Sabbath School is perhaps the most communal and participatory element of a regular Seventh-day Adventist church event (after foot-washing), but social distancing has us all isolated at home. This is a weekly Sabbath School styled conversation on Biblical themes and passages. Join in the conversation by writing comments/questions to sabbathschoolfromhome@gmail.com .
Episodes
- Sabbath School From Home
Exodus 32 - The Lord replied "no"
Moses responds dramatically to the golden calf, but does this actually look like "substitutionary atonement"? The story of the golden calf at the base of Mount…
- Sabbath School From Home
Exodus 31 - A Sabbath of complete rest
The Sabbath theme book-ends the entire discourse to Moses on Mount Sinai. Last week we saw how the Sabbath entwined with justice at the beginning of God's…
- Sabbath School From Home
Exodus 23 - You know what it's like
Exodus 23 does re-mention the Sabbath, but it has far more to say about "living the Law". We're struck in this chapter by how strongly Sabbath is connected to…
- Sabbath School From Home
Exodus 19 - So Moses climbed the mountain
The Mount Sinai story starts differently to how it is often told. Before the 10 Commandments are given, Moses goes up and down the mountain numerous times. In…
- Sabbath School From Home
Exodus 15 - What are we going to drink?
There are hardships for the Israelites in the desert, perhaps unsurprisingly. The lesson this week poses these challenges as "tests of Israel's faith", but we…
- Sabbath School From Home
Exodus 14 - Why did you make us leave Egypt?
Pharaoh changes his mind quickly after the Exodus, and chases the Israelites. It is fascinating to explore the way it is described using collective language…
- Sabbath School From Home
Exodus 12 - What does this ceremony mean?
After looking at the plagues in general, this week pauses to examine the Passover and 10th plague in detail. It is a striking calamity throughout Egypt, and…
- Sabbath School From Home
Exodus 7 - His heart remained hard
To explore the Plagues, we pull out an episode from the archives. This was published originally on October 1, 2021, and so you may have forgotten a few of the…
- Sabbath School From Home
Exodus 4 - the Lord confronted him
There are a few ways in which the Exodus gets off to a rough start. This week we focus on a strange story that occurs between the burning bush commission and…
- Sabbath School From Home
Exodus 3 - See this strange sight
The burning bush is a well-known story, and helps to introduce us further to Moses. Two great things happen in Exodus three: God introduces himself by "name"…
- Sabbath School From Home
Exodus 1 - Shiphrah and Puah
We're starting a season exploring the book of Exodus, and the story opens with a focus on amazing women. By the time baby Moses gets his name in this story…
- Sabbath School From Home
Jonah 3 - Perhaps God will change his mind
What is Jonah's challenge for a prophetic-future focused Christian? There is a widespread idea of some prophecies being conditional on our response, and others…
- Sabbath School From Home
Exodus 20 - Six days you shall labour
Reading last-day prophecies with hope rather than fear is a profound perspective shift. We can't help focus on the Sabbath commandment, which features so…
- Sabbath School From Home
Ruth 1 - In the days when the judges ruled
Moral growth and moral decline may be intertwined throughout history. The story of Ruth is well-known and widely loved, and for good reason. It's a love story…
- Sabbath School From Home
2 Samuel 12 - You are the man!
How to "preach our unique remnant message" while staying alert to the challenge that we too can fall into the "heinous sins described in Rev 13"? The first…
- Sabbath School From Home
Psalm 67 - You judge the peoples with equity
The Psalms explore themes of suffering, judgement, good and evil. However, it is possible this is due to such things being an almost universal part of human…
- Sabbath School From Home
Psalm 5 - Bloodthirsty and deceitful
How can we best use images and symbols in "God's songbook", the Psalms? The lesson this week comments on judgement themes in Psalm 5. We find it somewhat…
- Sabbath School From Home
Ezekiel 2 - A rebellious people
The foundation of prophecy is perhaps hope. In the end, the Bible says in so many ways, God and goodness do triumph. Prophecy seems to use this long-term hope…
- Sabbath School From Home
Isaiah 1 - Your incense reeks and offends Me!
Animal sacrifice is one of the most pervasive symbols in the Bible, and yet is foreign to modern society. One interesting aspect of the sacrificial system in…
- Sabbath School From Home
Matthew 3 - Turn these stones into children for Abraham
God seems entirely willing to work with imperfect people, cultures, and institutions. This episode follows on from our last one, exploring issues of human…
- Sabbath School From Home
Genesis 10 - A mighty hunter
Nations fall short of God's ideals, but removing government usually leads to anarchy. When listing the nations descended from Noah, Genesis 10 points out that…
- Sabbath School From Home
Hosea 3 - And love raisin cakes
Marriage is a strong but tricky image throughout the Bible. It is interesting to see that God is able to reveal aspects of himself through this image both when…
- Sabbath School From Home
Genesis 22 - Do not lay your hand on the boy
Genesis is a foundation for many of the symbols and images that become significant throughout the Bible. But it is fascinating to reconsider just how detailed…
- Sabbath School From Home
Matt 13 - Why do you speak to the people in parables?
One principle of prophecy is that God wants to be understood. But it does sometimes seem strange then that He chooses such mysterious analogies and images…
- Sabbath School From Home
John 13 - By this everyone will know
"Love and Justice" is often narrowed to "Love or Commandments". This may not be the most helpful juxtaposition. The Adventist lesson guide this week asks "how…
- Sabbath School From Home
Psalm 82 - judgment among the "gods"
What does God's concern for justice mean for us today? This Psalm is only brief, but resonates deeply with numerous bible passages about God's passion for…
- Sabbath School From Home
Isaiah 5 - What more could have been done?
How much does understanding actually help us to cope with suffering? An interesting feature of the Sabbath School lesson this quarter is that it consistently…
- Sabbath School From Home
Luke 16 - Won't be persuaded
Are there rules for the Cosmic Conflict? The lesson this week sets out to explore the "rules of engagement" in the conflict between God and Satan. Is this a…
- Sabbath School From Home
John 10 - Life to the full
What about celebrating what God does, more than analysing what he might not prevent? This conversation grows out of the previous episode, revisiting the idea…
- Sabbath School From Home
Ephesians 1 - Destined us for adoption
How does God's love and providence work with our free will? A lot has been said over Christian history about how we might understand God's will, His…
- Sabbath School From Home
Micah 6 - Love kindness
When is it more important to love kindness? Exploring aspects of perverted justice invariably leads to any number of scenarios that defy the just/unjust…
- Sabbath School From Home
Micah 6 - Do justice
What does it mean for God to love justice? The idea of justice appeals to everyone who feels ripped off, but "God's judgement" can sound threatening. There are…
- Sabbath School From Home
Exodus 34 - Slow to anger
Divine wrath can be a difficult concept to put alongside a "loving God". In fact, this attribute of God is perhaps more prominent in the Bible than in many…
- Sabbath School From Home
1 Corinthians 13 - Not jealous
God is passionate and compassionate. We (meaning humans in general and Seventh-day Adventists in particular) tend to be somewhat distrustful of emotions, but…
- Sabbath School From Home
Luke 15 - We had to celebrate
This belated episode explores what it means to "be pleasing to God". Some disruptions are referenced at the start of the conversation, and others persisted…
- Sabbath School From Home
John 11 - a deep anger welled up
Is anger incompatible with love? This question from the quarterly introduction leads in many productive directions. It comes up in this context because many…
- Sabbath School From Home
Isaiah 53 - Light of life
We start a new season looking at the God of Love and Justice. There's a lot in Christian history that suggests love and justice are somehow opposing attributes…
- Sabbath School From Home
John 21 - They didn't recognise him
It is important to focus on the resurrection as we conclude an exploration of John's gospel. This is a well-known passage, but worth revisiting. It is…
- Sabbath School From Home
John 19 - We have no king but Caesar
John's gospel includes an extensive interaction with Pilate as part of the crucifixion story. There may be no "book of Pilate" in the Bible, but there are some…
- Sabbath School From Home
John 16 - I am going away
How can it be best for the followers of Jesus if He goes away? This is a simple statement Jesus makes in John 16, but it seems at first glance quite…
- Sabbath School From Home
John 14 - Way, Truth, Life
We look at seven "I am" statements from Jesus in the gospel of John. It is interesting to see some patterns in these various passages. People listening…
- Sabbath School From Home
John 6 - has eternal life
John loves the phrase "eternal life", but what does it tell us? This phrase in John serves a similar role as the phrase "Kingdom of God" in the synoptic…
- Sabbath School From Home
Psalm 69 - Passion for your house
It is interesting to explore how Jesus fulfills themes and concepts from the Old Testament.
- Sabbath School From Home
John 11 - I have always believed
"Blessed are those who believe" sounds wonderful, but what does it really look like? The resurrection of Lazarus is a fantastic story, and features in quite…
- Sabbath School From Home
John 6 - To whom would we go?
Is the majority usually wrong? The lesson study guide this week poses this idea as a comfort for people who feel like they are in the minority, like Adventism…
- Sabbath School From Home
John 4 - He told me everything
The Samaritan woman at the well prompts us to explore the role of testimony. We spend some time rehabilitating this woman's reputation somewhat, and exploring…
- Sabbath School From Home
John 1 - Come and see
John 1 records this strong and confident statement as a profound witness of Jesus as Messiah. The story is about Jesus calling his early disciples, and them…
- Sabbath School From Home
John 1 - Revealed God to us
Analogies are so compelling that we need to be careful to keep them the right way around. Humans are story-telling creatures and so good analogies and…
- Sabbath School From Home
John 6 - All had enough to eat
What features of a miracle make it a "sign of divinity"? The well-known story in John 6 tells about Jesus miraculously feeding the 5000, and it seems an…
- Sabbath School From Home
John 5 - Pick up your mat
A well-known miracle makes us think a bit harder about "signs". The healing at the Pool of Bethesda is a great story, but the more we look at it the more…
- Sabbath School From Home
Mark 16 - Trembling and bewildered
Jesus is risen, go and tell! The Book of Mark seems to have multiple endings, and the earliest manuscripts lack the final few paragraphs we typically find in…
- Sabbath School From Home
1 John 3 - Give up our lives
In John 3:16 we find that God gave himself for us. In 1 John 3:16 we find that we are to give ourselves for others. The cross is not just the center of our own…
- Sabbath School From Home
Mark 14 - This is my body
The Last Supper is a remarkable overlap of ritual and routine. The menu for the meal recorded in this chapter was almost certainly quite familiar everyday food…
- Sabbath School From Home
Mark 13 - Not one stone
The destruction of the temple seems to be blended here with the end of time, and things are not super clear. This chapter is almost entirely a sustained speech…
- Sabbath School From Home
Mark 11 - The fig tree you cursed
A number of challenging statements are made in this chapter of Mark. We focus on the story of Jesus cursing a fig tree, which seems somewhat unfair given that…
- Sabbath School From Home
Mark 10 - What do you want?
Is it possible that Jesus enhances the gift by allowing Bartimaeus agency in choosing it? At first it seems almost strange for a proven healer to ask a blind…
- Sabbath School From Home
Mark 9 - Only by prayer
A lot happens for the disciples once Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah. It is fascinating to connect this conversation Jesus has with his disciples with…
- Sabbath School From Home
Mark 7 - Eat the scraps
In an encounter that sounds provocative we learn some deep truths about the Mission of Christ. We can't fully understand why Jesus responded to the…
- Sabbath School From Home
Mark 5 - Send us into those pigs
The strong emphasis on the authority of Jesus continues through a number of stories. We briefly discuss Jesus calming the storm at the end of Mark 4, and then…
- Sabbath School From Home
Mark 4 - How will you understand?
Mark 4 presents a number of seed stories, and we go looking at even more. It is interesting to see how useful the agricultural analogy of seeds are for Jesus…