Displaying 1 - 20 of 308 in total
Colossians 1 - Firstborn from the dead
After introductory greetings, the book of Colossians launches into a glorious passages of praise to Christ. It is widely considered to be a poem or perhaps even early ...
Philippians 4 - God of peace will be with you
The closing chapter of Philippians seems to oscillate between extremely specific remarks and some thoughts that are truly general. Being separated in time and culture ...
Philippians 3 - Infinite value of knowing Christ
Paul highlights that Christ is our confidence, and makes a vivid contrast with the attitude of confidence in our own human effort. It is remarkable that the contrast i...
Philippians 2 - shining like bright lights
Avoiding "worldly" demands and customs is a long-standing passtime for Adventists and other protestant denominations. The lesson this week assumes this is the same as ...
Philippians 2 - Agreeing wholeheartedly
The lesson this week explores Unity through Humility. Philippians 2 builds on the themes of chapter 1 (love, joy, patience) and draws attention to attitudes that can b...
Philippians 1 - To live is Christ
Paul's evaluation of life and death is famous but still surprising. We explore only a few verses in Philippians 1, but they are enough to stimulate an exploration of h...
Colossians 1 - Asking God to give you wise minds
There are plenty of similarities between the opening parts of Philippians and Colossians. We love the salutation "grace and peace", and are intrigued by the emphasis o...
Philippians 4 - I can do all things
Our new season exploring Philippians and Colossians starts with consideration of their context. Paul was writing from prison, and certainly had experience of circumsta...
Joshua 24 - Towns you did not build
The final chapter of Joshua seems to focus on themes of God's agency, idolatry, and continuity. There is a strong emphasis on God's actions that have led the Israelite...
Joshua 23 - Thorny brambles in your eyes
The narrative changes gears considerably in the last two chapters of Joshua. We get "the years passed" and mention that "Joshua was now very old", and it is clearly a ...
Joshua 4 - What do these stones mean?
We're back at Joshua 22, and the story of avoided conflict continues to fascinate us. Despite some difficulties with logistics and audio (sorry for lower quality this ...
Joshua 18 - How long will you be slack?
Joshua and Jesus are the same name, but how well does the Old Testament character point to the Messiah? The lesson dives into slightly technical detail about "type" an...
Joshua 22 - Gathered to make war
In the days when the Israelites conquered the Promised Land, they nearly came to civil war.This is a re-publication of an episode from 2021 (season 7 episode 5 if you'...
Joshua 15 - Give me another gift
Caleb is a mighty warrior with a fantastic attitude! It is amazing to read him at 85 years old asking for the hardest cities to conquer all because he "is as strong as...
Joshua 8 - Built an altar
Worship rituals are interspersed between the conquests in Joshua. This leads to a Sabbath School lesson emphasis on the need to prioritise time with God even amongst a...
Joshua 7 - Their courage melted away
The difficult story of Achan and his family being destroyed again raises the question of "God's endgame". Achan and his family stole plunder from Jericho against the s...
Joshua 8 - Foreigners living among them
We continue to grapple with the issue of divine war in Joshua. The lesson this week follows closely on the topic from our previous episode, expanding on some of the co...
Joshua 5 - Take off your sandals
The "Commander of the Lord's Army" shows up in this chapter with an important reframing of the narrative. Joshua has already been described as a warrior, and asks whet...
Joshua 3 - Half a mile behind
Crossing the Jordan river with Joshua is a bit like crossing the Red Sea with Moses, but some differences are intriguing. This story is told in Joshua 3 using a lot of...
Joshua 2 - I don’t know where they went
An interesting theme of "deception" shows up in the story of Rahab of Jerico. Even more fascinating is the way a similar kind of thing happens slightly later with the ...