PODCAST · religion
Sabbath School From Home
by Cameron and Lachlan Rogers
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 [email protected] .
Episodes
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1 Kings 22 - Who can entice Ahab
What distinguishes a true prophet from a false one? The lesson this week offers several criteria, but we find ourselves drawn into the story of Micaiah and Ahab in 1 Kings 22, which we think might be one of the most searching explorations of that question in Scripture. The 400 court prophets tell...
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Hebrews 1 - In the past God spoke through the prophets
What is a prophet, and what does a prophetic call look like? In this episode we discuss the call of several prophetic and prophetic-adjacent figures from the Bible and discover very little in common. God seems fully capable of speaking to different people in different ways to equip them for...
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Zechariah 14 - The mount will split apart
We open a new season on the theme of prophecy by going back to the beginning — literally. The lesson frames prophecy as God's response to the breakdown of communication in Eden: God comes looking for the humans who are hiding, and keeps looking ever since. We find that a compelling framing, but...
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1 Corinthians 13 - Live in harmony and peace
Thirteen weeks on 1 and 2 Corinthians, and we attempt a summary. The thread that keeps returning is Paul's pastoral instinct — not the rigid doctrinearian of some people's Sabbath School memories, but a writer who knows his congregation well and keeps refusing to answer many of the questions...
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2 Corinthians 13 - Test yourselves
"False teacher" is an accusation easy to throw around, but who gets to decide? The receiver of a teaching is not always the best judge of whether it was false — or even whether it was worthwhile. Paul's concern in 2 Corinthians 11 is real (charlatans do exist), but surely there are many people...
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2 Corinthians 8 - Excel also in gracious giving
Paul tells the Corinthians that since they excel in so many things — faith, knowledge, enthusiasm, love — they should excel also in giving. It's an interesting framing: giving as something you can be genuinely good at. We sit with why generosity can feel uncomfortable to discuss in church, and...
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2 Corinthians 3 - The veil is taken away
Paul opens 2 Corinthians 3 with a small piece of wordplay that turns out to carry a large idea: the Corinthian believers themselves are his letter of recommendation — written not in ink but by the Spirit, not on stone but on human hearts. That observation seems almost to launch Paul's thinking...
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2 Corinthians 1 - Grace and peace
Almost every New Testament epistle opens with "grace and peace" — and it turns out to be a phrase worth pausing on. It captures something essential, and makes an excellent email sign-off. Paul's opening to 2 Corinthians also includes an apology for changed travel plans, which the lesson uses as a...
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1 Corinthians 15 - A foolish question
1 Corinthians 15 centres on the idea of resurrection. We explore what the chapter has to say to Adventists specifically, for whom the state of the dead and the mechanics of resurrection are dear doctrinal territory. But the discussion finds its heart in the mystery of what the resurrection body...
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1 Corinthians 13 - Put away childish things
1 Corinthians 13 is possibly the most well-known chapter in the Bible, and for good reason — it speaks for itself. Love is preeminent. The heart of our discussion is the second half, where Paul's argument is harder to follow: what does it mean that prophecy, tongues, and special knowledge are, in...
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1 Corinthians 14 - Ten thousand words
1 Corinthians 14 opens in a way that might feel familiar to Adventists — an emphasis on prophecy over tongues. But Paul's description of prophecy diverges quickly from how we typically think of it. His critique of tongues is that it doesn't build up the community; but that same standard has to be...
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1 Corinthians 8 - Not cause a believer to stumble
Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 8 is elegant: food sacrificed to idols is fine to eat, since idols are meaningless — but avoid it if eating would lead a fellow believer astray. Context matters, and so does audience. We explore the analogy of modest dressing, where modesty is always partly…
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1 Corinthians 6 - The temple of the Holy Spirit
Paul is not afraid to talk about sex — but his approach is more nuanced than the church's reputation suggests. In 1 Corinthians 5 he tells the church to get involved when something has gone badly wrong; by chapter 7 he is describing singleness and marriage as different gifts, resisting the idea...
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1 Corinthians 4 - How can you brag
What would Paul make of denominational pride? We can sincerely reject division within our own tradition while quietly celebrating everything that makes us distinct from other Christians — and not notice the tension. In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul cuts through it: "Isn't everything you have and…
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1 Corinthians 1 - Made the world’s wisdom foolish
The gospel has always looked foolish to the wise — and Paul in 1 Corinthians 1 seems untroubled by this. In this belated episode (holidays interrupted the edit process, sorry) we explore what it means that God chose the foolish things to shame the wise. Even Israel fits this description...
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1 Corinthians 2 - I came to you in weakness
What is an apostle, and what does it mean to be called? We open a new season in 1 and 2 Corinthians by sitting with Paul's own answer — which turns out to be surprisingly counterintuitive. His calling isn't grounded in competence or confidence; in 1 Corinthians 2:3 he identifies it with weakness....
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Psalm 80 - We will be alright
A season about growing in relationship with God ends not with a method or a programme, but with a recurring cry. Psalm 80 turns out to thread through almost everything we've discussed this season — community vs individual, unanswered prayer, setbacks that arrive despite clear promises, and what...
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Revelation 12 - They did not love themselves
"Friendship evangelism" can sound like ulterior-motive friendship, and that discomfort is worth taking seriously. We explore what separates genuine friendly witness from something more cynical, and find an unexpected parallel in international aid: the same sensitivity to context, the same need to...
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Genesis 15 - What good are all your blessings
Setbacks don't only happen when you can't see the big picture. Job is a famous example of hardship accompanied by confusion about what God is doing, but we focus a bit on another kind of setback. The stories of Abram and Joseph begin with unusually clear divine promises, and still go sideways for...
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Hosea 6 - Slaughter you with my words
In this episode we look at the themes of repentence and forgiveness. God tells us in Exodus 20 that he shows love to a thousand generations to those who love him, but also that he does not overlook sin. In Hosea 6 he describes his justice-inducing words as slaughtering the listener! Is there a…
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Romans 7 - Who can save me from this?
Romans 7 names the experience precisely: the things I want to do, I don't; the things I don't want to do, I end up doing. We explore how sin, gospel, and law fit together in the practical lived Christian life — and push back on the idea that sin is just human nature indulging in pleasure. A thing...
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Hebrews 11 - Saw it all from a distance and welcomed it
Faith has two sides: the kind that moves mountains, and the kind that endures when the mountain stays put. We explore the idea that faith is a belief held strongly enough to change your actions — and sit with the tension between those two postures. We also push back on the wistful assumption that...
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1 Kings 19 - A still small voice
Unanswered prayer is a genuine part of Christian experience — not a failure of faith. Many of the tidy explanations we reach for turn out to be exactly the arguments Job's friends made, and God doesn't vindicate them. What the lesson largely misses is lament — a legitimate, biblical response to...
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Luke 18 - Came to him repeatedly
Prayer is a bit like calling emergency services — in the moment you need it most, technique and philosophy are the last things on your mind. We explore a tension that sits at the heart of how we're taught to pray: 1 John 5:14 seems to say pray according to God's will, yet the persistent widow of...
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Luke 24 - Their eyes were opened and they recognized him
Sometimes personal study isn't enough. We explore three stories where genuine biblical insight only emerged in community — the road to Emmaus, Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, and the Jerusalem council with its remarkable conclusion that "it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us." The lesson…
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2 Timothy 3 - Prepare and equip his people
The Bible speaks to each of us today — but how does that actually work? We land on 2 Timothy 3:15-17 as a solid summary of Scripture's purpose, but spend most of our time exploring the remarkable range of genres the Bible contains (and what that variety itself tells us). Along the way, we push…
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Luke 18 - Thank you that I am not
Pride has a support network. Luke 18 gives us two characters whose postures before God could hardly be more different, but we explore the broader ecosystem that pride creates — the enablers who gather around it and benefit from it. Seeing that dynamic from a heavenly perspective changes everything.
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Job 36 - Something to say on God's behalf
No one person — or tradition — can fully represent God. The lesson this week raises the idea that the Bible is the "truest, clearest, and most consistent" revelation of God, but we explore the more subtle ways we construct images of Him that aren't golden calves, yet still fall short. The roles…
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Revelation 3 - I stand at the door and knock
We're starting a new season on the topic of growing in a relationship with God. There's a lot of great questions in the lesson this week, but we notice an interesting emphasis on us as "Christian individuals". The lesson takes Revelation 3 as a context, which is a passage full of messages to...
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Colossians 4 - Remember my chains
We revisit the verses about mutuality in relationships that straddle chapter 3 and 4. Although these were the topic last week, various ensuing conversations have generated a number of comments and new insights worth sharing. We notice in particular that all of the "submission" verses apply...
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Colossians 3 - You also have a master
It's not easy for us in the 21st century to read Paul asking slaves to submit to their masters. It is fascinating to realise that his matching remark to slave-owners is that they also have a master. All of the "instructions to submit" that are in the second half of Colossians 3 are more balanced...
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Colossians 3 - Mortify your members
The main metaphor framework in this chapter seems perhaps surprisingly violent. There are passages about "putting to death our bodies", and we notice that some translations are especially hard to understand here. What does it mean to be "dead to this life", and to have a "real life hidden with...
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Colossians 2 - High-sounding nonsense
This chapter is beautifully passionate about the way that our completeness is in Christ. Everything that really matters about us is best expressed in relation to Jesus. A number of contrasts are made, and we identify a rejection of Performative Christianity. There is a lot to ponder in the idea...
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Colossians 1 - Christ lives in you
This week, we wrap up our look into Colossians 1. From Eugene Peterson’s poetic rendering of scripture to the core idea that "Christ is enough," we explore the life-changing truth that Christ’s presence in us is the foundation of our faith. We discuss the tension between conviction and…
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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 Christian hymn, and we are intrigued by the variety of ways this is typeset in different translations. The most cryptic phrase to...
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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 from the first audience, we naturally gravitate towards the grand sweeping statements. Interestingly, the very fact these are...
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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 is illustrated not by "worldly" aspirations or desires, but rather by religious adherence. Despite "obeying the law without fault",...
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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 Paul's emphasis in Philippians 2 that we should "shine like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people." We...
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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 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...
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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 how a Christian might "understand" death. The lesson succumbs to a strong temptation to highlight the Adventist understanding of...
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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 on knowledge and understanding. Both passages have phrases which might seem to point towards legalism and a kind of perfectionism,...
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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 circumstances going against him. This gives an interesting complexity to the famous verse about him being able to do all things through...
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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 Israelites since Abraham - and especially since the Exodus. The history that has unfolded in Joshua is described as God's doing. Calls...
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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 conclusion to the story of this mighty leader. It is interesting to notice the ways in which Joshua himself can't easily see how...
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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 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...
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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" and "antitype", and we explore how Joshua might be interpreted in the light of God's self-revelation through Jesus.
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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're counting) because life has been hectic, and it is slightly pre-empting a bit of the lesson coming up in 2 weeks. This...
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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" 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…
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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 adverse circumstances. But reading the book of Joshua suggests that the Israelites may not have seen these events in this context....
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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 specific command to set these things apart for God. Worse, they lied about it and buried the treasure suggesting deliberate...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
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 [email protected] .
HOSTED BY
Cameron and Lachlan Rogers
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Sabbath School From Home have?
Sabbath School From Home currently has 341 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Sabbath School From Home about?
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...
How often does Sabbath School From Home release new episodes?
Sabbath School From Home publishes regularly with 341 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Sabbath School From Home?
You can listen to Sabbath School From Home on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Sabbath School From Home?
Sabbath School From Home is created and hosted by Cameron and Lachlan Rogers.
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