Hinterland Habits are those far off, distant habits of spiritual formation that we may have not considered before. How might we practice curiosity as a spiritual discipline? Looking at how this connects with Moses, Mission, Creativity and Communion, we ask how we can follow Jesus in openness and vulnerability; letting go of our boxes and fears and embodying the strength of this Love in faith.

The book of Exodus is about how a family became a nation. We encounter this community of people flourishing and multiplying in Egypt, living out what creation was intended to do in Genesis. Yet a new dynasty of empire sees this growing immigrant community as threat and seeks to enslave and diminish it. From where will deliverance come? Can an empire the size and power of Egypt be ever outwitted and resisted? Exodus 1 gives us some insight.

Jesus was great at asking people who they thought he was. This segment of Matthew provides one of the most acclaimed public confessions of the entire gospel. Jesus's response has equally resonated throughout history. What does it mean for us?

Ancient storytelling in Genesis is a beautiful and complex thing. What have we missed in the bizarre and bemusing and sometimes, sordid stories of Israel's beginnings? We find clues in this drama that point us to the authors' wider intention and perspective. One of these is the struggle of sibling rivalry. What can we learn from the struggle of family dysfunction, favouritism, trickery, deceit and violence about God's purposes for Israel and humanity?

The Binding of Isaac looms large in Jewish and Christian storytelling. Much of our struggle with this passage is with the portrait of God it depicts and the nature of the test that Abraham is given. Is God asking for total obedience, a show of loyalty or proof of faith? In this talk we unpack possible alternative readings of this encounter and wonder if Abraham is unlearning and re-learning who God is and what he actually requires from him? After all, isn't that an integral part of our faith journey?

urgan Möltmann said: “Christianity…is hope, forward looking and forward moving and therefore also revolutionary and transforming of the present.”The Canaanite woman mentioned in this story was seen as a sinner, part of an unclean ‘other’ group, but she refused to be silenced. She knew who she was and understood more deeply than the disciples, the mission of the Messiah. Where and in what ways can we be true to and persist in the transformative hope of the upside-down-all-included Kingdom of God?

The story of the great patriarch and matriarch of Israel, Abram and Sarai is brimming with the beauty of God's call, promise and blessing, right? Yet, how do we reconcile this also as a story of dysfunctional and destructive relationships, of injustice and trauma? How can this messy, ancient and inspired story speak to us and what have we missed from the encounters between God and Abram, Sarai and Hagar?

If God's work of making creation good, in Genesis, is not about a perfect paradise but about relational order and well-being, what does it mean for God to rest on Day 7 after his work? We might be surprised to consider a new dimension to the concept of Sabbath rest when we understand what God was doing in the first place. Is rest relaxation, or stopping work or is it participating in what God did, where God went and how he rested?

Genesis is a stunning piece of ancient literature but how does it behave and what it is going on? Three millennia of Jewish midrash and church history about the meaning of Genesis 1 and 2 is not being attempted in this episode. However, by digging a bit deeper into the ancient meaning of several words in these chapters, we might be surprised by what we have missed. It might also challenge us to reconsider previous assumptions about power, goodness and the making of men and women in this ancient story of creation.

Our new series will explore how we have missed in our reading of the bible - the boring bits, obscure bits, difficult bits - and there are a lot of these. Perhaps we have missed so much because we have failed to understand what the bible actually is and it how it behaves as a God's word in human words. This inspired, complex, diverse and ancient literary product requires our hard work and attentiveness and only by doing this, will we experience a deeper encounter with The One it points to.