A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/

March 18

Sarah Chestnut

"Can We Be At Home in the Shadow of the Fall? : Reflecting on Home with the Help of Poets."

Is home a house? A family? A piece of land? A country? A language? A state of mind? A person? A church? Is God himself our home? If so, why do we so often feel some degree of existential homelessness? We will listen to voices from Christian Wiman's new anthology, Home: 100 Poems, to better understand our own and others' experiences of home and exile and consider how these diverse voices bear witness to the reality of the shadow of the Fall.

The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeking prior permission from L'Abri Fellowship. ©Southborough L'Abri 2022

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/

March 11

Ben Keyes

"On Being in a Story."

Human beings throughout history and across the world have always been storytellers. It is also a basic human tendency to think of one's life as a story. As part of the search for meaning in life, many people find comfort in the belief that their life story is part of a larger story. In this lecture, we will reflect on the significance of our lives being part of God's story of creation, fall, redemption, and fulfillment. What does this mean for our own individual stories?

The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeking prior permission from L'Abri Fellowship. ©Southborough L'Abri 2022

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/

March 9

Dick Keyes

"Competition, Illusion, and Excellence."

Competition is a powerful reality in American life. It can even seem as if we are all swimming in the strong current of a great river which determines our future destiny and value by our competitive success in every aspect of life. Debates about the identity, importance, and value of competition seem stuck in the confusion of passionate praise and blame. So, how can we see a redemptive place for competition in society and for us as individuals which can take us toward the excellence which is more important to God than our "rank"?

The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeking prior permission from L'Abri Fellowship. ©Southborough L'Abri 2022

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/

March 4

Dick Keyes

"Why Would God Require Praise?"

The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeking prior permission from L'Abri Fellowship. ©Southborough L'Abri 2022

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/

Feb 25

Dr. Brandon Unruh

"Isn't Christianity Just Wish Fulfillment?"

This talk examines competing understandings of our seemingly universal desire for transcendence and perfection as either a collective neurosis driven by unresolved infantile longings (famously argued by Sigmund Freud) or a trustworthy signpost hinting at ultimate spiritual reality (as C.S. Lewis posited in his "argument from desire"). Dr. Brandon Unruh will consider the strengths of and objections to each claim from his professional vantage point as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist while also describing four experiential pathways this desire may take across the course of our lives: (1) it may be wrongly deified and leave us dissatisfied, (2) it may lie dormant on account of deadening attachment experiences, (3) it may be devalued or demystified by naturalistic explanatory models, or (4) it may deliver us into a deeper relational experience of God as the source and object of this desire.

The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeking prior permission from L'Abri Fellowship. ©Southborough L'Abri 2022

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/

Feb 18

Joshua Chestnut

"What Are Fathers For?"

Author James K.A. Smith has written that we live in an age where everyone has a computer in their pocket but a gaping hole where a father should be. Though the stereotype of the absentee father persists throughout popular culture, current research continues to show the wide-ranging gifts that a present father can bring to his children and the wider culture. This lecture will consider this as well as offer thoughts on how one can raise children of character and courage.

The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeking prior permission from L'Abri Fellowship. ©Southborough L'Abri 2022

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/

Feb 11

Jeff Banks

"Seeking the Shalom of the University: Beyond Culture War to Culture Care."

For the past decade, debates have raged at universities across the U.S. about the relationship between religious freedom and anti-discrimination policies, especially around human sexuality. Christian groups on campus have been pressured to change their bylaws, and, in some cases, de-recognized as student organizations. In this aggressively secular environment, how should a Christian engage with the university? Are the only options to assimilate, withdraw, or become a right-wing culture warrior? Come hear a biblical case for taking a different posture toward the university, one that doesn't sacrifice beliefs for access, but doesn't sacrifice love for the politics of hate either. Whether you're a student at university or just work and live in secular culture, this will be relevant to you.

The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeking prior permission from L'Abri Fellowship. ©Southborough L'Abri 2022

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/

Feb 4

Esther Dalton

"How to Read a Story (A Guide for Practical People)."

If you get the chance to be a L'Abri student, you might be surprised when, along with *serious* works from theology, psychology, or social commentary, your tutor assigns you a work of fiction to read. A troubling mixture of misconceptions, questions, and even guilt can swirl through the practically-minded reader when faced with a novel, short story, or even a lyric poem. This lecture will attempt to address some of these concerns and offer tips for embracing the pleasures of a good story.

The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeking prior permission from L'Abri Fellowship. ©Southborough L'Abri 2022

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/

Jan 28

Joshua Chestnut

"The Apostle Paul and the Submission of Women."

This lecture is a continuation in a series of lectures on the Apostle Paul and women. This time we will consider his letter to the Ephesians with its counter-cultural call to submission and its complex metaphor of husbands as "head," all the while asking whether Paul was merely adopting the patterns of his wider, patriarchal culture or if he was significantly adapting these patterns in light of the gospel of Jesus.

The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeking prior permission from L'Abri Fellowship. ©Southborough L'Abri 2022

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/

Jan 21

Ben Keyes

The Waiting that God Requires.

Waiting has never been an easy thing for people. We are impatient in our souls, but we also live in a world where pain and suffering make it difficult to wait. To make matter's worse, our efficiency-obsessed culture tells us that modern people should not have to wait for what they want. In stark contrast, the Bible tells us that waiting is the context of all faith, and that to wait on the Lord is the calling of all Christians. How might biblical wisdom help us to wait in a world that seems to value only acceleration?

The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeking prior permission from L'Abri Fellowship. ©Southborough L'Abri 2021