Associates Program
This special Wednesday morning program is for people over 50 who may have more time on their hands and who want to dig deeper biblically without the pressure of exams or assignments. You can come to one, a few, or ideally come to all 12! Each semester a different unit of study is covered.
Our aim is for you to:
- Deepen your knowledge of the Bible
- Be encouraged in your walk with God
- Be encouraged by how God is at work overseas and around Australia
- Enjoy the warm fellowship and community of SMBC
- Learn from great lecturers!
Program
9.40am: Lecture starts (including the Zoom platform for online attendees)
10.30am: Morning tea
10.55am: Lecture continues (and concludes at 11.45 am)
11.50am: Principal's Hour (main chapel service) for on-campus attendees.
1.00pm: Principal's Hour concludes
On-Campus and Online Options
You have the choice of attending the full program in person at our Croydon campus, or joining us online and participating in the lecture via Zoom, and then watching a recording of Principal's Hour at a later time. Please note:
- When registering, please choose ONE mode of attendance and remain in that mode for that week, or for each of the 12 weeks (if booking all 12 sessions). This is so we can be sure we have enough seats in the lecture room.
- We're sorry, but lectures are not recorded.
- Please contact the Service Centre to book individual sessions
Costs
ATTENDING ONLINE:
Please note for those attending online, Principal's Hour will not be live-streamed, but will be recorded and available at a later time.
- All 12 sessions for one person (online): $238.00
- All 12 sessions for two people (online): $421.00
- Per session (online) for one person: $37.00
- Per session (online) for two people: $59.00
ATTENDING ON-CAMPUS:
For on-campus attendance, please note there are limited places available. Book early to avoid disappointment.
- All 12 sessions per person (on campus): $238.00 (+ booking fee)
- All 12 sessions for two people (on campus): $421.00 (+ booking fee)
- Per session for one person (on campus): $37.00 (+ booking fee)
Semester 2, 2025
The Book of Job is one of the most studied books of the Hebrew Bible. It has gripped scholars, pastors, and believers in the church through the ages, as they have seen in Job a brutally honest book that wrestles with one the deepest struggles of the human condition — the problem of suffering. At the same time Job is a frustrating book that raises troubling questions about the goodness of God and the injustice that he seems to allow to go unchecked. Why does God give what appears to be a spectacularly evasive and irrelevant answer to Job’s questions?
Come and join us on an enriching journey into this fascinating book. We will grapple with the problem of suffering, and whether or not the book tries to give us an answer. Or are we asking the wrong question? We will examine the different genres of the book and the way the author has juxtaposed discordant voices. We will jump into the ring with Job and his “friends” as they engage in an apparently endless verbal stoush. After that we will laugh at that self-important windbag, Elihu, and see how he is cut down to size by Yahweh. Finally, we will become transfixed by the cosmic vision that Yahweh presents to Job, and join him on a wonderful zoological show-and-tell that includes the ridiculous ostrich, the immovable behemoth, and the terrifying leviathan.
Week 1 - Job 1
Week 2 - Job 2
Week 3 - Job 3
Week 4 - Poetic Dialogue Round 1
Week 5 - Poetic Dialogue Round 2
Week 6 - Poetic Dialogue Round 3
Week 7 - Job 28
Week 8 - Job’s Final Defence
Week 9 - Elihu
Week 10 - Yahweh’s First Speech
Week 11 - Yahweh’s Second Speech
Week 12 - So What? Job, the Church, and the Meaning of Life
Got questions? Email us or call us on 02 9747 4780
