Associates Program
Theological study for people aged over 50.
Wednesday morning program.
12 weeks of lectures without exams or assignments.
This Wednesday morning program is for people over 50 who may have time on their hands and want to dig deeper biblically without the pressure of exams or assignments. 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 (in person and online)
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
Semester 2, 2025
The Book of Job
Lecturer: Rev Marshall Scott
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.
TOPICS:
23 Jul – Job 1
30 Jul – Job 2
06 Aug – Job 3
20 Aug – Poetic Dialogue Round 1
27 Aug – Poetic Dialogue Round 2
03 Sep – Poetic Dialogue Round 3
17 Sep – Job 28
24 Sep – Job’s Final Defence
15 Oct – Elihu
22 Oct – Yahweh’s First Speech
29 Oct – Yahweh’s Second Speech
05 Nov – So What? Job, the Church, and the Meaning of Life
Costs and Options
Recordings of the class are available to attendees upon request.
Attend On-Campus
For on-campus attendance, please note there are limited places available.
- All 12 sessions per person (on campus): $238.00
- All 12 sessions for two people (on campus): $421.00
- Per session for one person (on campus): $37.00
- Per session for two people (on campus): $59.00
Attend 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
Contact Us
Do you have questions about the Associates Program?
Our team is here to help.