These are the individual units of study currently available.
Please go to Courses for information on our undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate courses.
Foundational Unit2019 April Intensive Unit 1
As Christians, we want to affirm that the Old Testament is indeed the word of God and that it holds value for the contemporary church. Yet at times we struggle to know what to do with it. While some parts are familiar, there is much here that seems odd or strange. In fact, it can sometimes feel like we are travelers lost in a foreign country – and without a guidebook...
2019 April Intensive Unit 2
Our God is a God of mission. The gospel is for people of every nation, tribe and tongue, in Australia and to the ends of the earth. We all affirm it but how should it impact our lives and our churches here? Should we just focus on our own neighbourhood and let others work out the rest? What does it look like to faithfully serve God’s global mission at home? What is our role locally and further afield?...
2019 July Intensive Unit
Our study of exilic prophecy will focus on the often-neglected book of Ezekiel. While this book offers a number of challenges for modern readers with its bizarre sign acts, oracles of judgment, and fantastic visions – these features communicate a unique and important message that should contribute to our picture of God and his relationship with his world. In particular, the book of Ezekiel portrays the holiness of God and the betrayal of his people in confronting and shocking language...
Foundational Unit2019 October Intensive Unit 1
'Get Wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.’ (Proverbs 4:7). Would you like to grow in your understanding of the Old Testament’s wisdom and prophecy books? Would you like to deepen your knowledge of God, as well as be equipped with tools for doing your own study and teaching of some of the least read books of the Bible?...
Foundational Unit2019 October Intensive Unit 2
"Everyone is a theologian...they just don't know it!" If that's so, then the real question is whether you're doing good or bad theology. Theology absolutely matters. That's because what lies at the heart of life, love and the universe is the reality of the Triune God and his plan to create, redeem and perfect the world he has made for his glory...
2019 May Postgraduate Unit
Deuteronomy has been called the most important book of the Old Testament, and is often compared to Romans in the New Testament. To heed its call is to “Choose life!” (30:19). We’re familiar with its call to love God with all our heart, yet the remainder of the book is seldom read. In fact, Deuteronomy consists largely of the first major example of preaching in the Bible, yet the book is seldom tapped as a resource for preaching today...
2019 June Postgraduate Unit
Christian ministry is hard work and stressful at the best of times, even when it is a joy and blessing. Following in the way of Jesus necessarily involves suffering and sacrifice. Caring for God’s people is demanding and costly. Unresolved conflict can demotivate us. Criticisms can hurt. The challenge is to keep holy, healthy and maturing in the midst of the ups and downs of Christian ministry. A vibrant spiritual relationship with the living God is vital. We are to attend to our physical, emotional and mental health. Loving relationships with family and friends are crucial aspects of our being and well-being...
2019 August Postgraduate Unit
Paul’s letter to the Colossians has long been one of the most loved letters in the New Testament for Christians. It has the wonderful combination of teaching about the greatness of the Lord Jesus as well as application for Christian living, and all within four succinct chapters! The perennial temptation to minimise the person of Christ and find strength for Christian living elsewhere means that this letter continues to teach and challenge us today...
2019 Semester 1 Wednesday Evening Unit
This series of 10 lectures is for all Christians who want to apply biblical wisdom as they confront life's complex issues.
Foundational Unit2019 Semester 2 Monday Evening Unit - Northern Beaches Centre
**SPECIAL REDUCED AUDIT RATE ON THIS UNIT**
The church is far from perfect; whether we have in mind the early church or the church today. How did the church get started? What issues did those first Christians struggle with? How did God use his people to spread the light of the gospel from its beginnings in Judea and Jerusalem to the very heart of the Roman Empire?...
Prerequisite: LA004A2019 Semester 2 Monday Evening Unit
In this unit you are introduced to and given experience in reading the language in which the New Testament was written. This prepares you to read straightforward parts of the Greek New Testament for yourself, be equipped for consulting New Testament commentaries based on the Greek text and reading books which discuss or refer to Greek words and expressions...
Foundational Unit2019 Semester 2 Tuesday Evening Unit
**SPECIAL REDUCED AUDIT RATE ON THIS UNIT**
We can only properly make sense of our present if we understand our past. Our numerous Protestant denominations only make sense if we understand the Reformation of the 16th century. Whether we identify ourselves as modern or post modern, we are indebted to the Enlightenment of the 18th century. Our ability to understand the American Presidential race depends in part on how we well we have grasped the rise of fundamentalism in the 19th century...
Pre/co-requisite: NT302/502, LA004A/B2019 Semester 2 Wednesday Evening Unit
The apostle Paul was one of the most zealous evangelists and clearest thinkers in the early church. What we know about him comes from the Acts of the Apostles and from the letters that make up a large part of our New Testament. Our world is fast becoming as pagan as it was in Paul’s time. With individual Christians and churches exhibiting many of the problems that he addressed, his letters are of crucial importance to the modern church. They enable us to respond to those issues in a godly and courageous way, and remain faithful to Christ and his gospel in our own age...
2019 Semester 2 Wednesday Evening Unit
**SPECIAL REDUCED AUDIT RATE ON THIS UNIT**
This is a unit of learning and practical skills related to the planning and conduct of effective children’s ministry. Areas of study include: skills and techniques for communicating with children; pastoral care of children and families; children and worship; children’s ministry teams; training children for ministry; group management of children; duty of care requirements...
Foundational Unit2019 Semester 2 Thursday Evening Unit
**SPECIAL REDUCED AUDIT RATE ON THIS UNIT**
We can only properly make sense of our present if we understand our past. Our numerous Protestant denominations only make sense if we understand the Reformation of the 16th century. Whether we identify ourselves as modern or post modern, we are indebted to the Enlightenment of the 18th century. Our ability to understand the American Presidential race depends in part on how we well we have grasped the rise of fundamentalism in the 19th century...
2019 Semester 2 Thursday Evening Unit
**SPECIAL REDUCED AUDIT RATE ON THIS UNIT**
Christian ministry is grounded in God’s love for people in the gospel of Jesus Christ. That means Christian ministry is necessarily about loving and caring for people, so that they love, trust and look to Christ. Ministry to people can be challenging at the best of times, and especially when people are faced with crisis such as relationship breakdown, death, mental illness or domestic violence...
Foundational Unit2019 Semester 2 Monday Daytime Unit
Being a Christian involves ‘following’ the Lord Jesus, not around Galilee and Judea, but in the course of our daily lives. The four Gospels provide four different records of what Jesus said and did. They are the foundation for knowing and understanding what he has done for us, as well as what he said about God and his will. If we really want to ‘follow’ Jesus, if we really want to be salt and light in our world, then the Gospels need to be our regular reading matter...
Foundational Unit2019 Semester 2 Monday Daytime Unit
'Get Wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.’ (Proverbs 4:7). Would you like to grow in your understanding of the Old Testament’s wisdom and prophecy books? Would you like to deepen your knowledge of God, as well as be equipped with tools for doing your own study and teaching of some of the least read books of the Bible?
Prerequisite: LA003A2019 Semester 2 Monday Daytime Unit
LA003B continues building a framework for engaging with Biblical Hebrew texts in their original language. By completing both Biblical Hebrew LA003 A and B, students will be in position to work directly with the Hebrew scriptures, and to continue translation and exegesis of Old Testament texts. After these units, students will be able to take Old Testament exegesis units in the Hebrew stream...
2019 Semester 2 Monday Daytime Unit
Do you want to teach and disciple people from another culture than your own? We often find ourselves want to teach and disciple others from very different cultural backgrounds than our own in exactly the same way as we were taught and discipled. Soon we find out that this doesn't work very well...
Prerequisites: OT423 = OT302, OT433 = OT302 + LA003A/B, OT623 = OT502, OT633 = OT502 + LA003A/B2019 Semester 2 Monday Daytime Unit
Our study of exilic prophecy will focus on the often-neglected book of Ezekiel. While this book offers a number of challenges for modern readers with its bizarre sign acts, oracles of judgment, and fantastic visions – these features communicate a unique and important message that should contribute to our picture of God and his relationship with his world. In particular, the book of Ezekiel portrays the holiness of God and the betrayal of his people in confronting and shocking language...
Prerequisite: LA004A2019 Semester 2 Monday + Thursday + Friday Daytime Unit
In this unit we continue our introduction to reading the language in which the New Testament was written. This prepares you to read straightforward parts of the Greek New Testament for yourself, be equipped for consulting New Testament commentaries based on the Greek text and reading books which discuss or refer to Greek words and expressions. New Testament Greek is a prerequisite for study of degree New Testament units with Greek exegesis in the Bachelor of Theology and Master of Divinity.
Prerequisites: 8cp of foundational NT/OT and 4cp of CH/TH2019 Semester 2 Tuesday Daytime Unit
Theology affects all of life. It is intensely practical. It answers the meaning of life questions such as, “Who am I? What is my purpose? How can I live well?” – by stepping back to see the centrality of God himself to our lives and the universe. As Augustine said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you”...
8cp of foundational NT/OT and 4cp of CH/TH2019 Semester 2 Tuesday Daytime Unit
There is no more important question in life than, “What must I do to be saved?” The doctrines of grace are concerned with God’s plan of salvation from election through to glorification, through which he brings about his eternal purposes for his creation, and in particular, for those he has chosen by grace to be his people. They also describe how the finished work of Jesus Christ is applied by the regenerating and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit to the believer, who by virtue of their union with Christ, is justified, adopted and perfected to share in his glory...
2019 Semester 2 Tuesday Daytime Unit
Pastoral Theology seeks to provide students with an overview of the structure and content of Christian theology. In doing so, the focus of the subject is upon the personal impact of the knowledge of God upon the student's mind, heart and life. It is a thought provoking unit seeking to help a student understand the implications of theology for the way they live, with the spiritual formation of the student as its primary goal.
2019 Semester 2 Tuesday Daytime Unit
Our God is a God of mission. The gospel is for people of every nation, tribe and tongue, in Australia and to the ends of the earth. We all affirm it but how should it impact our lives and our churches here? Should we just focus on our own neighbourhood and let others work out the rest? What does it look like to faithfully serve God’s global mission at home? What is our role locally and further afield?...
Prerequisite: LA004A2019 Semester 2 Tuesday + Thursday (Tutorial) + Friday Daytime Unit
In this unit we continue our introduction to reading the language in which the New Testament was written. This prepares you to read straightforward parts of the Greek New Testament for yourself, be equipped for consulting New Testament commentaries based on the Greek text and reading books which discuss or refer to Greek words and expressions. New Testament Greek is a prerequisite for study of degree New Testament units with Greek exegesis in the Bachelor of Theology and Master of Divinity.
Prerequisites: NT301/501, LA004B2019 Semester 2 Wednesday Daytime Unit
Luke was a doctor, a theologian, a careful historian and a follower of Jesus – the evangelist who recorded Jesus’ momentous words to Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to this house.” This unit studies the Gospel of Luke in its context as one of the three Synoptic Gospels, considering the question of what kind of writing the Gospels actually are...
Prerequisite: NT301/5012019 Semester 2 Wednesday Daytime Unit
Luke was a doctor, a theologian, a careful historian and a follower of Jesus – the evangelist who recorded Jesus’ momentous words to Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to this house.” This unit studies the Gospel of Luke in its context as one of the three Synoptic Gospels, considering the question of what kind of writing the Gospels actually are...
2019 Semester 2 Wednesday Daytime Unit
God has a global mission! And that means that we, as God’s people, also have a mission. But to know how we fit in, we need to understand what God has done, is doing and will do...
2019 Semester 2 Wednesday Daytime Unit
'Get Wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.’ (Proverbs 4:7). Would you like to grow in your understanding of the Old Testament’s wisdom and prophecy books? Would you like to deepen your knowledge of God, as well as be equipped with tools for doing your own study and teaching of some of the least read books of the Bible?...
2019 Semester 2 Wednesday Daytime Unit
Being a Christian involves ‘following’ the Lord Jesus, not around Galilee and Judea, but in the course of our daily lives. The four Gospels provide four different records of what Jesus said and did. They are the foundation for knowing and understanding what he has done for us, as well as what he said about God and his will. If we really want to ‘follow’ Jesus, if we really want to be salt and light in our world, then the Gospels need to be our regular reading matter...
2019 Semester 2 Thursday Daytime Unit
Are you interested in helping a church, or cluster of churches, come into being where they don’t yet exist, and especially where Christ is not known? This unit will help you develop a biblical framework for church planting. We’ll wrestle with the whys, whats, and hows of starting churches from scratch...
2019 Semester 2 Thursday Daytime Unit
Theology affects all of life. It is intensely practical. It answers the meaning of life questions such as, “Who am I? What is my purpose? How can I live well?” – by stepping back to see the centrality of God himself to our lives and the universe. As Augustine said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”...
Prerequisites: OT202/302/502, plus LA003A/B for OT436/6362019 Semester 2 Friday Daytime Unit
We live in beautiful but broken world, a world full of blessing and loss. In every circumstance, we are called to trust in a God who is sovereign and good, a God who has promised to save and protect his people. How do we respond when our prayers to God go unanswered? How do we live faithfully before God in times of blessing and in times of loss?...
Prerequisite: OT202/302/5022019 Semester 2 Friday Daytime Unit
We live in beautiful but broken world, a world full of blessing and loss. In every circumstance, we are called to trust in a God who is sovereign and good, a God who has promised to save and protect his people. How do we respond when our prayers to God go unanswered? How do we live faithfully before God in times of blessing and in times of loss?...
2019 Semester 2 Friday Daytime Unit
Roughly 2.5 billion people in the world follow Islam or Buddhism. Perhaps God has given you an interest in helping Muslims or Buddhists find Jesus? This unit will help you do that. In it, we explore the basic beliefs, practices, and some deeply held assumptions of Muslims and Buddhists...
2019 Semester 2 Friday Daytime Unit
"Everyone is a theologian...they just don't know it!" If that's so, then the real question is whether you're doing good or bad theology. Theology absolutely matters. That's because what lies at the heart of life, love and the universe is the reality of the Triune God and his plan to create, redeem and perfect the world he has made for his glory...
2020 Study Tour Unit
This unit can be studied for credit towards any ACT course. It includes the SMBC 2020 Study Tour of Israel and Greece on 29 June - 18 July, 2020.
Join us as we visit some of the key archaeological sites relating to important events recorded in the Bible. Come to Caesarea on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea where Gentiles heard the good news from Peter, travel to Galilee to the Mount of Beatitudes and sail from Tiberius to Capernaum, enter Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives and explore the Garden of Gethsemane. Fly to Phillipi where the gospel first came to Europe and then enjoy the sights of Thessaloniki, Athens, and Corinth...
Free sample lectures for a taste of what it's like to study at SMBC
A day of puppetry training with Quiz Worx
Self-Care and Resilience in Ministry (PC718i)
For all those interested in joining the tour
Exilic Prophecy (OT423i/623i)