L'Abri Fellowship - Southborough

The Apostle Paul and the Problem with Selflessness

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

by Joshua Chestnut

This lecture will consider whether an ideal of selflessness is an helpful category for Christians who rightly don't want to take part in the pervasive selfishness of our age. We will look at different ways of understanding the self, trying to see how recent research into infant development, some feminist suspicion of altruism, and the importance of not forgetting our bodies might help us make sense of how the Apostle Paul thought about the goodness of being a self.

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 2023

Kindred Spirits: Reading for Friendship’s Sake?

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

by Esther Dalton

Anne Shirley, the protagonist of the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery, is famous for seeking a "bosom friend" and looking everywhere for "kindred spirits." But do stories about friendship and community have anything to do with reality? What does reading have to do with friendship, if anything? As loneliness and disconnectedness remain persistent problems in our culture, this lecture will seek solutions in books--which themselves have been called by many writers and readers, "friends."

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 2023

”Can Beauty Save Us?” A Guided Listening Journey in Choral Music for Holy Week

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

by Adam Kurihara

Choral music for Holy Week is saturated with a dissonant beauty that reflects the affliction of Chris. We will walk through several key pieces listening and learning about what makes this music so compelling. Learn how musical rhetoric (communicating concrete ideas through musical themes), structure and form, and melody and harmony draw us into the story of Jesus' crucifixion. Our time will be spent primarily with Bach's St. Matthew Passion, as well as Victoria's "O Vos Omnes" and Mozart's "Ave Verum Corpus". Join us for this listening party as we explore choral music for Holy Week.

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 2023

Teach Us to Pray: Solitude and Silence

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

by Joshua Chestnut

In this second lecture in a series on the prayer practices of Christians throughout the ages, we will consider the life of German theologian and Christian martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. While attempting to offer an overview of his life, specific attention will be given to his reflections on the necessity of silence and solitude in our life with God. Bonhoeffer's life and thought helpfully show that, while they are sometimes understood as spiritual practices that keep us from an active life in the world, silence and solitude with God are often the necessary grounds from which such a life of responsible action can emerge and be sustained.

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 2023

Challenges to the Modern University

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

by Dick Keyes

We will be taking a critical look at the history of the university, at some of the challenges it faces today, and what a Christian perspective could bring.

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 2023

Jesus: Our Model for Self-Control Part 1

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

by Ben Keyes

Self-control is an important Christian virtue that is often misunderstood and, as a result, undervalued. What is self-control? Why is having appropriate dominion over ourselves so important? What does the Bible tell us about how we can grow in self-control? In this first lecture of a two-part series, we will address these questions and reflect on how the imitation of Jesus can help us.

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 2023

The Baptized Imagination 3: Cultivating ”Something of Great Constancy”

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

by Esther Dalton

This lecture continues Esther's series on the imagination. "We are all made to be creative and our medium is life." But what does this look like practically? What does the imagination have to do with living life and how can we shape and shepherd our imaginations as we live toward "something of great constancy"?

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 2023

The Bible and Spiritual Formation

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

by Jeff Dryden, Covenant College, Chattanooga, TN

What is spiritual formation? How do we foster our spiritual life in Christ? How do we use the Bible in our spiritual formation? Jeff Dryden, biblical scholar and former L'Abri worker, will help us navigate these and other questions, showing how our understanding of spiritual formation determines how we read the Bible and also how the Bible is meant to function in a holistically formative way that reintegrates our whole person in the image of Christ.

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 2023

What is the Significance of Jesus’ Ascension?

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

by Ben Keyes

The Bible teaches that after his resurrection, Jesus Christ ascended into heaven. What does this event mean? How does it fit into the broader story of God's redemption? What difference does it make to the everyday life of Christian people living 2,000 years later? The ascension is a doctrine of the church which is often overlooked but which is crucially important. The goal of this lecture is to show the everyday relevance of the ascension to people in need of hope.

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 2023

Teach Us to Pray: To Pray without Ceasing

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

by Joshua Chestnut

David's resolve to "bless the Lord at all times" and Paul's command to "pray without ceasing" might sound like either pious exaggerations or nearly impossible options reserved for only the most spiritually advanced among us, but this not need be! As the first in a series on the ways Christians have prayed through the centuries, this lecture will consider the writings of John Cassian to see how these verses animated the prayerful imaginations of early Christian monks in surprisingly realistic, honest, and practical ways.

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 2023