The small group newbie

This is a common enough situation. You conduct (facilitate, serve, convene) a small group in your congregation (youth or not), and a newbie shows up.

 A real newbie, someone new to the group's larger context (the Sunday congregation), someone not even Christian, perhaps. 

How to help them fit in?

Perhaps this:

Ask one of the established members if they would be hospitable to the new-comer. Of course this eventuality had been discussed early on, so no surprise to the member.

Just be hospitable. Introduce self, and sit with them.

Let them know they can quietly ask you anything. "I'll give a quick answer if I can, or I'll ask the group as though its my question." You explain.

Then the convenor will ask a couple of questions through the meeting with people in pairs/trios to discuss then offer their view. Here the new-comer can get a little more involved and acclimatized, even be the speaker of the concluded response. The person's steward might suggest this.

Perhaps the person acting as their steward could offer to attend a forthcoming Alpha group with them, or your church's intro afternoon in a couple of week's time at a friend's home.

Is your church up to the game, or does it rely on words, not actions?

This is discipling at work. Not for the new-comer, for the steward. 

 

Encourage Bible reading.

One of the hired help that serves our church commented to me that the church encourages Bible reading.

I asked how it does this.

He replied: by encouraging it!

I think he meant that he would say to people "best to read your Bible day by day" or some such.

That's not 'encouragement' that's mere urging.

Here's how one encourages Bible-reading: by making it easy, attractive, and purposeful.

The best way that springs to mind is to make the Bible accessible.

Perhaps two or three times a year, a short seminar might be held to introduce people to the Bible.

Let's call it 'Open Bible', or ''Bible made Simple'...name is up to you.

It need only be an hour or so long but it would cover the structure, message and history of the Bible.

To most new readers, the Bible is an intimidatingly large, incomprehensibly complex and diverse collection of books of unknown antiquity and relevance. Typically, none of it makes sense; particularly when they might be advised to start with a gospel. Usually the word 'gospel' would be unexplained and the point of starting in the middle-ish of the volume would not be self-evident.

This sounds crazy from the get-go.

A simple introductory session, appropriately illustrated with diagrams and timelines  would possibly make it far more interesting and make sense of the Bible as an anthology that traced the works of God in history to restore us to fellowship with him, and the creation to its true purpose as the place where God and mankind come together.

So, just three segments:

What the Bible is

How the Bible is

and

Why the Bible is

At the end of the course a little booklet (yes, I still believe in booklets) with a short introduction to each book would be given, with a suggested reading plan that has a low bar: "take it at your own pace".

The plan I aspire to: Each morning a psalm, or part, it it is long, and each day 4 chapters, or only two if they are long. Take your time, digest, re-read if you drifted off, look up words you don't understand.

I aim to read the gospels during Advent, Acts between Christmas and New Year, then the rest of the New Testament by Candlemas (the feast of the presentation of Our Lord). I read in a different translation each year. This has been my practice for the past 7 or 8 years. I love it.

Then I work through the Old Testament in the Tanakh order. I aim for 4 chapters a day, but can't keep to it, so, without worrying about it, I just keep going until all read, then I start again.

I keep a journal divided into the pericopes that some editions indicate with sub-titles. I make any jottings under the sub-title I'm reading. If  I've got no bright ideas, I note down the highlight event(s) of the particular section.

NEXT 

A follow-on session or sessions might deal with apparent contradictions or problems in the Bible. 

Another might deal with Biblical archaeology.

BTW, for the really keen: Until a few years ago the church I am part of had a small group that met to read the New Testament in Greek. None were theologians, but just people who had learnt the language. I was not one of them, as it happens. 

Be ABOUT Relationships

I came across this neat acronym in relation to ministry for young people (say, 15-25):

ABOUT

A = Acceptance: show it

B = Belonging: build it

O = Ownership: promote it

U = Understanding: foster it, and

T = Trust: anchors everything.

Now, apart from never liking the word 'ownership' in this context, I think it's a good guide.

"Ownership" might point to participatory engagement or responsibility for oneself in the fellowship group. This can take a lot of mentoring or discipling for young people in some cases, but a fine objective, particularly if the young person is a bit of a social outlier. 

If you are guiding an organization or group (i.e. having final responsibility for it) the meanings can be adjusted, such as:

A = Act to bring results (don't procrastinate, but don't rush)

B =  Build the team (keep developing -- discipling in a church context -- the people you work with)

O = Organize performance (define the mission, provide resources, equip the team)

U = Understand the job (know the objective, customers, competition, strategy and people)

T = Trust anchors effectiveness (never do anything to destroy trust).

Bible School -- an Equip-meet curriculum.

New believers and young Christians need to be properly instructed, trained, about the Bible.

Let's see how we could do that in 10 monthly half day-evening sessions.

Before dinner is the first segment, with the second segment after dinner, and optional conversation following over Port and cigars (only kidding).

February

1. Old Testament overview and textual history

2. Old Testament archeology and historical context (this might include intertestamental period)

March

3. New Testament overview and textual history

4. New Testament archeology and historical context (this might include the early church)

April

5. Pentateuch/Torah

6. Concept of 'God' in the OT

May 

7. Synoptic Gospels

8. John's Gospel 

June

9. The Former Prophets

10. The Latter Prophets

July

11. Acts and Romans

12. 1 and 2 Corinthians

August

13. Pre-exilic Writings

14. Paul's shorter letters

September

15. Post-exilic Writings

16. General Epistles

October

 17. Revelation

18. Who is Christ--who is God? 

November 

19. How does Salvation work?

20. Basic Christian Questions (intro to basic apologetics, but this would be the ground work for a weekend seminar the following February) 

On the following Sundays' gatherings, participants could be invited to, in pairs, give their reflections/thoughts on the material they had on the prior Saturday. 

7 Big Questions Seminar References and Resources

This page is devoted to supplementary material for attendees of a '7 Big Questions' seminar. This is a full day seminar for churches (generally, it can also be given in two half-day sessions) to encourage and assist members in being able to think through answers to the seven most commonly asked questions of Christians.

If you have not attended a seminar, naturally, you are nevertheless welcome to use this page.

If you want to organize a seminar or inquire about hosting one, please send an e-mail to 7BQ_Seminars@email.com, with the subject line "I want to organize a seminar" otherwise it will be filtered out.

If you attended a seminar you have access to a moderated discussion group (provided through your registration e-mail address).

Thanks to 'Watcher' for allowing this page to be hosted on his blog.

Be Like a New Testament church

Tom Wadsworth, in a recent podcast, ran through his 9 points for change to echo the NT church in our modern practice.

Also see his full lecture on this.

I've added my comments here and there.

1. Change terminology.

'Worship services/time/pastor...order of worship, etc' That language is foreign to the NT. Paul sets out the core of worship in Romans 12:1, 2. But let's also use NT terminology for our gatherings/assemblies: gathering/ecclesea, assembly.

2. Make edification the purpose of our church gatherings: 'one anothering' each other.

Make edification the purpose of joining a church gathering. That is, to build up one another. Nor by the 'man at the front', but 'one-anothering' each other. No longer a consumer, but a maker (jointly).

3. Less concert more content.

'Worship' and 'worship music/bands/pastors' has come to dominate modern gatherings; and music made to mimic the entertainment attraction of a pop-concert. This is far from the 'one-another' songs mentioned in the NT.

4. More speakers, shorter speeches.

Not just one person doing the talking, but many do so; but in an orderly manner.

5. More dialogue, less monologue.

Conversations about living the faith, not lectures that amble around a single verse. The latter is for the teaching/study group (adult 'Sunday school').

6. Break big groups into small groups.

Up to about a dozen people. More than this imposes a limitation on individual participation and salience. This is where disciples are made and maturity is achieved. Without this, people are probably not growing and have no place to 'grow'.

7. Create edification 'rooms'.

The church I recently served at purchased, converted and extended a cottage for meeting rooms. One of them, and one in the older building, were fitted out like domestic sitting rooms, with sofas, easy chairs, coffee table, standard lamps. Not like office meeting/lecture rooms (which the others were), but homes.

Not only did young people relax more in them and feel at ease, but so too did adults.

In larger rooms, seating might be set out to allow people to see each other: in arcs if not full circles.

But also, let's really drop the usage 'church' when we refer to our buildings. In my church, apparently as one of the appointed ministers (that is, elected, but not paid) pointed out to me, the place where we gather on Sundays is 'The Church', not, as I had referred to it in a document as: "the main hall. Sheesh!!

8. Incorporate the meal: the Last Supper was a meal, not a shot of wine and a cracker.

Include full meals in the life of the church and use these to remember the Last Supper. Eating together brings people together: relaxed. But, be sure that talk about  Christian life  and concerns is the major conversation focus.

And 'shot' of wine? Who ever heard of such a thing!

9. Make love an assembly mandate (I Cor. 13).

Paul's discourse on love is in the context of assemblies! When the church comes together, with many speaking, etc. love is essential to trust in this as the way of the church, from which all learn and are known to each other.

In my small corner

Our church has just started a monthly segment at our 'youth' service called 'In my small corner'.

This is a cross between a Q&A and a time of sharing of conversations had.

The first 7 'conversations' will be the 7 basic questions that a Christian must be able to answer to follow Peter in 1 Peter 3:15.

1. Why are you a Christian?
2. Why do you read the Bible?
3. Why do you attend church?
4. Don't all religions teach the same thing?
5. That's good if its your truth, but I'm spiritual without that/its not for me.
6. How can a God of love permit so much evil and suffering?
7. Hasn't science disproved the Bible?

From this point people will be invited to relate a conversation they've had and how they deal with it, or how they might have done so. A short discussion may follow.

So, here would be my first one:

Last evening I was talking to a man who was unpersuaded by the 'moral' argument for God. He insisted that the only thing he did was what made him happy and didn't offend against the law or other people.

He put everything down to social structures that had evolved.

I tried to bat back every response, I used examples of the Holocaust, Isis, Crime cartels and Hamas, and we had a good talk for a long time, but what would you have said?

A few things we want to do with this segment:

• Get people used to talking about their faith and its implications
• Show that they don't have to 'win' every encounter (Peter tells us to explain our 'why' not win the argument)
• Discuss responses, and use these for teaching points at another time
• Stimulate conversation over coffee later
• Encourage reading of relevant books/watch videos
• Encourage thoughtful  reading of the Bible.
  

Newly Christian

 OK, so that's volunteers, what about those who are newly Christian?

The steps of faith after a profession of faith.

1. Preparatory classes for Baptism

Reading James' letter. A session on the Apostles' creed (except 'descended into hell') and three or four pastoral sessions discussing relevant passages from the Bible and prayer.

2. Post Baptism

For the next 18 to 24 months the person is a 'novice', but we don't call them that. During this period they will be asked to accept no significant responsibility for spiritual practice. They might be asked if they would be interested in public reading of scripture and similar.

They will be taken through the Apostles' Creed in detail, with study of the relevant scriptures.

A session  on the Bible: its history, structure and over arching description of the reality we all are in.

Shared reading with the pastoral helper of Genesis, Joshua, Isaiah, Mark's gospel, Acts and Revelation.

These sessions start usually with a Psalm and end with some Proverbs verses, for example, from Proverbs 3, 8 and 9.

We might also work through Koukl's Tactics, Relativism and the Story of Reality, with discussion. We don't agree with all that is written in 'Story' but discuss it anyway.

As soon as possible, we encourage the novice to join a small Bible/prayer group.

At the end we suggest they read (re-read) Wright's Simply Christian and Lewis' Mere Christianity.

What about Leviticus, then, you 'phobe?

One of the best pieces I've encountered on dealing with an advocate of homosexual practice who accuses one of being some sort of mental defective: yep, by Greg Koukl. It's at the 28 minute mark (and, mind you, I disagree with his Calvinistic aspects, just for the record).

I'd tackle it a little differently at the start:

The questioner challenges you about Leviticus 20:13 as the basis of Christian 'homophobia'.

I respond: 'are you an ancient Jew?'...answer is 'no', I continue 'you've nothing to worry about then, so what's the problem?'

Some response...then 'I'd be more concerned about Paul the Christian messenger's letter to his friends in Rome (Romans 1:18-32)'

Then pick up Koukl's response.

Now, remember, this is only if the issue comes up in this context. Our job is not to judge individuals, it's to make disciples. I Cor 5:9-13 applies.

The rebuttal of the use of Leviticus is strategically there to open a discussion of what the Bible is (the collection of God's interactions with his people through history to prepare the way for Messiah) and is not (a collection of ahistorical and disconnected aphorisic instructions about behaviour...which the Koran is).

The mostly Christian service

We attended a 9 lessons and carols service at St James, King Street, for Christmas. Happily it was outside the latest 'lockup' zone, or gulag, as I like to call it, both geographically and dispositionally.

We were initially hesitant to go as the official encouragement was to make only essential trips.

Church is essential. Anyway, the governor of NSW went. She clearly thought it was essential.

A good service in many respects, and wonderful musically. Rarely heard carols, a couple of old favourites, and wonderful readings, almost all by culturally significant people, unfortunately. Some of whom were not so good at reading in public.

We had judges, members of parliament, academic worthies from Chippendale indoctrination centre (Sydney...University?) and its mail-order twin (Charles Sturt, same question).

But that was the thing. I don't go to church for other than members of that congregation, and particularly worthies from the world, to read the word of our Lord and Saviour to me.

That's not worship of our creator and redeemer, it is prostrating before the world and its vanities.

I immediately thought of James 2:1-7 and Luke 14:7-11 and allowed myself to be dismayed.

In this respect a Christmas eve service at Christ Church St Lawrence was much more Christian (although, Christian of the 17th century, charmingly).

Notably the St J's service included the absurd 'acknowledgement' of the 'traditional custodians' of the land. Apparently the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, with more than a touch of thespian anachronism, but not my 'tradition', or probably anyone's, in reality. Pure political theatre.

I don't see the gospel as being made subject to any earthly tradition, particularly an obviously pagan assertion. Did Paul encourage the Ephesians to acknowledge the priests of Diana in their meetings? The very idea is anathema. Israel's dance with Baal show us where this sort of syncretistic gesture ends.

In fact, I'm agin any form of jingoism in church. I'll happily pray for the government to maintain justice and peace, that's its God-given job. To preserve our natural liberty. But, that's all. A putative 'tradition' of actual animists, not so. And please, no national flags, no pictures of heads of state or government, either.

St. J's also has submitted itself to the age and apparently put the fiction of amoral 'sexual orientation' before the proclamation of the gospel. See above on Baal.

At the end we seem to have learnt nothing from the history of the formation and course of the Deutsche Evangelische Kirche which followed Herr Schicklgruber like a lap dog.

And, a couple of wonderful 9LC services: Durham, St. Swithun's, New College, plus a stack more on YouTube, of course.

The most encouraging sentence in the Bible

 Micah 6:8

He has told you, mortal one, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?

 Not to be 'great', not to be super-Christian, not to be nothing but...there you have it.

On my walk

If you want to listen to one Christian talk, listen to this one by Chris Mitchell. He talks through part of C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity in The Christian View of Reality. He means of course, 'what reality really is'.

Download it. Listen to it. Then listen again. I need say no more. 

Why I got to listen to this podcast on my walk.

Hitherto I've just enjoyed the scenery, but a friend related his listening to some sports podcast on his walks.

Sport is not my thing, but I thought: plenty of  podcasts I want to listen to, so get on with it. Sticky taped the earphones in and off I went.

My son suggested a better way would be Taotronics Soundliberty 79s. I'll see.

Outreach vs Indrag

 If we were concerned about 'outreach' as a church broadly, we would go out, like Paul who took to 'reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.' Acts 19:80-10.

How could we do likewise?

A few thoughts:

Every minister or other trained person would offer evening 'courses' for public interest in 'The True History of the Bible' or some similar provocative titles, or "History of Spirituality" to bring the course to the Christian conclusion, or "Ancient History Today" on the gospels and Acts: unique in Ancient history as unadorned historical accounts of events and experiences.

The idea is packaging biblical/gospel material in a manner that would have initial appeal to a wide audience.

Then for Christians.

There are many public 'course' offerings, non-award courses for general interest. The WEA and local evening colleges offer these. Something similar would be great of Christians who want to expand their knowledge but in manner beyond a local parish's capabiltiy but not at the level of a formal college.

Here in Sydney, courses offered in half a dozen venues across the metro area in biblical, historical and theological topices would be a wonderful injection into the development of the church and evangelism.

Then there's Christian cultural critique: studying film, literature and drama with a Christian lens, examining the worldview (and failings thereof) of great cinema, novels and plays.

Similar course on the works of Francis Schaeffer and C. S. Lewis would be an added element, enlarging the  perspective of Christians to engage in informed cultural criticism and discussion.

 

From social club to discipling centre

Social is good, don't get me wrong, and humble socialising is an essential part of life, and therefore of church.

But we are more than that. We need to know and understand our faith.

In recent decades, if not centuries, Christian faith has dropped the idea of knowledge and is obsessed with 'feelings'. We need to pull out of this 'controlled flight into terrain' dive and start climbing, seriously!

Serious teaching need not be taxing; indeed, it is exciting and expanding.

Here's a program that the average church, or regional group of churches can run.

It's a mini-conference over two half days, meals and socialising included.

Saturday:

Arrive 12:15 for lunch at 12:30
1:30 first lecture, then half hour seminar after
3:00 afternoon tea
3:30 second lecture and half hour seminar
5:00 open Q&A
6:30 dinner
7:30 lighter lecture
8:30 informal discussion (or prep in groups for next day)
9:30 home time.

Sunday:
9:00 arrive, morning coffee
9:30 prayer and singing
10:15 first lecture, then half hour seminar
11:45 short capstone  lecture
12:00 discussion groups (or group presentations)
1:00 lunch or depart
2:00 informal afternoon
3:30 close.

Three of these a year on a three to five year cycle would enable systematic coverage of Christian knowledge.

Three year:

Year 1 - Old Testament, New Testament, Theology (based on the Apostles' Creed)
Year 2 - Church history 1, Apologetics 1, Theology of salvation.
Year 3 - Apologetic and society, Church history 2, Christology.

Five year cycle adds:

Year 4: Pentateuch and Prophets, Church history 2, Doctrine of God
Year 5: Creation, Holy Spirit, History of Theology.

These aren't sermons, These are 'knowledge transfer' lectures pitched for the level of the congregation, with notes, recommended reading, videos or audio recordings for further study and catchy names, if that would work for your group.

Separate training programs in 'social apologetics' and 'talking the faith' could be helpful as could a 'society and faith' topic. Each over a few weekly meetings, say, 5.

Now, go to it.

Seashells

My comment on a video by Challies.

"Influential Christian Leader..." When are we going to shake off this residue of Roman priestcraft and remember that we have one leader: Christ?

We are all servants.

There are no 'Christian leaders' in the church but a bunch of people equipped to serve in various ways.

The sooner we learn as a church that we are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling and not outsource it to a 'leader', as soon as we stop thinking of the church as a military unit or self-aggrandizing business but a community of saints filled with the Spirit of Christ, the sooner our mission will be prosecuted with vigour and full effect.

Classic Christian Books

While we are on books, lists of Christian classics:

Combs list:

Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis gave a series of radio talks during the World War II years in which he sought to explain and defend the basic beliefs of historic Christianity. Those radio talks later became Mere Christianity. Lewis superbly articulates these basic tenets in a manner that is instructive for the believer and persuasive for the unbeliever. Mere Christianity is truly unsurpassed as an apologetic for the post-Enlightenment West.

Confessions, by Augustine

Augustine was born in the mid-fourth century in modern-day Algeria to a Christian mother and a pagan father. He spent his early years rebelling against God, wandering to and fro the vast religious landscape of his day. In 386 BC he was converted to Christianity through the influence of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, and through the reading of Romans 13:13–14. In Confessions, Augustine retraces his life and God’s activity in it, and he does so in the form of a prayer. Not only is this a powerful, reflective book for Christians, it is regarded by many as one of the first autobiographies, placing it among the most historically significant pieces of literature in the world.

The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s most famous work, The Cost of Discipleship, originated from his New Testament lectures at the University of Berlin. Bonhoeffer wrestles with the teachings of Jesus, specifically the Sermon on the Mount, and argues that, though grace is the free gift of God, it is not cheap. Grace is costly; in fact, discipleship costs us everything. Bonhoeffer was executed in a Nazi concentration camp on April 8, 1945. His discipleship—that is, his following after Christ—cost him dearly.

The Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan

It is widely accepted that The Pilgrim’s Progress is the second best-selling book of all time, behind only the Bible. Written largely while author John Bunyan was in an English prison for preaching without a license, the book is an allegory for the Christian life. Its main character, Christian, travels to the Celestial City with every imaginable help and hindrance that believers face in life.

Humility, by Andrew Murray

Published in 1895, Andrew Murray’s Humility is one of those rare books that applies to every person at every stage of life. The minute someone thinks they have perfected humility, they have found a new place to root their pride. If, as many theologians have argued, the root of all sin is pride, then the root of all holiness is a God-exalting humility. This book will point you toward that God-exalting humility.

A Grief Observed, by C. S. Lewis

Many books have been written in Christian history addressing the problem of suffering and pain. In fact, C. S. Lewis wrote a book addressing that problem—but it isn’t this one. While The Problem of Pain provides a theological and philosophical examination of suffering in the abstract, A Grief Observed is a window into Lewis’ actual suffering after the loss of his wife. Any Christian who has suffered or will suffer desperately needs companions, and one of the best is this book.

Knowing God, by J. I. Packer

J.I. Packer has been one of the most influential theologians in the West in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His bestselling book, Knowing God, is a basic primer on who God is and what a life of knowing him looks like. It is simultaneously theologically rich and accessible, a great theological introduction for the believer and unbeliever alike.

The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom

One of the most powerful biographical works in the church’s history, Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place tells the story of her life, particularly of her sacrifice to hide and protect Jews in the Netherlands after the Nazi invasion of 1940. Few books have displayed courageous Christian character in a more inspiring and convicting fashion than The Hiding Place.

Orthodoxy, by G. K. Chesterton

Published in 1908 as a companion to his previous book Heretics, Orthodoxy provides a thorough examination of the Apostle’s Creed. One of the last century’s most influential Roman Catholics (though he was Anglican at the time this book was written), Chesterton sees the creed as a profound apologetic, as an answer to the riddle of all our human needs. Orthodoxy is clever and witty, timeless and profound.

The Valley of Vision

The greatest gifts the Puritans left the church were their detailed meditations on the Scriptures and their focused, intentional prayers. The Valley of Vision is a collection of some of those prayers. Countless Christians have read this collection, even adding it to their daily devotional time, and have experienced a new vitality and depth to their prayer life as a result.

Reading great books is a challenge. It would be much easier to turn on Netflix, to read tweets or Facebook posts, or to skim newspaper articles. But none of these are as rewarding as reading classic works—particularly classic Christian literature.

In his masterpiece on reading, Mortimer J. Adler said, “Good books are over your head; they would not be good for you if they were not.” Don’t let the fear of being inferior in your reading, your theology, or your discipleship keep you from conquering these classics. The only way to grow is to be stretched, and one of the best ways for a believer to be stretched is by reading the great books of Christian history.

Other lists that may be of interest, including from people who's theology I disagree with:

Piper's 25

Threlfall's top 10

Qaoud's Kindle cheapies

The full list of seminary books

Women jokes

Many conspicuous Christians wreck their work with stupid jokes about women.

The most recent I've come across is Dallas Willard! I know he's dead now, but in his otherwise thoughtful lecture on Salvation and what it is not, he bloops with a dumb joke about wives.

Silly, thoughtless, demeaning, and indeed cruel.

I didn't marry my wife so I would have someone to blame for my misfortunes if I couldn't blame the government, I married her because she is my soul-mate.

Ponder on Colossians 3:12. Go look it up yourself.

He is Risen

Now that we do remote church; my morning's links:

St Swithun's Pymble

Hereford Cathedral 2017

Rochester Cathedral 1997

Easter from Kings 2016

Easter from Kings 2014

The need to hear it here first.

A statement I like from Jack Wallace is this: by the end of their time in the youth group, I want the people I serve to have heard every objection to Christian faith, Christian theism, the resurrection of Yeshua, the reliability of the Bible that there is...from me! And to know a couple of rebuttals and conversational lines in response.

I like the cut of his jib.

The Case for Christ

It's nice to have some mnemonics to keep in mind to be able to give a reason for the hope we have (1 Peter 3:15).

You might remember the 5 Cs.

Here are the four (or five) Es, care of Lee Strobel, the author of The Case for Christ:

E - execution: Yeshua was dead as a result of the execution: there's virtually no dispute that he was dead after the crucifixion. For this, we have a large number of early contemporary accounts of this. Josephus, Tacitus, Serapian, Lucian, the Talmud

E - early: the earliest report we have access to is dated from probably 3 months after the resurrection in an early creed

E - empty: we have an empty tomb, recognized by Yeshua's enemies as resulting from grave robbery (the modern trope that crucifixion victims were not buried is false).

E - eyewitnesses: in more than a dozen instances to over 515 people in total recorded in over 9 ancient sources within and external to the New Testament*. Unlike mass hysteria events, the events were all different, and mostly in prosaic everyday circumstances.

(E) - experience: of the apostles post-resurrection: changed from a band of frightened demoralized failures to determined risk-takers who led difficult lives of deprivation and suffering to proclaim Yeshua's resurrection from the dead to their own deaths. They had encountered the resurrected Yeshua and were confident to put their lives on the line for their experience.

*Many non-scholars reject the NT as an ancient source. But remember, the NT is a collection of ancient texts. It was not composed as a propaganda piece, but represents a compilation of individual texts separately composed within about 60 years of the crucifixion for various readerships across the ancient world. Don't confuse a method of binding for an intentional composition.