Not all believers are engaged in regular debates with highly educated scholars and experts. But what is the role of apologetics for those other "regular" people? Apologetics serve to strengthen Christians' faith and help us in our evangelism. Not only verbal but also lifestyle apologetics aid our evangelism, as we live in such a way that helps others see something different and attractive in us and our community. Therefore, we should make an effort to become equipped with and utilize apologetics in our Christian faith.

Despite common thoughts that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament, both God's grace and His priorities are clear throughout the book of Deuteronomy. Looking at the structure and considering the historical context of this book, it is clear it is organized in such a way that God intended it to be remembered. By looking at the organization of the book as a whole, we can also see that God's grace is highlighted as the basis for the requirement of Israel's obedience to Him. His law also reflects His priorities for morality: property, then people, and God above all. Although we are under a new covenant, this Old Testament book dispels common beliefs that God was different under the old covenant, and the old covenant should, therefore, be ignored by us today.

The Western Church has been seeing an alarming decline in involvement for the last couple of decades. In order to turn this around, we must be aware of the reasons people are leaving and be willing to address them. Society today often sees churches as being outdated, impersonal, selfish, and hypocritical. It's imperative that we be willing to evaluate the wineskins we use and find more effective ways to reach the lost when old wineskins are no longer working.

God created us to be emotional beings, but our emotions are constantly being fed by the things around us. It is important to reflect on what we are being drawn to and how these things impact our hearts. Are we aware of the unhealthy emotional pull different types of media have on us? Do we discuss these with other people? If our emotions are God-given, it is imperative that we feed them Godly nutrition in order to use them for His glory.

To truly unpack the messages of the Bible and grow in our understanding of and intimacy with God, we must yield certain tools as we approach the Word. First, we must understand the context of what we are reading. We must then consider what is the unique importance of the book before us. Furthermore, coming to God's Word with questions in our mind allows us to discover specific truths that we may otherwise glaze over. As we use these tools and others, we gain deeper understanding of God's truths, which allows us to begin discovering more about 1 Peter.

In order to truly unpack the messages in Scripture, we must fight to go deeper into the text. If we want to truly gain answers and understanding, we should approach the Bible with questions to guide our search. As we do this, we can more effectively train others in the Word as well. Lennox explains what it looks like to approach our reading with five broad questions: Does the author say why he's writing? What is the diagnosis, or in other words, what is going on with the audience? What is said about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? How is salvation discussed? Finally, is there a phrase or concept introduced in the beginning of the letter that may unlock truths woven throughout the rest of the writing?

As a continuation of a previous workshop discussing who the historical person of Jesus was, this second discussion explores whether Jesus really did perform miracles. First, we must determine whether what we read about Jesus and his miracles in the Bible are truly what the original authors wrote. Second, we must ask if Jesus really did perform miracles, and if so, why. Finally, the discussion expands outward to reflect on the supernatural universe that God has created and the possibility of divine intervention into our physical world.

In our culture today, we get tested on things all the time. But there also exists the "Jesus" test, a test in which not even all who are outspoken Christians pass. Many people think they are passing the Jesus test by obeying religious rituals and withdrawing from sinful people who may rub off on them. These people could not be more mistaken, as it is Jesus who calls us to love the sinners as he did himself. We must recognize that we are all sinners that needed saving, and embrace befriending the "sinners" of our society.

After showing a video clip of an atheist questioning a Christian, Christian speaker Doug Pollock invites members of the audience to provide their own feedback of the discussion. Following this, several proclaimed atheist guests take the stage to act as a panel. Pollock invites them to explain some of their backgrounds, issues with faith, and insights into their world views. After the panel presentation, members of the audience are invited to ask questions of them as well.

Doubt is a universal experience, but contrary to popular belief, so is faith. Many people segregate the term "faith" to only the religious sect, but the truth is that all humans exercise faith on a daily basis. We do this because there are exceptionally few things in this world (outside the realm of mathematics) where we can have one hundred percent proof. Not even physical science can have this. Instead, we regularly place our faith into things that have reasonable or overwhelming evidence that they are true. Christianity is no different. We grow in our trust of God as we continue to know Him more. Our doubt of God shrinks as we build a relationship with Him and as our faith continues to build upon increasing evidence.

Balancing family and community is challenging but possible. The Bible instructs God's followers to be givers and receivers of love. There are so many benefits to our children when we commit to living in community. Looking at schedules and carefully considering what is most important to prioritize will help us succeed. Being creative and allowing for interruptions is also important. Including kids and others to help get odds and ends done incorporates ministry and family life in one. This way of living requires faith in God and an awareness of Satan who wants to sabotage this way of living.\r\n

The Xenos home group model involves many components. Xenos' model isn't the only model of the best model, but is one that follows the New Testament. Like Jesus' ministry, Xenos started small and grew one small group at a time. Four main areas of focus for home group leaders are: 1) personal growth with God; 2) evangelism; 3) biblical community; 4) discipleship. The way home groups multiply is through developing leaders. Each home group functions independently and also dependently; part of a bigger whole. Overall each home group disciples, teaches, disciplines, and evangelizes independently. They are however under the elders' authority and dependent on their leadership training. With all parts playing their role God grows His Church.\r\n

As Christians, we are called to go into all the world and share the Gospel with the people of every nation. Right now, people from all over the world are coming here, and we have a great opportunity to fulfill this command in our own city. We are called to show hospitality to strangers, welcoming foreigners, and sharing our lives with them without grumbling. By learning how other cultures do things, we can love and serve people who come from different backgrounds, opening the door to share the good news of Jesus with them.

Biblical hospitality is sharing who we are and what we have for the benefit and inclusion of strangers. When we show hospitality to strangers, we open the door for divine encounters to take place. God works through our willingness to welcome people into our homes and lives.

We all want to have joy, and as believers in Christ, we are commanded to be joyful. However, we also all experience some level of confusion about what joy is and how to get and/or keep it. We are deceived into thinking we know what will bring us joy, but those things often produce perpetual discontentment and anxiety instead. True joy actually comes as we intentionally lose our lives in Christ and give our lives away together for Christ.\r\n

There are many difficult topics and questions that people have about God and Christianity. As Christians, we are called to be able to discuss these things and refute arguments that are raised up against God. So often, when we are able to minimize intellectual roadblocks that people have, it opens the door for them to be able to seriously consider the Gospel.

To be a persuasive preacher requires developing a burden for both the people in the audience and the passage itself. The goal is to evoke not just emotions in people but a desire to act on the truth they hear. This can be done in many ways, but it is essential to engage the minds of those in the audience as well as their hearts. It is equally as important to establish credibility with the audience and show that you are worth listening to in the first place.

The way we understand people impacts our mission. God's role is to open doors and soften hearts while our role is to proclaim and persuade. In order to fulfill our role we need to understand the answer to three questions about people: 1) What are humans?; 2) Who are humans?; 3) How do we speak to humans? There are many perspectives regarding these questions but it is essential to understand the answers from a Biblical perspective. Humans are made in God's image and are separated from Him because of sin. Understanding who they are requires understanding their worldview; the assumptions they have about the world and how it works. Speaking to humans includes drawing them out to better understand them and to know how to best communicate with them. The results are up to God and ultimately people's personal choice but we can have an impact on God's mission to reveal Himself to humanity.\r\n

Our culture has become immersed in and obsessed with information technology. As Christians, however, we need to take a stand against the grain of our culture in this area because I.T. over-use inhibits and erodes key elements of both our humanity and spirituality. I.T degrades both our ability to follow sophisticated thought and our value of solitude for biblical meditation. Furthermore, it decreases our ability to appreciate and learn from nature. In contrast to the tide of our culture, we should prioritize face-to-face relating and memorizing scripture. Finally, this workshop provides a constructive response to I.T. over-use.

As believers in Christ, we are called to stand out as lights and help bring the Gospel to others in our community in part because of God's own pursuit of His people and in response to Jesus' example. We can begin moving toward this call through prayers for our own heart change and for the lost around us. We can also start where we are today, beginning to adorn the gospel in the very neighborhoods, workplaces, and organizations in which we are already immersed.

Many Christians today forget about an imperative spiritual truth littered across the pages of Scripture, that we are in a spiritual battle! In order to stay alert, effective, and engaged in this battle we must first recognize the reality of its existence and our call to fight. Because of this, we should not be surprised when we experience suffering, but rather, should prepare proactively. One way to do this is to develop a "combat field manual," a journal in which we record key verses and truths to keep ourselves on track in this mission.

Leading home group evangelism can be challenging to say the least, but it can first be helped by avoiding some common errors. Several general principles that help promote this include having leaders agree on the need for change and beginning change with themselves. There is no rigid formula, but there are steps we can take to approach the group in an effective way to motivate believers. This workshop presents five key steps to summarize an effective approach.