ST NICOLAS, NEWBURY

HOME GROUP QUESTIONS

BASIC CHRISTIANITY - 4 - THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

For home groups that would like them, here are some questions based on Sunday morning's teaching material. There's no need to answer them all - just tackle the ones you have time for. You don't need to stick to the areas mentioned here - feel free to discuss any other issues that arise for you.

1. What is the difference between 'resurrection' and 'resuscitation'? How many people in history have experienced resurrection from the dead?

2. Read Romans 1:1-4. If true, what does the resurrection of Jesus say about him? Why?

3. Read John 20:1-18. What do you make of what John writes?

4. There are four strands of evidence to support the assertion that Jesus was raised from the dead. The first is the claim that his body had gone from the tomb. Apart from resurrection, what other ways have been suggested by way of explanation for this? What do you make of them? (1. the women went to the wrong tomb, 2. Jesus never actually died, 3. thieves stole the body, 4. the disciples removed the body, 5. the authorities removed the body)

5. For the second strand, have another look at John 20:5-8. What exactly was it that made 'the other disciple' see and believe?

6. A third strand of evidence concerns the claim that Jesus was clearly seen after his resurrection. Have a look at 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. Apart from demonstrating that Jesus was alive, what other explanations of these sightings of Jesus are there? What do you make of them?

7. The fourth strand is the change that took place in the disciples. What do we know of how Peter and the other disciples behaved during the trial and subsequent crucifixion of Jesus? Now read Acts 4:1-22. Bear in mind that this is just a few weeks later and that the authorities are the very same people who condemned Jesus to death. How are we to account for the change in Peter and the others?

8. How about you? What would you say is your personal evidence for the truth of the resurrection of Jesus?

9. Pray that our life and witness as individuals and as a church will leave no-one in any doubt that Jesus is alive today!

David Stone
26 January 2009