Confident Christianity Half Day Conference – Canonbie
May 10 @ 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Do you find the thought of talking about Jesus to friends, neighbours, classmates or colleagues daunting?
Do you sometimes find yourself thinking “what if I say something that makes God look bad?” or wondering what happens if they raise a challenging question or objection to which you’re unable to respond?
Well, you’re not alone! In the fast-paced, sceptical and secular culture in which we live, most of us find evangelism a bit daunting. That’s why Solas is partnering with Canonbie United Parish Church for a Confident Christianity Half Day Conference. We will help you become confident and empowered to talk about Jesus more naturally, engage in evangelism that persuades people, and feel equipped to answer the questions of your friends.
Confident Christianity Half Day Conference will be held on Saturday, 10th May 2025 from 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm (Doors open at 1:00 for a 1:30 start). Speakers Steve Osmond and Jared Michelson will share the following talks plus you’ll be able to ask your questions directly during the Q&A.
| 13:00 | Doors Open, Arrivals, Admissions (Coffee/Tea upon arrival) |
| 13:30 | Conference Begins: Welcome and announcements |
| 13:35 | Conversations that Count – Steve Osmond |
| 14:00 | Bookstall book plug |
| 14:15 | Is belief in God just a projection? – Jared Michelson |
| 14:50 | Coffee / Tea Break |
| 15:15 | Is love all you need? – Jared |
| 15:45 | 5 Steps for answering tough questions – Steve |
| 16:15 | Q&A |
| 17:00 | Close |
You are warmly invited to join us for this exciting event aimed to help you share the good news of Jesus with the people in your life.
Tickets are available from 15th of February and are £15 (£10 concession). There is an Early Bird Special (save £2) available until the 25th of April.
Come join us on Saturday, 10th May 2025!
Read below a longer description of the talks that will be given on the day!
Conversations that Count
Speaker: Steve Osmond
For many Christians, the thought of evangelism is something that fills them with anxiety and fear. What if there are questions that I can’t answer? What if they disagree with me? What if I just look like an idiot? Rather than trying to have all the answers, this talk will help prepare you to become better in having good conversations that will lead you to sharing your faith in Jesus more naturally and confidently.
5 Steps for Answering Tough Questions
Speaker: Steve Osmond
What do we do when we encounter a question or challenge about our faith we haven’t heard before? Do we need to master every apologetic topic before we can feel ready to stand up and share the gospel at work or university? This session will share a simple five-step framework that, with practice, you can apply to any tough question that comes up during evangelism. It will take two or three common questions and work through them to show how it works in practice.
Is Belief in God a Projection?
Speaker: Jared Michelson
How can we know God exists? Or relatedly, how can we know that belief in God isn’t just a crutch for the weak which we posit to allow us to deal with the challenges of life? What we often hear from friends and neighbours is ‘if religion works for you, that’s great’. What this implicitly assumes is a skepticism about whether we can know God, and correspondingly a merely pragmatic approach to religion. These common worries relate to important philosophical questions which we can challenge head on. We have reason to be confident that we can know God as God is.
Is Love All You Need?
Speaker: Jared Michelson
Today, many of us feel merely being kind or loving is all that is required to be a good person. We ask why the Bible includes all sorts of specific commands, some of which not only go beyond love, but seem to contradict love, even appearing to us as oppressive and overly restrictive. Surprisingly, the early church Father Augustine agrees that in a sense, love is all you need. Jesus’s identification of the greatest commandments, i.e. loving God and others, seem to say something similar. The Bible’s entire moral law is about love, but the fundamental question is ‘what does love really require,’ and are we sure we know what it means to be loving, both to others and ourselves? The aim of this talk is to show that no command in the Bible is ultimately restrictive, all are oriented to our flourishing and are about love.
