We live in an age of flourishing skepticism, particularly when it comes to religion.  Science is seen as the new arbiter of absolute truth and the “scientific-method” the only test of the believe-worthiness of any idea.  The incredible popularity of thinkers such as Stephen Hawking underscores this flowering of the enlightenment enthronement of human reason. 

Hawking, who once quipped that “heaven [and the afterlife] were fairy-stories for people afraid of the dark,” nevertheless frequently left his own pay-grade in the narrow confines of mathematics and observable physics to declare metaphysical absolutes.  It was this dimension of his writing and thinking that made him a pop icon.

Many skeptics today view religion, in general, and Christianity, in particular, as afraid of rational inquiry and apologetic challenge.  From the view of the secularist, Christianity has circled the wagons, arrogantly assuming the “fairy tales” of the Bible are true while closing its eyes to all reason and evidence.   Yet nothing is further from the truth.  Real and vibrant Christianity hangs out a shingle that says, “Skeptics Welcome.”

Nowhere is this seen more dramatically than in the Biblical accounts of the resurrection.   No point of Christian doctrine has been more thoroughly assaulted by skeptics than the resurrection.  Yet every assault strengthens credibility.  

When the accounts are critically examined, it seems God took great care to surround the crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus along with the subsequent discovery of the empty tomb with a vast body of evidence which can only be satisfactorily explained by Jesus’ resurrection.  In many respects, the empty tomb is a sign that reads “Skeptics Welcome.”  The stone was not rolled back to let Jesus out, but to let skeptics in.

Join us this Lord’s Day as we examine the account of the empty tomb from John 20 and consider an invitation to skeptics to examine and believe in the resurrection of Jesus.  We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join our livestream on YouTube. 

Iron Pyrite, Silica, White and Rose Quartz, along with the occasional Amethyst.  Those were the precious gems I prospected in my backyard in suburban Atlanta.  Yet, like Yukon Cornelius, I always hoped for more.  Surely there was a vein of silver or gold tucked away in that Georgia clay.  Or better yet, a cache of diamonds, scattered in with the fill-gravel.  Every small child is a prospector.  Curating buckets of rocks, confident of striking it rich.

But in Arkansas, every resident does have a stake in a rich claim.  One of the United States’ few diamond fields sits just a few miles south on public land at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro. In a 37-acre field at the park, over 75,000 diamonds have been found since 1907.  1 to 2 diamonds are found every day.  On average, over 600 per year.  And the rule is finders-keepers.  The largest ever found at the park was a 40.23 carat white diamond, nicknamed “Uncle Sam.” 

But finding diamonds is not as easy as you might think.  They do not look like what you expect.  The diamonds at Crater of Diamonds Park are white, brown, and yellow.  They will not be clear like glass but have an oily film that prevents them from holding dirt.  They will have a metallic luster, like steel or lead.  And they are smooth and well rounded, like a polished stone. 

Only when they are cut and finished by a jeweler will they shine with the brilliance you would expect.   The jeweler cuts the diamonds into shapes with many “faces” or facets.  And each facet reveals a different aspect of the color, clarity, beauty and brilliance of the stone.  The many facets of the cut diamond allow light to enter and reflect and refract through the stone to reveal its true color and clarity. 

In the same way the treasures of God’s grace have many facets.  Facets that reveal all the subtle, rich beauty and sufficiency of God’s love for us.   Our tendency is to be theologically reductionistic.  We are familiar with the acronym for GRACE, ‘God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.’  But what are all these riches?  And what expense did Christ expend?  Why did Christ pay it? How did he pay it?  And where did this expense come from in the first place?  As Paul Harvey would say, we need to hear ‘the rest of the story.’

John’s account of the crucifixion is familiar.  Yet like a finely cut diamond, John 19:16-30 displays many of the facets of grace that reveal the depths of the Father’s love for us.  On the face of it the crucifixion appears to display failure, contradiction and injustice.  Yet the Father masterfully cuts and shapes his redemptive plan to reveal mercy and triumph as Jesus bears his peoples’ sin and finishes the work of redemption.

Join us as we study John 19:16-30 and examine the facets of grace revealed in the story of the Jesus’ crucifixion and death. We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join our livestream on YouTube. 

The Bible says a lot about Resurrection. In the Resurrection, God declares Jesus to be the Son of God with power.  And in the Resurrection, God has reversed the curse.  In the raising Jesus, God declares that Jesus work is, in fact, finished and that the justice of God for all those who come to God in Christ is satisfied.  And in the Resurrection of Jesus, we are raised to walk in the newness of life.  But Jesus statement at the grave of Lazarus goes even further when he declares “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” 

Join us as Rev. Bill Holiman preaches from Ezekiel 37 and John 11 and examines what it means that Jesus Is the Resurrection. We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join our livestream on YouTube.