Gathering 229: “One Week that Changed the World: Saturday” // Service of Worship // Rev. Tony Minear, Ph.D.

Good Friday, Jesus dies. Easter Sunday, he rises from the grave. What happened in between those two events? Saturday. But what exactly happened during those 24 hours? Purgatory? Hell? What does scripture have to say about it, or does it?  

Listen today as Pastor Tony wraps up our Lenten worship series: "One Week that Changed the World” and takes a look at Saturday. Listen as he explores the universal question, “What happens when we die, do we go to heaven or hell?” If you turn to scripture for the answer, the Gospel of Mark is silent about Jesus’ whereabouts, and the ancient Christian church doesn’t say anything until the third century with the adoption of the Apostles Creed noting that he descended into hell. Who then is the authority? 

Consider for a moment, how much freedom people should have in what it is they believe. For instance, if you believe in a hell, how then do you reconcile a loving God condemning a person to eternal damnation? Can you still be a Christian and not believe in hell? Does today’s church depend on unity of belief, or can we learn to live with our differences?  

The faith of future generations may depend on our answers and actions of today, and, perhaps, especially on our threshold for diversity of beliefs. In the end, can we truly say with conviction that that one week in Jesus’ life really changed the world for us today and into the future? 

Recorded live at Beatitudes Church in Phoenix, AZ on 04/10/22  

Preaching: Rev. Tony Minear, Ph.D. 

Scripture: Mark 16: 1-2; The Apostles Creed 

Scripture Reader: Janelle Tapphorn  

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