Manmade Religion
						
						We 
						live in a world with a lot of different religions.  
						Depending on who one asks or where they are, questions 
						on religion will
						
						produce a wide variety of answers.  There are some stark 
						differences between Christianity and all other religions 
						in that the central 
						figure of Christianity is attested to have been 
						crucified and resurrected by a considerable number of 
						eyewitnesses , all of whom suffered horrific persecution 
						and in most cases death as a result of their testimony.  
						If one were to visit the grave site of religious leaders 
						such as Mohammed, Buddha and others they will find these 
						people are dead and they occupy those graves.  On the 
						other hand, if one could visit the tomb of Christ, it 
						does not contain His body.  And a great number of people 
						who lived during that time lived lives of extreme 
						suffering because of their testimony that He arose from 
						His grave alive.
						
						
						His coming was prophesied by people who lived hundreds 
						to thousands of years before He lived.  His message of 
						love and compassion stands in stark opposition to the 
						self serving messages of other religions.  But one of 
						the most compelling facts of Christianity is what was 
						done by God on behalf of mankind.  Man sinned and 
						thereby lost fellowship with God.  God desired for man 
						to be reconciled to Himself so He left heaven and 
						appeared on earth as a man and was rejected and slain by 
						those He came to save.  And in the end, His death at the 
						hands of mankind served as a substitutionary punishment 
						for the sins of mans and provided the means for the 
						forgiveness of transgressions and the means of 
						restoration to fellowship with God for all.  In short, 
						God, in the form of the man Jesus Christ, paid the 
						penalty man deserved for his own transgressions.  
						
						
						
						This act on the part of God was prophesied by numerous 
						people who could not have known the future.  It is not 
						humanly possible to fabricate such a story thousands of 
						years before it happened and then have it carried out 
						with the pinpoint accuracy that it was.  A hoax 
						conceived thousands of years prior to its completion 
						which ended with the death and resurrection of the 
						central figure, prophesied and carried out like it was 
						is completely beyond the ability of mankind to achieve.  
						The Bible was written by about 40 different authors over 
						a period of time spanning roughly 14 centuries.  From 
						beginning to end it has a central theme which focuses on 
						the deliverance of mankind from His sin.  The only 
						explanation for the existence of Christianity is 
						undoubtedly a result of divine accomplishment.  
						Christianity cannot be a product of man's invention. 
						
						
						
						No other religion on earth can make the claim to 
						authenticity with the same undeniable stamp of divine 
						achievement.  No other religion on earth reduced its 
						central figure to the status of a servant to all and 
						resulted in his death at the hands of man for the 
						transgressions of man.  No other religion on earth can 
						start this grand plan thousands of years in advance and 
						bring it to fruition through hundreds of generations of 
						people.  No other religion on earth can provide the 
						supporting documentation of this plan from start to 
						finish with the overwhelming wealth of manuscripts that 
						Christianity enjoys.  Christianity is the only religion 
						on Earth that is unmistakably not a religion of manmade 
						origin.  And as such, it is the only religion of the 
						ones to choose from that is authentic.  
						
						
						We at the church of Christ in Granby, Missouri would 
						welcome the opportunity to share our faith in the risen 
						savior with you.  Our assembly times are Sundays from 
						10:00 AM to noon and from 5:00 to 6:00 in the 
						afternoons.  We offer Bible studies on Wednesday 
						evenings from 6:00 to 7:00 PM.  Directions to our 
						building are south on main street from the traffic light 
						to the Granby house and then east for 2 blocks on Pine 
						street.  More information is available on our website at
						
						www.granbychurchofChrist.org. All are welcome.