MILLER COUNTY, Ark. - Even though some early morning clouds initially hid the Sunday sunrise, nothing could hide the spiritual sunrise of the Kiwanis Club of Texarkana's 82nd annual Easter Sunrise Service at Camp Preston Hunt.
During the worship service, Kelsey Coleman, lead pastor at Cross View Baptist Church, Texarkana, spoke to dozens of listeners gathered at the Boy Scout camp's amphitheater.
Coleman's message focused on why, even in today's world, people have solid proof that God exists, that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior and that the Bible is true.
"There is no better evidence of all of this than the resurrection itself,"Coleman said.
Using Chapter 1, verses 1 through 3 in the Book of Acts as the basis for his sermon, Coleman said about this time every year he watches programs on the History Channel focusing on the life of Christ - basically to see what they have to say about it.
"These programs try to discredit the truth about the life of Christ," Coleman said. "These programs try to say that Christ never really rose from the dead because He was never actually killed by the Romans - He was just injured. The truth is not only did Christ rise, but He walked even after it was plain to see that the Roman soldiers had broken both His legs."
Coleman also said the TV programs try to tell their viewers that all 500 witnesses to Christ's ascension to Heaven were somehow all suffering from the same hallucination.
"These same TV shows also say that Christ was never really buried because Roman soldiers would never really seal a tomb," Coleman said. "The fact is the empty tomb will always be the best evidence of His life changing power and Christ will always be the eternal hope. We were the ones who deserved to die, but Christ died for us."
Following the service, Texarkana, Texas, Mayor Bob Bruggeman, a past Kiwanis Club of Texarkana president, praised Camp Preston Hunt for the 82 years that the camp has allowed the club to hold it's annual Easter Sunrise Service.
"The club was chartered in 1923 and the Scouts have been generous for letting us use this camp starting in about 1938."
Amy Freeman, another one of the club's past presidents, agreed.
"The Scouts have allowed us to hold our services here almost from the first year this camp opened," she said. "For many people this may be the only service they get attend each Easter Sunday. The Boy Scouts show their love to the community by allowing us to do this each year and for us, it's a labor or love."