Sermon - February 22, 2015 - The Story Week 29 - Paul's Mission

A little boy was asked by his Sunday school teacher why it is important for us to be quiet in church. He answered ‘because people are sleeping.’ We have been studying The Story we don’t want to lose anyone to sleep. God used Israel in the Old Testament to win people back to himself, even though Israel failed in many ways. Some of the leaders were asleep at the wheel. In the Gospels we read that God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to win us back by dying on the cross for us. In doing so He solved the sin problem. In the Book of Acts and the New Testament letters we see God using The Church, AKA us, to reach the lost and guide them home.

As I mentioned last week, these messages while they may be about things that happened 2,000 years ago they apply to us. We, everyone sitting here, every believer in the world, is a member of The Church. We are the Church, we are the Body of Christ.

Jesus is not walking around the Earth anymore teaching and performing miracles. Instead He has us, every person who has chosen to follow Him to do His work for Him.

Acts 1:8

“⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

We are to be His witnesses to our Jerusalem, our communities and to the world. We are supposed to do everything possible to spread the Good News about what Jesus did for us and how it can help others. We are to show His love to everyone we come in contact with.

We are to accomplish God’s plan in this world through the working of the Holy Spirit. As the Body of Christ in the world we have different gifts so that we can accomplish this tall task God has given us. ,

Let’s look at some verses in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.

1 Corinthians 12:3

“³ Therefore I am informing you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.”

If you can sit here and say that Jesus is Lord and mean it with complete conviction and no doubt, the Holy Spirit is alive in you.

If you believe that Jesus is Lord, I want you to say it with me. ‘Jesus is Lord’

The Holy Spirit is alive in you! Now that does not mean you are going to have a flame come and sit on you, but it does mean that God is at work in you. It also means that the Holy Spirit has gifted you to do something.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6

“⁴ Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ There are different ministries, but the same Lord. ⁶ And there are different activities, but the same God activates each gift in each person.”

If someone is said to be ‘all thumbs’ that does not mean they have 10 thumbs they are just a little on the clumsy side. They really have all their digits like the rest of us. God did not create the Body of Christ to be ‘all thumbs’ or did not made a Body out of all heads, all stomach, or all feet. He created each person in the Body and gifted them accordingly to fill a specific need. As these verses said ‘there are different gifts, different ministries, different activities.’ One God, one Body, but each person has a different job.

The next few verses list some of these gifts from the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:8-10

“⁸ to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge
by the same Spirit, ⁹ to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of languages, to another, interpretation of languages.”

These are the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit. We do not see these every day in our lives, but the Holy Spirit is active in the world today.

Different gifts for different people in the Body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:12-14

“¹² For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. ¹⁴ So the body is not one part but many.”

No matter who we are, what our past is, or what gift we have been given, if we can say that Jesus is Lord we are members of the Body of Christ. Every person who attends Clark Baptist and believes in Jesus is a member of The Body of Christ as well as a member of our local Body. Each one of us has something that the Holy Spirit has gifted us to do.

As the Church we are Jesus’ arms, legs, mouth, etc… we are to think like Jesus, act like Jesus, and love others like Jesus loves them.

As the Church we are to carry out that last order that Jesus gave us, to be witnesses to our Jerusalem and to the entire world.

Romans 1:16

“¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.”

Paul started with the Jew but also reached out to the Greek or Gentile, he did not want to miss sharing with anyone. God wants all people, in all parts of the world to hear the Good News of the gift of salvation though the work of Jesus Christ. Paul was one of those tools that God used to reach the lost. As the Body of Christ we are also the tools that He uses.

As most of you know I am a super hero junky. I love super hero movies, the battle between good and evil, the struggle to protect loved ones, and I love learning about their origin story. Superman was born on Krypton and sent to earth as his home exploded. Spiderman was bit by a radioactive spider, Captain America was injected with a super solider formula, and Green Lantern was given a ring by a dying alien. A good origin story grabs your attention and is the start of a great adventure.

Now Paul is not a super hero you would read about in a comic book but he is someone with a remarkable origin story and a role model we should look to. Paul was who God raised up to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Paul was not always the super missionary and evangelist, when we first read about him we see that he is not a real nice guy.

In Acts chapter 7 we see that the witnesses who stoned the first Christian Martyr Stephen laid their robes at Saul’s feet. And that is nothing.

Acts 8:3

“Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison.”

Acts 9:1-2

“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest ² and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.”

In super hero talk, Saul was the arch enemy of all Christians. He was spending his life trying to destroy anything that Jesus started. Today we might put him in the same category as the leaders of ISIS or Boko Harem who are out to destroy any they disagree with. Saul hated Jesus and the church and personally hunted down Christians and voted to have them killed.

As usual when we continue reading we see that God is always at work.

Acts 9:3-6

“³ As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. ⁴ Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵ “Who are You, Lord?” he said. “I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting,” He replied. ⁶ “But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

Then in verse 15 we see God’s purpose for Saul when God directs Ananias to go pray for him.

Acts 9:15

“¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go! For this man is My chosen instrument to take My name to Gentiles, kings, and the Israelites.”

Saul of Tarsus was the least likely candidate to become the world’s first and most renown missionary. He even was amazed that Jesus chose him to be one of His witnesses to share the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

1 Corinthians 15:9

“For I am the least of the apostles, un-worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”

Through the work of the Holy Spirit Saul became Paul and he spent his life planting 10 churches, that we know of, and wrote 13 of the 27 books in the New Testament.

If you ever wonder if God can use you to reach the lost, think about Paul. He had a hand in killing Christians but was still used by God to reach so many. No matter what bad things we have done or how ill-equipped we feel, God can and will use us, if we let Him.

The one thing we need to do is confess that Jesus is Lord. On the road to Damascus Saul recognized that Jesus was Lord and then a short time later was proclaiming the good news to anyone who would hear. Saul answered the call. That is what each one of us need to do, we have already confessed that Jesus is Lord now we need to answer the call and be His witnesses.

We are to be witnesses.

If we confess that Jesus is Lord the Holy Spirit is alive in us.

Each one of us is part of the Body of Christ and hence have a gift and a calling.

We are to follow Paul’s example and act on our calling.

Why is Paul’s mission to the ends of the earth important to us?

Chances are if you are sitting here this morning you are a gentile in other words not Jewish. It was Paul that God sent out to reach the gentiles. It was his mission to invite us into salvation through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Starting with the Book of Acts the New Testament is our story. The acts of the apostles are to be the acts of the local church. Like them we are to love others, we are to lift others up, we are to share the message of Jesus, we are to spread that message to every corner of the earth. The mission, we the Church have been given is to be Jesus to our Jerusalem, to our Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

The church here in Clark and The Church needs ‘all hands on deck’ to complete the mission we have been given. Are you ready to act on your calling?

 

Answer the call to serve Jesus!

Blessings,

Robert

Sermon - February 15, 2015 - The Story Week 28 - New Beginnings

A few weeks ago Jesus was riding into Jerusalem with shouts of Hosanna. Within days those same people who had worshipped Him, turned on Him and He was crucified. Last week we talked about the lonely and lost Saturday, the day were those closest to Jesus were in total despair which was replaced with joy when they learned He was alive. Talk about ups and downs, that was an emotional roller coaster. I am sure everyone here has gone through an emotional roller coaster or two, or three in our lives.

That’s how it was for the disciples. They were not too sure what they were supposed to do next, Jesus had told them, but just like us they didn’t listen to well. As we look at the final four weeks of The Story we are now looking at The Church.

We will be focusing on the Book of Acts this morning, but remember as we look at the Church if you are a follower of Jesus Christ you are part of the same Church that Luke wrote about. Everything we are going to discuss this morning applies to you. We are the Church, the Body of Christ and wherever we go, whatever we do, we represent Jesus and His mission. Jesus is not personally doing the teaching and outreach; instead He speaks through regular people like each one of us. Jesus was clear what we are supposed to be doing.

Acts 1:8

“⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After Jesus’ resurrection He spent 40 days on earth with His disciples. When He left they were left with the mission of being His witnesses and they were told to hang out in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. They were to be witnesses in Jerusalem, we are to be witnesses in our Jerusalem, Clark and everywhere we go.

Acts 1:4-5

“⁴ While He was together with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “This,” He said, “is what you heard from Me; ⁵ for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

There were 120 disciples that were waiting to see what this ‘Holy Spirit’ was going to do. They waited for 10 days, worshipping, singing, and praying to God. They waited until Pentecost in Jerusalem that is estimated to have had a population of 100,000 and it swelled to over a million people. God wanted them focused on Him and ready to be His witnesses right there during Pentecost while the city was overflowing with people.

Then it happened.

Acts 2:1-8

“2 When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. ³ And tongues, like flames of fire that were divided, appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴ Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech.

⁵ There were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷ And they were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ How is it that each of us can hear in our own native language?”

They were hanging out and praying and the Holy Spirit hit. Here were these Galileans, who were not considered the most educated of folks, who were witnessing to people in languages they did not know. The disciples are speaking and everyone, foreigners included, are hearing a message from God in their own language. Many of them are hearing about Jesus for the first time, others are remembering what they witnessed, and I am sure all of them are wondering what it all means. This prompted Peter to give what is the first recorded sermon in the church era.

Acts 2:22-24

“²² “Men of Israel, listen to these words: This Jesus the Nazarene was a man pointed out to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through Him, just as you yourselves know. ²³ Though He was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail Him to a cross and kill Him. ²⁴ God raised Him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it.”

Acts 2:32-33

“³² “God has resurrected this Jesus. We are all witnesses of this. ³³ Therefore, since He has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, He has poured out what you both see and hear.”

Acts 2:36

“³⁶ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!”

The people had heard of Jesus, heck most of them would have remembered His execution from 50 days ago. This was not a sermon for the faint of heart; it was a wakeup call.

Peter was essentially saying, Hey you, God came down to earth taught with authority, cast out demons, healed many people, right here in Jerusalem and in the surrounding areas. What did you do, you ignored Him and killed Him. But all is not lost and you are not lost. Jesus is the Christ and He was poured out for you. We witnessed the miracle and know that Jesus is alive. He is working among us and has given us this ability to speak to you in your language.

After Peter explained what all this meant, the people asked what do we need to do? The message Peter shared drove those listening from being curious about all that was happening to a conviction that they needed to do something. I wonder if some of them thought it was too late? Did they think they blew their chance by not listening when Jesus was still around? Thankfully as we know today our God is not a single strike God. He loves us so much that He is willing to give us chance after chance, after chance, after chance. Peter then proceeds to tell them what they need to do.

Acts 2:38-41

“³⁸ “Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” ⁴⁰ And with many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!” ⁴¹ So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them.”

In one day, from one message the church grew from 120 to over 3,000 believers. What a great first day. All these new believers who are now part of the Church, one church from many different nations and backgrounds. As we know salvation is a single act but becoming a follower of Christ takes so much more. The early New Testament Church was truly living as The Church.

Acts 2:42-47

“⁴² And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. ⁴³ Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. ⁴⁴ Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. ⁴⁵ They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. ⁴⁶ Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.”

Simply put they became a community. It was a collection of individuals with their strengths and weaknesses, who came together and became a family.

Max Lucado tells the story about an Episcopalian Bishop, Jim Fultz. Lucado said they were speaking together at a Good Friday service and Fultz was wearing a large, thick, gold cross. Lucado admits to being a little judgmental about what Fultz was wearing. Then he heard Fultz tell the story of the cross.

For many years Fultz was the pastor at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, and when he was moving to become the bishop, the tradition in the Episcopal church is that the congregation makes the bishop a cross, they didn’t buy him one, they made him a cross. There were 242 different contributions of gold which were received.

There was a man who was supposed to get married, but his bride left him at the altar. Bishop Fultz encouraged the man during that time and out of gratitude took that ring he was going to give his bride and gave it to the bishop; and it became part of the cross.

There were some married couples who were divorced and then reconciled and were married again. Pastor Fultz was instrumental in helping them to reconcile, and those couples took their first sets of wedding bands and they became part of the cross.

There was the young mother who contributed a set of gold beads to the cross. When her son was 7, he was killed in a car accident, Bishop Fultz was a source of comfort to her. She gave them to him to be put in the cross.

242 different stories and gifts from the church, from friends, and from family.

They were all melted down and reformed into the shape of the cross.

That is what the church is supposed to be. When our stories intermingle, when we share laughter and joy, tears and sorrow, our stories join and are united together, that is being part of The Church.

The bishop’s cross is a picture of the church. When we hold a hand in the hospital, when the lonely is comforted, when the young and old find common ground in Jesus, when community is formed through what Jesus did on that cross. That is what happened in Acts 2, that is what is meant to be part of The Church, and that is what we are called to do.

Do you want to be part of an Acts 2 church?

They prayed. They prayed for 10 days and revival erupted out of that prayer service. Let’s be people of prayer. We need to be praying for revival to start right here in our own hearts. We need to be praying for our community, our neighborhoods, we need to be praying for the lost.

In addition to prayer, we see that Peter was truly focused on the gospel. He preached the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He preached the hard message that was needed. He could have taught on so many different things, but instead He focused squarely on Jesus. That is not a message that is just for the Pastor. It is for every single one of us as members of The Church, we need to be focused on Jesus.

They prayed, they focused on Jesus, and they were there for each other.

It is said that hospitality is a sign of a healthy church. When we open our lives to one another, when we help one another feel welcomed, cared for, comforted, accepted, hopeful, and loved. The early church shared every aspect of their lives together.

We should be striving to be an Acts 2 church. Everything we do should be about focusing on Jesus, praying for others, and sharing our lives with others.

It is said that when you are in the military and an officer gives you a command, that command stays in effect until the officer changes it. Jesus, our King, our commanding officer gave us a command.

Acts 1:8

“⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Our King has given us a command; we are to be His witnesses. Starting right here in our Jerusalem, in our community.

What needs are around us? What can we do to meet those needs?

Let’s be The Church!

 

 

Thanks for Reading and God Bless!

 

Robert

Sermon - February 8, 2015 - The Story Week 27 - The Ressurection

Do you remember where we ended three weeks ago? Jesus had died, and to many all hope was lost.

Matthew 27:45-54

“⁴⁵ From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over the whole land. ⁴⁶ About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

In Luke it says Jesus then cried out saying ‘It is finished!’ and then He gave up His spirit.

We ended three weeks ago talking about what today we call Good Friday, but at that time most did not realize it was the beginning of something great. Most thought all hope was lost. Good Friday was followed by a Saturday that was full of desperation. On that Saturday it seems that Jesus Christ was totally defeated as His body lays dead in a tomb. His side was punctured, His tongue was silent, Death was absolute. No one was betting on a resurrection. No one was counting on the wondrous blessings of the First Easter.

Matthew 27:62-64

“⁶² The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate ⁶³ and said, “Sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive He said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ ⁶⁴ Therefore give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come, steal Him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ Then the last deception will be worse than the first.”

The Pharisees were happy with themselves. They believed that they no longer had to worry about Jesus. Now they had to deal with the pesky disciples. They were concerned that they would sneak into the tomb and steal Jesus body. The reality is they did not need to be concerned at all about the disciples doing anything.

What were the disciples doing between Jesus’ death and His resurrection? They had melted away, hiding, they were without hope, without courage, they were lost. They were not devising some crazy scheme to move Jesus’ body and tell a fake story about Him resurrecting. They were too busy trying to figure out how they were not going to end up in a tomb next to Him.

It seems none of the disciples remembered any of the time Jesus mentioned that He was going to die and rise again.

Mark 9:31

“³¹ For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after He is killed, He will rise three days later.”

You would like to think one of His disciples would have remembered this and thought it through. Let’s see He died yesterday, today is Saturday, and tomorrow is Sunday. Friday was day 1, today is day 2, ‘Hey Guys tomorrow is the 3^rd day, don’t you get it? Jesus will be back tomorrow!’… nope, not a single disciple remembered Jesus’ teaching and foretelling of His resurrection. They were hopeless and full of despair. When Sunday came they were not ready for His resurrection they were ready to finish preparing His body for its final rest.

Mark 16:2-3

“² Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb at sunrise. ³ They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?”

Does not look like a celebration on that First Easter morning, instead they were ready to embalm Jesus’ dead body. It may have been a glorious Sunday morning, but they were stuck in the despair of Saturday.

We can easily get stuck in the despair of Saturday. Living with a Saturday state of mind would mean thinking we have no hope, no courage, no plans, believe that death is the final end. We know everyone dies, but we try to avoid that reality as much as possible. It was obvious with the recent passing of my Grandmother. As the day drew near you could easily tell by their reactions who was in denial and who was not.

Does your world ever feel like that? Are you stuck on the Saturday of despair? You ever feel like you just can’t find anything good? Is the sky gray, the rain coming down, no silver linings, and no happy ending? How about courage, hope, or a reason to be positive? 

Does it feel like you are stuck on that Saturday of despair? When you are stuck in the hopelessness of Saturday even death feels like the ultimate insult. No matter what you do, exercise, eat healthy, take your meds… but nobody out lives death.

Elvis recently had a birthday, he is dead. Martin Luther King Jr. also had a birthday recently, he is dead. We are going to celebrate President Lincoln’s birthday and guess what he is also dead. Death will hit all of us, you can’t out run it, you can’t avoid it, it is going to happen.

If your mindset is like that of the disciples on that Saturday and all you can think is that death is the final answer, you will be stuck. Jesus died on Friday, but that was not the end. He was not stuck in that tomb. There is a reason why we celebrate Easter with so much Joy! Sunday brings about new life. That first Easter Sunday gave us an amazing promise, follow Jesus and death is not a dead end. If you follow Jesus death is the transition from this life to the BEST life.

John 20:11-18

“¹¹ But Mary stood outside facing the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb. ¹² She saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet, where Jesus’ body had been lying. ¹³ They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put Him.” ¹⁴ Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not know it was Jesus.

¹⁵ “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Supposing He was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve removed Him, tell me where you’ve put Him, and I will take Him away.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Mary.” Turning around, she said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!”—which means “Teacher.”

¹⁷ “Don’t cling to Me,” Jesus told her, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and tell them that I am ascending to My Father and your Father—to My God and your God.”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what He had said to her.”

She saw the empty tomb and was still in that Saturday state of mind. It did not remind her of Jesus’ teachings, it did not take away her despair, or her grief. She was probably getting worse thinking someone was playing a horrible trick on them or desecrating Jesus’ body.

Seeing and hearing the angels did not change her state of mind, she was still full of despair and grief.

Mary Magdalene, who was a friend of Jesus, who had a personal experience with Jesus, who had freed her from demonic oppression was 100% stuck in the sadness and despair of Saturday. It was so overwhelming she did not see who was in front of her. Her grief had blinded her.

There are times in our lives where it seems there is no way out. The despair is overwhelming, the sadness keeps us from seeing the light, and there seems to be nothing we can do about it. You may be sitting here this morning thinking the only ‘luck’ you have is bad luck or that nothing good is going to happen in your life.

When someone is that down and out, they might look right at the empty tomb and miss the importance. They may miss God’s intervention in their lives, like He sent the angels to speak to Mary. Despair has a tendency to make us blind and cause us to avoid all that God is doing. Jesus did not give up on Mary and He won’t give up on us. Jesus spoke to Mary and opened her eyes so she could see past the gloominess of her despair.

Jesus did not walk up to her and tell her to get her act together, He came as the gentle shepherd that He is. He being the loving God that He is, He had compassion on her.

Mary came to the tomb in a Saturday state of mind; she thought death had defeated life. But Jesus helped her to see that on that First Easter Sunday that life defeated death. Once and for all life defeated death!

2 Timothy 1:10

“This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

Sitting here this morning you may be going through some dark times, you may be stuck in that Saturday of despair. Maybe you are missing a lost loved one, finances are a struggle, health issues knocking you down, you need a job, or it could feel like it is one problem after another and you can’t seem to catch a break.

You may feel there is no hope, or that God does not care, but I am here to tell you that you are no different than Mary. Jesus broke through her despair and He wants to breakthrough to you. Saturday may be here, but it will not last. If you look at a calendar what comes after a Saturday? Sunday!

Psalms 30:5

“For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor, a lifetime. Weeping may spend the night, but there is joy in the morning.”

No matter what you are going through, be patient, as it will pass. Every season of life has its Saturdays which are followed by Sundays. The struggles and despair are followed by pure Joy that can only come from our Lord Jesus! Jesus defeated death with eternal life; the tomb is not the end of the story! Gloom and despair is not how our story ends. Jesus gave us life, He gave us victory.

1 Corinthians 15:55-57

⁵⁵ Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? ⁵⁶ Now the sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Say it with conviction! (repeat 1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

Jesus was there for Mary and helped her move from Saturday to Sunday. This morning He wants to do the same for you! If there is anything in your life that is keeping you in Saturday Jesus has paved the way. He wants you to move on from your Saturday. He wants you to move past the tomb. Jesus wants you to embrace Sunday, the Joy, the Freedom, and the Life He is offering.

Jesus is inviting you to move from Saturday to Sunday, the choice is yours. Where is death’s victory? It does not exist with Jesus.

Jesus is the victorious one!


Thanks for Reading and May the Lord Bless you Abundantly!

Robert