Sunday’s Coming Pt. 5

“Sunday Is Here”

welcome

pumped up amped up God is good, there is victory LETS GO!!!

Story…Nash Dropping his phone…(possibly)

or

Story of Watching a movie with someone who cant sit still…to impatient, they call it quits in the middle of the story…

and you want to yell at them and say NO SIT ITs NOT OVER…Its only begun…

come on church…Some of y’all know exactly what I’m talking about.

And can I tell you something with all the fire in my soul? Some people are doing that with their lives.

You are trying to judge the faithfulness of God…while you are still in the middle of the story...

You are trying to call it over…while Heaven is still writing…

You are trying to bury what God only planted…

And the message of Easter is this: Do not make a final conclusion on a Friday when God already planned a Sunday…

Lets go to the word of God

Luke 24:21 ESV

But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.

context = Friday happened…a couple Disciples left jerusalem…met a “stranger on the way” stopped and asked them where they were going…This was there response to Jesus’ death…

Now listen…That is one of the saddest sentences in the Bible.

“We had hoped…”

Not “we hope.”…Not “we are hoping.”

“We had hoped.”

That’s the sound of disappointment.

That’s the sound of shattered expectation.

That’s the sound of dreams that died in public.

That’s the sound of people who saw the cross…and assumed the story was over.

preach

POINT 1: FRIDAY BROKE WHAT THEY THOUGHT GOD WAS DOING

Now let’s be honest…Friday was brutal.

Jesus is arrested. Beaten. Mocked. Scourged. Crucified. Buried.

The One who rode into Jerusalem with praise…Now hung between criminals in shame.

The One who opened blind eyes…Now closed His own in death.

The One who multiplied bread…Now His body is broken.

The One who raised Lazarus…Now lies lifeless in a tomb.

Because listen these disciples…they had a theology for victory…But not a theology for suffering…

they had a theology for power…But not a theology for process.

In other words They believed in a King they just didn’t understand the cross…

ooohhh

Church let me preach to some real people in this room:

Some of you believe in God’s promises. You just don’t understand His process.

You can quote the blessing.

You can quote the breakthrough.

You can quote the favor.

But when Friday hits…

When the diagnosis comes… When the relationship breaks… When the money runs dry… When the ministry gets attacked… When the betrayal cuts deep…

You start saying: “We had hoped…”

Lets dive deep into some greek this morning…

Luke 24:21 uses the Greek word:

elpizō (ἐλπίζω)

It means:

to hope

to expect

to trust for future good

to look ahead with confidence

But notice the tense. “We had hoped…”

Meaning:

“Our expectation expired.” “Our confidence collapsed.” “Our future died on Friday.”

And some of you walked into Easter Sunday with that same sentence in your spirit.

I had hoped this marriage would make it.

I had hoped my child would come back.

I had hoped this ministry would grow.

I had hoped this depression would lift.

I had hoped I would not still be here by now.

I had hoped life would look different by this point.

Listen…Gods going to say something to someone this morning…

Just because your hope got wounded does not mean God’s plan got canceled.

alright lets move on then…

POINT 2: THE EMPTY TOMB PROVES GOD WORKS IN SILENCE

Talk about the Christmas series = there was roughly 400 years between Malachi and Matthew…400 years of silence from heaven…yet in those 400 years things were set in motion to prepare the way for the gospel to spread…

Gods works in silence…

lets go back to Luke 24.1-8

Luke 24:1–8 ESV

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words,

Stone in place. Grief in their chest. Spices in their hands. Tears in their eyes.

They are coming to anoint a corpse…

mmm not what they encountered though…

Luke said the “Stone had been rolled away…”

why?? why did the stone get moved?? its on every easter poster, on every easter passion movie…its tattooed on people…

listen the greek word for that phrase is

apokylió (ἀποκυλίω)

Meaning:

rolled away completely

removed from blocking position

taken out of the way

WHY?? did jesus need help?? side story of hide and go seek with Nash…I put him in the closet to hide and he right away started pounding on the door…I doubt that was what jesus was doing…

Listen Church

The stone was not rolled away so Jesus could get out.

The resurrected Christ didn’t need help leaving a grave.

The stone was rolled away…So we could look in.

So Heaven could say:

“Come inspect the evidence.”

“Come see what My power does with dead things.”

“Come see what I do when all hell thinks it won.”

preach it lord!!!

Friday looked like defeat…But Friday was payment.

Saturday felt like silence…But Saturday was the process.

Sunday looked impossible….But Sunday was power.

Let me say it again so it gets in your spirit:

Friday was payment.

Saturday was process.

Sunday was power.

The cross paid for sin….The grave held the body.

But the resurrection declared: Death does not get the final word.

preach…COME ON

POINT 3: THE RESURRECTION DID NOT CANCEL THE CROSS…IT COMPLETED IT

This is where it gets deep church…

The resurrection is not God undoing Friday…It is God revealing what Friday accomplished.

The resurrection is Heaven’s receipt.

It is the Father’s “Amen” to the Son’s “Tetelestai.” On Friday Jesus said: “It is finished.” Tetelestai remember…

And on Sunday the Father said: “ Lets Prove it.”

and watch…the stone rolled.

the grave opened.

And death had to let Him go

Acts 2:24 ESV

God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

Did you catch that?? Not difficult. Not unlikely.

Impossible.

Why?

Because death can only keep what has sin. And Jesus had no sin.

So the grave borrowed Him…But it could not keep Him.

Now let me talk to the people who came in carrying Friday…

Some of you are in a Friday season…

Everything looks dead

Everything feels buried

Everything feels disappointing

You prayed and it still broke. You believed and it still hurt. You fasted and it still didn’t change. You obeyed and it still got worse.

And now you’re asking: “God, where are You?”

Can I answer that this morning…

He is in the tomb… rearranging what you thought was over.

Right now, your life may look like it’s in a tomb…Your marriage…Your finances…Your dreams.

But I’m here to tell you: Jesus is in the tomb — He’s moving, He’s working, He’s rearranging it. And Sunday is coming.

He is in the dark… working underground…He is in the silence… moving stones you can’t see.

Because the kingdom of God often does its deepest work…in the places that look the most dead.

Conclude

illustration of the seed…

the seed in the ground looks buried…

and if you don’t understand agriculture…You’ll call it dead

If you don’t understand process…You’ll call it over…

But a farmer??

the farmer knows something the crowd doesn’t

Burial is not always death...Sometimes burial is the first stage of breakthrough…

And some of you have been calling your season a grave…When God calls it a garden

You’ve been calling it an ending…When God calls it a planting

You’ve been calling it a funeral…When God calls it a future

come one church…preach it lord!!

Lets go back to Emmaus shall we…

They are walking away from Jerusalem.

Away from the place of promise. Away from the place of resurrection. Away from the center of the story.

Why?

Because disappointment makes people leave places too early.

Here is where it is beautiful…Jesus walks up beside them…

unrecognized.

This is wild.

The resurrected Christ is walking with disappointed disciples…And they don’t know it.

And some of you are in that exact place…You’re saying: “God, where are You?”

And He is walking beside you in the very pain you’re complaining about.

He is in the conversation.

He is in the process.

He is in the confusion.

He is in the long road.

And what does Jesus do? He opens the Scriptures.

Luke 24:27 says:

Luke 24:27 ESV

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Meaning: He showed them the cross was always in the text.

The suffering was always in the plan.

The Messiah was always supposed to die…before He rose.

Luke 24:26 ESV

Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

Necessary.

Catch that…Not optional…Not accidental…Necessary

that word should hit you like thunder…

The betrayal? Necessary. The scourging? Necessary. The nails? Necessary. The blood? Necessary. The tomb? Necessary.

Why?

Because without Friday’s suffering…There is no Sunday’s victory.

Without the cross…There is no empty tomb.

Without the blood…There is no freedom.

Without the death…There is no resurrection.

Romans 6:23 ESV

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Speak on sin and the magnitude of what Jesus did…

Now hear me by the Holy Ghost: What if the thing you are crying over…Is the very thing God is using?

What if the closed door was necessary?

What if the heartbreak was necessary?

What if the delay was necessary?

What if the season of silence was necessary?

and understand…I’m not saying God authored evil…

Im preaching Romans 8.28

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

I’m saying He is so sovereign…That even what hell meant to crush you…He can bend into purpose.

The devil thought Friday was a funeral…God had a plan all along…

And Because of Sunday…Sin has been defeated. Shame has been broken. Chains can fall. Addictions can break. Dead marriages can breathe. Prodigals can come home. Depression does not have the last word. Cancer does not have the last word. Divorce does not have the last word. Betrayal does not have the last word. Failure does not have the last word. The grave does not have the last word.

JESUS HAS THE LAST WORD.

And His last word is not death…His last word is life.

Stand With ME…

What in your life right now feels like Friday?

What feels hopeless? What feels depressing? What feels disappointing? What feels sealed shut? What feels buried? What feels like there is no way back?

Hear me with every ounce of conviction in my soul: If Jesus can walk out of a sealed tomb…He can walk into your impossible situation…

If God can bring life out of death…He can bring hope out of heartbreak.

If the grave could not keep the Son of God…Then the thing that’s trying to bury you cannot keep what God has called…

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Dont let the enemy Bury what God has called…

Possible Alter call…

So if you came in here with a Friday spirit…

Come to this altar.

If you came in here saying, “We had hoped…”

Come to this altar.

If you need resurrection in your marriage…

Come.

If you need resurrection in your mind…

Come.

If you need resurrection in your body…

Come.

If you need resurrection in your calling…

Come.

And if you need Jesus…

If you need forgiveness…

If you need salvation…

If you need the blood of the Lamb applied to your life…

Come now.

Because the cross paid for you. The tomb opened for you. The King rose for you.

And Easter is Heaven’s declaration:

It is not over.

One more time for the people in the back and online: IT IS NOT OVER

Listen…Don’t walk away from Jerusalem too soon.

Don’t turn the movie off in the middle.

Don’t bury what God is about to resurrect.

Because…

Friday looked final. But Sunday was the plan all along!!

PRAY

PREACH IT GOD WITH FIRE

HOLY SPIRIT LEAD AND GUIDE ME…PREACH IT!!! AND TAKE OVER!!!