I'll come today to tell you, regardless of how difficult it's been, your Sunday morning is coming. If you'll turn with me to the book of Matthew 28 verse 1 through 10. Now the Sabbath, now on the Sabbath toward the dawn of the most first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
His appearance was like lightning and as clothing wide as snow. For fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead man. But the angel said to the women, do not be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus. How many of you today seek Jesus?
The angel of the Lord said, I know that you seek Jesus. Who was crucified? That's a fact. That's a fact.
We don't deny facts. The fact was Jesus was crucified. But the angel declared in verse 6, he said, he is not here for he has risen. Just as he said, he would come and see the place where he lay.
Then go quickly, go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. And behold, he is going before you instruction. He's going before you to Galilee. And there you will see him.
See I have told you. So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy. We would say today, mixed emotions. Imagine what must have been going through their minds from Friday to Sunday.
Imagine the thoughts and the confusion and the frustration and the anxiousness and the anxiety and the worry and the fear and all of the things that they must have been going through that week, literally. From Thursday till Sunday, a lot begin to transpire. From the last supper to good Friday to his crucifixion till now Sunday morning in the empty tomb. You talk about a gamut of emotions.
How many of you have ever been on the emotional roller coaster? Up and down and around and in between and over and under. They departed quickly and did what they were told to do with fear and great joy. And they ran to tell the other disciples and behold, Jesus met them and said, greetings.
And they came up and they took hold of his feet and they worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. Throughout the world, we are admonished to do not be afraid.
Don't have fear. Be of good cheer. Be of good comfort. God has overcome the world.
His Son, the Christ has overcome the world. And when they saw him, the fear had melted and they bowed in worship before the King. And Jesus said, do not be afraid. Go, go, go.
The gospel message to go. To not be still. To not be silenced. To go and to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He said to them, do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go into Galilee. And there they will see me. Verse 2, verse 24 tells us this.
He bore our sins. Come on church. He bore our sins. Amen?
He bore our sins in his body on the tree. See I celebrate the way that I do. I worship the way that I do. I preach the way that I do because he is alive.
And I was dead in my sin. And I was lost. And I was broken. And I was unwanted.
But he came into my life and he healed me and he delivered me and he set me free. And he gave me a purpose and a reason because he knew the plans that he had for me just as he told Jeremiah. God is good. Amen?
Just as he said to Joshua. Just as he said to Moses. Just as he said to Matthew and Mark and Luke and John and Mary. He had a purpose and a plan for every one of them.
Every single one of them he had a purpose and a plan for just as he has a purpose and a plan for you and I. Oh, he told Jeremiah I know the plans that I have for you. Declares the Lord to everyone that came before us. He had a plan.
He had a purpose for those of us that are alive today. He has a plan. And if the Lord carries who have a plan and a purpose for all of those who come behind us. Because Ecclesiastes says to everything there is a season and a time and a purpose to everything under heaven.
Amen? He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that having died to sin we might live for righteousness. He died to make us righteous. He died to make us holy.
By his wounds church. Hear this. By his wounds Peter is reiterating what Isaiah said in Isaiah chapter 53. He is reiterating.
By his wounds by his stripes you have been healed. Isaiah said to where Peter says you have been. This event in history changed everything. And I know there are moments in history that shift everything and you and I can remember certain things in history that shifted.
Shifted society shifted culture. My wife and I were having a conversation about this the other day. I said what's going to be the next thing? What will be the next thing?
But I pray regardless of whatever the next thing is that as the board against the Spirit filled blood, blood, church, Lord Jesus Christ you and I are ready because we are built for this. We are built to take the gospel into the world. We are built to share the good news of Jesus Christ. And although there are moments in history that shift everything nothing, nothing that has ever transpired on planet earth compares to the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior.
Jesus Christ. It rains above every moment in history that has ever come. God Sunday morning came. There are moments in your life and in my life when everything seems to be falling apart.
How many of you know what I'm talking about? How many of you have had those moments where it seems like everything you had planned is not going the way that you had planned. Everything that you hoped is not going the way that you hoped. Everything that you desire doesn't seem to be coming to pass the way you desired it.
Life isn't happening for you the way that it's happening for some others and you're discouraged and you're depressed and you're anxious and you don't know what to do. But I'm here today to tell you Sunday is coming and in those moments in your life when you feel lonely and you feel insecure and you feel lost and you feel hurting and you feel like you're not noticed and you feel like nobody sees you. Your Sunday is coming. In this life at times our dreams seem to unravel.
There are moments in times church when it seems like our prayers are being unanswered. There are moments in times it seems like God isn't even listening. There are times in our faith if we want to be honest today. Our faith feels fragile.
There are moments that we're hanging on for dear life. Have any of you ever been hanging on for dear life? But I'm here to declare to you today that his love never sees us. Hold on.
Trust him. Believe him. Put your hope in your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He will never fail you.
Do not negotiate your faith. Do not negotiate what you believe. God is good. Yes and amen.
God is good. God is faithful. Life is hard. Situations are difficult.
Circumstances change. But God is steadfast. He's unmovable and he's unshakeable. And even when our prayers don't seem answered.
When our dreams seem to unravel. When our faith seems fragile and hope feels like it's been buried. Listen. If you find yourself here today standing at the wreckage of your own expectations.
And if you've ever watched something die in your life. Then you understand what happened on Good Friday. Because all these feelings and all these emotions happen on Good Friday. Because before there was a resurrection, don't lose sight.
There had to be a cross. There was no resurrection without a cross. Before there was a victory, don't lose sight that there was suffering. Before there was triumph, there was suffering.
Before Sunday, there was Friday. And Friday, hope was crucified on a cross. Jesus bled and he died and he was nailed to the cross. The disciples who once believed that he was the Messiah.
They now were scattered, confused, devastated, in fear and in wonder how in the world could this be? I don't know about you but there have been moments in my life that I've cried how could this be? How could this have happened? But I thank God from the age of 12.
I have never doubted the goodness of the Lord. And I've learned to trust if this cup doesn't pass. That's okay. I can bear it for the glory that's going to be said before me.
That's what my elder brother, Jesus, taught me to do. That if there is no other way, God, I'm all in. God, I trust you. God, I believe you.
God, I'm putting my faith in you. The last thing the world needs today is willy-nilly Christians. Half-hearted Christians. Those that believe when it's only convenient to believe.
But those who doubt when things get hard and those who are fearful when things get tough, rise up, stand strong, be firm in the gospel of Jesus Christ knowing the greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Those disciples back then were much different than we are today. They were confused. They ran.
You know, we tend to do that when we get upset or we get frustrated or we get angry. We run. We seek something else. We look for something different.
We go. They were all scattered that afternoon. I think devastation doesn't even describe it well, to be honest with you. There have been moments in my life that devastation didn't seem like it fit what was happening.
Because it was seen way more than even devastation. There was moments that took your breath away and stopped you in your tracks and caused you to wonder what the world is happening. Where's that just me? None of you ever have those feelings or thoughts?
But he's still the one who opened the blind eyes and raised the dead and calmed the storm. He's still the same yesterday and forever. Everything though on Friday they hoped for seemed lost. Can you imagine?
Can you imagine for a moment the overwhelming devastation and confusion? They believed he would change everything. How in the world could this be? How could it end like this on a tree unrecognizable and everything.
Remember what he said? Did anybody that morning remember he said on the third day? But when you see the tree and you see the broken body, how in the world can you hold on to a third day when your eyes are witnessing the internal organs of the man that you would put all your hope in literally exiting his body because his flesh being so beaten. The blood pouring out like nothing.
Do you know history records? Not just scripture but history records. There has never been a Roman crucifixion like the crucifixion of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. All historians record.
There has never been a man that took such a beating from the Roman soldiers like the one they called Jesus. They're never in the history of the world. They had to stand there and say, how could it end like this? Remember to love your neighbor?
What do we do now? And then one of the thieves on the cross says to the other one, leave this man alone. He's innocent. We are getting what we deserve.
He's between them completely bloody, completely beaten beyond recognizing who he was. And he said today you will be with me in paradise. Oh, what a savior. Oh, what a savior.
Even in the darkest day of his life, he was still bringing salvation to the world. Maybe you've said something like this. Hold on. Because I'm going to get real personal now, okay?
Maybe you said something like I thought this marriage would last. I never thought my life this diagnosis would come. I never thought I'd get the phone call with a doctor on the other end saying what he's saying. How many of you have ever said I thought God would have come through by now?
Fridays were faith is tested. And I don't know about you, but I've had some Fridays in my life. I've had some Fridays in the 62 years of my life. Anybody know what I'm talking about?
Fridays where it seems that the prayers are unanswered. Friday in our life seems to be silent. Fridays the day that the stone was rolled in place and guards were posted. Friday it looked like it was over.
Friday looked final. How many of you ever thought it was final to only find out God had something else in store? God is so good. I don't know about you, but I've had some of those days.
Fridays are real. The emotions of those Fridays are real. I'm using an analogy. I'm not talking about a specific Friday.
I'm not talking about every Friday's bad. Some are like good Lord, I didn't know they were all going to be bad. No, no. This is an analogy, right?
But what appeared to be a bad Friday we now know as Friday's real, but disappointment is common. Discouragement comes and hard day comes and challenges come and trials come and fights come and disappointments, they seem bigger than what we're able to handle. God never pretends that your pain doesn't exist. He didn't skip the cross, but he endured it.
He endured it. Then Saturday came. God seemed silent that day in between. Have you ever had a day in between here and there, the quiet day, the silent day, the day of wondering, the day of questioning, the day of longing, the day of anticipation or the day of what is going to transpire.
Is this thing ever going to change? Have you ever had one of those in between days, between here and there? The lonely day, the unknowing day, where the tragedy already came, the difficulty already came and then you woke up the next morning and you had no idea what life was going to look like that day. Am I talking to anybody here today?
That's the day we don't always talk about Saturday, the day in between. But that Saturday, listen, never know miracles, never know angels, no voice from heaven. There was just silence and the tomb was sealed. Hope had been buried and heaven seemed silent.
Heaven seemed as if nothing ever happened. Have you ever been there? That's where a lot of people live. They live like Saturday in between.
There are some people who are always in between, in between here and there, in between this and that. Waiting, wanting, desiring, but nothing is changing. You're praying, but nothing seems to be moving. You're believing, but nothing seems to be happening.
It's the silence of Saturday. Let me tell you something else about this Saturday. Saturday is a place that if we're not careful, Saturday will whisper to you. And here's what Saturday will whisper to you.
Sunday morning shouted with an earthquake and the stone rolling and an angel proclaiming. But Saturday, Saturday, the enemy whispers and here's what he says. It's over. Nobody loves you.
You're unlovable. You'll never be anything. You'll never make it. It's only going to be bad.
It's never going to be good. Your life is over. That's what the enemy whispers. It is over.
But Jesus hung on the cross on that Friday and he declared, it is finished. Death has been nailed to this cross and through death now comes life. It isn't finished because of the cross. Amen?
God is so good. God is so good. But Saturday will whisper to you. How many of you have had those whispers that you're no good?
You're useless. You're worthless. You never amount to anything. Everybody else gets there, but you don't get anything.
But the disciples did not understand. And even what the enemy did not realize and what hell couldn't comprehend when it's silent. God is still working. Even when everything appears to be silent, God is still working.
Because you can't see it today. It doesn't mean that God isn't working. Just because you can't feel it doesn't mean that God isn't moving. And just because you can't hear him doesn't mean he's abandoned you.
That was Friday and Saturday. But Sunday. Say Sunday. But Sunday turned it all around.
I've said it like this for many years. Sunday is the greatest turnaround in the history of humanity. How many watch March Madness? Do any of you here today watch sports, watch March Madness?
We were my wife and I were watching a game last night and the team was down by nine points and they hit another bucket and went up by twelve. You can see the body language. You can see the fans. And everybody was like, oh, it's over.
And I said to my wife, you know, that's only four shots. That's only why are they so why can you see it in them? It's only four shots. The coach have let them play and I'm screaming inside.
Call a timeout and tell them Sunday is coming. You can't give up just because you're down. See when I get down I just realize it's just the opportunity to get back up. I don't know about you, but I love turnarounds.
And I said to my wife, I said, you know, the funny thing about games like that is they seem to go in spurts. And then all of a sudden you'll hear an announcer say, such and such team is on a 10-0 run, which mean they were down nine. They scored 10. They're up by one now.
You know, they were down, but they were not out. They had to keep pushing and keep plugging and keep playing. Church, I'm here today to tell you, get in the game. Get in life.
Understand that God's about you here for a reason and a purpose. And the greatest turnaround in the history of the human world is this. They rose from the dead. The stone rolled away.
The tomb is empty. Death is defeated. Jesus is alive. What looked like the end was only the beginning.
Only the beginning. My goodness, I can tell you story upon story upon story upon story. How many times my wife and I have seen God come through in our life. How God has done things that have literally blown our mind.
We have walked into a room flat broke, not knowing how we were going to pay. I remember we first got married, showing up at church. We pulled in front of the church one day and said to me, all we have is our tithe. What are we going to do?
And I said, we're going to give it. She said, I understand that. But when we give it, then there's nothing left in the car's on a quarter of a tank. It wasn't that she didn't have faith.
She was in the moment. She was feeling the strain of the moment. Have you ever felt the strain of the moment? I said, we're going to give it.
By the time we left church that Sunday afternoon, people coming through the line for whatever we were shaking our hands and putting money in our hands, slipping money in our sport co-pockets. I had one guy putting his hand in my pocket for it. He was slipping money in my pocket. And saw God meet the need.
We didn't have enough money even on our tithe to meet the need. But when we were faithful to do a God that challenged us to do God met our need, our Sunday came. And he has done that over and over and over again in our lives. And that's why her and I believe so much in being a blessing because God is blessed us.
There have been moments that we've gone and bought grocery carts full of groceries and taken them to somebody's house to put them on their porch and bang on the door and take off running before they could see who we were. One time we had to hide behind bushes. And I'm not here to say, we're so gone just telling you that when you understand the goodness of God, when you have tasted and seen this, the Lord is good. You too will be steadfast, unmovable, unshakable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
Why? Because the greatest victory came on Sunday. What looked like hopelessness became eternal hope. This Sunday changed everything.
It transformed everything. And here's the truth that you and I need to understand today that when our lives feel like it's front Sunday or when our lives feel like it's Friday, Sunday is coming. Hold on. Have faith, trust and believe when your prayers feel stuck and you feel like you're somewhere in between here and there on Saturday.
Know that your Sunday is coming. And you may be here today saying, I've been waiting for Sunday for a long time. I've been waiting for Sunday for a long time. How many of you have been waiting for some Sunday for a long time?
The Bible says a day is a thousand years and a thousand years is a day. So that be literal. Then your two days may only be a very short time to God. Amen?
Two thousand years could have been two days if a day is a thousand years and a thousand years is a day, right? God's timing is not our timing. God's plans are not always the way we want things to work out. But God is good and God is for us and God sees us and God knows us and God has an incredible plan, destiny for our lives.
Hold on. Don't give in. Don't give up. Those difficult moments are only shaping in you so that you can become what God has destined and designed for you to become.
When everything else is falling apart, Sunday is coming. The resurrection proves something very powerful to us and that is this. That God brought life out of death and how many of you know he's still doing it today? Dead dreams can live again.
Broken hearts can be restored and the lost hope can be restored. And today even a shattered faith can be rebuilt. I'm going to ask the members of the security team to go over to that other building and get those little ones and bring them over this morning. Can somebody go downstairs and bring those little ones up to the back hallway this morning, the nursery and the children.
We're getting ready to close today. And when they begin to come up that center out, you're going to begin to applaud and thank God for them because we thank God for our children. And so Nate, can you come and grab that communion table and move it somewhere out of the way this morning so the little ones will be able to get up here today. I want you to know that that's sent here.
Let me thank God. We don't need that spill everywhere. That same power. That same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
Come on worship team, make your way back to the platform. That same power that raised Jesus from the dead is still alive and well today, amen. I'm here today to tell you and to pronounce over you, your story isn't over. Come on, if you're going to applaud him do it, don't patty cake him.
He's the king of kings and the Lord of lords. Give him a hand like only a king deserves. You may have come into this place today feeling like you're at the end, but Easter shows us that it's not the end of your story. The cross was not the end.
The tomb was not the end. And what you and I are facing today is not the end. God has the final word and his word is not death. His word is life.
The resurrection is not just something we celebrate. It's something we step into. He arose so that you and I could rise out of our mess, out of our sin, out of our shame, out of our fear, out of our hopelessness, because if the grave couldn't hold him, church, I'm here today to tell you, your mess can't stop him. So lift up your head, dry your eyes, grab hold of hope, because no matter how dark your Friday has been, no matter how silent your Saturday seemed, Sunday is coming.
And when Sunday comes, light breaks through the darkness, life conquers death, hope rises again, and Jesus is alive. Jesus is alive. And that's why today, that's why today there is joy in the house of the Lord. And we're going to begin to sing that in a moment.
But Gary, Ron, keep them all back there before I tell you to let them in. We're going to let their anticipation and excitement build just a little bit. And all you adults just stay out of the way because they already got a glimpse of what's waiting for them. You know, we know it's not about candy and gift treats and stuff like that.
It is all about Jesus. We want to celebrate with these little ones and we want to bless them this morning and let them know how important they are to us and how much we love them. So in just a few moments, those from nursery on up to senior high, the senior highs, we're going to ask you to come last and I'll tell you why we're going to ask you to come last. Because if we got way more little ones than we in test that we bought, you can't have a basket.
But that's all right, we'll hook you up. We'll buy you Starbucks gift cards or something. Geez, I didn't know that would be such a hit. Next week at Starbucks gift cards for everybody.
Look at that. Now, don't you clap for Starbucks more than Jesus. I want to pray for a blessing over you before those little ones get here. Father, today as I extend my hands over this congregation of believers, God, I pray for those who are troubled at heart.
I pray for those who are weary in mind. Lord, those who have come today and they find themselves in that Saturday moment, that silent moment, just not knowing, frustrated and feeling anxious and wondering, but God, I'm so glad that you brought them to harvest today. I'm so glad that each home and each family that entered these doors is here today because it's by your divine leading and directing. They're here for a purpose.
God, you're doing a phenomenal thing right here in the middle of the cornfield of dairy Pennsylvania. God, we love you. We bless you and we honor you. God, I pray for every sick body today.
I pray over every wounded spirit today. Father, I speak the joy of the Lord. Father, I pray today nothing missing, nothing broken over this house. As Isaiah said with your stripes, we are healed.
Peter said with your stripes, we were healed. Today we stand on the Word of God and by faith we receive. We receive healing. We receive life.
We receive strength. We receive victory today in the name of Jesus. So God, as I lift my hands over this congregation today, I pray, Father, in our rising and in our sitting, in our coming and in our going. God I pray wherever our feet may trod and whatever our hands may touch, would be blessed of you.
So from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, Lord's name is worthy to be praised. We give you great praise today. We give you great praise. I pray this day will not end that if there be any in this sanctuary or those who may be listening over the internet that will have heard this message and ended their day with not acknowledging you as being Lord and Savior of their life.
God I pray that every one hearing today will receive you and begin to walk with you. Father, we love you. We bless you. We give you praise.