God’s Story, Your Story Preaching Outlines Sermon 5
Introduction: The first Easter Sunday was so good because the day before had been so bad. Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion and Easter Sunday the resurrection. The
Saturday in between commemorates desperation. On that Saturday it seems that Christ was totally defeated as his body lay utterly dead in a rock tomb. The spear had sliced his
I. heart and his tongue had gone silent. Death was absolute. No one was betting on resurrection. We will see how we can get unstuck from Saturday and move into Sunday.
Turn to Matthew 27:62-64.
Saturday was a no hope, no courage day.
A.
While Jesus’ opponents celebrated his death, his disciples were hiding in fear that they, too, would receive a cross.
1. The disciples hid behind closed doors in fear.
B.
2. The disciples did not trust Jesus’ promises of a resurrection.
Mark 8:21; 9:31; 10:24
The women disciples did not intend to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection body, but to embalm his dead body. Mark 16:2-3
Application: We, too, can easily get stuck in Saturday, living with a Saturday state of mind—no hope, no courage, no plans, believing that death is the final end.
Everyone dies, but we try to avoid that reality. We brush our teeth, eat good foods, pay our bills, raise our kids. Romeo and Juliet died, JFK died, Princess
Diana died. Love gets buried in a tomb, poetry gets buried in a tomb. Is this all there is? Max Lucado tells the story of his brother, D. D was an outgoing, friendmaking, joy-bringing kind of guy. D was a personal ambassador for his shy, younger brother, Max. In his teen years D met a bootlegger and alcohol trapped
D. For four decades D drank away his health, his friends, his jobs and his money.
At age 54 D made a serious decision to join AA. His life and marriage stabilized, but the years of alcohol and smoking 3 packs a day left D in very fragile health.
He began to have chest pains. He was rushed to the emergency room by ambulance. By the time his wife, Donna, arrived with one of their sons, D was gone. They went in to see his now dead body. One of his hands was resting on his thigh with his fingers curled in the international sign language form of “I love you.” Max knows why D did that. He had moved out of Saturday into Sunday; out of desperation into hope; out of fear into courage. By God’s grace D moved from
Saturday to Sunday.
II. Sunday—resurrection day—is a day of eternal love, life and hope.
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God’s Story, Your Story Preaching Outlines Sermon 5
A.
B.
Mary Magdalene came to Jesus’ tomb stuck in a Saturday state of mind.
John 20:10-18
1.
2.
3.
The empty tomb did not take away her despair and grief.
Mary Magdalene, the one Jesus befriended and delivered from demonic oppression, had the sadness of Saturday covering her heart.
Jesus, alive from the dead, meets with Mary Magdalene, calling her by name.
1.
2.
3.
The angels did not take away her despair and grief.
Mary thought wrongly that Jesus was the gardener.
When everyone thought Jesus was dead, no one called him “Lord” except one—Mary Magdalene.
Jesus speaks Mary’s name and she realizes that Jesus, her Lord, is alive from the dead.
Application: Why did Jesus personally appear to Mary Magdalene? Because that is just the kind of person Jesus is. He is full of mercy and full of compassion. Are you in a season of darkness? This could be a good season for you. During the times we are stuck in Saturday God does not get ticked off with us. God is patient with us. Sh, be quiet and listen, Jesus is also calling you by name. The calendar in the coffee-break room of heaven is stuck on Sunday.
It’s Sunday. It’s Sunday. God is inviting you to move from a Saturday state of mind into Sunday. The choice is yours.
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God’s Story, Your Story Preaching Outlines Sermon 5
Desperation Saturday:

The day before the resurrection was a no courage day . The movement of Christ seemed totally defeated. Jesus’ body was moldering in a grave. The disciples hid in every corner in Jerusalem for fear of a cross that would bear their name.

Saturday was a no hope day.
It could have been a day of hope, considering all the times Jesus promised big things would happen on the third day.

Saturday was a no plans day
. They didn’t plan on seeing the death defeater on
Sunday morning. They didn’t plan to talk to him – they planned to embalm him.
Mary Magdalene: Mary had buried more than a friend. She had buried the only person who ever helped her. She had been afflicted by seven demons. In the Bible the number seven typically represents completeness. So apparently Mary was completely afflicted – by paranoia, depression, epilepsy, we don’t know everything. But she was emotionally disabled, and people must have avoided her; but not Jesus. He befriended her. In him,
Mary found a friend and a future, but now her friend and her future were buried, and her world was stuck on Saturday. She missed the miracle of the empty tomb – it didn’t lift her spirits. The missed the message of the talking spirits – they didn’t open her mind. So
Jesus made a personal appearance, because he’s full of mercy.
Quotable Lucado: Jesus could have given Mary Magdalene the stars, for he owned every one of them. He could have entrusted her with power because all authority had been given to him. He could have given her the ability to do great works, for he had just defeated hell and death. But when it came time to honor this devoted servant, who was the only one still calling him Lord, what Jesus did was this: He gave her himself. He called her by name.
Personal story of moving from Saturday to Sunday: [Showed photos of Max and D together as adults and as boys.]
Max’s older brother, D, was the loud, laughing, friendly guy everybody liked. Shy Max relied on D to make friends for him his entire life. But D met a bootlegger who sold beer to underage drinkers, and over the next four decades, he drank away his health, relationships, jobs and money. In the last two years of his life he exchanged the corner bar for the local AA, stayed sober and reconnected with his wife and children. But the hard living and a three-pack-a-day smoking habit had taken its toll, and he was rushed to the emergency room one night with severe chest pains. By the time his wife and son reached the hospital, D was gone. They were allowed to go in to where
D’s body lay, and they saw his final message to them. His hand was resting on his thigh, and he had folded the center fingers and extended his thumb into the universal sign language sign for “I love you.” As D realized he was running out of breath, rather than cower and panic, he found some courage and he faced death unafraid. Why? Because by
God’s grace he had moved out of Saturday into Sunday.
Unless you find an answer for the death question, you’re stuck on Saturday.
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God’s Story, Your Story Preaching Outlines Sermon 5
Are you passing through a season of darkness? God is patient with you. During these
Saturdays we assume that God is ticked off at us. We assume he has crossed his arms and he stepped away and is saying, “Why don’t they wake up? I keep sending them miracles, and messengers. I’m giving up.” This story says God doesn’t give up. He just keeps coming and he just keeps talking and he just keeps pursuing. His message to us is,
Saturday will always be followed by Sunday. Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning, so be patient and watch.
You may be stuck on Saturday, but God has already flipped the calendar. In the coffee break room of heaven, if you look on the calendar, it says “Sunday.” His invitation to you is, “Move on.” Move from the last day of death to the first day of life.
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