What happened on Saturday?

A sacred Good Friday to each of you, dear friends…
 
I’m sure you have a certain appreciation for the importance of this great day as it marks the moment the Lord Jesus Christ bore our sins on the cross. For some, I imagine it’s a fairly abstract thought—you know something important took place, but the technicalities of it all seem distant and theoretical. For others, your heart may be full of gratitude and wonder at something which is very concrete to you. Regardless of how you view this Good Friday, I have a more important question for you: What are you doing tomorrow? Let’s talk more in Deeper Thoughts below.
 
But first…
 
·      Easter is THIS Sunday, April 20! We will have TWO Easter worship services: 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. Invite your family and friends… we’ll keep it a little shorter--and the Gospel clear and compelling—for our non-churched friends.
o   Kids Connect will be at 10:30 only with an Easter Egg Hunt to follow at 11:45 a.m.
o   We will have a nice photo area set up in the courtyard for any families who want to take an Easter photo!
 
·      Teens:  No Youth Group this Sunday. Join us for the Easter Egg Hunt after the 10:30 service. There WILL be a small section for the youth!
 
·      Ladies: Join us for a Prayer Walk through the beautiful gardens and grounds of Morven Park in Leesburg, NEXT Saturday, April 26, 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. A light breakfast will be served. Click here for more info and to RSVP!
 
·      We have rescheduled our Mt. Hope spruce-up workday for Saturday, May 3, 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Enjoy quality time with friends while beautifying the church!  For young and old, and for all experience and skill levels!
 
·      Volunteers!! Anyone currently or interested in serving in Kids Connect or Youth, mark your calendars for a volunteer luncheon right after church, Sunday, May 18.
 
·      Facility Expansion Project: for those who are being prayerfully led by the Holy Spirit to contribute to the expansion of our facility, we are hoping to receive your CONFIDENTIAL “Generosity Commitment Card” by this Sunday as we prepare for our final discussions and decisions on the project. Click here for the online version.
o   Click here to download our most up to date four-page synopsis of the expansion project and project images.
o   Join us on Sunday, April 27, 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. for our FINAL decision meeting where our Covenant Partners will consider and vote on the next steps. All are welcome to this important discussion; we value your wisdom!
 
·      This coming week is our last week of our Gospel of Mark “Daily Six” video series… Click here to jump in!
o   BUT… tune in next week for more of The Daily Six as we begin a brand-new teaching series called “Knowing God”!
o   If you’d like to receive daily email reminders, click here to sign up!
 
OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who don’t like Saturdays. BUT…
 
 
Some Deeper Thoughts…
 
The weather is supposed to be spectacular tomorrow. 77 degrees and sunny, with a warm breeze out of the south. That’s my kind of Saturday!
 
So, what’s in store for you tomorrow? Yard work? Washing the cars? Taking a hike? A trip to the lake? Doing something with the kids? Walking the dogs? Walking your cat? (That’s one I’d pay to see!!)
 
I know for me, the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter is usually a non-event, at least in terms of anything spiritual.
 
I’ll typically have a fairly worshipful moment on Good Friday. I’ll slow down at some point in the day and contemplate with gratitude Jesus’ sacrifice for me. And then, Easter Sunday is always joyful. Who doesn’t like resurrections?
 
But may I be super-vulnerable for a moment?
 
I get more bored with Easter Sunday than I should. It’s the predictability of the service that gets me. You already know the songs we’re going to sing. You could probably preach my sermon for me if you weren’t nervous about public speaking. Read the resurrection story from any one of the Gospels; describe the angel rolling away the stone, the ladies being startled, Peter and John racing to the tomb, everybody being excited and scared all at once, and then Jesus suddenly appearing in the room as if he just walked through a wall. Don’t forget ol’ Doubting Thomas. He’s got to stick his hand in Jesus’ side before he will believe. Make some comment about how that’s kind of like you and me, tell everyone to believe and rejoice. Then dismiss. Everyone is ready for that special Easter brunch. You’d better not talk too long in this service.
 
Sound familiar? Anyone bored yet?
 
Before you fall out of your chair thinking how sacrilegious your pastor has just become, please know that I know Easter is way more important than this. But just like you know we should honor our mom more frequently than the second Sunday of May, be thankful for our dad more often than the third Sunday in June, and tell our wives that we love them more regularly than our anniversaries, we ought to live in wonder and awe at the resurrection every single day of the year. Our one hour on Easter in our fancy (and somewhat uncomfortable) clothes isn’t living the resurrection life in Jesus. It’s a formal acknowledgement of it for sure. But it isn’t living it.
 
This year, God has been stirring me to think differently about Easter. And it’s not about Sunday. It’s about Saturday.
 
Jesus was buried on Friday. Everyone was super sad. The tomb was empty on Sunday. Everyone was stunned, and then confused, and then cautiously hopeful.
 
But what was everybody doing on Saturday?
 
Where was Barabbas? He had just dodged getting crucified for his poorly planned attempt at overthrowing Rome. Instead of being tortured to death, he was home with his family. Wow… that’s a serious change of mood. (You can read his short story in Mark 15:6-11.)
 
How about Simon from Cyrene? I bet he was more distraught on Saturday. He had planned his Friday to be a quick trip into the city for some shopping. Instead, he found himself embroiled in a horrifying experience, compelled by brutal Roman soldiers to carry the cross for a bloodied criminal (so he thought) to Golgotha. (It’s a short read about Simon: Mark 15:21.)
 
Speaking of brutal soldiers: How about that hardened fellow whose day-job was nailing people to crosses? Jesus caught his attention with his very unusual manner of passing. What was this executioner’s Saturday like? (He seems moved. Mark 15:39.)
 
Most of all, I’m curious how Saturday went for the devil.
 
I’m sure Friday afternoon Satan and his skanky minions were breaking out the cocktails and caviar as they watched their eternal nemesis writhing on the cross. This was a colossal victory. Their endless war with a holy God was coming to a cataclysmic triumph—they were about to take over the universe as the life of God was being extinguished.
 
They never saw it coming.
 
Check it out in 1 Corinthians 2:8. And then Ephesians 4:8-10. And then 1 Peter 3:18-22. Saturday did not go well for the devil. At all. But it was the most important day for you and me.
 
Let’s talk about Saturday this Easter Sunday. It is more glorious, more victorious, more joy-filled and hope-inspiring than I bet you’ve ever considered.
 
We’ll do it twice… 9:00 or 10:30 a.m. Oh… and I promise to not speak as long as I usually do. I know you have lunch plans. And your dress shoes you wear only once a year will be bugging you.
 
See you Sunday!!
 
Chris Eads
Mt. Hope Pastor
Friend