I heard Tony Campolo preach this sermon at Union University. It was the last chapel service before we went on our spring break mission trips. I still think that was the best sermon I have ever heard and I distinctly remember walking away from that ready to go conquer the world for Christ.

It’s really a simple message. It’s Friday and Jesus has been crucified and hope seems lost, but Sunday is coming and that means resurrection of hopes and dreams and, best of all, of Jesus. I love that! So I think I will preach my own little sermon based on this idea borrowed from Dr. Campolo.

It’s Friday. Your sin seems so heavy and you can’t cast it off, no matter how you try. No matter how many good deeds or religious activities you do, the guilt remains. But Sunday’s comin’!

It’s Friday. You’re standing at the grave of a father or mother, brother or sister, or even a son or daughter, wondering how this could have happened. It seems so senseless and pointless and you feel like you’ve buried part of your heart with the loved one whose body lies in the grave. But Sunday’s comin’!

It’s Friday. You’re whole life is marked by your past, whether it be abuse or neglect or abandonment. You can’t move forward and you can’t forgive the person who wronged you. You know that unless something changes, you will most likely continue the same cycle. But Sunday’s comin’!

Friday means death and loss and unendurable pain. Friday means you’ve come to the end of yourself and given up hope of anything ever changing. It’s going to take all that’s within you just to make it through the night. You know your mind won’t stop racing enough for you to sleep so you lay awake and stare at the clock as the second hand slowly ticks away.

Sunday’s comin’. That means life and restoration and the end of pain. That means everything will soon be put right. That means you will be made new and you get a second chance and a clean start. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead on Sunday can be in you if you belong to Jesus. The same promise is for you and those you love that death no longer has the final word.

Sunday means that nothing could stop Jesus from finding you and rescuing you. Not torture. Not death. Not hell. Not the grave. Nothing. It means that nothing will undo what He has done. It means that nothing will ever separate you from Jesus ever again. Not even you.

Yes, it’s Friday, but the best news in the world is that SUNDAY’S COMIN’!