The Truth About Marriage & Divorce From The Words of Jesus

I'm glad we're together today in this space. My name is Mark Cummins. I'm the pastor at Church of Hope. And if you're a regular attender, welcome. So glad that week after week, we join together in this space. And if by chance, this is your first time, I'm really glad that we're beginning our friendship today. Understand that this broadcast literally goes around the world for free. See, we believe that life's at its best when people discover hope in Christ. There are people who give generously so this broadcast can be reached across every continent. If you've never given, I would invite you today to give. You can go to our webpage, hopeinOcala.com and drop down on the giving bar and give a one-time gift. Or you can give generously beyond just today. And if God's blessed you, help us as we give hope around the world. But for now, I want you to open up your heart and your mind. Let Jesus speak to you. Because what I believe is that when we open up our minds and let Jesus speak to us, life doesn't become perfect and all the problems don't go away, but you experience his presence in you, with you, and for you. Open up your heart. Let Jesus speak to you today. Peace.

I didn't realize that most Americans are single. I thought it was the other way around. But 54% of Americans are single. Why does that matter to us? Well, one, to those of us who are single here today, I want you to know something. You're not half of a person. Sometimes in the church space, the spiritual space, it can seem like the ultimate goal is to get married one day like you're kind of, we're waiting for life to really begin once you get married. And then to the 46% of people who are married, I think there is some confusion biblically about what marriage is. And perhaps that's what's causing some of the confusion and dissatisfaction that we often experience. And so in your Bible, Matthew chapter five, we've been talking for several weeks about a higher way of living, right? Mountaintop living. And it's not lost on me when we lean into the space of our personal lives, our personal relationships, that it's gonna feel at times like a difficult conversation this morning. It's a tough conversation. And in between the word of God, these verses that we're about to read, we also have us, messy human experiences, the complications of relationships, irrational ideology, those fuzzy feels inside of us

when we see somebody that we're attracted to and our heart starts to skip a beat a little bit and our hands begin to sweat and we start thinking about them and we begin dating and we love each other and I love you and you love me. And it's like, it feels so good and how could anything ever possibly go wrong with this relationship? Until it does. I think also I want you to know that as I've prayed for us, that today you might hear some of God's words and it might feel like salt in a wound. It might feel like someone's pressing in on a broken bone. It might sound like loud noise, a bright light to the migraine that's pounding in your head. My prayer is that you'll push back those whispers, that you'll understand that God's not against you and God's with you and God's for you. You see in Matthew chapter five, Jesus continues this conversation and he says, it was also said, whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, Makes her commit adultery and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. These words are complicated They're theologically Confusing at times This room online The cumulative pain relationally a

Relationship that once you were in and now that you're not in a memory of what someone said to you and what you said to them experience in a lawyer's office How you felt ignored how you felt overlooked betrayed abused the broken trust adultery Porn abandonment abuse rejection addiction, it's all horrific But what I want to remind all of us that no matter what you've done what you've said in life The Bible could not be more clear in Romans chapter 8 and verse 1 in Christ Jesus. There is no Condemnation you and your mind can condemn yourself and others around you can condemn you But what we have discovered that in Christ Jesus because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross our human flaws and our human Failures Have been forgiven in Christ now the Bible also teaches us in Romans chapter 1 that the kindness of God the kindness of God's Word it leads us to repentance in other words You have been making decisions that have been taking away from higher ground away from a better life Away from the the peace and the freedom that God wants you to experience and so he will use his word perhaps today To bring repentance you would change directions so that you could experience life at its best I Also want to just say to you that that I love you. I have I have prayed for you Your identity is not in what society says In the society you and I live when we fill out forms at the doctor's office or we're applying for student loans or other Applications it often asks. Are you single check this box? Are you married check this box? Are you widowed check this box, right? And it can feel like somehow that's my identity Your identity is not in a relationship status on this earth Your reality your identity you are the one that God says I'd love you with a everlasting love Everlasting is not based on your behavior It's based on God created you in his image and he wants an up-close personal

vibrant relationship with you But I also know that in these words this morning because of past decisions past Experiences that it would be maybe just easier if I would skip this section of the Bible But as I've considered that one, I would just say to you that would be cowardice on my part To avoid the hard parts. That's not the story of God. God doesn't avoid the hard parts I mean Jesus he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross. He didn't skip the hard part He leaned into the hard part so you and I could be reconciled to God It would also be selfish if I Would skip these parts because well, maybe I would want to avoid an email that I might receive I know you would send that email but people this past week sent their emails Right and I and I and I I get it there's just there's a lot of pain and we come from a lot of different points and places and It's just not lost on me. And then I would tell you it'd be short-sighted It'd be short-sighted to the kingdom of God if if we don't know what God's Word has to say We can't ever get to higher ground You you will never experience life at its best Apart from knowing God and what God has to say to so today We're gonna be in Matthew chapter 5 and then we're gonna use the Bible as the commentary on the Bible not an influencer Not the denomination that you grew up in not what culture says What does God in his word have to say in particular About three questions that I have heard often And they're all legitimate questions One question in is is when is divorce permitted? It's a legitimate question Second I'm I'm divorced and I'm in a new marriage But reading the words of Jesus am I now committing adultery because I'm divorced and now remarried or I'm single I Want to be married or I'm divorced and is it okay for me to get married? Again, we're gonna answer all of these questions But before we do that right before we see what the Bible has to say about divorce We really need to understand. What does the Bible say about marriage? I mean, what is the definition? I mean, what is

Marriage again, not what an influencer says not your opinion or my opinion, but from the Bible why? Why? Marriage, why did God say I want a man and a woman to come together and become married? Here's a definition that I would suggest to you this morning and we'll look at it here from Matthew 19 in 1st 7 the purpose of marriage is to glorify God in other words Make him the tallest in the room by putting on display a picture of God's covenant love For us, that's it The reason to get married is that I want in my marriage for the world to see This covenant you'll love that God has with all people biblically, this is challenging and the purpose of marriage has nothing to do with your personal satisfaction or Fulfillment now, I know movies and social media and friends and youth groups and summer camp And even the church, right? There is this pressure that you need to get married that somehow that becomes the high water It's almost like inside a church. We have idolized marriage that we've actually lifted marriage up to the point This is the utopia you have arrived. You have made it once you got Married but according to the Bible Marriage is not the goal Marriage at its best is a temporary means to a eternal end The purpose of marriage is not to get what you want purpose of marriage is not to be fulfilled purpose of marriage is Not to complete you that you find your soulmate I mean think about it. No human being can do this for you the reason there's so much confusion and dissatisfaction in our marriage is somehow I think that that that I'll find him or I'll find her and they'll Complete me They'll satisfy me There'll be the solution to my loneliness and I just want you to know so no human being can do that Like when you put that level of expectation on another person That's why we get disappointed when you put that kind of expert when you idolize

Somebody when they don't measure up and they don't meet up to your expectation what you who you idolized you then demonize That's what happened in that lawyer's office at one point. You had idolized him you had idolized for all men She's my he's my soulmate. Let me just tell you something about your soul. Your soul doesn't need a mate your soul needs a savior You Can't fix it Linda can't fix My soul that is only what Jesus Can do somebody give you a couple big big ideas about marriage number one marriage is not a contract Now we get contracts right contracts you sign them with with different businesses and the kind of the ideas Okay We both have a part to play and I'll do this and you do that and as long as I do this and you do that We're all kind of happy but think about it for a second. Did you ever consider getting married to Verizon? You've got a contract with them and as long as you can you get your signal and everything, right? You're not you're not you're not marrying Verizon. How about your insurance agent your insurance company, right? You pay a premium every single month and it's like, okay I'm paying this premium and then it comes time right if you have to use it because you're in a car accident or Damage to a house or your health and then how slow they can be right in paying The liability that you now are experiencing It's not a contract Some of us have this idea that marriage right with and I understand good good intentions. You have friends Maybe you watched your parents go through a very challenging divorce and you're kind of like a little listen We need to have some boundaries so we have pre Numptial agreement in other words before we get married before we say I do I'm gonna outline all my stuff And then you're gonna outline all your stuff And we say it's something it's good intentions just in case it don't work out I keep my stuff you keep your stuff you go your way. I go my way But again, it's a declaration of a contract with the Bible Well, the purpose of marriage is to glorify God by putting on display a picture of God's covenant God doesn't have a contract with us. He has a covenant. What is a covenant a covenant is sacrifice covenant is commitment Covenant is based on my promise

to you not your behavior to me in Your own Bible study you can learn about the different five covenants. God had a covenant with Noah He'd never destroyed the earth by a flood again. That's the that's the rainbow He had a covenant with Abraham and in Israel He had a covenant with Moses and with David and now today we live in what the Bible calls the new covenant the better covenant in Jesus Christ see marriage is a covenant because it's reflects a Savior who never breaks his promise Marriage is God's living illustration of the Gospels to the singles. Listen, God doesn't Minimize your singleness. He would say leverage. You'll see it in just a few moments. He leverage it He makes a case for your singleness. You lean in you're not less of a person. You're not half of a person You are not in the waiting room of life waiting for mr. Right. Mr. Somebody to complete you only Jesus Christ a healthy marriage will always begin where a single person has discovered that their deep Satisfaction is rooted in Christ not in the person who they might say I do to one day Marriage is God's living illustration of the gospel to get married to say I want with her with him I want to live out all of our days so the world can see on display how awesome God is and this covenantial love These are the words of Jesus So from Matthew chapter 5, I want you to notice Matthew chapter 19 now Jesus continues this conversation, right? So just flip over a few pages in your Bible Notice verse 3 the Pharisees came to him came to Jesus and tested him by asking is it lawful? to divorce one's wife for any cause two influencers of the day one influence of the day basically said you can you can divorce listen if if she It doesn't cook the food just right divorce or anything anything you wanted to do another person was saying hey listen The only way you can divorce somebody is if sexual immorality has happened and it's not a suggestion. It's a command So they asked Jesus. Hey, can we divorce for any cause? Jesus answers Have you not read there's that statement again that he God who created them from the beginning made them male and female

And he said therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and The two shall become one flesh So they are no longer two but one flesh What therefore God has joined together? let not man separate hard stop end You asked me a question. I gave you a clear answer But just like kids right have you ever asked you you know Your kids asked you a question and you give them the answer and they're like, yeah, but Right. I know that's what you're saying dad. I know But that's what happens next look at verse 7. They said to him Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away? Jesus responds because of your hardness of heart Moses Allowed you didn't command you allowed you to divorce your wife But from the beginning it was not so and then he says in verse 9 And I say to you whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery He's repeating what he just said in Matthew chapter 5 What's this thought about the certificate of divorce the reason Moses said that is because for a woman in the Bible times The man decides he doesn't want her anymore. She's not cooking. She's not cleaning She's not doing what he wants if he just divorces her The people in the community are gonna look down upon her she's never gonna be able to be remarried again She's not gonna be able to hold a job it was an outcast it was Challenging for her. She did not have ladies She did not have the same rights and privileges that you have today in 2026 in the United States So the certificate was to say this woman hasn't done anything wrong. She didn't mess up She did I just came to the conclusion I want somebody different, I want somebody better.

And then Jesus comes back and he leans back into this sexual space. Now he says one more thing that's kind of wonky. It's a little bit frustrating, particularly how we live here in the West. Let me point it to you and then I'm gonna get to those three questions that we introduced a moment ago. He goes on in verse 11. But he did say to them, not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it's given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth. And there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men. And there are eunuchs, I told you this was complicated, who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the king of heaven. Let the one who's able to receive this, receive it. This is a little bit frustrating, complicated because a eunuch is a castrated man. A man who they castrated, he no longer has the ability to reproduce. And they were put into the service of the king. Now that's troublesome, I understand, put that here for a moment. Jesus is leaning into the idea of singleness. And he's saying, listen, if you were single from birth and you came to the conclusion you just don't ever really want to have a relationship and you wanna stay single, he said, that's absolutely fine.

Or if you were born and you were not single, you did get married and then something happened and that person left you, they divorced you, they abandoned you, they abused you. He's saying, listen, you staying in this singleness for the kingdom of God, he's actually making the case for singleness. He's saying out loud that you as a single person, you're not less than. He's once again highlighting that we have mistakenly made marriage the goal. The goal is for you and I to make Jesus Christ the center and the point for our life. The goal for you individually is to love the Lord, your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul. You might make the decision to get married, not that he fulfills you, she satisfies you, but for the purpose, I want this marriage to become on display for the whole world to see the goodness, the covenant love that God has for people. With that said, he does give us three biblical reasons for divorce. You can write them down in your notes this morning. Sometimes it becomes necessary because of sin, but it should never become convenient because of selfishness. The biblical reason for divorce is somewhere along the way sin entered into this covenant. It's not a contract, it's a covenant. Number one, write this down, adultery.

When your spouse cheats on you, it breaks the covenant. And Jesus concedes, he does not command. The pain is deep. Jesus concedes, he gets it. To say yes to this person till death do you part, and then that person violates that trust that you had, the intimacy of trust, and then goes in with somebody else, he concedes that that might be irreconcilable. And I have great empathy. I have no earthly way of understanding the pain. Well, I've sat in a room with many of you, and you've shared that pain with me. But in my personal life, these years, these 37 years of being married to Linda, I've never personally experienced it. But I want to be clear, yes, Jesus concedes, but he doesn't recommend that it's your first step. Understand, divorce is like amputation. You're trying to sever what God made one. One man, one woman coming together for a lifetime, what God has joined together, let no man pull apart. I mean, think if you broke your ankle, and you broke your ankle severely, would your first course of action be cut off my foot? Hey, doc, here's my foot, cut it off, I broke it. Of course, that's not your first step. Your first step is to reset it, to repair it, to go to therapy, not amputation. That's why Jesus says in Ephesians 5 to the husbands,

love your wives like Christ loved the church. How many times have you, as an individual, we, as Christ followers, how many times has the church been unfaithful to Christ? And has he ever broken his? covenant relationship to you Never ever Remember marriage the purpose is to put on display God's covenant love with us I'm putting on display that all the times we as Christ followers have broken that covenant with God. He has never Broken his covenant with us to illustrate this God gave us an entire book in the Bible It's called Hosea, and it's a it's a radical book. I would encourage you to read it Hosea is a prophet and God says to Hosea the prophet. I want you to go down and marry Gomer the prostitute Now I'm not sure what mom and dad were doing when they named Gomer Gomer maybe they were being prophetic, but Gomer did what Gomer do and She's out there whoring around sleeping with about anything and everything that that moves as a result as a consequence She would then be put up for auction to be sold to the highest bidder God says to Hosea go down to the auction block and Use your money and buy her back Now how many men? Does that challenge? Women does that challenge God gave you an entire book in the Bible to see about his covenant his love and regardless of what we've done and what We've said he remains come see broken vows Don't cancel God's ability to restore broken lives and if a sinful Human being can be reconciled to a holy God If Jesus Christ who was dead can come back from the dead I still believe that the hurt and the loss and the pain of a marriage that's been broken by adultery can still Come back adultery Divorce

Jesus concedes, but he does not command. Here's a second thing if you're writing things down. It's the word Abandonment in 1st Corinthians chapter 7 if you want to turn there with me in your in your Bible 1st Corinthians 7 that the the people in Corinth are coming to Christ. It's a pagan community and As the gospel begins to work its way people are sharing at work sharing at the gym Sharing out at the ballfields and people are getting married So what you have are people are getting saved So what you have inside of a marriage is they were both lost but then one person Discovers hope in Christ and they become a follower of Jesus now. We got kind of an issue We got attention because they're like hey I didn't sign up for this Jesus thing when we got saved we were both lost and now all of a sudden you're saved and You're wanting to follow after Jesus and you're wanting to make him the center and the point and you're wanting to go to church on Sunday, what do we do with with this? Here's what the Bible says in 1st Corinthians 7 now as a concession not a command I say I wish that all were as myself He's single Paul saying but each has been given his own gift from God One of one kind and one of another to the unmarried one more time he's leveraging your singleness I want you. I want you to focus on the kingdom to the unmarried and to the widows I say that it's good for them to remain single as I am but if They cannot exercise self-control. They should marry for it's better to marry than to burn with passion You know, I've done a wedding or two since 1989 and I've never done a wedding where it's kind of like, okay everybody Really glad that you're here today to be eyewitnesses This is Pete and this is Ethel and today they've come together to get married because they cannot Control themselves and they're burning with some wild wild lust and passion and so they've decided like no That's just that's just never that's never that's never happened He goes on to say this look at verse 12 to the rest I say I not the Lord that if a brother has a wife who's an unbeliever Here's the situation and she consents to live with him. In other words. She's not a believer, but she's like it's okay We can get along to go along He should not divorce her and if any woman has a husband who's an unbeliever

He's like I don't believe the way that you believe but like I'm okay to stay married. I'm I'm for you. I love you I'm for the kids. I like what we got going on here. He consents to live with her. She should not divorce him In other words the believing stout the believing spouse stays because perhaps your Satisfaction your example in following Jesus at a higher level ground They will see that life is better with Jesus and your loved one Will choose your spouse will choose to become a follower of Jesus, too But what if they want to leave what are they like? I'm not about this here go back to your Bible Look what it says in verse 15 But if the unbelieving partner separates let it be so in some In which case, the brother or sister is not enslaved. They're abandoning. They're like, I'm out of here, I'm done, I'm gone. Now, that might hurt you. You might feel like you're less than. They don't want me anymore, they've abandoned you, but I remind you the words of Jesus, I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you. So, biblical reasons. One, adultery. Number two, abandonment. And third, the last one is this, it's abuse. Biblical reason for divorce, abuse. God never calls someone to remain in danger to prove their devotion. Kind of holding on, right, because I want to show that I'm devoted to God. God values the sanctity of marriage, but he also values the safety and dignity of the people within it.

Colossians 3 and 19, husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Let me say to a lot of the young single, young women in the house, I promise you, if he is being abusive by saying mean things to you now, and he's laying his hands on you now, do not think that once you give into him in a intimate way or in a marriage way that somehow that's going to stop. You tell your dads, if you don't have a dad, you come and talk to me. There's no place. Where God would ever permit. There's no time that God would ever say to a man or to a woman. There are a lot of women working out these days. Some women can beat the snot out of the boy. So there ain't no time, no place, nowhere that God would say you prove your devotion to me by staying in that difficult spot. That's why in Colossians 3, husbands, love your wives. Do not be harsh with them. In Malachi chapter two, it says something that's really, it's heavy. The Bible actually says that God hates divorce. That's heavy. It's not lost on me. That's statistically 50 plus percent in here. But hear me, the Bible says that God hates divorce.

The Bible never said God hates divorced people. And if you've ever heard a church say that, or someone told you that you're less than best, and somehow you're ruined, and you're misfit, and you now can't do this, and you can't do that, you just need to know that didn't come from God. Because God says that in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation. You serve the come back God, no matter what you've ever gone through. Because Jesus Christ came back from the dead. You can come back. He has a setup for greatness in your life. But also Malachi two, he says something else that's kind of confusing. He talks about this, God hates divorce, but then he describes this prayer shawl that's put over. And he says this, he says, I hate divorce, for it covers, and I hate the one whose garment is with violence. This prayer shawl would be laid over in the wedding ceremony, the groom and the bride, it's laid over, and it's a picture of the prayer. It's the picture of this home that they're creating. And under that prayer shawl, Shalom lives. The peace of God lives. And where there's abuse, where there's pain and there's sorrow, God hates, because the beautiful picture of his love, his unconditional love, has now been fractured.

So when is it okay to get biblically divorced? Number one, is adultery. Remember, it's a concession, it's not a command. It's like amputation, so it's not the first step. Number two, abandonment. They don't wanna be a part of this. The Bible says you're free to let them go. But if you are the believer, you stay in that marriage. If they wanna stay, you stay, and you believe that your example would lead them to Jesus. And then third, abuse. So you might be asking some questions. Number one, you say, Mark, if I'm in a marriage right now and I'm really thinking about divorce, I would just say to you is, if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. And as much as it's up to you, reconcile with the other person and reconcile with God. Invite people from your small group. Invite others to come alongside of you and to encourage you and to inspire you. Let that marriage, although it's gone through a troubled moment, deep waters and pain and broken trust, let that become the display of God's covenant love and how you can come back and experience life afresh in a two. Number two is you're like, Mark, I'm divorced and I'm single. What about me? I mean, what do I do?

I mean, I've always wanted to get married. or I don't have somebody in my life, I would say first, is just choose to be contented. Trust God and be contented in him. The expectations that you're putting on, I'm for entertainment and HGTV, I mean, the Hallmark Channel and all the stuff and all these big pictures that people make you think, but I'm just telling you, nobody can satisfy you the way that Jesus, fall in love with Jesus and then whatever happens, God might have marriage in your story. But I would say before you jump back into a relation, before you get married again, I would just be cautious, make sure it's not a rebound as much as a restoration of what God's beautiful picture on display of this confidential love. And then if you are divorced and remarried, God certainly is not suggesting that you get divorced. Well, you know, well, I was married before and the Bible says that I didn't really have grounds for divorce, it wasn't adultery and it wasn't abandonment, it wasn't abuse and now I'm married to you. So I guess we're doing the adultery thing. So hey, guess what? I'm out of here. The Bible is not suggesting that at all. What I would say, God would say is, let this marriage that you're currently in, let it be a beautiful display

of the confidential love that God has for you. We've run out of time, but if you go back to Matthew chapter five, beginning in verse 33 and going to 37, he talks about these oaths and he's cautioning you from being the person that's like, I swear with all my heart, I swear on my mother's grave, right? I promise, I promise, I promise, right? I mean, death, he says, just let your yes be yes and your no be no. It's just that simple because they understood that there was a great premium on a vow, why? Because God is the ultimate promise keeper. I showed you there are five covenants. God has never broken those covenants. In Ecclesiastes five, it says, it's better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. So when you stood at an altar and you said, till death do us part, that's a vow. That is a commitment. See, a vow is not a prediction about your future feelings. It's a commitment to your future faithfulness. I got a vow to you as long as I feel the same way in the, no, no, no, no, no. A vow is a commitment to your future faithfulness. God's calling you to be married, then understand this marriage is not about my fulfillment. It's not about my satisfaction. It's not about me overcoming, you know, my loneliness. I want to have my soulmate.

No, no, no, no. You're saying, I think together our marriage will display a beautiful picture of God's covenant. And regardless of your turns and twists in life and whether or not you've made the best decision, the worst decisions, I want to remind you one more time that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. You are not unfit. You are not disqualified. Those are human words. They are not words from God. You say, Mark, how can you be so bold? How could you say that? Let me introduce you to a woman in John chapter four. Jesus is having a conversation. He says, girl, you married? He already knew the answer. She says, well, not really, but he says, you're right. You've had five husbands and the old boy that you're with right now, he's not your husband. You're just shacked up together. And he has a conversation. He's with her. He's for her. And he says, go and sin no more. And she literally leaves Jesus, goes to the town and says, come see a man who's told me everything I've ever done. And the whole town comes to Jesus. God uses broken people.

He specializes it. Second, there's this gal. She's in John chapter eight. She's caught in the act of adultery. They literally grab her. No sheets, no nothing. She comes out butt naked. And I mean, getting ready to be stoned. She's getting ready for these stones to knock her out. And there, instead of stones, she sees the face of Jesus. She says, he says, where's your accusers? They've all gone. And he says, I don't accuse you. Go and send no more. And if that's not enough to convince you that there's no condemnation, I don't care what you've done. All the things you've said and what you've, there's a guy named King David. My hunch is your life is not as really jacked up as his. He saw a girl he lusted after. He brought her up to his place and they had sex. Found out that she's pregnant. He's trying. I cover it up, he kills her husband. He covers that up. He's confronted, he repents. Psalms chapter 51 is a great outline of repenting of our sins. He and Bathsheba end up having a boy and his name is Solomon.

Solomon builds the temple. Those of you who go with me to Jerusalem next year, you will actually be right there where Solomon built that temple. I'm telling you, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Marriage is a supernatural covenant, not a contract. One man, one woman, till death do us part. God has ordained this. You've been sitting for a while. I'd like to pray over you. Why don't you stand with me? The team's coming. I want you to know this. Just like in the first gathering, we'll have prayer partners all up front. I'd love for you to come. This is that Sunday to come to the altar. Matter of fact, that's the song that we're gonna be singing, come to the altar. And honestly, if you have to go, I get it. But if you could just stay for a while, I don't want you to miss. I want you to walk in freedom. I want you to have the kind of marriage that says to the world, this is what it looks like. This is what God's covenant love looks like. I know it's not lost on me that some might be here today and your marriage is holding on by a thread. Remember, the thread of God's grace

is stronger than the rope of your failure. I want you to come and let the rope of God's grace strengthen you this morning. Singles, are you living satisfied in Christ? You're not half of a person. You don't have to have a guy. You don't have to have a girl. You are enough. God's with you, he's in you, and he is for you. You be satisfied there. That's the beginning place of a relationship. Those who are married, is your marriage displaying the picture of God's covenantial love for people? Do your kids look at your marriage and say, man, that's what God looks like. Your friends, people look and say, man, that's, look, look, that, look, look. In this song, come to the altar. Bring, God is for you, he's not against you. He loves you. He loves you with an everlasting love. I'm glad we're together today in this space. My name is Mark Cummins. I'm the pastor at Church of Hope. And if you're a regular attender, welcome. So glad that week after week, we join together in this space. And if by chance, this is your first time, I'm really glad that we're beginning our friendship today. Understand that this broadcast literally goes

around the world for free. See, we believe that life's at its best when people discover hope in Christ. There are people who give generously so this broadcast can be reached across every continent. If you've never given, I would invite you today to give. You can go to our webpage, hopeinocala.com and drop down on the giving bar and give a one-time gift. Or you can give generously beyond just today. And if God's blessed you, help us as we give hope around the world. But for now, I want you to open up your heart and your mind. Let Jesus speak to you. Because what I believe is that when we open up our minds and let Jesus speak to us, life doesn't become perfect and all the problems don't go away. But you experience his presence in you, with you and for you. Open up your heart. Let Jesus speak to you today. Peace.