You’ve Heard About Jesus Your Whole Life… But Has It Ever Been Real To You?

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. You know, this morning, you had a either love or hate relationship with one object that we all kind of have in common. I asked this question in the first gathering, they said, the bathroom. I said, no, that's not what I was looking for, but although maybe that is. But you know, for many of us, because we have really good intentions and we wanna wake up every day and be on time for work, right? We set an alarm and that alarm clock, right? Now, some of us, that's that love-hate relationship because it goes off and it's like, I'm suing that puppy right now. There ain't no way I need five more minutes. Unless you're sort of like me and I don't know when it happened, but like, I wish I could still have a love-hate relationship with my alarm clock. No more. I start waking up around 2.30, 2.35 and I'm usually pretty good, right? Go to the bathroom, come back, and then I can usually kind of get that next hour sleep, get around to that four o'clock. Then I'm telling you from four o'clock to like 5.30, it's just like, I mean, I'm praying, God, please let me get another hour sleep.

Please let me, right? I mean, it's just like, I'm just up. I'm ready, right? We set an alarm because we have good intentions. We wanna be, to work on time. Or if we got a flight and we need to get down to the airport, we set our alarm for two days earlier because the lines are long now. I mean, whatever it is, right? We all show up every day with really good intentions. I wear a, what's called an aura ring on this finger here. And the other day when I opened up the app, it gave me this alarm. It was all in red. And it said that my symptoms radar was on. The biometrics were saying that my body was straining, that something was going on inside of my body. It's like, really, did I really? I mean, has it come to that, that I actually have to have a ring on my finger to tell me that maybe I'm not feeling so good, right? This outside, right? I have good intentions. I wear this because I wanna be healthy. I wanna be out there. I wanna train. I wanna run and bike and swim and lift, right? I think we all show up with good intentions. But what I wanna suggest today

is that you look at this holy week, Palm Sunday starting today, Friday, Good Friday, Easter, a little bit different as God's holy alarm to humanity. Because I think in many ways, all throughout history as humans, we show up. I see you. I know we're trying to figure it out. We try, we try really hard. We try to fix it. We try to behave better. We try to resist it. We try to confess it. We try to forget it. We're trying to live in, you know, for God. But life, like the life that you and I, that we live is broken and sin is real. We get tired and we need. this alarm clock moment to wake us up, because life gets turned upside down. And here's the big idea that I wanna put into our play this, into our minds this morning is this, is that your problem, my problem, our problem, isn't that you're trying too little. Because I think you're trying. I think you're giving it, in many ways, your very best shot. You're trying. Your problem, my problem, our problem, isn't that you're trying too little.

It's thinking that trying is the answer. I mean, this is where a lot of the frustration and the irritation and the agitation of Christianity takes place. Somewhere along the line, we thought that trying, that if I would work better, if I behave better, if I act better. But here's the deal. Even your best required His blood. Even your best day. I mean, you were winning it, killing it. You're saying no to all the bad things in life, and you're saying yes to all the good things in life. And like, you're behaving yourself, right? Even on our best day, required His blood. You know, today is probably history's best example of good intentions. In many ways, on this day, Christians then and now show up with really good intentions. They call today Palm Sunday. And depending on maybe how you grew up in a church, maybe you remember as a kid that they would put a palm branch in your hands, and you would come into the big church, kind of waving the palm trees kind of a deal, and it's called Palm Sunday. But here's the deal. This day begins this holy week. And we have a liability this morning. You have a liability.

The liability is this, you know the rest of the story. You know what's coming on Sunday. And in many ways, because we know what's coming on Sundays, we discount where we are today in the story. It's kind of like a freshman. We got any freshmen in y'all? Freshmen, freshmen, sophomore, freshman, right? It's like a freshman thinking, hey, listen, I'm already ready to graduate. I got it. I know what's going on. I'm already there. And the reality is, of course, they're not, right? Or some of you guys who go hunting, right? And you're like, it's already reality. I have done landed that big trophy buck. All right, but you ain't landed yet. Or like you go fishing, right? And you caught that 50 pound bass. And I don't know if there's such a thing as a 50 pound bass, but like, it's a big fish, right? And pastors sometimes tell big stories on Sundays, right? So all I'm saying this here is I wanna challenge us to just stay, keep your feet planted in today. And if you keep your feet planted in today and walk through this week, next Sunday, the resurrection, the celebration that Jesus, what we know, who was dead is alive, it'll be at a whole nother level. But in many ways, today is an embarrassing day.

Today's the kind of day that as Christians, we really miss the mark. Let me explain. See, back then, Jesus is coming into the city. Jesus is like, I'm coming in. He's riding on the donkey and everybody's excited. Why are they excited? Because they believe that Jesus is doing what they wanted. They're tired of the oppression of these Romans. They have been oppressed as a people group for centuries. They have believed that Yeshua, the Messiah, was gonna come and set them free. And so they see Jesus coming in the city like, yeah, all right, come here, get your phone out. Let's take a picture. Here comes the Savior. Now, boom, I'm gonna post this online right now, right? It's going good, it's Sunday. Jesus, you're the man, come on, I'm for you, right? Hosanna, hosanna, right? That was on Sunday. But come Wednesday, when you discovered that Jesus wasn't gonna do it exactly how you wanted him to do it, like God's not on your timetable, we move from hosanna, crucify him, take him out. He's a traitor, give us Barabbas. We take that Jesus. And I would say to you that many of us in 2026, our relationship with Jesus hasn't changed much

because we have an expectation and we're trying, we're behaving, we're doing all the right things. And then there's this expectations that he'll show up and behave exactly how we want him to behave. But that's not just a 2026 thing. That was going on in your Bible. Turn with me to Luke chapter 22 and 23. I want to encourage you this week, read these two chapters, Luke 22 and 23, every single day. Like, wake up and read it, or before you go to bed, these two chapters, Luke 22 and 23, will set you up for next weekend, whether you come on Thursday, Friday, or Sunday, to celebrate the reality of Jesus. But we've got to go through this darkness. We've got to expose some missteps. We've got to come to a place where we see that our problem isn't that you're trying too little. You think, I need to try more, and if I try more, I'll be closer to God. If I try more, then God will speak to me. If I try more, my marriage. If I try more, my relationship. If I try more, my health. If I try more, my kids. If I would just try more, then God will look down on me and say, yeah, okay, I'm for Him. And one reason many of us can feel really dissatisfied or really disconnected with God is the problem isn't in your trying. The problem is in you and I thinking that trying is the answer. Because even on your best day, you and I still needed His blood. So I want you to see how they were trying even in the very beginning. So if you start in chapter 22, you've got this cat, this dude named Judas. He gets beat up a lot. There's a lot of reasons for that. Of course he betrays, but in some ways he's trying. He thinks there's a misjustice. He thinks that the allocation of the funds haven't been right. He thinks they've been squandering the tithes and the offerings. He thinks that the government hasn't been spending the cash the way that the cash should be spent. So he's going to take matters into his own hands. It doesn't end there. They have the Last Supper, what we just participated together.

If you let your eyes drop all the way down to verse 24, Jesus is about to go to the cross. But look what they're arguing about then and now. Also a dispute arose amongst them as to which of them was considered to be the greatest. Not much has changed, right? I mean, how good are you compared to this person? How good is that person? How successful are you? They're successful. How big is your church compared to that church? And how many buildings and how many campuses and how many all this kind? They're missing. Because there's something inside of our humanity that thinks that it's about trying. And if we would try more, then God would be happy more with me. But that's our problem, is thinking that trying is the answer. That's true with this dude named Peter. Peter, he kind of shows up as the leader, the guy in charge. I mean, he's the guy that he's most committed. He's like this. I'm not gonna be like other people. I'll be the guy. I'll be the guy. Then when everybody runs from you, I'm not quitting. I'll get up early. I'll stay up late. I'll make sure that I never miss. I'm all in. Peter is trying. He is the poster child for trying. Notice in your copy of God's Word what it says in verse 33. Chapter 22, verse 33. But he replied, Peter replied to Jesus, Lord, I'm ready to go with you to prison and to death. And Jesus answered, oh, dude, you think it's all about trying? Let me just tell you about your trying. That by the end of today, three times, you're going to deny me. Because it's not. It's not about trying. Your problem, my problem isn't that you're trying too little.

It's that we think that trying is the answer. It's not just Peter, the disciples, they're showing up. They want to do good. Jesus is going to be going to the cross. They want to come alongside him. They want to support him. They want to encourage him. They want to inspire him. They're committed. They're trying. Here, go back to your Bible. Look what it says in verse 42. Jesus is now praying, Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me. Yet not my will, but yours be done. Huge declaration of surrender. An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. The disciples didn't strengthen him. An angel, God sent an angel. When he was extinguished, he prayed more earnestly. and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. This is not just allegory. You can look, there are documentaries, science and doctors, how when the human body experiences stress at a whole nother level, that those capillaries that are close to the skin, they can actually break. And then that blood, it mixes in with the sweat. This is the stress, the pressure that he's under. Look at verse 45, when he rose, Jesus rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. That's what trying does. You're trying to live out the Christian life.

You're trying to do it all just right. And it just wears you out. The greatest yes that was ever spoken to God is in the loneliest moment on earth. His friends, his disciples are fast asleep in their good intentions. And this morning, there's many of us. It's not that you love God, you believe in God, you're for Jesus, you love Jesus, but you're fast asleep in your good intentions, thinking that trying is the answer. Verse 47, the story of Judas continues. While he was speaking, that's Jesus, a crowd came up. The man who was called Judas, one of the 12 was leading them and he approached Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus asked him, Judas, are you betraying the son of man with a kiss? Mark this down, the deepest wounds don't come from your enemies, but from the people closest to you. The reason that you limp, the reason that you have that cut, the reason you feel broken, it's not because some stranger said something, did something, it's that company that you spent two decades giving your best to. It's that relationship where you said no when you were on the business trip, but then she said yes to a neighbor. It's the kids that you loved and cared and prayed for and then they went in a different direction.

It's the people that's closest to us. And what I find interesting is that Jesus, who's betrayed by a kiss, still chose the cross. Hey, what do you choose when you're betrayed? When Jesus was betrayed by a kiss, he still chose the cross. The Bible says that we are crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ now live. The power of Christ lives within me. When you're betrayed, when they say that hurtful thing, is your response to smack back at them? Cut them, they cut me, I'll cut them. That harsh action, listen, I'm not gonna let you, I'm gonna. You see, this is the wrestling because it's, we think that somehow the Christian life is built on the bedrock of us trying harder. The problem is that we see trying as the answer as an option. See, you can know the story of the cross and still miss the Savior on it. There's many, this whole reason, the reason that we have a journal, Spiritual Development Guide, is I'm just convinced that many of us, we know the story about the cross, but we really don't know the Savior on it. See, you know the story of that. A cross that you're wearing on your neck, it's cute, it's shiny, it's a piece of jewelry. But do you understand the surrender? When Jesus, He surrendered His life on that cross.

He didn't let anybody take His life, He gave. He surrendered His life on that cross. You can know the story of the cross, and you can miss knowing the Savior who was penned. You mean well. I mean well. I believe Peter meant well. I think in His own twisted way, Judas meant well. I believe the disciples meant well. I believe everybody on Palm Sunday who are like, yeah, God's coming, Jesus. I believe we have really good intentions. But what I know is that in life, good intentions are worthless. You can have good intentions to get up and go to the gym tomorrow. But that don't have your butt in the gym. To those of us who get irritated because those little batteries that are in our fire alarms, you know, because they beep and we get tired of it, so we take them out, right? We have good intentions that we're going to put a fresh battery back in there. Oh, yeah. Look how you're all looking at me like, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Good intentions until the fire comes, and the fireman's got to come and put out the fire. Lots, lots of good, lots of... I got good intentions when I stood at the altar and I said, oh, baby doll, I love you. You look so pretty, so good. Oh, baby, preacher, can we get done so I can get on to my honeymoon already? I mean, you got good intentions that you're going to step out into this marriage, and it's going to be good. And then 1-800-DIVORCE-COURT. Human beings, we are filled with really good intentions, but your good intentions and my good intentions were never enough. That's why Jesus had to go to the cross.

Write this down. Jesus didn't go to the cross because it was easy. He went because you were worth it. Jesus didn't go to the cross because it was easy. He went to the cross because you, me, we, worth it. No one took his life, he gave it. Jesus didn't stay on the cross because of the nails. He stood on the cross because of his love. My sin and your sin, it put him there, but his love kept him there. So how can we step into these next five days, six days, as we walk towards the celebration? I'm going to give you just two steps, that's all we need today is just two steps that will move us from our good intentions. I want us to move our good intentions to the cross because trying didn't save you, Jesus saved you. I want to move your good intentions to the cross where your effort ends and his grace begins. I want to move your good intentions to the cross. I want to move your good intentions to Calvary where it's already finished. Two steps. First step, replace your good intentions with God-dependence. Now I'm going to tell you, this is going to be a struggle for us because we're Americans. It's the 250th anniversary, we're Americans, it's red, white and blue. We pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, we have independence day, have you heard of it? We independent from the, I got it all, I'm for patriotism, I'm for all that kind of stuff. But let me just tell you something, when it comes to following after Jesus, there is one way that is a full surrender and a full dependence. We can learn a lot from what happened on the cross, here go back to your Bible, but turn over, right? Remember I said this week, I want you to read every single day, two chapters, Luke 22 and then also Luke 23.

And notice what it says in Luke 23, jump in at verse 39, the mock trials already happened, he's taken his cross, he's out upon Mount Calvary, he's already been nailed to the cross and then this conversation with these two thieves take place. Verse 39, one of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him, aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us. Words, the mantra from Palm Sunday continued. It's about me. Come on now, G, come in here, take care of them Romans, take them out. We want our freedom. We want life the way that we want it to be. I want you to show up, God, how I want you to show up. And if you're really Jesus, listen, get us down. Get me out of this pain. Get this problem away now. Then in verse 40, the other criminal rebuked him. Don't you fear God, dude? You and I, we're under the same sentence. We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. And then verse 42, the declaration of God dependence. I want us to live in verse 42. Then he said, Jesus, remember me. When you come into your kingdom, he's not trying, he's depending. It's time to move your trying to trusting. You're trying to get to God, behave for God. He's asked us to lean not on our own understandings, but in all of our ways to acknowledge him and trust in him.

Then he guides us, then he directs us. It's not in the trying, it's in the trusting. And then the promise in verse 43, Jesus answered him. I tell you the truth, today, you'll be with me in paradise. Intentions say someday, obedience says today. And that's a decision that some need to make today. Don't wait, don't delay, surrender your life. Don't admire the cross, apply it. There's a whole bunch of us. And I'm not demeaning the jewelry that some people will wear around their neck. I am thankful for the cross. Apart from the cross of Jesus Christ, my sins are not forgiven. But I think we need to stop admiring it and start applying it. Let that cross that you put around your neck, the cross that you wear on a ball cap, the cross you put on your workout clothes and everything, let it remind you of how Jesus surrendered to the cross. And now because Jesus surrendered to the cross, when you see that cross dangling around your neck, you say out loud, I'm going to surrender to the cross. That that cross is not just an ornate piece of jewelry, that cross is my declaration that I am a God-dependent. I'm surrendering the way that Christ surrendered to the cross. How do you do that? I surrender my time. We have 1,440 minutes today, 86,400 seconds today, 24 hours today, you surrender it to the cross.

How you make your money, how you spend your money, how you invest your money, how you deploy your money, you put it on the foundation of the cross. You see that cross, I'm going to surrender my time, I'm going to surrender my cash, I'm going to surrender my life, I'm going to surrender my forgiveness. You just make everything about the cross. See, move your good intentions to the cross where grace is displayed. Move your good intentions to gutsy obedience. Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. That's the first step. Here's the second step. Number three, bring people to Jesus. Our good intentions go to God-dependence. And in that God-dependence, there's a declaration that we begin to now see how God sees he wants none to perish but all to come unto repentance. In Luke chapter 23 and 26, remember this week you're reading Luke 22 and 23 every single day. Luke 23 and 26, as the soldiers led him away, that's Jesus, towards Calvary, after they had scourged his body, they're leading him out of the city, out to Mount Calvary. As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way from the country, Africa,

and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind him. Jesus. Many theologians and historians believe and credit this Simon from Cyrene. What he experienced in that moment, he carried to the continent of Africa. I give it to you this way. Consumers of the miracle of the cross become carriers of the message of the cross. Are you a consumer? Have you consumed the miracle that that God himself was nailed to the cross so that my sin and your sin debt would be paid in full. Jesus paid it all. It's not just a song that we sing in church. It is the declaration of how much God loves us and I'm a consumer of it. I have consumed the gift that was given to me on the cross. Consumers of the miracle of the cross become carriers of the message of the cross. And hear me, I'm not questioning anybody's salvation, but if you tell me that you're a consumer of the miracle of the cross, that your sins have been forgiven, that now you have been adopted into God's family, if you're a consumer of the message of the cross and you're not a carrier of that message, double check yourself. That's why the Apostle Paul in 1st Corinthians 11 says, Listen, when it comes to communion time, check yourself, examine yourself. Is this message that I say that I believe in, am I really living it because consumers of the miracle of the cross become carriers of the message of the cross? We see that also in verse 50. Look in your Bibles. Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the council, a good and upright man who had not consented to their decision and action to crucify Jesus. He was in leadership. He was outvoted. Hey, let me just say this to you. And students, this is really, really important. Because the majority vote in a certain way or because the majority says it should be a certain way, doesn't mean that they're right. You are followers of one God. You're making Jesus Christ the center and the point for your life. And you following and trusting God makes you always in the majority, regardless of what social media says, regardless of what the culture says, your friends, regardless of what that good-looking guy says, because you want to go to prom and you're kind of, regardless of what that good-looking girl says, all the pressure points, all of the the voices that will try to convince you that you need to do

whatever, you just know that with God, you and God are always a majority. The majority said crucify him. God reminds us here that there was one man who had a vote that day that didn't vote to go along that way. Verse 51, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, because he's gonna bring people to Jesus. I don't have the time this morning, we're out of time, but I will tell you this, in the email weekend recap that I send to you later today, I'm putting a link. Last year I taught just on this portion of Scripture about the Joseph of Arimathea. I encourage you, open up that link, watch it this week, particularly to all the businessmen and the businesswomen in the community. You see how a very successful businessman leveraged his resources for Christ. So how do we bring people to Jesus? One, over these next several weeks, is you invite people. You know, these little cards, I know we say them, and I know we're convinced, like, man, I'm gonna go, I want to get the courage, I'm gonna go invite my neighbor, or, you know, I got crews coming, we're doing a little audition at the house, and so we got people coming in, I want to hand them out a card, and it's like, I just want to tell you something, the last two weeks that I've been handing this out, like, no one, like, I go, hey, like, my name is Mark, and I don't even say I'm a pastor, I'm just like, hey, I don't know if you've got any place that you're going to Easter, but hey, I'd love for you to come, and I give them this card. Like, to date, like, no one ever, not just this year, but every year, no one ever has, look, what the, you gave me an invite card to Easter? Man, I'm just telling you something, you better put up your dukes right now, because I'm just telling you, I'm taking you out. Like, that's never ever happened. It never, now, I know sometimes they take it, and they throw it away, whatever. Here's, here's what I'm doing in my house. So, Linda's been making lots of sweet treats. If you're wondering why I look heavy on stage, because we've had construction crews at the house, and she keeps making sweet treats. telling her, you keep feeding them,

they're never finishing this job. Get a job at Marlinda because hey, they's gonna feed you forever. But she shows up with the sweet treats and then she gives the card. All I'm saying is listen, leverage your life. Consumers of the miracle of the cross become carriers of the message of the cross. Invite them to come, right? That's why we have a Thursday, a Friday, and a Sunday. It's working with people's schedules and shift work and all that kind of stuff. Invite them to come here to discover how much God loves them, right? Sit with them, have a conversation. I can't make this stuff up. It's the first gathering, right? And so I'm sitting down here and I got a couple of young people come down with their parents and they wanted me to pray over them. Check it, all the adults in the house sit up, take notice. I had these kids come and say, we're praying because we're gonna go invite our teacher to come. I don't know about you, but when I was in school, I wasn't concerned about my teacher coming to Jesus at all. I was usually trying to say maybe they could go to that other place because I don't like that teacher.

Too much homework kind of a deal, right? And so we sat right here and we prayed over their teachers. Consumers of the miracle of the cross become carriers of the message of the cross. Someone you know is one invitation away from a different eternity. Because the cross doesn't just change your eternity, it changes your Monday and your Tuesday and your Wednesday. Thank you. Being together in this space today is really good. If you've never begun a relationship with Jesus, I'd like to invite you today to start following Jesus. It's not about your behavior. It's not about your church attendance. It's about the reality that Jesus is for you. God's not mad at you. He's madly in love with you. Would you right now pray this prayer with me? Hey God, it's me. I've sinned and I know it and I can't fix me. But today I receive you, Jesus, as my savior. I believe that you died on that cross for me and that you were buried for three days and then you became alive again. And I invite you into my life to guide me and direct me all the rest of the days of my life. And with that prayer, my friend, welcome to God's family. I'd like to continue our friendship. If you would email me, pastor at hopeinokala.com. I'll follow up with you

and together we'll celebrate Jesus in your life. Peace.