Sunday, July 20, 2014

Sermon for 7/19/14--Wedding of Daniel James and Ashley Young

Audio:




Text:

Man's Wish or God's Word

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen. 


In God’s great wisdom He has divinely designed husband and wife to be the very expression of His will. Men and women are divinely designed to be a perfect fit for one another. We are designed to fit each other emotionally, physically, spiritually, and intellectually. When you join together in marriage this day you will become more as one. Marriage, therefore, is an age-old and sacred practice. Despite all the voices in our world that denigrate marriage, despite the curses our society chooses when it opts for easy divorce and a distorted image of what God designed marriage to be, what you are about to do is certainly ordained by God.

The union you are about to enter is a sacred mystery. The language of Jesus is puzzling from a human perspective. How can two become one? God is describing a totally new way of relating as human beings. He is not describing two independent people who have merely chosen to live together, but rather the creation of an entirely new entity, two people who are taking sacred vows to live as a sacred unit.

In the holiness of marriage we can begin to comprehend the graciousness of God. Here is a view of God personified. Christ was willing to give up the glory of God to become a man. He was willing to become the servant of another because of our desperate need for a restored relationship with Him, a relationship that had been broken by humanity’s sinful rebellion. Christ was willing to sacrifice His life for the sake of His beloved people.

In the same way, Marriage is a place of considering the other person’s needs ahead of your own, a place of mutual service for the sake of another, a place of personal sacrifice for the love of another. The more you look at the love of Christ for us, the more you will understand your own marriage and how marriage works. If you wish to learn how to love one another as husband and wife in such a way that the quality of your love continues to grow with the passage of time, then you must learn more about the love of God in Christ Jesus. God is love, and He will teach you what love truly is.

As you begin this mysterious and sacred journey today, remember that it is God, the Creator of this holy and blessed institution of marriage, who stands ready to show you how to live confidently in His love and His forgiveness together for as long as you live on this earth. This is a time blessed by God and established in His name, and in this blessed union, you can find your mutual joy in Him. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.


The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.

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