Nathan & Sydney Wedding

All family except Jenni and Lisa will already be seated

Cole does a quick welcome, says no cell phones

Beginning of Service Welcome

I want to welcome you on this very special day as we are about to stand witness to the marriage of Nathan and Sydney before God. The couple has asked me to remind you that they would like this to be an unplugged ceremony. They would ask that you refrain from taking pictures or videoing on your phone, as they want you to simply enjoy this day with them.

Processional song: “I Choose You” by Ryann Darling

Nathan and groomsmen walk out

Nathan seats Jenni; have Nathan come on to stage, walk to get mom

Processional song: “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Kina Grannis

NEED TO PRACTICE TIMING Liv enters, then Alaina, and Adele

Then Barrett and Aliza (Have 2:10 before I enter)

Dramatic 5 second pause,

Instruct people to people stand:

"Would you please Stand"

Sydney and Lisa enter

Nathan Receives Sydney and both come on stage

Pastoral Remarks

You may be seated.

We are gathered here today to celebrate the joining of Nathan and Sydney in the covenant of marriage. As we begin this ceremony, let us go to the Lord in prayer.

Father we thank you for this day that you have given us to gather together to celebrate Nathan and Sydney as they join together in the gift that you have given us in marriage. I thank you for their family and friends that have gathered here to witness this special moment. I thank you for the ways that you have worked in their lives to be the people that they are and to bring them to this moment in their lives. I pray that you will be with us today and bless this marriage that they are about to enter into. We thank you for all that you have done for us and the ways that you have blessed us, in Jesus name. Amen.

It is a great honor to be able to be a part of this ceremony.

I have had the privilege of getting to see this relationship from the very beginning.

I first met Nathan on the day of my interview for New Bethel and enjoyed getting to know him at church, and other times outside of church. Like when he invited me and Dennis over to his new house. He mentioned that he would grill burgers, and asked if we wanted buns. We told him that we would.

I first met Sydney when we were taking a church trip to Winter Jam and she came along with us. I was sitting by Nathan and my wife, Jada, and Sydney sat on the other side of Jada.

At one point they both went to get snacks and I leaned over to Jada and asked, “Is she single? She replied, “Yes, and she’s interested.”

I relayed this information to Nathan, which he seemed excited about, but asked, “What do I do?”

Luckily for Nathan, there were several church activities following closely after winter jam that Sydney just happened to attend.

After winter jam, and a super bowl party with no progress, when she showed up at Mr. Gattis after church one day, I sent Nathan a message saying, “be bold today brother.”

He wasn’t. But he came over later that afternoon, and I convinced him he just needed to text her asking her out and get it over with. Little did we know that Sydney was asking Jada if Nathan was interested in her at the same time.

So Nathan sent the message beginning with “Hey, its Nathan from lunch.”

With such a smooth line as that, who could resist?

They went on their first date, and… well here we are today.

It has been a joy watching your relationship grow from those first days to where you are now.

Through church activities, mission trips, and board games that we can’t agree on the rules to, I have enjoyed every minute of getting to know you better as a couple and as individuals.

And I am glad to call you both my friends.

And so today, as you prepare to commit yourselves to one another in marriage, we should take a moment to reflect on what marriage truly is.

God is the author of marriage. Genesis 2:24 says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

From this day forward you are no longer simply two individuals who are living life together. You are one.

As you embark on this journey together I have a few things I would like to challenge you to do.

Stay Christ-Centered.

The first thing you must do is to continue to remain focused on Christ.

This is something that has been evident that you do already.

No matter how much you love each other, no matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to fully satisfy each other.

There will be ways that you disappoint and let each other down.

This is why you must both seek your contentment in Christ, the one who will never let you down.

Not only should Christ be the source of your contentment, but He should be your goal.

Seeking to glorify and honor God with your life should still be your ultimate goal in life, not there is just an additional way that you do that.

By being the best husband and wife that you can be.

In fact, by focusing on pleasing God above all else, you will be a better husband and wife than you could ever be otherwise.

Be Selfless

The Second thing I want to challenge you to is to be selfless.

In entering marriage, you are giving things up.

You are giving up your singleness - This is what it means by “forsaking all others.” You are making your choice of who you are spending your life with.

You are giving up your absolute independence.

You remain individuals, but you cannot make decisions without taking into account what benefits the other.

The advice in Philippians 2:3-4 applies: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

For your marriage to be successful, the good of the other should be your priority.

For whatever you may give up entering into marriage, you gain so much more.

You can companionship, intimacy, trust, and love that cannot be replicated out of the marriage relationship.

You have someone who has willingly decided to go through life with you, and will be for you, whatever life may bring.

Show Grace

The third challenge is to show grace.

Life is filled with difficulties and hardships.

Many times those will be outside of your marriage, but a times they may be within your marriage.

Always remember the love that God has for us.

Remember that as Romans 5:8 says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

God loved us while we were unlovable.

We all have days where we are hard to love. Your job as a spouse is to be an example of God’s grace to one another. Never looking to get even, but to reconcile and grow together.

Be Generous.

The last thing I want to challenge you to do is to be generous.

Generosity for the Christian means blessing others from what God has blessed you with.

Generally we think about this with money, but it goes far beyond that.

You have both been blessed in many ways, and your marriage will be one of your greatest blessings in life.

With this blessing comes the ability, and the responsibility to bless others in return.

Just as you have both served God in your life separately up until now, you have the opportunity and challenge to continue serving Him in new and exciting ways.

Your call to go and make disciples carries over into your marriage. I believe that when you place all priorities in order, you will be even better equipped to make disciples as individuals and as a couple.

My challenge for you is to be generous with yourselves.

Both in the way you love and care for each other, but also how you love and care for those around you.

Challenge each other to be the type of people who are willing to invest in others from the ways that you have been invested in by God and others in your life.

Serve diligently in whatever roles God places you in, in every aspect of your life.

Build and foster relationships in which you are able to bring the light and love of Jesus to others.

Both for the first time, and as you will help others follow God further in their lives.

In doing so, the good things God has blessed you with, will multiply and those around you will be blessed as well.

I am confident in challenging you to do these things today, because I have already seen you putting them into practice in your lives.

I am so excited for you as you start your life together as one today, and I cannot wait to see how you continue to develop and grow throughout the years to come.

You have a massive group of people praying for you, and supporting you that will be here for you in whatever you may need.

As we continue with our ceremony today, let’s go to the Lord in PRAYER together.

Consent to marriage “I do’s”

At this time you will both express and confirm your intentions to enter into the covenant of marriage. In doing so you indicate that you come freely and with no reservations to be bonded to the one you love.

Nathan, in the presence of God and these witnesses do you take Sydney as your lawfully wedded wife, entering into covenant marriage as ordained by God? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her, in sickness and in health; for richer and for poorer, forsaking all others, and keep yourself only to her, so long as you both shall live?

Nathan: “I Do”

Sydney, in the presence of God and these witnesses do you take Nathan as your lawfully wedded Husband, entering into covenant marriage as ordained by God? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor, and keep him, in sickness and in health; for richer and for poorer, forsaking all others, and keep yourself only to him, so long as you both shall live?

Sydney: “I Do”

Vows

Having both expressed your intentions for marriage, now is the time in which you exchange your vows to one another. These are the promises that you make before God and these witnesses that you will uphold within your marriage. You have both written your own vows, and beginning with Nathan you will exchange those with each other.

Rings

As a sign of your commitment to one another and the promises that you have made today you will be exchanging rings. These rings serve not only as a sign of your commitment, but can serve as a reminder of the value of marriage.

The ring is a circle which should remind you that your love should be unending.

It is made of gold, which is precious, like your marriage.

Gold is also a fragile metal, and must be treated with care to maintain its fullest beauty. Just as you both must take care to maintain the beauty that will be your marriage.

At this time, Nathan, please take Sydney's ring and place it on the ring finger of her left hand, repeating after me:

I give you this ring.

Nathan: I give you this ring.

As a sign of the promises we made this day.

Nathan: As a sign of the promises we made this day.

Sydney, please take Nathan’s ring and place it on the ring finger of his left hand, repeating after me:

I give you this ring.

Sydney: I give you this ring.

As a sign of the promises we made this day.

Sydney: As a sign of the promises we made this day.

Three cords braiding with song

Ecclesiastes 4:11-12 “Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

From the start your relationship has been grounded upon your individual relationships with God. As you come together to be one in marriage, you have recognized and placed a high emphasis on God's role in a successful marriage. To commemorate and signify this you have decided to braid a cord of three strands. This will serve as an example of God's role in your marriage, and as a reminder of this for years to come.”

“When I Say I do” by Matthew West

Prayer

Marriage license

In order that all things may be official both before God and the state, we will now sign the marriage certificate.

“Take My Name (Wedding Version)” by Parmalee

Pronouncement

With the saying of vows and exchanging of rings. By the power vested in me as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I now pronounce you husband and wife. What God has joined together, let no man separate. Nathan, you may kiss your bride.

Kiss & Handshake

Presentation of couple

It is my distinct and great pleasure to introduce to you for the very first time Mr. & Mrs. Nathan and Sydney Hobgood.

Outro Song