Unconditional Love (Wedding Ceremony)

Opening Remarks/Statement of Purpose

Friends and family, we have gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of Ethan and Kaylee.

This OUTWARD CELEBRATION we shall see and hear is an EXPRESSION of the INNER LOVE and DEVOTION they HAVE in their HEARTS.

MARRIAGE is the OLDEST COVENANT that has existed amongst humankind that GOD ESTABLISHED back in the GARDEN of EDEN.

JESUS likewise, TAUGHT regarding marriage,

“for this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

MARRIAGE is a GIFT FROM GOD, that is GIVEN to COMFORT the SORROWS of THIS LIFE and to MAGNIFY its JOYS.

As such, MARRIAGE STANDS NOT by the AUTHORITY of the STATE, NOR by the SEAL of the WEDDING CERTIFICATE, BUT by the POWER of FAITH in GOD.

Ethan & Kaylee have COME TODAY to be UNITED in this SACRED RELATIONSHIP & COVENANT BEFORE GOD.

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Declaration of Intent

To Groom:

Ethan, do you now leave your father and mother to establish your own home with Kaylee as her husband, to receive her as your wife, and to make her a home where she will be loved and cared for as long as God grants her life.

If so answer, “I do.”

To Bride:

Kaylee, do you now leave your father and mother to establish your own home with Ethan as his wife, to receive him as your husband, to make him a home where he will be loved and cared for as long as God grants him life?

If so, answer, “I do.”

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Giving away of the bride

To Bride’s Father:

(Q) Who gives this woman to be married to this man?

Father answers, “Her mother and I” & places Kaylee’s hand in Ethan’s.

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Exhortation/Message

The LORD JESUS CHRIST once TOLD his FOLLOWERS that the WORLD WOULD KNOW THEM and DISTINGUISH THEM from everyone else BY ONE THING, their LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER (Jn. 13:35).

LOVE is FOUNDATIONAL for all CHRISTIANS because the LOVE THEY OFFER to OTHERS is a RESPONSE to the LOVE THEY’VE FIRST RECEIVED FROM GOD. “We love because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19).

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APOSTLE PAUL DESCRIBED LOVE:

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends” (1 Cor. 13:4-8).

WE OFTEN ENJOY SEEING these STATEMENTS on a SIGN in a HOME or STITCHED on a PILLOW, BUT THESE WORDS ORIGINALLY CAME as a REBUKE to a GROUP of SELFISH CHRISTIANS...who were SET on THEIR OWN GOOD OVER and ABOVE the GOOD of OTHERS.

They were doing what was best for themselves to the neglect of other believers that God had called them to love.

This list of qualities in 1 Corinthians 13 is the RUBRIC for BIBLICAL LOVE that is GIVEN to MANKIND.

THIS is the KIND of LOVE that GOD DESIRES for HIS PEOPLE to DISPLAY to others.

IF WE THINK WE’RE DOING GOOD, THIS IS the STANDARD by which we MEASURE our SUCCESS in LOVING OTHERS...

and BIBLICALLY, BELIEVERS are CALLED to LOVE THEIR SPOUSE, their NEIGHBOR, and EVEN their ENEMIES...

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MARRIAGE, because of the CLOSENESS of the RELATIONSHIP and the VAST AMOUNT of TIME TOGETHER, OFFERS one of the BEST TESTS of WHETHER or NOT we TRULY POSSESS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE for others.

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For MARRIAGE is the UNITING of 2 IMPERFECT PERSONS who BOTH CONTAIN their OWN SINS and BOTH CONTAIN what WILL BE DETERMINED by their SPOUSE to be FLAWS.

Loading dishwasher wrong

folding clothes improperly

not clean up after themselves

leave their socks on the floor

leave a mess @ the table...

@ times be impatient while being gracious to others.

Might work overtime & miss family time

Might be terrible with money.

SURELY ALL of US at SOME POINT FALL SHORT of BEING the PERFECT and IDEAL SPOUSE, and it is AT THIS TIME that YOU HAVE the OPPORTUNITY to SHOW YOUR PARTNER UNCONDITIONAL LOVE & GRACE.

THE LOVE & GRACE AVAILABLE to US @ CALVARY...

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See GOD USES OTHERS in OUR LIVES to REFINE US, to MAKE US MORE LIKE HIS SON...

Someone once told me that it’s almost LIKE USING SANDPAPER to SMOOTH OUT a BLOCK of WOOD. And the CLOSER the RELATIONSHIP, the MORE THERE’S FRICTION, the GREATER the OPPORTUNITY for REFINING...

GOD LOVES MARRIAGE, it was HIS IDEA, and GOD USES MARRIAGE to ACCOMPLISH THESE THINGS in the LIVES of HIS CHILDREN.

This is the WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY and BLESSING that ETHAN and KAYLEE are ENTERING INTO TODAY...

(T) Ethan and Kaylee, will you now please join hands and express to each other your vows of love and devotion.

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Vows

To Groom: repeat after me.

In the name of God,

I, Ethan,

take you, Kaylee,

to be my wife,

to have and to hold

from this day forward,

for better, for worse,

for richer, for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

to love and to cherish,

until we are parted by death.

This is my solemn vow.

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To Bride: repeat after me.

In the name of God,

I, Kaylee,

take you, Ethan,

to be my husband,

to have and to hold

from this day forward,

for better, for worse,

for richer, for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

to love and to cherish,

until we are parted by death.

This is my solemn vow.

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(T) Having this kind of love in your hearts, you have chosen to exchange rings as the sign and seal of the vows you are making today.

(Q) May I have the rings?

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Rings

Though SMALL in SIZE, these RINGS are VERY LARGE in SIGNIFICANCE.

Made of PRECIOUS METAL... they REMIND US that LOVE ISN’T CHEAP, NOR COMMON.

Indeed, LOVE MAY COST US DEARLY.

FASHIONED in a CIRCLE, their DESIGN tells us that LOVE MUST NEVER END... WE MUST KEEP it CONTINUOUS...

AS YOU WEAR THESE RINGS, whether TOGETHER or APART for a MOMENT, may they be CONSTANT REMINDERS to YOU of these GLAD PROMISES YOU’RE MAKING TODAY.

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To Groom:

(Q) ETHAN, will you TAKE YOUR RING and PLACE it on the 3RD FINGER of KAYLEE’S LEFT HAND and REPEAT AFTER ME this promise saying,

“With this ring,

I seal my promise

to be your faithful and loving husband,

as God is my witness.”

To Bride:

(Q) KAYLEE, will you TAKE YOUR RING and PLACE it on the 3RD FINGER of ETHAN’S LEFT HAND and REPEAT AFTER ME this promise saying,

“With this ring,

I seal my promise,

to be your faithful and loving wife,

as God is my witness.”

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(T) Now let us join together in prayer to bless their union today.

Closing Prayer

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Pronouncement

Ethan & Kaylee, you have COME BEFORE US and BEFORE GOD and have EXPRESSED your DESIRE to BE HUSBAND & WIFE...

You have SHOWN LOVE and AFFECTION by JOINING HANDS, HAVE MADE PROMISES of FAITH and DEVOTION, each to the other, and have SEALED THESE PROMISES by the GIVING and RECEIVING of RINGS...

Now, by the power vested in me by the State of Pennsylvania, I pronounce you husband and wife.

May God bless you and keep you, may God make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, may God lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace, and what God has joined together, let not man separate.

Ethan, you may now kiss your bride.

Now, for the 1ST TIME, I am PLEASED to PRESENT to you Mr. & Mrs. Ethan Tharp!