Torin and Amber Wedding Ceremony

Wedding Ceremony

Processional

Seating of Honored guests: grandparents, then groom’s parents, then bride’s mom

Peter walks up front.

Wedding party:

Torin and Amber come down the aisle together

Welcome remarks

Welcome to the Recommitment Celebration of Torin and Amber Crabtree. They are honored and blessed to have everyone here today to celebrate with them.

Let’s Pray

We are gathered here in the sight of God and these witnesses to recommit the union of Torin and Amber in holy matrimony.

Torin and Amber recognize that it was God who instituted marriage, and who said in Genesis 2, "It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

The God who made them also instituted this relationship they are recommitting to today.

Torin and Amber, the vows you are about to remake are not to be made without careful thought and prayer. For in them you are recommitting yourselves exclusively to one another, as long as you both shall live.

Readings

God’s design for marriage and It’s purpose

Normally we don’t think of marriage as much more than committing to the one we love. IT’s a joy filled day followed by a joy filled life. Most of us know that it won’t be all sunshine and daisies, but there is a deeper meaning and purpose for a Christian marriage. A marriage between two born again followers of Christ is intended to give testimony to the relationship between Jesus and His Church. An opportunity to tell the truth of the gospel, lived out in two imperfect people’s lives.

Biblical roles aren’t popular in our modern age. They go against the culture. Or, maybe the culture has gone against the bible and the God who wrote it.

Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul:

Ephesians 5:22–33 ESV

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Personal remarks by officiant

I remember when I first met Torin and Amber although they were at very different times. Amber I met at church. She was an energetic young lady, the daughter of who would become one of my closest friends. Over the years I was able to see Amber grow into a beautiful young woman who loved Jesus, loved to dance celtic dances and attempt to play the bagpipes.

Torin on the other hand came a bit later in our time here in Montana. Torin was part of a group of friends of our youngest son Jacob and thinking back I remember seeing Torin several times but I couldn’t remember much about him mainly because he always stayed in the back and was fairly quite.

The story of how these two met is pretty remarkable. Remarkably funny as well. It was the beginning of COVID on April 14th, and Amber was bored during lockdown and so she decided to play some MineCraft on this server that some friends had introduced her to. A few friends had talked her into joining their group and she was still getting to know who everyone was.

She entered the game that night, opened the door in the game and realized that something was bad. It was dark. Evidently, that’s not a good thing in the world of Minecraft. Not wanting to deal with anything scary or overwhelming, she went back inside, shut the door and decided to go to sleep. Not in real life, but in the game. She had remembered that if you choose in the game to go to sleep, when you wake back up, it will be day time. What she didn’t remember is that there is a default in the game that will also cause the whole world that had been built to blow up. Panniced she messaged Cole and he told her to contact Torin.

Torin at the time was playing a game with Peter Messerly. Needless to say, Torin wasn’t exactly thrilled to have to rebuild and repair their Minecraft server but in the end, the first impression had been made.

Pretty soon, Amber knew Torin as Torin, not his screen name. She got to see him on their discord server chat screen and she was smitten. Next, Torin became a protector and advocate for Amber as the other guys tried to team up against her while playing other games. This eventually led them to having their first “date” which actually happened before they ever met in person. THe rest is history. They were engaged December 25 of 2020, and then married March 20th 2021.

The road after their wedding was not near as blissful as they had expected. This day was originally planned to be not long after their original wedding, but Torin was deployed. Amber has been at College in Missoula Off and On as well. There have been trials and hard times that they knew might come, but didn’t expect it all so early in their time as husband and wife. This has brought them to the point of this time together today not just being a bigger ceremony, but a true recommitment to each other and the Lord, that their marriage would be dedicated to the Lord and their commitment would be reconfirmed in front of all of their loved ones.

I am confident that God brought them together in marriage and I am so thankful for their continued dedication to each other and their Lord.

Declaration of Intent

Please face one another and hold hands.

Amber, do you take Torin to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, to love, honor, and cherish, in sickness and health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live? ( I do )

Torin, do you take Amber to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, to love, honor, and cherish, in sickness and health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live? ( I do )

Vows

Torin and Amber have written their own vows that they will exchange at this time.

Rings

You have chosen to seal your vows by the giving and receiving of rings.

The ring forms a perfect circle, without a beginning or an end, and is thereby a symbol of eternity and signifies the duration of the commitment you are making.

The metal of which the rings are made signify the purity and value of the relationship into which you now enter.

Repeat after me:

Bride

I give you this ring, as a symbol of my love, and with all that I am, and with all that I have, I will honor you.

Groom

I give you this ring, as a symbol of my love, and with all that I am, and with all that I have, I will honor you.

Hand Fastening:

Hand fastening is the traditional symbol used in marriage in Scotland. In fact it’s where we get the phrase, tie the knot. Long before Scotland was a nation King Solomon penned these words in:

Ecclesiastes 4:12 ESV

12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

“Torin and Amber, as you joined hands on your wedding day as well as today, you are holding the hands of your best friend. The person you have chosen to share the rest of your life with. Today you are once again saying, I DO. You have recommitted your vows, and now with the symbol of hand fastening you’re recommitting your marriage. These are the hands that will wipe tears of joy and tears of sorrow from your eyes countless times. As you exchange vows today, these cords will represent the symbol of your eternal bonds of marriage.”

“The binding of hands represents the bonds of marriage that will hold you together as a married couple. This cord is a constant reminder of the bond you form today and the sacred vow you make to one another.”

“As this knot is tied, so are your lives bound. All the dreams of love and happiness you have both wished for are symbolically woven into this cord. May this binding serve as a firm foundation for your marriage, providing strength in times of struggle and a constant source of light during difficult times.”

Numbers 6:24–26 ESV

24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Torin and Amber, as long as you make your relationship with Jesus the center of your relationship each other and commit once again to rely on Him for the power have the marriage He has planned for you, this cord of marriage will not quickly be broken.

Mark 10:9

What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.

Declaration of Marriage

Torin and Amber, you have pledged your faithfulness to each other in front of God, these witnesses. By the power vested in me as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ and according to the laws of the State of Montana, I now re-pronounce you husband and wife together, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Kiss

Torin, you may kiss your bride again.

Introduction

Family and friends, I am proud to present for the second time as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Torin Crabtree.