A&E Wedding

Aaron & Emily Wedding

September 30th, 2023

Prelude

3:30 – Music playing

4:00 – Wedding begins

Usher guards the door and does not allow anyone else in

Families walk in before processional The Bride’s Parents

Randy & Mary Thiessen

The Groom’s Parents

Gerardo & Maria Neufeld

Processional

The Groom & Pastor

Aaron Neufeld & Joe Penner

The 3rd Groomsmen/Bridesmaid

Cody & Justine

The 2nd Groomsmen/Bridesmaid

Ryan & Heidi

The Best Man/Maid of Honor

Anthony & Bethany

Ring Bearer & Flower Girl

Olivia & Bennet

The Father and the Bride

JOE:

“Would the congregation please rise.”

- The Father and the Bride

Randy & Emily Thiessen

Parental Affirmation

JOE:

“Who gives this woman to this man?”

Randy & Mary Thiessen

“We do.”

Opening Prayer

JOE:

“Let’s bow our heads in prayer.”

“Most holy and most merciful Father, at once the God of nature and of grace, creator, preserver, and redeemer of mankind, fill Aaron and Emily with a sense of the significance of the vows they are about to make. May they look to you for your assistance and enter into these sacred obligations in humble dependence upon your enabling grace. Grant this, O Father, with the forgiveness of our sins, through Jesus Christ, your Son. Amen.”

“You may all be seated.”

Welcome

“Family, and friends, we have come together here in the sight of God and in the presence of this congregation to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony, which is an honorable state of life, instituted in the beginning by God himself, signifying to us the spiritual union that is between Christ and the church.

Our Lord Jesus said: “From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh” (Mark 10:6–8).

Christ adorned and beautified matrimony with his presence and with the first sign by which he revealed his glory at a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and Holy Scripture demands that all should hold it in honor.

It is therefore not to be entered upon unadvisedly, lightly, or merely to satisfy physical desires, but prayerfully, with careful thought and with reverence for God, duly considering the purposes for which it was ordained.

It was ordained for the procreation of children and that they might be brought up in the nurture and instruction of the Lord, to the praise of his holy name.

It was ordained so that those to whom God has granted the gift of marriage might live a faithful and holy life, as suits members of Christ’s body.

And it was ordained for the mutual companionship, help, and comfort that the one ought to have to the other, both in prosperity and adversity.

Devotional – 1 John 4:7—12

1 John 4:7–12 ESV

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

John begins this passage by commanding us, to love one another.

This shows us that love is an act of obedience.

We must CHOOSE to love.

Love is not based on how we feel in the moment, but it is an act of the will.

Love is commitment, put into action.

There is great joy and blessing in marriage… knowing someone deeply and intimately. But that means the pain of hurt can also be greater, and in those moments, when it is most difficult, you must choose to love.

Why?

John goes on to tell us in verse 7/8, because, “whoever loves has been born of God, and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

When we choose to show love to another person, we are revealing our true heart.

We can SAY that we are Christians, but we SHOW whether or not we are Christians by our love.

Jesus said, John 13:35

John 13:35 ESV

35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

This is because God is the essence of love. Love is inherent in all He says and does.

What IS love?

John tells us what love is, by showing how God loved us.

1 John 4:9–10 ESV

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

God showed us through action what it means to love.

He sent Jesus Christ into the world as a man, and eventually to die on the cross in our place, so that we might live.

God poured out His wrath on His Son, Jesus, rather than on us.

We are the ones who deserve to die for our sins, but Christ willingly took our place.

He sacrificed Himself for us, so that through His blood we might be holy and blameless before God.

And Paul, writing to the church in Rome, tells us that God showed this love for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8)

In our culture, love is based on “feelings.”

People can fall in and out of love, based on how they “feel” on a given day.

Over time, if someone becomes disatisfied enough with their spouse, and they don’t “feel” in love anymore, they come to the conclusion they must have married the wrong person.

As humans, we don’t truly know how to love apart from God.

Our love tends to be based on a “what have you done for me lately” sort of attitude.

OH YA, I will love you, so long as you do all of the things I expect from you…

Once you don’t, though, then I will not sacrifice myself to show love to you.

Our love has conditions.

But God showed us what true love is… it is sacrificing yourself for the unloveable.

God’s love is unconditional!

It has no conditions…

there is no prerequisite to be met…

there is no amount of good works we have to reach…

there is no level of success we have to attain before God will love us.

He sacrificially sent His Son to die in our place… while we were His enemies.

1 John 4:11 ESV

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Aaron & Emily, since God has so loved each of you, so you also are to love one another.

When one of you has sinned, has a bad attitude, or is unloveable…

Pursue them in love!

Sacrifice your pride, and seek to show them love through a selfless act.

In this way you will be following God’s example of love toward you.

Don’t wait for the other person to take the first step, but show Christ-like love in being the first one to take a step toward the one you are covenanting your life to today.

Chip Ingram has the best definition of love that I know…

"Love is giving someone what they need most, when they deserve it least, at great personal cost to yourself."

This is why loving like God is so difficult… because it involves sacrifice.

It is not easy to sacrifice my hopes, dreams, and desires for someone else…

But when we do, we are able to give a God-like love to someone else, and they are the recipients of a God-like love.

This is the point that John makes in 1 John 4:12

1 John 4:12 ESV

12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Jesus is no longer in the world to show love…

But by God’s grace, through the power of His Spirit, we are able to be a demonstration to the world of His love.

And we have a wonderful promise given to us if we will show love to one another…

“His love is perfected in us.”

The only way for God’s love to be perfected in us, is to show love to others.

Imagine you’re pouring water into a cup. Once it is full it cannot fit anymore water until you dump some out.

In the same way, we can only experience the fullness of God’s love, when we begin to give it away to others.

John’s teaching here in these verses can be summed up in this way:

love originated with God…

was manifested in His Son… and

is demonstrated in His people.

My hope and prayer for you Aaron and Emily, is that when others see the way you sacrificially love one another, they can see God.

Charge (written by Dr. Merrill Tenney)

Aaron Neufeld and Emily Thiessen, today you are presenting yourselves before this congregation to declare your intention of uniting your lives voluntarily and honorably for the service of God and man. You are making a double dedication: to each other, in a lasting and indivisible union that shall endure for the remaining years of your lives, and to God, that he may make you his dual instrument for the accomplishment of his purpose both in and by your personalities. The achievement of this purpose will require appreciation of each other’s abilities and virtues, forgiveness of each other’s faults, and unfailing devotion to each other’s welfare and development. There must be on your part a united consent to the purpose of God as he progressively reveals it to you by his Word and by his Spirit, and an unhesitant acceptance by faith of the challenges that he sets before you.

I charge you, therefore, first of all to consider that your promises to each other are made in the presence of a God who remembers your pledges and who holds you responsible for performing them. They must be kept unbreakable before him.

I admonish you to keep in mind that each of you is the object of Christ’s redemption and should be valued accordingly. Neither should be neglected or belittled by the other. Esteem each other as God’s gift for mutual aid, comfort, and joy, and as a source of complete confidence and trust.

I encourage you to share willingly and sympathetically your joys and worries, your successes, and your struggles. Whichever may prevail, cling closely to each other, that defeats may be met by united strength, and victories by united joy.

I charge you to make your home a place where you can have a refuge from the storms of life, not only for yourselves, but also for others who may be your guests. Let it be a haven for the weary, a source of uplift for the discouraged, and a convincing testimony to a cynical world.

In short, recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as head of the house, the ruler of your destinies, and the object of your deepest affection. If you do, he will confirm your marriage by his guidance and will overshadow it by his peace.

I charge you to love each other, to support each other, and to serve him with sincere hearts and determined wills until your mutual service for him shall be completed.

Vows

“Take one another’s hands as we do the vows.”

Repeated after the minister:

Groom — Aaron Neufeld

Do you, Aaron Neufeld,

take Emily Thiessen,

to be your wife,

to have and to hold from this day forward,

for better or for worse,

for richer or for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

to love and cherish,

until you both are parted by death?

Bride — Emily Thiessen

Do you Emily Thiessen,

take Aaron Neufeld,

to be your husband,

to have and to hold from this day forward,

for better or for worse,

for richer or for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

to love and cherish,

until you both are parted by death?

Rings

JOE:

“Aaron and Emily, you have committed yourselves before God and these witnesses to live together as husband and wife. As a symbol of your love and commitment you may now exchange the wedding rings.”

Pronouncement

JOE:

“For as much as you, Aaron Neufeld, and you, Emily Thiessen, have declared your wish to be united in marriage, and in the presence of God and these witnesses have pledged your love and faithfulness to each other for life, I as a minister of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ pronounce you husband and wife. What God has joined together let no one separate.”

“Let’s bow for a prayer of dedication.”

Prayer of Dedication

JOE:

“Our Father in heaven, you have heard Aaron and Emily express their love for each other through vows of marriage. We believe you are pleased with their commitment to each other. We pray that you will give them wisdom to build their marriage. When trials and disappointments come, bless them with the strength and the courage to remain true to each other.

Guide them as they establish a Christian home. And if you should bless their home with children, give them wisdom and joy in parenting. May the presence of Christ in their home always be evident. Grant them a deep, abiding love for each other and fill their lives with your joy. May they continue to grow in their Christian faith, and may they be keen to invest in the community of believers to which they belong.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of the everlasting Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit who is with us, bless you and keep you. Amen.”

Signing of the Registrar

JOE:

“We will now proceed to the signing of the registrar.”

Wait for Anthony!!!

Presentation of the Couple

JOE:

“May I present Mr. and Mrs. Aaron and Emily Neufeld!”

“Aaron, you may kiss your bride!”

Recessional

Wedding party exits in the reverse order they came in.

Announcements

Photos in backyard - please give them privacy And save your congratulations for the reception.

The doors will be open at 5, and dinner will be served at 5:30. You must use the side entrance.

You are welcome to hang out front yard as you wait.