David and Lyn's Wedding

BEGINNING SONGS

· Sit down / Prelude: “Never Stop (Wedding Version)” (2:55)

· Parents, Grandparents Entry: “From the Ground Up” (4:16)

*BEGINNING ANNOUNCEMENT BEFORE START OF CEREMONY: I would like to welcome all who are here this afternoon. Before we begin, the Groom and the Bride would like for all in attendance to please silence and put their phones away. Please, no pictures or videos. Thank you.

Prelude / Groom & Groomsman: “God gave Me a Girl” (Acoustic), (3:21)

· Bridesmaids, flower girls, and ring bearer: “A Thousand Years” (4:45)

· Bride Entrance: please stand for the bride

o Wedding: “Johnny’s Song” (First 3:52 of song)

Dear friends and family, we are all gathered here today in the presence of our God and King to unite DAVID BURRUS and LYN NORWAY in marriage!

Who gives the bride to be married?

YOU MAY NOW BE SEATED?

CHARGE

Well, I am thankful to be here in the presence of your friends and family, David and Lyn, and that I have the honor of getting to unite you two in marriage under God.

It is always a joy to get to see two people who are in love with one another, who want to commit their lives to one another, and yet don’t forget the ONE WHO FIRST LOVED US.

They’re the ones who remember that in order for them to love each other properly as we were created, they must know what LOVE is first. And that is none other than Jesus Christ our Lord.

We give Him praise and honor this afternoon for bringing you two together and blessing your relationship.

I think, from obviously having known Lyn for some time now as my sister-in-law and after getting to know you, David, over the past few years… You two have figured out and know that the purpose of your relationship, the very goal of you two being together, is to glorify your King.

It represents the marriage between Jesus Christ and His bride, us.

We are to look at how Christ loves us, serves us, forgives us, and never leaves us. And we are to copy that in our relationship, all while chasing after Him with each other.

FROM THE LIFE OF CHRIST, WE SEE THAT LOVE IS NOT MERELY FEELING… No, it’s a person who decided to fight on our behalf, to give His life on behalf of our lives, and to ultimately die for those who would accept Him as Lord and King.

1 John 4:7–10 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.

It is thru Jesus that we should see everything in this life. It is through His love and His guidance, His vision that we even attempt to love each other, because without Him in our lives, our love for one another is as empty and ugly as a dried out river bed.

One of my favorite hym’s is one by the name “Be Thou My Vision”. I’m sure many of us have heard it before, it’s such an amazing song.

When teaching Students in student ministry about worship, I will often tell them to slow down and listen to the song before even singing it because every single song is it’s on prayer that somebody just put to music.

And as I hear this song I often think to myself that this song is such a wonderful prayer for any married couple as they continue to learn about marriage,

how to seek Jesus together,

how to continually give their lives for the other in service;

and then as kids come along, how to join together as a team to point some very selfish, sinful, clones toward Jesus as well.

Please listen to the lyrics with this perspective…

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art; Thou my best thought, by day or by night; Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true Word; I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord; Thou my great Father and I, Thy true son; Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise; Thou mine inheritance, now and always; Thou and Thou only, first in my heart; O King of glory, my treasure Thou art.

O King of glory, my victory won; Rule and reign in me ’til Thy will be done; Heart of my own heart, whatever befall; Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

So, this evening I hope you two can adopt that prayer as your own.

But before I marry you two and allow you David to give Lyn here a kiss for the ages… I wanted to remind us all that it starts with your own hearts.

Ephesians 5:20–21 ESV

20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

OUT OF YOUR OWN deepest respect and awe for Christ, it is there that you submit to one another.

Paul then continues to talk about marriage in Ephesians 5…

Ephesians 5:22–31 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.”

LOVE EACH OTHER, like Christ first loved His bride.

In 1 Corinthians 13 we have the very popular LOVE CHAPTER!

1 Corinthians 13:1–7 ESV

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 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.

Love… is what will hold you together. But not just any kind of love. Surly not our very imperfect love that come from humans.

The love of Christ.

The love that He produces within us thru action and commitment that is unconditional.

It all swings back to what Paul said in Ephesians… OUT OF YOUR REVERENCE OF CHRIST, then comes your submitance to each other.

David you are forever on this earth committed to loving Lyn, serving her, leading her & your future family BECAUSE OF YOUR REVERENCE TO CHRIST.

Lyn, you are forever on this earth committed to loving David, serving him, submitting to his leadership, BECAUSE OF YOUR REVERENCE TO CHRIST.

It is truly a beautiful thing when you see this portrayed in a Godly marriage.

My charge to you two before vowing yourselves to each other for the rest of your lives here on this earth… LOVE EACH OTHER OUT OF YOUR REVERENCE OF CHRIST.

IT MUST BEGIN THERE. AT ALL TIMES.

And how bout we get to that marriage part?

VOWS (MAKE SURE TO HAVE MIC)

Well, I don’t know about ya’ll, but I’m ready for you two to say your vows and get on with this wedding!

David and Lyn have both prepared their own Vows for each other!

And so David we’ll allow you to start us off with your Vows for Lyn.

DAVID SAYS VOWS TO LYN.

Lyn, the floor is now yours for your vows to David.

LYN SAYS VOWS FOR DAVID.

CHORD OF THREE STRANDS

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 CSB

9 Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. 10 For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. 11 Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm? 12 And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.

We see here in Ecclesiastes Solomon emphasizing the age old truth that there are strength in numbers.

And when you add to this truth with the strength of The God of the Universe as being that third within a relationship… THERE ARE NO WORDS TO EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE THAT WILL MAKE!!

Today, David and Lyn have chosen to braid three strands together into a single cord SYMBOLIZING THE TWO AS being woven together by God as ONE in marriage!

One man, one woman, and God. It was Jesus who taught us to love and showed us what love is. By keeping Him at the center of your marriage, His love will continue to bind you together as one throughout your marriage.

· CHORD OF THREE STRANDS SONG: “LOVE IS NOT A FIGHT” (3:43)

RING CEREMONY

(WHY DON’T WE GET THE RINGS TO CENTER STAGE!)

Wedding rings are awesome! They really become a part of you. They serve as a fitting symbol of the vows you have just spoken to each other.

They are the outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible reality.

They are a symbol of the love that binds your hearts together in God.

They are a symbol of this love in at least two ways…

1.PURITY: First as the rings are of the finest of earth’s material’s, so your love should be rich in its Godly alignment and spiritual value.

2. ETERNITY: As these rings have no beginning and no end, so they symbolize the perfection of the UNENDING LOVE OF CHRIST as a model for which you should strive for in your marriage, a relationship that should also have no end on this earth.

PURITY AND ETERNITY is what should characterize the love you have for one another.

As a token of your vows, you will now give and receive the rings.

David, you will give this ring to Lyn and repeat after me.

I David, with this ring, pledge my love and life to you, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Lyn, you will give this ring to David and repeat after me.

I Lyn, with this ring, pledge my love and life to you, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

IT IS NOW MY PRIVILEGE TO PRONOUNCE YOU HUSBAND AND WIFE!

David, YOU CAN NOW KISS YOUR BRIDE!!

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN… IT IS MY HONOR TO PRESENT TO YOU MR. & MRS. David Burrus!!

· EXIT SONG: “BEST IS YET TO COME” (4:05)

· Music will soften for Dayton to make announcement for family to stay for photos and anyone wanting to go to the reception can now head that way. (241 East Street, Buffalo Gap)

Thank you for coming and being a part of this day!