A SERVICE OF CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE I for John and Nora Bowker

GREETING

Pastor to people:

Friends, we are gathered together in the sight of God to witness and bless the joining together of John and Nora in Christian marriage. The covenant of marriage was established by God, who created us male and female for each other. With his presence and power Jesus graced a wedding at Cana of Galilee, and in his sacrificial love gave us the example for the love of husband and wife. John and Nora come to give themselves to one another in this holy covenant.

DECLARATION OF INTENTION

DECLARATION BY THE MAN AND THE WOMAN

Pastor to the persons who are to marry:

I ask you now, in the presence of God and these people,

to declare your intention

to enter into union with each other

through the grace of Jesus Christ, who calls you into union with himself as acknowledged in your baptism.

Pastor to the woman:

Nora, will you have John to be your husband, to live together in holy marriage?

Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health,

and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?

If so, respond by saying “I will.”

Woman: I will.

Pastor to the man:

John, will you have Nora to be your wife, to live together in holy marriage?

Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health,

and forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?

If so, respond by saying “I will.”

Man: I will

RESPONSE OF THE FAMILIES AND THE PEOPLE

Pastor to people:

The marriage of John and Nora unites their families and creates a new one.

They ask for your blessing.

Do you who represent their families or friends

rejoice in their union

and pray God's blessing upon them?

If so, respond by saying “We do.”

We do.

Pastor to people:

Will all of you, by God's grace,

do everything in your power

to uphold and care for these two persons in their marriage?

If so, respond by saying “We will.”

People: We will.

PRAYER *

Let us pray.

God of all peoples,

you are the true light illumining everyone.

You show us the way, the truth, and the life.

You love us even when we are disobedient.

You sustain us with your Holy Spirit.

We rejoice in your life in the midst of our lives.

We praise you for your presence with us,

and especially in this act of solemn covenant;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Proclamation and Response

Scripture

1 Corinthians 13 (NLT)

1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. 11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

SERMON

I often heistate using 1 Corinthians 13 as a passage for a wedding…

This may sound odd coming from a pastor,

but I hesitate because I think we cheapen what Paul is writing about when we look at it as merely addressing marital love…

as it is totally not merely addressing that at all.

Rather, Paul is writing his letter to the church in Corinth, a church he founded…

A church that had become embroiled in deep division…

For our sake, it does not matter what the divisions were over…

But the community was bitterly divided and factions within the community were in opposition against one another.

It is this that Paul is addressing in the letter, and in particular, in chapter 13.

Love is patient and kind.

Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.

It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

Love never gives up,

never loses faith,

is always hopeful,

and endures through every circumstance.

Paul’s words are reminding the church that God’s love transcends whatever is causing the division among them…

That God is calling them to LOVE and to move beyond the division…

While Paul is not addressing marriage, these words hold true in marriage…

During wedding ceremonies we hold idealistic views of marriage…

But we all know that there is no such thing as a perfect marriage, a perfect couple or a perfect family.

There will be things, the uncertainties in life, that will creep into this marriage, as they do with all marriages…

There will be disagreements, and not seeing eye to eye…

There will be outside influences, including friends and family, that cause stress in the marriage…

These things exist in all marriages…they affect all marriages…

But if the marriage is founded on God’s love, if Christ is at the center of the marriage…

Then that marriage is centered on LOVE, and not even the gates of hell will prevail against it.

Today we are celebrating the union of a man and a woman who LOVE each other…

And who are committing to LOVE each other throughout the rest of their lives…

THROUGH ALL CIRCUMSTANCES…

What’s more, here stands before you a man and a woman who have shared with me their faith in GOD…

And their desire to put God at the center of their family…

And LOVE at the core of all they do.

You are here today because they see you as being the ones who will support them in their LOVE…

Who will encourage them in their marriage…

Will you vow to be that support…

to LOVE them and support them, and their marriage, through all circumstances?

That is just as much a part of today as is their holy union…

For LOVE expands and grows and unifies…and all of you are now a part of their extended family…

You are no longer two separate families, but one family who are called to LOVE each other as much as you love this couple

May 1 Corinthians 13 always be a reminder to you all that LOVE endures all things…

and that in all things, you are called to LOVE. Amen.

INTERCESSORY PRAYER*

Let us pray,

Eternal God, Creator and Preserver of all life,

Author of salvation, Giver of all grace:

Bless and sanctify with your Holy Spirit

John and Nora, who come now to join in marriage.

Grant that they may give their vows to each other

in the strength of your steadfast love.

Enable them to grow in love and peace

with you and with one another all their days,

that they may reach out

in concern and service to the world;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE MARRIAGE

EXCHANGE OF VOWS

Man to woman:

John and Nora, please face each other and join hands.

John, please repeat after me.

In the name of God,

I, John, take you, Nora, 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.

Woman to man:

Nora, please repeat after me.

In the name of God,

I, Nora, take you, John, 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.

DECLARATION OF MARRIAGE

Pastor to husband and wife:

You have declared your consent and vows

before God and this congregation.

May God confirm your covenant

and fill you both with grace.

Pastor to people:

Now that John and Nora

have given themselves to each other by solemn vows,

with the joining of hands,

I announce to you that they are husband and wife;

in the name of the Father,

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit.

Those whom God has joined together,

let no one put asunder. Amen.

You may now seal your covenant between one another with a holy and loving kiss.

BLESSING OF THE MARRIAGE *

O God,

you have so consecrated

the covenant of Christian marriage

that in it is represented

the covenant between Christ and his Church.

Send therefore your blessing upon John and Nora,

that they may surely keep their marriage covenant,

and so grow in love and godliness together

that their home may be a haven of blessing and peace;.

Most gracious God,

we give you thanks for your tender love

in making us a covenant people

through our Savior Jesus Christ

and for consecrating in his name

the marriage covenant of John and Nora.

Grant that their love for each other

may reflect the love of Christ for us

and grow from strength to strength

as they faithfully serve you in the world.

Defend them from every enemy.

Lead them into all peace.

Let their love for each other

be a seal upon their hearts,

a mantle about their shoulders,

and a crown upon their heads.

Bless them

in their work and in their companionship;

in their sleeping and in their waking;

in their joys and in their sorrows;

in their lives and in their deaths.

Finally, by your grace,

bring them and all of us to that table

where your saints feast for ever

in your heavenly home;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who with you and the Holy Spirit

lives and reigns,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

DISMISSAL WITH BLESSING *

Pastor to wife and husband:

God the Eternal keep you in love with each other,

so that the peace of Christ may abide in your home.

Go to serve God and your neighbor in all that you do.

Pastor to people:

Bear witness to the love of God in this world,

so that those to whom love is a stranger

will find in you generous friends.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,

and the love of God,

and the communion of the Holy Spirit

be with you all. Amen.