Bernie & Coralie Wedding

Intro

I think we can all agree, the relationship between Bernie and Coralie that we saw developing last year was something beautiful. I think for many of us, the realisation that something was happening between them started with a realisation that they both seemed so much happier.

In a moment, they are going to make promises to each other, promises that they will make before God and all of you present here this morning.

That promise is going to include a commitment that they will stay married until parted by death. They can do that, because they’ve developed a love for each other that is going to carry them through.

But love is one of those words we throw around very loosely. Love tends to becomes this feeling that we either fall in to or fall out of. If we fall out of love as quickly as we fall in love, then it perhaps seems hardly the thing that will carry us through.

You see, while Bernie and Coralie might be in a different phase of life compared with the young couple who have the world before them, yet when two people start sharing their lives together, tensions of one kind or another will come up. What will get you through?

A shared belief

One of the absolute strengths of this couple is that they both share a rock solid faith in God. For both of them, this is more than just turning up to church on a Sunday and going through the motions. This is about a fundamental change that has occured in their lives that has changed who they are.

This is more than just a shared value. This is rather the shared belief in the one and only true God who not only created the world, but continues to be actively involved in this world and sustains all things. Bernie and Coralie share in their knowledge and personal experience of this one true God.

This makes all of the difference.

It actually makes all the difference to the earlier statement that they have love to carry them through their marriage. It turns it from a hollow sentimental statement, to something of true power.

A better understanding of love

That’s because it changes our understanding of love as that feeling we fall in to or out of, to a love that finds it origin in God.

It’s in 1 John 4:10 where love is so concisely put in focus. It says: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins”.

This, my friends, is the type of love that I’m talking about.

It’s the type of love that we as believers are asked to emulate. Not that we will come close to the level of love God shows, but with the experience of God’s love in us, the love we show has real power.

1 Corinthians 13

Earlier, Catherine read 1 Corinthians 13, arguably one of the most beautiful chapters in the entire bible. It’s often read at Weddings despite the marriage relationship not being in focus.

The context of the chapter is rather about the church.

You see, Paul’s mid way through arguing a certain point - but he stops and says - don’t forget this is all about love. We do what we do, because of the love we have for each other.

He then effectively says - and let me describe the love I’m talking about.

We might want to say - love is powerful… love is exciting… love lifts us up.

Now, perhaps there might be some truth in those claims, but it’s a very different picture to what we have here.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

The essence of this love is that it is not about the self, but rather about the other.

When people love like this, it can transform a church… it can transform any group of people… and it can transform a marriage.

Bernie and Coralie’s relationship might still be relatively speaking new, but yet I’ve seen them display this sort of love that Paul writes of.

This is why I stand before them, confident that their marriage is a blessing that will keep on going for as long as God keeps them on this earth.

Now, as much as I’ve been impressed with these two, the reality is, we’re all flawed humans, and while this word picture of love is an ideal for us to live up to, we all struggle to live it fully.

Sometimes anger can flare. Sometimes we do keep record of wrongs - because secretly we want ammunition against the other.

But when we allow humility in, love goes beyond those flaws. Because love always perseveres.

A message to the couple

So to Bernie and Coralie, I stand here as someone that admires the spiritual maturity that you both display. But I want to still encourage you to keep this marriage saturated in prayer. Find good practices where you can pray both individually and as a couple and you will continue to see a marriage that not only do you grow closer together, but that assist the two of you to grow close to God.

There will be struggles, but in the strength of God, they will only serve to grow you closer together.

Conclusion

I love Christian weddings, because they know the love that comes from Jesus. And this makes all the difference.

Bernie and Coralie, cultivate the type of love that we see in 1 Corinthians 13. But do so by drawing from the love that you have experienced from God first.

It truly is a privilege to see you here today, ready to make this promise.

Let me pray for you now...

Lord, we thank you for the great gift of marriage. We thank you for the blessing of this institution. Lord, this morning I ask that you fill Bernie and Coralie with the love that comes only from you. As they seek your glory first, may they then put the interest of the other before themselves. Give each of them the wisdom they need as they navigate this new path together. We also ask that you continue to fill them with joy in this next exciting chapter of their life. In Jesus name we pray, amen.