Wedding Service

All Rise

As bride is visible use hands to motion to stand - do not speak

Greeting/Preface

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit

Amen

The Lord be with you

And also, with you

The apostle Paul reminds us that what we see today is in fact a great mystery when he writes in his Ephesians 5:31-32

Ephesians 5:31–32 ESV

“Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Let us pray:

Most gracious God, fountain of life and love and joy, look with merciful favor upon these your servants now to be joined in holy wedlock, and enable them ever to remember and truly keep the vows which they make as they enter into covenant with one another and with you, in accordance with the Holy Word, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Leave/Taking

Who gives this woman to be married to this man:

Father: I do

Bride handed to husband. Couple stands in front of minister

Please be seated

Dearly beloved: We have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony. The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in creation, and our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church, and Holy Scripture commends it to be honored among all people. The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity; and, when it is God's will, for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord. Therefore, marriage is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God.

Into this holy union N.N.. and N.N.. now come to be joined. If any of you can show just cause why they may not lawfully be married, speak now; or else for ever hold your peace.

Declarations

To groom:

"______, will you have this woman to be your wedded wife to live together after God's ordinance in the Holy Estate of matrimony? Will you love her? Comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others keeping yourself only unto her as long as you both shall live?"

Groom: I will

To bride:

"______, will you have this man to be your wedded husband to live together after God's ordinance in the Holy Estate of matrimony? Will you love him? Comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others keeping yourself only unto him as long as you both shall live?"

Bride: I will

To congregation:

Will all of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage?

Congregation: We will

Collect

Let us pray. O gracious and ever living God, you have created us male and female in your image: Look mercifully upon this man and this woman who come to you seeking your blessing, and assist them with your grace, that with true fidelity and steadfast love they may honor and keep the promises and vows they make; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Readings

A reading from Song of Solomon 2:10-13

Song of Solomon 2:10–13 ESV

My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away, for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.

This is the word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

The singing of Psalm 127

A reading from Ephesians 5:22-32

Ephesians 5:22–32 ESV

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 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. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 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. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

This is the word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

Please stand for the reading of the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John 15:9-12

John 15:9–12 ESV

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

The Gospel of the Lord

Praise to you, Lord Christ

Homily

You may be seated.

Beloved we have gathered here for a glorious occasion, something that is much larger than we all even realize. For today as we have gathered to witness the love and commitment of NN and NN something else is happening. Something that far outshines what our mortal minds are possible of comprehending, it is far beyond what anyone can possibly understand. The apostle Paul, the single greatest theologian to ever live could not even comprehend what we are witnessing today, he calls it a profound mystery. For what we are seeing is not just about NN and NN but it instead a glorious picture, a type, or a shadow the relationship between Christ and the church.

This profound mystery is a glorious thing, and we see taking place between NN and NN. Even though it is about much much more than we realize, it is not less than the love that see before us today. NN and NN have waited patiently for this day and as they stand here, they prepare to carry a weight that is not yet fully understood. For everything that NN and NN do will first and foremost be a statement about Christ and about his Church. Everything that say and do will always be pointing to how Christ and his bride interact. The church submits in obedience to Christ and Christ loves his church and on the cross bore the weight of her sin so that he might redeem, sanctify, and ultimately glorify his own bride.

So NN and NN, my charge to you this day is do not lie about how Christ and the church interact with each other. Do not let your thoughts, deeds, or words tell a falsehood about the glorious mystery that you will represent for everything you do is now a statement about either Christ or the church. Let your marriage be filled with love, grace, and honor towards one another. Fill it with many happy memories, bring forth godly offspring, and above all built the entirety of your marriage on truth. The truth of Christ, the truth of the gospel, and the truth of how Christ and his bride submit and love one another.

Through these tasks you will be build something glorious. You will lay the foundation for a like built around Christ and life that glorifies and pleases our Savior. You future stands before you. Embrace it, the grand adventure of life and love is before you. Together you will form memories, build a home, and share laughter and joy that is found through Christ. I am so excited for both of you. You both are ready for this task, for this great joy and it is my honor to share a small piece of it. I pray that you have many years of love together and may your marriage ultimately glorify God. For God himself has preordained this union, and he has called you both to your roles and tasks in the marriage.

NN your job is to submit to NN. This is a weighty task, one that is not to be taken lightly but one that is to be taken with meekness. As you join this man in holy matrimony your task is clear and in front of you. Submit in all things to your husband and in this way, you will glorify God and be a shining witness to glorious truth of how the church submits to Christ. You are called to be NN’s helpmate, his friend, his lover, and his most trusted confident. You will face good times and hard times together and through it all you will be the support of the man that God has called you to spend your life with. Woman was taken from the rib of man, the center of his being. A reminder that you will carry the weight of his calling; you will support him as the center of his life. The home you create, the children you raise, and the life that you build will be the center for NN. This is a vital task, for when the center breaks, when a rib is bruised, the entire man is brought to his knees. You are his greatest strength, and you can also be his greatest weakness. You stand here today, beautifully dressed, a true glory for NN, but I promise you this, that if accept and fulfill your calling you will only grow more beautiful, more glorious, and even more supportive of the man that you love.

NN your task is also clearly laid out before you. Your duty is to love NN as Christ loved the church. This is to be a generous outpouring of love. A love that lays down its life, that is willing to die for its bride. A love that encompasses and shapes every single interaction that you ever have with your bride. For this love is not about you, or your feelings, or butterflies that you feel in your stomach. This is a love with the end goal of presenting a spotless bride, washed in the water of the word. Just as you love yourself and you want yourself to come before God sanctified and glorified so to must you love your bride. This is the love that you must have NN. A love that does not think of yourself first but a love that places her first and foremost. Through this love you must lead her, and your family. You will need to make hard decisions, you will need to do things at times that are not popular with your wife or family, at times you will need to go to war against sin and Satan, but it must never be said that you did any of these things without love. For your first ministry is first and foremost to your wife. You will be tempted to abdicate this role, to give in to apathy and slothfulness. You will be tempted to be like your first father Adam and place the blame on your wife. But instead, you must follow the second Adam, you must bring your wife to the Lord and beg God to take your life instead of your wife. For this is the love that Christ had for his bride, and this must be the love that you have for NN.

For you two working together are the living, breathing representation of the gospel itself. When man first fell in the garden, he blamed his own flesh, his wife for his failure. Through this sin entered into all the world and has corrupted every single one of us. The new Adam, Jesus Christ came to redeem his bride from the bondage of sin, death, and Satan. He went to the cross, to bear the sins of his bride so that she might not suffer. Because of this sacrifice the Church responds with submission and love because their sins have been forgiven, there is no longer any condemnation because they are in Christ. They are in Christ and He is in them They are one flesh. Just as you two are coming together to become one flesh, and to give example to the greatest outpouring of love that our world will ever know.

Today is a glorious day, it is one of the most joyous days of both of your lives. For no longer will there be two of you, but instead two made into one. You are becoming a family, you are becoming lifelong friends, you are become each other’s beloved forsaking all other. And yet somehow even more than that you are becoming a picture pointing all of us to the glory of Christ and his bride in a way that we do not yet fully understand. Take on these roles with the seriousness and joy that they deserve and rejoice in the God who has brought you together, who from before eternities past had planned out this very moment. And go and create a life, a home, a family and let the whole world see the beautiful picture of Christ and his bride through your submission and love.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Vows

Ascend with couple up stairs

NN and NN, I now invite you to join hands and make your vows, in the presence of God and his people.

Have them repeat after you, 3-4 words at a time

Groom:

"In the name of God, I, ______, take you, ______, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow."

Bride:

"In the name of God, I, ______, take you, ______, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow."

Rings

Do you have the rings?

Best man gives both rings to groom who hands them to me.

Let us pray

Almighty Father, You have generously created all things to serve us for our good. Send your blessing upon this couple that shall wear these rings as a constant reminder of their marital fidelity. Grant by your mercy they live gladly and faithfully in this holy estate, through Jesus Christ, your son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, Age after Age. Amen.

Groom: hand him ring

NN, please place the ring on NN’s left hand and repeat after me. NN, I give you this ring, as a symbol of my vow. With all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, within the love of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Bride: hand her ring

NN, please place the ring on NN’s left hand and repeat after me. NN, I give you this ring, as a symbol of my vow. With all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, within the love of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Proclamation

People of God, in the presence of God, and before you witnesses, Groom and Bride have given themselves to each other by solemn vows.

They have signified their marriage by the joining of hands and by the giving and receiving of rings, so in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, I now pronounce that they are husband and wife.

Amen

What has joined together, let no man put asunder.

Amen

Kiss

NN, you may now kiss your bride.

Blessing

Please stand for prayer and blessing of the couple.

Let us pray.

Most gracious God, we give you thanks for your tender love in sending Jesus Christ to come among us, to be born of a human mother, and to make the way of the cross to be the way of life. We thank you, also, for consecrating the union of man and woman in his Name. By the power of your Holy Spirit, pour out the abundance of your blessing upon this man and this woman. 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 foreheads. 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 life and in their death. Finally, in your mercy, bring them 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.

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord look upon you and give you peace. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen

Presentation

It is with great joy and celebration that I present to you all for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Groom’s first and last name. Amen.

Groom and Bride depart.

I depart after wedding party and family but before guests.