Lane and Olivia Wedding

Welcome

Good afternoon, we are gathered in the presence of God to unite Lane and Olivia in marriage.

The Bible teaches that marriage is to be a permanent relationship between one man and one woman freely and totally committed to each other as companions for life. Our Lord declared that a man shall leave his father and mother and unite with his wife in the building of a home, and the two shall become one flesh.

Who gives the bride to be married?

Prayer

Message

I have enjoyed working with these two in preparation for this day

talking about all kinds of things in our sessions

it was fun seeing Olivia a little uncomfortable and sometimes a lot uncomfortable

the first time we met we talked about what marriage is and spiritually what the Bible says about it

Ephesians 5:22–33 (CSB)

22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord,

23 because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body.

24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her

26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word.

27 He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.

28 In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

29 For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church,

30 since we are members of his body.

31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.

32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.

33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

A wonderful passage that tells us about the beautiful illustration that marriage is supposed to be for our relationship with the Lord.

Has been taken out of context often

the bride submitting causes many to flench

as it should, with our sinful world when we think of submitting we think power and control

we have witnessed sinful people misusing scripture

the husband dying for their wife

we can sing songs, say the words in a terrible attempt to sound romantic

I have been married for over 27 years and I have not once been in that situation, but it is the thought that counts

especially since I have not been asked to do it

The husbands role

Love your wife

this command does not come with a qualifier

love your wife if… love your wife when…

if she makes you happy, if she cooks well, if she is in a good mood

I have known Olivia well enough that sometimes she is not in a good mood

it is an unconditional love,

a blanket statement, “you are to love your wife…”

no time limit

we do not love our wives until…

this is a different love than a love for other things in our life

There is a certain piece of machinery that Lane loves

I have seen the pictures, he even drove it to one of our counseling sessions

As much as you may use the word love it is not the same

agapao - Involves a deep level of affection and intimacy.

now he may have a deep level of affection for his truck, but machines have no capability of intimacy

which is easier for us to love right, the fact that we are intimate physically, emotionally in a way that we are with nobody else

present her holy and blameless

the role of the husband is to lead his wife to Jesus

Lane you should be more concerned about Olivia’s love for Jesus than you are for her love for you

we are to do all that we can to lead our wives to the Lord in every part of life

praying for their relationship with the Lord

when they are anxious or fearful, pointing to the Lord for strength and guidance

Wives

two commands that have been given to you in this passage

Heather likes that it does not say she has to love me, because that is not one of them

It is great bonus for me, she loves me even though it is not commanded

Submit to your Husband

this shows that this is not that men are greater than women…

Olivia you do not submit to other men, your husband

but not just because he is a man, because he loves you in the way that Christ loves the church

when a husband loves in the way that we spoke, then it is easy and refreshing for the woman of God to submit to that leadership

Respect your husband

godly wives are to respect the leadership of their husband

this is not just saying the right things and then undermining them

imagine if you will that decisions are undermined constantly

or simply saying I agree with you, then doing the opposite,

Jesus

This is the third member of the covenant that you two are making today - Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church - so how is that

Jesus is the third person of the trinity, God in human flesh

putting on flesh alone means that he humbled himself of his position, left the heavens where he the angels sing Holy, Holy, Holy, to come to this world

not so that he could be worshipped by us, but rejected by men

he denied himself so that he could present us blameless and pure

because the church, the believers would be presented to himself as the bride

We are unable to get to God on our own

we need cleansed because of our sin problem

we are all sinful and cannot make it to God alone

when Jesus died, it was our unrighteousness that was placed on him, and the wrath of God poured out

2 Corinthians 5:21 (CSB)

21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

but on us, we have been given his righteousness so that we can be presented pure and holy

this is the standing of the believer in front of a holy God

Revelation 19:6–8 (CSB)

6 Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying, Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty, reigns!

7 Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself.

8 She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.

This is what our marriages are supposed to illustrate; the reason why man is to leave his father and mother and be joined with his wife, that they are to become one flesh

the uniting of God and his people

let us pray that Lane and Olivia’s marriage will be a testimony to the world of the love Jesus has for us

PRAY!

Vows

Lane - Do you take Olivia to be your wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love her, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her, so long as you both shall live?

Olivia - Do you take Lane to be your wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love him, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto him, so long as you both shall live?

Rings

Get the rings from best man…

The wedding ring is a symbol of marriage in at least two ways. First, the purity of gold symbolizes the purity of your love for each other. Second the unending circle symbolizes the unending vows which you are taking which may be broken honorable in the sight of God only by death. As a token of your vows, you will give and receive the rings.

Lane will you take this ring, place it on Olivia’s hand and repeat after me…

Olivia, with this ring - I pledge my life and love to you - in the name of the father - and of the son - and of the holy spirit.

Olivia will you take this ring, place it on Logan’s finger and repeat after me…

Lane, with this ring - I pledge my life and love to you - in the name of the father - and of the son - and of the holy spirit.

Now will you both repeat after me Ruth 1:16

Don’t plead with me to abandon you - or to return and not follow you. - For wherever you go, I will go, - and wherever you live, I will live; - your people will be my people, - and your God will be my God.

PRAY!

Closing

Numbers 6:24-26 May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” 

Since these two have made these commitments before God and all of these witnesses, by the authority of God and by the laws of this state, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honored to introduce to you Lane and Olivia Snodgrass