Andrey and Sasha Wedding

Opening Remarks

Good afternoon, before we begin the wedding party kindly asked that all phones be silenced and put away. They have a photographer here to capture the moment. You have the pleasure of just enjoying the ceremony.

Prelude- Starts @ 3

Seating of Groom’s Parents

Processional- Sasha and parents remain standing

Welcome

Dear family and friends of the bride and groom, we are gathered here today in the sight of God and in the presence of this company to witness the union of Andrey and Sasha in Christian marriage. Marriage is a holy estate given by God to fulfill us as individuals and as a couple, and to conform us, as maturing believers, into the image of Christ. May our heavenly Father look down upon this event with His favor. May the Lord Jesus Christ be present and add His blessing. May the Holy Spirit attend and seal these vows in love.

Giving in marriage

In God's most amazing act of creation, He created beings in His own image. They not only were made to reflect His image, but they were made in His image. We read of this astonishing event in the first chapter of Genesis: "So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female" (v. 27). Being made in the image of the triune God, the male was not complete when he was alone, so God created the perfect complement for the male: the female. She was to be his life companion, his co-laborer in fulfilling the creation mandate of God: "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth" (v. 28).

In the time of man's innocence, God instituted the estate of matrimony between the first man and the first woman. Marriage was consecrated by God, not only for mutual help and comfort, but also as a means of procreation. In marriage, God gave His creatures, man and woman, the ability - and the mandate - to create life like themselves, life in the image of God. Not only this, but God also gave this first couple a taste of redemption for mankind, as marriage is a foretaste of the mystical union that exists between Christ and His bride, the church.

It is into this holy estate that Andrey and Sasha have chosen to enter. Not knowing any just reason that these two should not be married, I ask, "Who gives this woman to be married to this man?"

Father responds: "Her mother and I do."

Invocation “Prayer” - (30 Seconds)

Let us pray: Father-Creator, we thank You for Your wondrous and gracious creation of mankind in Your image. We thank You for the heavenly character of love - especially when Your love exists between a man and a woman. We thank You for Your institution of marriage and of the joy and the sense of completion that it brings. We thank You for our redemption in Jesus Christ, as we are made new creatures in Him. We ask now that You bless the union of Andrey and Sasha, that they may grow to conform to the image of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We ask You to enable this couple to bless You in their lives and in their marriage in all the days ahead. For it is in Your name alone that we pray. Amen.

Worship In Song

How Great Thou Art

V1

O Lord my God

When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the works

Thy hands have made,

I see the stars,

I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy pow'r throughout

The universe displayed!

Chorus

Then sings my soul,

My Savior God, to Thee;

How great Thou art,

How great Thou art!

Then sings my soul,

My Savior God, to Thee;

How great Thou art,

How great Thou art!

V2

And when I think

That God, His Son not sparing,

Sent Him to die,

I scarce can take it in -

That on the cross,

My burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died

To take away my sin!

Chorus

V3

When Christ shall come

With shout of acclamation

And take me home,

What joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow

In humble adoration

And there proclaim,

My God, how great Thou art!

Chorus

Goodness of God

V1

I love You, Lord

For Your mercy never fails me

All my days, I've been held in Your hands

From the moment that I wake up

Until I lay my head

Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

Chorus

'Cause all my life You have been faithful

And all my life You have been so, so good

With every breath that I am able

Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

V2

I love Your voice

You have led me through the fire

In darkest night

You are close like no other

I've known You as a Father

I've known You as a Friend

And I have lived in the goodness of God

Chorus

'Cause all my life You have been faithful

And all my life You have been so, so good

With every breath that I am able

Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

Bridge

Your goodness is running after, it's running after me

Your goodness is running after, it's running after me

With my life laid down, I surrendered now

I give You everything

Your goodness is running after, it's running after me

Chorus

'Cause all my life You have been faithful

And all my life You have been so, so good

With every breath that I am able

Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

Parental Prayer

At this time the wedding party invites their parents to the stage to bless the bride and groom and their future marriage through a time of prayer.

Statement of Marriage “Charge”

We are here today to tell a true story that is bigger than both Andrey and Sasha. Marriage tells the story of how the God of the universe left his throne to rescue his bride, the church, from sin and death. Jesus Christ, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and Spirit, came to earth born of a virgin to live a perfect life, die a death he did not deserve, and conquer sin and death through his resurrection from the grave. And therefore, whoever believes in Jesus has been given the right to be a child of God and spend eternity with him after death. This true story is the Gospel. It is trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance that Jesus Christ came to save sinners.

This Gospel story was planned before the foundation of the world, and marriage was given to us as a wonderful gift from God. A gift that points us to the Giver and his greatest gift: Eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This Gospel story weaves its way through the fabric of human life and testifies to itself through the lived experiences of every man and woman. If we would have eyes to see and ears to hear we would all be able to trace the strings of this story in our own lives to the beautiful tapestry that God has made. A tapestry made up of the individual stories of each Christian, but when we step back we see the greatest story in full display. We see that Christ has saved us from sin through his death. The just was given for the unjust that we might be brought to God.

And because this is true of every Christian’s life story. Andrey and Sasha, this is true of your story.

As we take a moment to recount your love story my prayer is that you will listen for the providential hand of God. Listen for the ways in which God brought you together for His name’s sake. Listen to the ways in which he moved in what might seem like small or insignificant ways, and hear how the God of this world shows His immeasurable love to you in preparing for you, a spouse.

Andrey and Sasha met in the way that it seems many young Ukrainians meet, through a cousin. In this case it was through Sasha’s cousin Jake and her brother Philip. Andrey moved to Columbus at Jake’s suggestion and while hanging out with Jake at Philip’s house he saw Sasha. Somewhere very early in this process Andrey confidently told Jake, “I’m going to marry her.” Now, you would think this confidence would translate to Andrey moving quickly to woo Sasha, but he decided to take it slow. He wanted to see if she was interested.

Sasha, not being quite as patient, started to hang around with the guys when Andrey would come over. She sit next him in their garage and if Andrey would move… Sasha would slowly make her way near him again. Andrey, because he is male like all of us guys, didn’t know what she was doing. Was she just being nice? Or did she like him?

Now in Andrey’s defense the topics of conversation that Sasha would choose didn’t exactly spell out romance. At the time, Sasha was working on her undergraduate thesis and so she would talk to Andrey about the disastrous impacts of EMPs.

Philip, Sasha’s brother, tried to help them out, when after Sasha wanting to facetime him everyday he decided to give Sasha Andrey’s number. Philip didn’t want to facetime his sister everyday, but he had a seeking suspicion that Andrey might be interested in facetiming Sasha. Sasha felt like this would be a little to forward, so instead of facetiming Andrey she used the opportunity to do what many women do for the guys they love. She decided to make plans for Andrey, not small plans, but life altering plans. She text him links to college applications.

Andrey appreciated the gesture. He knew she cared about him, but knew that college was not the route for him. However, this interaction opened the door. He now had her phone number and the knowledge that she wanted to talk to him. So, through texting and Instagram direct messages Andrey asks Sasha on their first date.

Sasha’s thesis was complete and behind her, and to Andrey’s relief he found out that Sasha wasn’t unhealthily obsessed with EMPs, but rather passionate about the task that God put before her. So, with no thesis to be written Sasha and talked about the things that truly were most important to them. At the a coffee shop in downtown Columbus they began to truly fall in love as they discussed God, His Word, and His plans for their lives. They walked the Scioto mile, took funny pictures of deer, and enjoyed one another.

After this date, Sasha was the one who told a friend, I think I’m going to marry him. Their relationship began to grow and they dated for a total of seven months before becoming engaged.

As they dated they had many conversations with the men and women from Redemption Hill Church. I remember Andrey asking to meet with me to talk about something important. When we met he wanted to know, how do I know that God wants me to marry Sasha. I laughed and told him, that’s not my call. You’re the one who would be getting married.

I gave him a booklet to read through about marriage and we decided to meet from time to time to talk a little more. Sasha meanwhile met with my wife, Brittany, and without really knowing it we started pre-marital counseling before the engagement. We also encouraged Andrey and Sasha to bring their parents into this conversation. God is good to use His church and our families to help us make life’s most important decisions.

I told you to listen for God’s providential hand pulling threads of your story, that is a big thread that you will need to pull over and over again. But we’re not in charge yet. So, more on that later. Back to our love story.

After receiving good counsel from their family and church, Andrey and Sasha began to seriously set their plans in motion. Andrey made plans for Sasha to meet his family as much as was possible with them living in Minnesota. And as a ploy to get her to a scenic place in Minnesota he wanted to take Sasha to celebrate Easter with his family.

But Igor, Sasha’s Dad, shut this down. They were not family yet, and he didn’t feel like she should be going there during a family holiday. Igor, you are my kind of guy! I’m with you brother! Keeps those boys out of family business until there is a ring. However, Andrey wanted the actual engagement to be a surprise to Sasha and her family. So, he had to let Igor in on his plans. He was nervous about the conversation and so he told Vita, Sasha’s mom, first. Vita assured him that Igor would be happy and that enabled Andrey to talk to Igor about his plan.

Igor asked, do you have the ring yet? Andrey said he already purchased it and it was being delivered to MN. Igor asked him how much he spent, and apparently the price was right because Igor gave his blessing for the trip and engagement.

So, Andrey and Sasha headed to Minnesota where Andrey would propose to Sasha. However, before that happened there was one last hurdle. There was a serious mix up with Fedex and Andrey got some else’s package. Instead of receiving an engagement ring he got a colonoscopy camera. Now, while this is a very expensive camera and Sasha is into photography, she is not into that kind of photography. He knew this camera would not make an engagement ring replacement. He scrabbled and got a temporary ring from Amazon.

He proposed to Sasha at a beautiful outlook at a lake and she said yes. And now here we are. And you two are so very close to being married. But first to look to God’s word and speak to you both about marriage.

Today, we witness your marriage. The Bible says this to Wives and Husbands in the book of Ephesians 5:22-33. 22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Sasha, today you are being asked to do something that is really hard. And after today you will be asked to so this thing over and over again. In marrying Andrey you are being asked to submit yourself to an imperfect man. You see, this is what all Christian wives are asked to do. They put on display for this world their trust in a perfect Savior by submitting themselves to an imperfect man. In your submission you are not saying that Andrey is always right or that Andrey has all the answers. Even if he is right or does occasionally have a good answer. No, when you submit to your husband you do so as an act of faith. Faith not in Andrey, but in the Son of God who loved you and gave himself up for you.

Christian submission from a wife is ultimately about trust. Not trust in her husband, but trust in her God. He entrusts herself to an imperfect man because she knows that she is held in the perfect hands of God.

In Proverbs 31:25 God says this of the Proverbs 31 woman “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” Sasha, the unknown of the future is rarely something women laugh about. The future is often the source of fear and anxiety. Those gathered here are excited to see you become a bride. We are excited to see you experience the joy of faithful submission. And we are excited, not because it will always be easy or because we think you always get it right. We are excited because we know that God will use marriage to change you. God, rich in mercy, will use your continued submission to work in you, an unyielding trust in God.

God has promised to sanctify you, and He promises to use marriage to do this. As you practice submission to your husband, entrusting yourself to an imperfect man, you do so because of your trust in a perfect Savior.

What does submission look like? Let me suggest one thing for you. Submission looks like being willing to wait for your husband in life’s endeavors and not to run ahead of him. You are an ambitious woman! Ambition is a power thing. But it is like a train. A train is powerful only when it is on its track. When it gets derailed it is a problem. Allow your ambition to be guided by God’s revealed will. There may be times when you see the right thing to do before Andrey does. That’s not a knock on Andrey, all of us men are like this. Sometimes our wives just see things a bit quicker than we do. When this happens, slow down. Don’t push and pull him to your will. Rather entrust yourself to your perfect Savior. Learn to wait upon the Lord as you wait for your husband. Psalm 27:14, Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Andrey listen to Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:25-30.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body.

Andrey, these are words that should make any sane man tremble. The role of a husband is of utmost importance! You have a holy and high calling as you lead Sasha. It is your task to care for her soul and her physical body.

And the primary means that you do this is not through the exercise of authority. Listen to verse 25 again with me. Husbands, love your wives… Did you hear that? She is told to submit to you and you are told to what? Exercise authority, give her commands, keep her in line... No. You are to love her. You are to love her as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Your life is not your own dear brother. Your life is the Lord’s, but as a husband you put that truth on display by laying down your life for your wife. The life of a husband is a life lived through a thousand different deaths. You will die to yourself and your flesh over and over again.

You lead through love, and God uses this to accomplish what only He can. He is going to use you, a sinner, to sanctify this woman. Her holiness only comes through the sacrifice of Jesus, but God uses your words to instruct her in the faith through His word, He will use your selflessness to change her as you care for her like you would your own body.

What does it look like to lead through love? Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus says, … “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Andrey, and you lead through love remember to love you neighbor as yourself. Remember to love your wife as you would care for your own body.

Remember to lead by example before you lead through instruction and lead through grace and understanding not through boundaries and rules.

No one wants to follow a hypocrite. We love others when we lead how we would want to be led. If you are going to lead her to be holy, then you must pursue holiness yourself. You are to be the one that ensures you’re at church on Sundays, that provides time in the schedule to read God’s Word, and you are to be the one who initiates the prayer times.

Lead through love by seeking to be first, only when it puts you last. So, be first to repent, be first to admit you’re wrong, be first to give up comfort, be first to serve, be first to check in on her. Lead as you would want to be led. Lead like Jesus and joyfully give up your life for her.

This is presented as a drudgery by our world, but that is because our world does not serve the God who conquered death. A life lived of a thousand deaths to self is nothing to fear when you serve the God of the resurrection. We know as Christians, that it is only through death that true and eternal joy can be found. It is good to be a husband, a holy privilege.

And now to both of you and our audience… reading Ephesians 5:31-33.

31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

In verse 31 Paul quotes from Genesis 2:24. Today you start your own family. A family does not begin with children, but with a marriage. You will leave your father and mother and the two shall become one. This does not mean that the people gathered here cannot or will not help you. We will. But it does mean that you are not married to anyone else here. You will be one flesh with one another. It is a profound mystery. It is something that God brings together by His spirit. And Jesus tells us that what God has put together that no man separate.

You are going to be married for all of your earthly life. And we are all here to bear witness to that fact. We will help, but our job (all of us here) is to do what we can to ensure you two stay married.

This is so important because this union between husband and wife points to a grander union between Christ and His church. Andrey, you declare to the world that God loves his church when you love your wife. When you lay down your life for Sasha that sacrifices testifies to the greatest sacrifice. You show this world what costly love looks like, and in you they get a glimpse of the love that Jesus has for sinners like us.

Sasha, when you respect and revere your husband you declare to the world that your perfect Savior is worthy of all glory and honor and power. In your respect for Andrey, the world looks and gets a glimpse of the respect they are to have of the one true God.

This wedding today is a declaration that we believe that one day Christ will come for His bride and all creation awaits His coming. All human weddings are small in comparison to the Wedding feast of Christ, but all human weddings in Christ testify to a cosmic reality. You two today are apart of something so much bigger than yourselves. You stand in a long line of faithful Christian weddings throughout the ages, which all point future return of the Bridegroom. King Jesus, who come and make all things new.

So, it is with this in mind that you take your vows.

Vows

Andrey and Sasha, you have listened to this sobering explanation of the meaning of the vows you are about to make. These vows are as binding in adversity as they are in prosperity. They should be broken only by death. If you are prepared to make such a serious commitment, will you now turn, face one another, and join hands.

Andrey, in taking Sasha to be your wife, do you so promise to honor, to love, and to cherish her in sickness as in health, in poverty as in wealth, in hardship as in blessing, until death alone shall part you?

Andrey responds: "I do."

Sasha, in taking Andrey to be your husband, do you so promise to honor, to love, and to cherish him in sickness as in health, in poverty as in wealth, in hardship as in blessing, until death alone shall part you?

Sasha responds: "I do.

Exchange of Rings- (2 minutes)

You will now seal your vows, "to honor, to love, to cherish," by the giving and receiving of rings. (Pause for rings) The unbroken circles of these rings symbolize a union between husband and wife with God that cannot be broken. This is in accord with God's creation plan, and it brings honor to the One who created you to glorify Him. The precious glistening gold of these rings symbolizes all that is pure and holy in the marital bond. As these metals were refined to fashion these beautiful rings, may God ever refine and purify you both as new creations in Christ Jesus. As you wear these rings, may they ever remind you of your love and of the commitment you have made this day.

Andrey, place this ring on Sasha's finger and repeat after me:

"I, Andrey, take you, Sasha, to be my wedded wife to have and to hold, from this day forward. I pledge before God and these witnesses to place your good above mine, now and always, no matter the circumstances. I promise to honor you, to love you, and to cherish you until death do us part. Joyfully and willingly, I commit myself to you, and to you alone."

Sasha, place this ring on Andrey's finger and repeat after me:

"I, Sasha, take you, Andrey, to be my wedded husband to have and to hold, from this day forward. I pledge before God and these witnesses to place your good above mine, now and always, no matter the circumstances. I promise to honor you, to love you, and to cherish you until death do us part. Joyfully and willingly, I commit myself to you, and to you alone."

Declaration of marriage “Pronounce you… kiss the Bride” (30 seconds)

Andrey and Sasha, we have witnessed the pledging of your love and commitment to each other. We have seen the sealing of your solemn vows of marriage by the giving and receiving of rings. It is, therefore, my joy and privilege to declare you husband and wife. (move!) Andrey, you may kiss your Bride.

Introduction of the newlyweds (5 seconds)

Friends and family of Andrey and Sasha, it is my pleasure to present to you Mr. and Mrs. Simonvich

Recessional

Postlude

Announcements

At this time the bride and groom invite you all for a cocktail hour on the balcony. There will be games and refreshments available. Thank you all for coming!