Dotson Barger Wedding

WELCOME

Good Afternoon. Welcome and thank you for coming to celebrate this special event, the joining of Amaya Barger and Gage Dotson by the blessed ties of marriage in covenant relationship with God our Creator. God Himself is the One who has ordained marriage from the beginning of creation, and it serves as a daily reminder of God’s perfect plan for our lives and His sacrificial love for each of us.

As believers in Jesus Christ, marriage has an even deeper meaning for Gage and Amaya. It is a life-long, sacrificial relationship where each one lives for the well-being of the other and solely for the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord. For this reason, marriage should not be treated carelessly or flippantly, but as a covenant entered with the greatest reverence for God and for each other.

It is the good news of Jesus Christ that has made this day possible. The salvation that comes through the finished work of Jesus Christ alone has made a life changing difference for Amaya and Gage, and in many of you here today. The grace and forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ, that each of us needs every day, is needed even more in a marriage that glorifies God.

Gage and Amaya, see the loving friends and family that are surrounding you today. Lean on them for support. We are here for you. A great source of practical wisdom in my own life was my grandparents. Just before my own wedding to Kym, my grandfather leaned up out of his chair and looked at me intently, “Forgive each other a lot. Forgive each other a lot.” Then my grandmother leaned in and said, Remember the scripture, “Love covers a multitude of sins.” It is good advice for all of us.

Let us pray for God’s blessing on their lives.

PRAYER: Father in heaven, thank you for Amaya and Gage. Thank you for the joy of seeing them grow to become a man and a woman who have been saved by your grace, who love you because you first loved them, and today are seeking your blessing on their marriage. Jesus, we praise you for what you are doing in their lives today by making them one. Help them to give you all praise and glory and honor by depending on you moment by moment in their new life together. In your name we ask these things, Amen.

GIVING OF THE BRIDE

Each one of you is very blessed to come from homes, where your parents have cared for you, loved you, provided for you, gone to all the baseball and soccer games, and most importantly they have encouraged you in your walk with Jesus. They have prayed for both of you, and in so many ways, today is the fulfillment of their prayers for you to find a godly mate.

Who gives this woman to this man to be married in the presence of the Lord?

MESSAGE

            When God created Adam, he made Adam to be a caretaker, one who could work hard and strong, caring for all of creation now in his charge.  But he knew that Adam would need a helpmate. Not one like any other made to that point, but this helpmate would need to be special.

And so where God had builtAdam, He designed Eve. From Adam’s side God crafted a helpmate for Adam with the same care and creativity an artist displays in his craft. When Adam saw her, he said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

In Ephesians 5 Paul explains the mystery of marriage and how it reflects Jesus’ relationship with the church. Here are two small parts of that chapter:

22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is 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.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her . . .  and again, he says “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.

31 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.

VOWS:

Amaya, considering the high calling of a Christian wife, do you take Gage to be your Husband? I do. Then repeat after me.

I, Amaya, take you Gage, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part.

Gage, considering the high calling of a Christian husband, do you take Amaya to be your wife? Then repeat after me.

I, Gage, take you Amaya, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part.

RINGS:

Rings of precious metal have long since been exchanged between husbands and wives as outward symbols of their love and commitment to each other. The shape of the ring reminds us of the eternal nature of sacrificial love while preciousness of gold reminds of the value a husband and wife sees in each other.

For a special moment this afternoon, Amaya and Gage have asked their families to have a prayer of blessing over their rings.

Amaya, would you place Gage’s ring on his hand and repeat after me, With this ring, I, thee wed.

Gage, would you place Amaya’s ring on her hand and repeat after me, With this ring, I, thee wed.

PRONOUNCEMENT OF MARRIAGE

Join hands please. There will be many wonderful days in your future, celebrate them together and with your family and with the church. There will be many challenging days in your future, depend on each other and your family, and the church. Give thanks to God through all of it, and for the wonderful Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord who saves us from our sins. What God has joined together, let no man separate! You may kiss your bride.

Please turn around and face the congregation. It is my joy as a minister of the gospel to introduce to you, Mr. and Mrs. Gage Dotson.