Wedding, Quentin & Amanda Simsic

Would you please rise as 

the bride enters.

PROCESSIONAL

Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God and these witnesses, to join together this man and this woman in the holy estate of matrimony.  The Bible teaches that marriage was created by God.  He made a helpmate for Adam and called her woman, for she was taken from the man.  In the Old Testament, Moses, the lawgiver, gave sanction to marriage as a legal institution.  In the New Testament, the Book of Hebrews says that marriage is honorable among all.  

Therefore, because God has put His blessing upon this union, and this is a service of Christian worship, celebrating the work of God, let us pause to ask for God’s blessing and presence in this service.

(Prayer)

 You may be seated. 

The Bible declares that marriage is a type of the mystical union that exists between Christ and the church.  It is an earthly portrayal of a heavenly reality.  Hear the words of the apostle Paul from the book of Ephesians.

Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another. Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing.  So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands. 

Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not  getting.  Christ’s love makes the church whole.  His words evoke her beauty.  

Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness.  And that is how husbands ought to love their wives.  They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.

No one abuses his own body, does he?  No, he feeds and pampers it.  That’s how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body.  And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife.  No longer two, they become “one flesh.”  

Who gives this woman to be married to this man?

Take your bride and step forward.

Quentin & Amanda: you are about to enter into a union which is most serious, a union which was established by God Himself, signifying unto us the union that is between Christ and His Church. Because God Himself is the author of marriage, it’s very nature is a holy institution requiring those who enter it a complete and unreserved giving of self. 

This union then is most solemn because it will bind you together for life in a relationship so close and so intimate that it will profoundly influence your whole future. 

The Bible teaches in the writings of St. Paul that marriage is to be honorable among all men and therefore is not by any to be entered into lightly, but soberly, reverently, and in the fear of God.  Into this holy estate, you two come now to be joined. 

The Bible further teaches that marriage is a covenant established by heaven in the wisdom and kindness of God who said, “It is not good that man should be alone, I will make him a helpmeet”, and again, “they two shall be one flesh.” 

The joy of a marriage approved by God is exceeded only by heaven’s divine bliss.  Jesus honored, sanctioned, and beautified the wedding in Cana of Galilee with His presence.  It was here that He performed His first miracle bringing joy to the host and  assembled guests.

The Lord Jesus Christ saw this wedding as a symbol of that glorious day to come when He as the blessed bridegroom of the Church should lead His own beloved bride to the marriage supper of the Lamb.  The Father, Himself, has ordained that this marriage be celebrated when the victory of the cross has been consummated.  These are our preparation days. 

In the great love chapter of 1 Corinthians 13 we read the  following:  If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  

If I give all I possess to the poor and   surrender my body to the flames but have not love, I gain nothing.  Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily   angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. 

Quentin & Amanda: Let you're love be stronger than your hate or anger.  Learn the wisdom of compromise, for it is better to bend a little than to break.  Believe the best rather than the worst; people have a way of living up or down to your opinion of them. Remember that true friendship is the basis for any lasting relationship.  The person you choose to marry is deserving of the courtesies and kindness you bestow on your friends.

Quentin: do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony?  Do you promise from this day forward to provide spiritual leadership for her?  Do you promise to perform unto her all the obligations and responsibilities of a Christian husband?  Do you pledge yourself to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, and forsaking all others, keep  yourself only for her so long as you both shall live?  I DO

Amanda: do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? 

Do you promise from this day forward to follow him as your spiritual leader?  Do you promise to perform unto him all the obligations and responsibilities of a Christian wife?  Do you pledge to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only for him so long as you both shall live?  I DO

May I have the rings please:  These rings are perfect circles having no beginning or ending. As such they represent the eternal nature of God who also has no beginning or ending. 

If God is eternal and God is love, then love is eternal.  If love is eternal, then love is unconditional.  God loves each of us without any conditions.  

There is no way we can make God quit loving us since it is His nature to love. His love is not based upon our performance but upon His nature. 

The love you have for each other also comes from God, and He wants you to practice love toward each other in the same way He loves you. To God, love is  obedient action. He wants you to love each other unconditionally without any idea of reward.  

As you wear these rings, let them serve as reminders to you in the hard moments of your love and life that love is of God and is nourished and sustained for each other as you both live close to Him. 

These rings also are made of valuable metal. They represent something of great value in your life.  It is the high priority God wants you to give to this relationship with each other. After your relationship to God, nothing else in life can be as important as the nurture and maintenance of this godly relationship of marriage.

There is no job, there is no hobby, there is no ambition, that is more important than the success of a godly marriage. So as you exchange these rings, I charge you to place a high priority upon the maintenance of this godly married relationship you are establishing today. 

Please turn and face each other for the exchanging of rings. 

Quentin: take this ring, place it upon Amanda: finger, and repeat after me:  “With this ring/ I thee wed./  It is a token/ of my love for you/ and a token/ of my constant faith,/ and I believe/ with all my heart/ this is forever.”/ 

Amanda: take this ring, place it on Quentin: finger, and repeat after me: “With this ring/ I thee wed/ I give it/ as a token/ of my love/ and of my/constant faith,/ and I believe/ with all my heart/ this is forever.”/ 

Would you please join hands and and face one another as you repeat your personal vows.

Pray

 PRONOUNCEMENT

And now having heard you make these pledges of your affection, and take these vows of faithfulness in the presence of God and this company signified by the giving and receiving of rings, I do by the authority given me by the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the laws of the State of New Jersey, declare that Quentin & Amanda are now husband and wife, no longer two but one in the sight of God, in the Name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 

God having joined these two together in marriage, let no man seek to dissolve this union, Amen.

Quentin, you may kiss your bride. 

Please turn and face this congregation.

TO CONGREGATION:  Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you, Mr. & Mrs. Quentin & Amanda Simsic.