Blake and Nicole Wedding #1

Invocation

Brett: "Welcome, loved ones. We are gathered here today in the sight of God and these witnesses to join together Blake and Nicole in holy matrimony.”

Declaration of intent

Brett: "Blake and Nicole, you have come together this day so that the Lord may seal and strengthen your love in the presence of this minister of His word and this community of family and friends and so, in the presence of this gathering, I ask you to state your intentions:

Have you both come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage? If so, answer by saying 'I have.'"

Reading & Prayer (of Brett’s choosing)

Genesis 2:18–24 CSB

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.” 19 The Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found corresponding to him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. 22 Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 And the man said: This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called “woman,” for she was taken from man. 24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.

Blake and Nicole Marriage is the first institution made by God. It is in God’s good design that a man and woman who love each other should want to be married. God designed marriage like no other human relationship. This relationship is to be protected above all other earthly relationships. It is the only relationship that you will ever have that was designed by God to make you one.

Since this relationship was designed by God in order for it to be all that it was intended to be Christ must be the center of it.

Ephesians 5:15–29 CSB

15 Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit: 19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of Christ. 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,

Blake:

Of these two admonitions the husbands duty is by far the hardest standard to attain. To love his wife like Christ loved the church is the highest standard of love. It Is a love that never reaches perfection on this side of eternity. It is one that lays down his life both physically and metaphorically for the sake of his bride.  You are in everyway meant to serve and to cherish her. In this way, you create an environment where there is no fear of submission to your leadership because there is no hint of self-serving living.

Nicole:

The scripture are clear that as your husband seeks to follow Christ and to love you as Christ Commands that you are to submit to his leadership. Not as doormat but as a an obedient servant of Jesus Christ. Do not criticize him for who he is not instead just like in Genesis be his helper in helping him become the godliest man he can be. The type of man you would want willing follow his leadership.

In this way if each of you can lay down yourown lives for the other your marriage will be full of joy and peace.

Let us pray for this couple as they make their marriage vows.

Father, as Blake and Nicole pledge themselves to each other, help them and bless them that their love may be pure, and their vows may be true. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.

Brett to Blake “repeat after me”

I, Blake, take you, Nicole, to be my wife, my partner and friend,                                                                                                                                       

With steadfast love and compassion,                                                                                                                  

I promise to love you and serve you, respect you and encourage you,                                                                                                                      and give myself up for you, in all circumstances.                                                                                                                    To join my life with yours, to share with you all that is to be,                                                                to laugh with you in joy, to comfort you in sorrow, to grow with you in love.                                                                                                                                  Before God and everyone present here, I commit myself to be faithful to you and to honor you all the days of my life.

Brett to Nicole “repeat after me”

I, Nicole, take you, Blake, to be my husband, my partner and friend,                                                                                                                                        With steadfast love and compassion,                                                                                                                  I promise to love you and serve you, respect you and encourage you,                                                                                                                      and give myself up for you, in all circumstances.   

To join my life with yours, to share with you all that is to be,                                                                                                                        to laugh with you in joy, to comfort you in sorrow, to grow with you in love.                                                                                                                                  Before God and everyone present here, I commit myself to be faithful to you and to honor you all the days of my life.

Ring exchange from Blake to Nicole

Brett: Do you, Blake, take Nicole to be your lawfully wedded wife?

*I do*

Ring exchange from Nicole to Blake

Brett: Do you, Nicole, take Blake to be your lawfully wedded husband?

*I do*

Brett: “By the authority vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss your bride!”

[1]Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 2:18–24.

[2]Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Eph 5:15–29.