Sam and Morgan's Wedding

Processional

We are gathered here today in the presence of God and in the company of family and friends to join ____Sam Swaim___________ and _____Morgan Foote__________ in God’s Holy institution of marriage. The celebration of marriage is one of life’s greatest events. For a Christian couple, the wedding ceremony is a beautiful act of worship. It is a great joy for me to be invited to participate in the life of _____ Sam _________ and ____ Morgan _________ who love the Lord, love each other, and have come to commit themselves to each other in marriage.

God is the author of love. The Bible teaches that God is love, and that love comes from God. From beginning to end, the Bible is a love story. It is the story of God’s love for his people. It is the story of a love so strong that Jesus was sent to die on the cross for our sins. It is the story of redeeming love for the sinner and of abiding love for the redeemed.

We read also of the love of man and woman. We read of Jacob’s love for Rachel, of Mary pledged to Joseph, of the Shulammite and her beloved. The Bible teaches us that God can lead us to our life’s companion. Abraham prayed that God would find a wife for his son Isaac, and God answered that prayer. When Abraham’s servant found Rebekah, the servant bowed and worshipped, praising God. Then he brought her to Isaac. The Scriptures say Isaac loved her and was comforted.

God has guided ___ Sam _______ and ____ Morgan ______ to this moment. He has blessed their love and brought them together to enter into the holy union of marriage. They are glad you are here to share in their time of commitment.

Presentation of the Bride

Who gives this woman to be married to this man? (Her family and I)

Affirmation of Marriage

___ Sam _______, ___ Morgan _______ this is a very special and important moment in your lives. You will remember this day and this moment forever. The ceremony will be over in a few minutes. But the commitment you pledge to one another today is to last a life time. Other than our relationship with God, the relationship between husband and wife is the greatest relationship there is. Marriage is the foundation of both the home and social order. It is a sacred relationship that is not meant to be broken.

Marriage is not something that society created. Marriage is ordained of God. The Bible begins with a wedding. There in the Garden of Eden, having created man in his own image, God realized that it was not good for him to be alone. So the Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam, and taking one of his ribs, He created Eve. Having created woman, He brought her to the man and gave her to him. Then in the Garden of Eden, the Lord performed the first marriage ceremony when He said, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

Jesus must have loved weddings. He attended a wedding at Cana of Galilee and He chose this occasion to perform His first miracle.

The apostle Paul helps us to see the sacredness of marriage by comparing the relationship of a husband and wife to that of Christ and His church. In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul writes that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church, and wives are to be faithful to their husband as the church is to be faithful to Christ. Listen closely to words of Paul in :

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

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 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. “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. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. ( ESV)

PRAY

Transition to Dale Foote for Remainder of Ceremony