WEDDING CEREMONY

PRELUDE: Candle Lighting (Music)

PROCESSIONAL: PJ, Neil, Nathan, Isaiah

INTRODUCTION

Good afternoon! Thank you for coming. On behalf of Neil and Anne, I welcome you to this very special occasion. We are gathered here today in the presence of God to unite Neil and Anne in marriage. The Bible teaches that marriage is to be a permanent relationship of one man and one woman freely and totally committed to each other for life. Our God declared “that man shall leave his father and mother and unite with his wife in the building of a home, and the two shall become one flesh”.

OPENING PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we are gathered here before Your Holy presence to unite Neil and Anne in Holy Matrimony that you have commanded them to do. May you bless them in their act of obedience to you, today and in their years together as a couple. May you also bless all of us as we witness and celebrate this special day with them. In Jesus Name We Pray..

PROCESSIONAL (Please rise for the Bride)

SCRIPTURE READING:

(ESV)

23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

28And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

25Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

(ESV)

26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

23Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

27so 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.

28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

24Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,

(ESV)

30because we are members of his body.

32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

31“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

CHARGE TO THE COUPLE: Please sit down

32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Marriage is God’s idea. It was not an accident.

CHARGE TO THE COUPLE: Please sit down

Marriage as God designed it is solely between man and a woman

Genesis 1:27–28 ESV

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

EXCHANGE OF VOWS

Marriage

27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

28And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

(ESV)

23Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

24Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

(ESV)

32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

EXCHANGE OF VOWS

Stand and face each other and join right hands.

Tell your personal vows to each other beginning with Neil.

Anne, From today, I commit myself to your happiness and fulfillment as a person, and to your usefulness in God’s kingdom; and I promise to love, honor, trust, and serve you in sickness and in health, in adversity, and prosperity, and to be true and loyal to you, so long as you both shall live?

Neil, From today, I commit myself to your happiness and fulfillment as a person, and to your usefulness in God’s kingdom; and I promise to love, honor, trust, and serve you in sickness and in health, in adversity, and prosperity, and to be true and loyal to you, so long as you both shall live?

EXCHANGE OF RINGS

The wedding ring is a marriage symbol in at least two ways:

The purity of gold symbolizes the purity of your love for each other.

The unending circle symbolizes the unending bows which you are going to make, may be broken honorably in the sight of God only by death.

As you wear these rings, whether together or apart for a moment, may they be constant reminders of these great promises you are making today.

Neil : will you take Anne’s ring and place it upon her wedding finger, and repeat after me this promise:

“With this ring, I seal my promise, and with God as my witness, I pledge to be your faithful and loving husband.”

Anne: will you take Neil’s ring and place it on his wedding finger, and say this promise:

“With this ring, I seal my promise, and with God as my witness, I pledge to be your faithful and loving wife.”

BIBLE CEREMONY

The Bible is the Word of God. God provided it as our manual for living. If you both get to know God’s Word and apply it, the promise is you’ll become prosperous and successful. Neil, may you lead your wife and children to open this Book regularly. Discover the richness of God’s grace.

SIGNING OF MARRIAGE CONTRACT

CHARGE TO THE SPONSORS

DEDICATION PRAYER Please rise (ask sponsors to come)

Our Lord God, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth. You keep your covenant of love to your people. With your mouth you have promised and with your hands you have fulfilled everything you said. Now O Lord, for Neil and Anne, let the promises you made to them come true. May your eyes be open toward them day and night. May you hear their prayers of praise and supplication. When they have sinned against you but turned back and confess your Name, hear their prayers and forgive their sin. Teach them the right way to live and send the rain of blessing unto their lives. O God, always remember the great love you have for them through Jesus Christ Your Son. And in His name we pray all these. Amen!

PRONOUNCEMENT OF MARRIAGE

Neil and Anne, you have come before us, your family and friends, and before God, and you have declared your commitment to your marriage. You have shown your love and affection by sharing your vows to each other, you have promised faith and devotion to each other, and you have sealed these promises by the giving and receiving of rings.

Therefore, by the authority of God and through the authority given me by the province of British Columbia as a minister of the Gospel of Christ, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife.

Neil and Anne, you are no longer two independent persons but one. What therefore God has joined together let no man separate.

Neil , you may kiss your bride.

PRESENTATION

Ladies and gentlemen, please rise and join with me in congratulating Mr.& Mrs. Neil C! Clap.

PICTURE TAKING RECESSION Please sit down

RECESSION