WEDDING VOW RENEWAL

On behalf of Russell and Bibi George, I want to welcome all of you to this special ceremony.

This is a happy occasion and a special opportunity for us to gather together.

There are thousands of wedding each year but how many of those after 25 years years will “I’d marry you all over again?

It is appropriate that we seek the Lord's presence as we gather today .

“Father you have created the universe [what the cosmologists call the Big Bang]. You have created us in your likeness and image and made us for one another. It is with great joy that we join together this evening as Russell and Bibi renew their vows before you and this company. We know that you are already present with us. We ask that we would especially sense your presence. We are your children. Thank you honoring us with your presence this evening. Amen.”

Recently read the story - Woman wearing the ring on the wrong finger.

recently read the story - Woman wearing the ring on the wrong finger.

Recently read the story - Woman wearing the ring on the wrong finger.

Certainly Russell and Bibi have no second thoughts. Making a renewal.

: 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

20 … But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then 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.”

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman,

because she was taken out of Man.”

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Eph. 5.22-

Ephesians 5:22–33 ESV

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.

Genesis 2:15 ESV

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Gen.

Genesis 2:18 ESV

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

Gen 2.18

English Standard Version Chapter 2

But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.

Colossians 3:12–19 ESV

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.

COl. 3

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 ESV

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

. 4-

There is great cosmic conflict being waged in the universe. This conflict also rages in the human heart and homes.

A conflict of light vs darkness, good vs evil, right vs wrong, God vs The Evil One.

Since you and I live in a broken world where we are being influenced by both sides of these powers, we see shades, reflections of both in our daily lives and our homes.

Russel and Bibi were married on the 25th September 1993 and will soon be celebrating 25 years of marriage.

There are thousands of wedding each year but how many of those after 25 years years will “I’d marry you all over again?

The wedding day would have reflected the intense passionate love, the joy, hope and beauty of marriage. The Light

But we all know that as the years progressed we would have seen the dark side manifested. Presence of Sin.

Manifested in our hearts and spilling into our homes.

But it’s as if we are entirely at the mercy of these two powers.

When God created us, He have us the power of choice.

Choose you this day whom you will serve.

They are making the decision to continue the dream, the hope, love, joy of marriage.

All good things come from God.

He made us in His image, found that it wasn’t good for man to be alone and so made him a woman.

Just think how well a woman compliments a man - we refer to them as the better half.

A beautiful marriage is gift from heaven.

Regardless of what life throws at you, with a loving, committed spouse by your side, you can weather many storms.

God made marriage and He knows that marriage helps us to fulfil our hidden potential.

In marriage, health, wealth benefits, even your love-life is better.

- One 2005 study from Ohio State University found married people "experience a per person net worth increase of 77% over singles. Additionally, their combined wealth increases on average by 16% for each year of marriage."

Unfortunately we all know of many marriages that fail. You even want to kill your spouse.

Incidentally -Novelist who wrote ‘How to Murder Your Husband’ charged with murdering her husband.

I asked both Russell and Bibi to share some thoughts about marriage:

Russell: - commented on marrying at a young age, preparation for children, getting to know your spouse.

Happy, long-lasting relationships can happen for anyone. You just need to know how to work out the problems that come with relationships.

Bibi:

Trust each other

No secrets

Sharing everything. Joint ownership.

we always put our salary together everything we own is joint and we always communicate and #

Believe in God and always trust the lord

Nothing in life helps you to grow and mature as an individual as marriage.

Marriage shows us who we really are. It is a great cure for selfishness, narcissism.

All good things come from God.

He made us in His image, found that it wasn’t good for man to be alone and so made him a woman.

Just think how well a woman compliments a man - we refer to them as the better half.

A beautiful marriage is gift from heaven.

Regardless of what life throws at you, with a loving, committed spouse by your side, you can weather many storms.

God made marriage and He knows that marriage helps us to fulfil our hidden potential.

In marriage, health, wealth benefits, even your love-life is better.

- One 2005 study from Ohio State University found married people "experience a per person net worth increase of 77% over singles. Additionally, their combined wealth increases on average by 16% for each year of marriage."

Unfortunately we all know of many marriages that fail. You even want to kill your spouse.

Incidentally -Novelist who wrote ‘How to Murder Your Husband’ charged with murdering her husband.

Focus on the Family - Dr Tony Evans

Here are 10 principles of success I have learned from working with and observing hundreds of couples:

Happiness is not the most important thing. Everyone wants to be happy, but happiness will come and go. Successful couples learn to intentionally do things that will bring happiness back when life pulls it away.

Couples discover the value in just showing up. When things get tough and couples don't know what to do, they need to hang in there and be there for their spouse. Time has a way of helping couples work things out by providing opportunities to reduce stress and overcome challenges.

If you do what you always do, you will get same result. Wise couples have learned that you have to approach problems differently to get different results. Often, minor changes in approach, attitude and actions make the biggest difference in marriage.

Your attitude does matter. Changing behavior is important, but so is changing attitudes. Bad attitudes often drive bad feelings and actions.

Change your mind, change your marriage. How couples think and what they believe about their spouse affects how they perceive the other. What they expect and how they treat their spouse matters greatly.

The grass is greenest where you water it. Successful couples have learned to resist the grass is greener myth — i.e., someone else will make me happy. They have learned to put their energy into making themselves and their marriage better.

You can change your marriage by changing yourself. Veteran couples have learned that trying to change their spouse is like trying to push a rope — almost impossible. Often, the only person we can change in our marriage is ourselves.

Love is a verb, not just a feeling. Everyday life wears away the "feel good side of marriage." Feelings, like happiness, will fluctuate. But, real love is based on a couple's vows of commitment: "For better or for worse" — when it feels good and when it doesn't.

Marriage is often about fighting the battle between your ears. Successful couples have learned to resist holding grudges and bringing up the past. They remember that they married an imperfect person — and so did their spouse.

A crisis doesn't mean the marriage is over. Crises are like storms: loud, scary and dangerous. But to get through a storm you have to keep driving. A crisis can be a new beginning. It's out of pain that great people and marriages are produced.

The Scriptures teach us that

The man is the head of the home

He ought to love his wife as himself and as Christ loved the church, sacrificing himself for her

The wife ought to submit to her husband.

Now the Bible is not misogynistic!

Children must obey their parents.

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 ESV

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends

Love is an action word. Being there. Doing something. Not waiting for a feeling.

Doing what is expected of you if you loved.

To love is to forgive, never harbor grudges, resentments, trying to get even.

To love is not having to win.

To love is to always remember why you married that person in the first place.

To love is to understand that God loves us when we were yet sinners. We were imperfect.

patient. kind - do you treat others better, bear up with their faults/shortcomings more than your family?

Not arrogant, rude, resentful - love has a different attitude.

Bears all things, hopes, endures.

Communication - Not only do we need to communicate but how do we communicate.

- Not only the need to communicate but the manner of communication.

Talk to each other. Talk to your spouse more than you talk to another person.

many men end up divorcing their wives and marrying their secretaries. Because they were talking more to their secretaries or vice versa.

Not that the grass is greener on the other side but the grass is greener where you water it.

Bibi: Keep no secrets from each other.

Child from another relationship.

Finances. Joint ownership.

leading cause of divorce.

Communicate in love and wisdom.

some communication around problems turn out to be shouting matches, tearing down each other, physical altercations.

Russell: A better way to handle a heated moment would be to slow down, choose your words, and pay attention to how you're being perceived.

Happy, long-lasting relationships can happen for anyone. You just need to know how to work out the problems that come with relationships.

When couples are verbally fighting all the time, it’s only a matter of time before the bad D is in the picture.

Christ - Christ is the Head of this home.

- Christ is the Head of this home.

Bibi: Believe in God and always trust the lord

In the passage we read it speaks of the peace of Christ and the word of Christ.

Marriage is tough and it is even tougher without God.

My personal life is unthinkable without God much more my marriage.

It is under attack from our own selfish nature, the world telling us it will fail, Satan working hard to destroy us.

Jesus Christ comes to be Lord of our hearts and our homes.

When you are walking with God, His peace, power and presence is filling your life, it will impact your marriage.

God gives us the grace, wisdom, strength, love, ability to forgive and He Himself is there holding us together.

More marriages will succeed if couples turned to God.

As a society, we have pushed God aside and we are reaping the consequences - divorce, juvenile delinquency, addictions, gangs, guns, depression.

- Today it is as if people are looking for a way out. You can never have a wonderful marriage unless you are all in, for better for worse, no way out.

Tony Evans- A crisis doesn't mean the marriage is over.

we will make this work

We will rise above this problem. We will survive this setback.

We have been told one of the secrets of success is perseverance, determination, grit.

“Stay the course.” - referring to living for God. In marriage, stay the course.

Sometimes, we do have to work on problems. Too often, we want to work prematurely on all our problems. the element of control. Maybe we need to let the problems work on us. Many things work themselves out in time.