Fruitful Marriage

Thank for comingIntroduce yourself (names and how long married)Engage: how long have you been married (1,5,10+)

We are not expertsWe can not fix your marriage or make your marriage better, but you canToday will not solve all your problems but it will provide solutionsToday we will look at what the Bible says about marriageWe will provide practical truthsWe will do our best to answer questions

Marriage is all about stewardship (Tell story of hearing the voice of God regarding stewarding marriage)

The Bible begins and ends with marriage (; ). In between, marriage is a frequent topic. While stories and metaphors that describe the mutual love of a married couple or the children born to them are easily understood, today’s culture doesn’t seem to hold marriage in the same regard. We have countless TV shows, apps, social media etc. that are geared towards celebrating love and marriage but the stats still are not promising. On average, 2.3 million people get marriage per year; approximately 900,000 per year. The average is around 45-50%. Though debated, the rate is virtually the same for Christians. There are many reasons for this but if i were to simplify I would say it is because we stop stewarding it.

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

(ESV) — 18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.

(ESV) — 4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

(ESV) — 22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.

(ESV) — 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 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. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 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. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

(ESV) — 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 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.”

Barak: worship, kneel-bend the knee, receive blessing

Multiple applications: language indicates it is similar to being knighted. The qualified person kneels then is given authority

Surrender is connected to your blessingBeing blessed means God has imparted the ability to be fruitful

(ESV) — 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

(ESV) — 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

(ESV) — 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. The seed of blessing is in you, you just to steward it!

In order to see fruit, you have to go through seasons

Once thought dormant seasons were a lack of growth

Without tension, there is no balance

Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 (ESV) 1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. Seasons are necessary for growthTime ages you but seasons mature youMy broken ankle was a tough season but it drew us closer

I often believe we struggle in so many areas of our lives because we complicate how we are to live. When facing any circumstance, the key to unlock blessing is found in .

(ESV) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Love is a choice, not a feeling

(ESV) — 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Love is sacrificial

John 3:16 (ESV) — 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Choose love dailyWalk down the aisle; pick up socks

There is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is circumstantial, joy is being content through every circumstance

Philippians 4:11–13 (ESV) — 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Outside situations should never determine joy.Story about car accident and how we had limited resources but we still had joy. Practical JoyHave funLaugh oftenEverything can’t be a thing

(ESV) — 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Outside situations should never determine joy.Story about car accident and how we had limited resources but we still had joy. Practical JoyHave funLaugh oftenEverything can’t be a thing

Not the absence of conflict, it is the presence of ChristIs made, not kept

(ESV) — 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

(ESV) — 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. How to make peaceBe mindful of wordsForgive oftenBelieve the bestResolve quick...don’t let the enemy get a footholdFoothold/place/opportunity: In Greek it is topo, it’s where we get the word topography which means the detailed mapping or charting of the features of a relatively small area, district, or locality. Don’t allow the devil to map out where you are. When things are mapped out you know how to get to it, plan for it, circle it, poke at it. Don’t let the devil know how to get to you and poke at you. Go to the secret place.

How to make peace

Be mindful of words

Forgive often

Believe the best

Resolve quick...don’t let the enemy get a footholdFoothold/place/opportunity: In Greek it is topo, it’s where we get the word topography which means the detailed mapping or charting of the features of a relatively small area, district, or locality. Don’t allow the devil to map out where you are. When things are mapped out you know how to get to it, plan for it, circle it, poke at it. Don’t let the devil know how to get to you and poke at you. Go to the secret place.

(ESV) — 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

Impatience is the result of unmet expectations

Frustration with technology: WiFi, Social Media, News

Story of shopping

Patience develops and requires maturity

Get to know your spouse

Strengths Finder

Love Languages

Treat others the way you want to be treated

Luke 6:31 (ESV) — 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. Helpful and willingness to serve

Deals with integrity

Committed

Loyal

Truth even when you don’t see it

2 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV) — 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.

Don’t be so harsh

Proverbs 15:1 (ESV) — 1 A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Humility: operate with restraint

Sow what you want to see

(ESV) — 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Fruitful Marriage

Welcome

Welcome

Big Picture

What is it all about?

Exploring Biblical context of Marriage...

Scriptures on Marriage

Blessed

Seasons

Be Fruitful

Practical Fruit

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Goodness

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Self-Control

Closing