Savannah and Bruce Baker Wedding

Sacrament: Ritual action undertaken by the Christian Church that is understood as a visible sign of invisible divine grace. ~ Lexham Bible Dictionary

Marriage is Christian. Before the fall, marriage was.

Genesis 2:21–24 NIV

21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Genesis 2:21-

We believe that Godly marriage is a visible sign of a divine grace. We should treat it as such.

Ephesians 5:21 NIV

21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Focus

The primary focus that will lead to successful relationships.

Ephesians 5:21–33 NIV

21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Ephesians 5:21-

Mutual Submission is the key to a successful relationship, it is paramount for marriage.

When you need a reason, and you will need a reason, reverence for Christ. What Christ did for the church is the reason we have to submit to each other.

Please stand:

Do you, the people of God, vow to exemplify submission. To love, support, and disciple Bruce and Savannah into a life of submission and reverence? If so answer “we will.”

Intro:

Family and friends, we are gathered today to bear witness to the grace of God and as the people of God to administer the sacrament of marriage to Savannah and Bruce.

A sacrament is a ritual action undertaken by the Christian Church that is understood as a visible sign of invisible divine grace. ~ Lexham Bible Dictionary

It is this divine grace that makes this union sacred. It is not law of government or feelings of affection. It is not even our own action within the union or the vows we make. It is only the divine grace that makes it sacred, and that is what we testify to today.

Submission:

In the book of Ephesians the Apostle Paul says...

Unwholesome talk

Wisdom, psalms, hymns and songs

Ephesians 5:21–6:9 NIV

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—“so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Ephesians 5:21-

Mutual submission is an important reality for the church if it is to function as it should. Jesus taught us both by example and word that the path toward greatness in the Kingdom is by becoming a servant. Paul speaks of submission in his earlier letter to the Galatians by commanding...

Galatians 5:13 NIV

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

In first Peter he commands young men to submit to their elders and commands everyone else to exercise humility toward one another because God opposes those who are proud, but extends His grace to the humble.

Submission is never about blind obedience, it is about intentional humility.

Submitting to each other as we submit to Christ is about being to each other as we would be to Christ. How do we love Christ? That is how we will love each other.

It is only by the diving grace of God that we are capable of living in Submission to each other.

Embrace the grace of God in submission to each other and your marriage will flourish.

Kingdom People Vow

In a few moments will you make a covenant with God and each other to love and honor, to be humble. But before you make that vow, I want you to face your family and friends.

Please stand:

Savannah and Bruce are a refelction of the Gospel they have been taught. Therefore I ask you (the teachers) to make a covenant vow to them:

Do you, the people of God, vow to exemplify humility. To love, support, and disciple Bruce and Savannah into a life of submission to Christ and each other? If so answer “we will.”

You may be seated (Pastor Brown)

The Doxology:

Today a song has been chosen for us to sing in the unity of the spirit as a blessing over the joining of these two families. The mother of the groom, Mrs. Baker is going to lead us.

Wedding Prayer:

Eternal God, creator and preserver of all life, author of salvation, and giver of all grace:

Look with favor upon the world you have made, and for which your Son gave his life, and upon this man and this woman whom you make one flesh in Holy Matrimony

Give them wisdom and devotion in the ordering of their common life, that each may be to the other a strength in need, a counselor in perplexity, a comfort in sorrow, and a companion in joy.

Amen.

Introdution of the couple:

(Face your family) Family and Friends, For the first time I present to you Bruce & Savannah Baker.

If we need a reason...

We submit out of reverence for Christ.