Leighton and Crow Noone - Wedding 9/29/2019 - 1 Cor 13 "Love"

Processional

Leighton and I at front, turn on music, Leighton goes to get Crow.

Upon return…Facing me.

Upon return...

Welcome

Family and friends, we gather here today to celebrate the wedding of Crow Penland and Leighton Noone.

Prayer

Let’s begin with prayer:

Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that you, the creator of heaven and earth, love us, care about us, and listen to our prayers. Lord, we ask that you would bless Leighton and Crow today and everyday in their marriage. Help them to keep you as the foundation of their lives and as the center of their family. Help them to love one another in good times and bad. We ask all this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Scripture Reading

Leighton and Crow have asked me to read a passage from in the Bible.

NIV

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 NIV

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

NLT

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 NLT

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 4–7 ESV

This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness? It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers! Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife. To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God. Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better. A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

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.

1 Corinthians 13:13 ESV

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 4:13 ESV

when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

Mini Message

As a pastor, I’m invited to be a part of peoples lives during many extremes.

From the most painful days of life to the most joyful days of life…and even the everyday, most normal experiences of life…much of my role in a persons life is to walk with them through the journey of life and faith…always prepared and willing to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.

In fact, let it be known that today, marrying Leighton and Crow, ranks high as one of the most joyful and rewarding blessings of my life. That’s the truth.

Getting to know each of you has been a great ride and I look forward to many more years of friendship and of watching the Lord work in your lives.

You see...

Weddings like today are a time of rejoicing.

Moments like these remind me that the sometimes hard grind of loving people through thick and thin…or even belief and unbelief, is absolutely worth it.

Today reminds me that 'Seeking God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength…and asking him to search your heart,’ is absolutely worth it.

Today reminds me that late night questions and prayers as we seek God’s will…absolutely worth it.

Today reminds me that allowing good people and wise counselors to speak into your life…absolutely worth it.

Today reminds me that even though loving others sometimes comes with pain…true love does not give up, does not lose faith, is always hopeful, and endures forever…and is absolutely worth it.

Today reminds me that even when he appears uninterested or uninvolved in our lives....God is working…and staying the course is absolutely worth it.

Today reminds me that God’s grace through Jesus Christ can prick any heart and restore any relationship and change any family’s future…and He is absolutely worth it.

Today we celebrate love and commitment…a love that is more than feelings…because feelings fade… love that is absolutely worth remaining commited to even when it’s hard.

You see, Jesus is the perfect example of love. He sacrificed everything and humbled himself by taking the form of a man, coming down from heaven to earth to die for us.

He gave up his life so all who believe in him could have full, abundant life.

His sacrifice was out of his great love for us. In the same way, my hope is that you, Leighton and Crow, would lay down your lives for one another - giving up yourself to the other in the same way that Jesus gave his life for you.

If you want your marriage to be strong and to last, you must choose everyday to put the other persons desires ahead of yours. For them, for your marriage, for your family....yes, for Brody. That’s true - Christ-like Love.

That kind of growing, long-lasting, Christ-centered love is my forever prayer for you.

It has been a true joy to walk with each of you as your pastor and friend…guiding you on this path of learning more each day what it looks like to faithfully follow Jesus as Lord and Savior.

It has been a true joy to walk with each of you as your pastor and friend…guiding you on this path of learning more each day what it looks like to faithfully follow Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Declaration of Intent (I DO’s)

Leighton and Crow, I’d like you now in the presence of God and these witnesses to declare your intention.

That brings us to why we’re here today.

Leighton, do you take Crow to be your wife? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, respect her, and be devoted to her as long as you both shall live? If so, please say, “I do.”

Leighton: “I do.”

Love. No doubt you’d say for years

Crow, do you take Leighton to be your husband? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, respect him, and be devoted to him as long as you both shall live? If so, please say, “I do.”

Crow: “I do.”

Vows

Now as a sign of their promise to one another, Crow and Leighton will exchange their vows.

Please join hands and face one another.

We will start with Leighton. Repeat after me.

As God is my witness - I Leighton - take you Crow - to be my lawfully wedded wife - to have and to hold - from this day forward - for better, or worse - for richer, or poorer - in sickness and in health - to love and to cherish - till death do us part.

Crow, please repeat after me.

As God is my witness - I Crow - take you Leighton - to be my lawfully wedded husband - to have and to hold - from this day forward - for better, or worse - for richer or poorer - in sickness and in health - to love and to cherish - till death do us part.

Exchange of Rings

Leighton and Crow will now exchange rings as a symbol of their commitment to each other.

Let these rings be a reminder of the promise you’ve made today.

Brody, do you have the rings.

Crow please put this ring on Leighton’s finger and repeat after me:

With this ring - I marry you - and bind my life to yours - with all of my heart - and all of my soul.

Leighton please put this ring on Crow’s finger and repeat after me:

With this ring - I marry you - and bind my life to yours - with all my heart - and all my soul.

Pronouncement

Leighton and Crow, by the power vested in me as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I pronounce you husband and wife!

You may kiss the bride!

Friends and family, it’s my honor to be the first to officially present to you, MR & MRS LEIGHTON NOONE!