Wedding solemnisation

Andrew Franks

Wedding • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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Notes

Transcript

Welcome:

Welcome and introduce the first song

HYMN: WHO AM I?

Esther 4:1–17 ESV

1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry. 2 He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. 3 And in every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes. 4 When Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was. 6 Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate, 7 and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. 8 Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people. 9 And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.” 12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” 15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” 17 Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Esther

Message

Solemnisation of marriage

The groom stands on the right of the bride in front of the minister, who says:

As no lawful objection has been lodged to this marriage, we shall now proceed to solemnise it in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Beloved, we are gathered here in the presence of God and before this congregation to join together Heather and Warren in the holy estate of marriage. The apostle Paul commanded that marriage should at all times, and by all people, be approached in a reverent manner. Therefore it ought not to be entered into lightly or unadvisedly, but thoughtfully and reverently, duly considering the causes for which it was ordained.

Marriage, as a holy estate instituted by God, must be held in complete honour. So God’s word declares:

Genesis 1:26–28 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.”

Gen 1.26-28

God also said:

Genesis 2:18 ESV

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.”

And after God created the helper for the man, the man said:

Genesis 2:23–24 ESV

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

It is therefore clear that marriage was called into being and blessed by the Creator Himself as a divine institution for all mankind. Marriage has its origin in the wisdom and love of God and serves to uphold social law and order, while providing a basis of truth and holiness for all generations. Marriage is therefore at the basis of all social life and works toward peace and happiness for the people and the country.

We learn from the history of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, that He hallowed a marriage feast with His glorious presence, and performed His first miracle there. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul declared that marriage signifies the mystical union between the bride of Christ, His Church, and Christ Himself. Because marriage has been instituted and sanctified in such an exalted manner, it is the duty of everyone who enters into it to do so in all humility and modesty and in the fear of the Lord, realizing that the sublime function of married life is to strive towards inner unity one with another - a unity which can become reality only in Jesus Christ.

Let us now humbly give our attention to the instruction of the Word of God:

Ephesians 5:22–33 ESV

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.

Eph 5.22-

And now, in the presence of Almighty God as witness, He who knows our hearts and will reveal every secret on the Day of Judgment, and in the presence of this congregation, we call upon you to answer the following question.

To the groom: Do you Warren Michael Arthur declare that as far as you know there is no lawful impediment to your proposed marriage with Heather Claire McCall here present, and that you call all here present to witness that you take Heather Claire McCall as your lawful wife?

Groom: I do.

To the bride: Do you Heather Claire McCall declare that as far as you know there is no lawful impediment to your proposed marriage with Warren Michael Arthur here present, and that you call all here present to witness that you take Warren Michael Arthur as your lawful husband?

Bride: I do.

Andrew: clasp one another by the right hand

The bestman may hand the ring to either the minister of the groom. If handed to the minister, he will place them on his book and hand them to the couple, saying:

May this ring be the symbol of your unchanging and pure love for one another.

To the groom: Warren, do you take Heather to be your lawful wedded wife, to live together according to God’s holy ordinance in the holy estate of marriage? By the grace of God, will you lover her, care for her, protect, honour and support her in sickness and in health, prosperity and adversity, and, forsaking all other, keep only unto her until death do you part?

Groom: I do

To the bride: Heather, do you take Warren to be your lawful wedded husband, to live together according to God’s holy ordinance in the holy estate of marriage? By the grace of God, will you lover him, care for him, honour and obey him, in sickness and in health, prosperity and adversity, and, forsaking all other, keep only unto him until death do you part?

Bride: I do.

Andrew: On your solemn pledge, sealed by the giving and receiving of the ring, I declare that Heather Claire McCall and Warren Michael Arthur here present have been lawfully married, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And I exhort you to remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Matthew 19:6 ESV

6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Prayer: The couple kneeling. End the prayer with the benediction:

Numbers 6:24–26 ESV

24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Num 6.24

Numbers 6:24 ESV

24 The Lord bless you and keep you;

Hymn: When the music fades

Numbers 6:24–25 ESV

24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;