Wedding Biefeld

Genesis 2:20-24
Wedding of Daniel and Stacy Biefeld
June 12, 2004

Passionate Beginnings”

            We are gathered here today in the sight of God and in the presence of family and friends to witness the union of Daniel and Stacy in Christian marriage. May our Heavenly Father look down upon this event with his smile of approval. May the Lord Jesus Christ be present and add his blessing. May the Holy Spirit attend and seal these vows in love. For marriage is a gift given by our passionate God.  Today He is beginning something new.
      In the beginning, with great passion, God created the heavens and the earth and everything on the earth and above and below the earth. He said it was good. Then God created Man in His own image. God took special time and care in creating man for man would be his crown jewel of all creation. Then He said, “it was not good for man to be alone. God put Adam in a deep sleep and removed a rib from his side and created woman to be a helper and a companion for him.
      In the act of creation, God didn’t take the woman from mans head, so that she would rule over him, nor did God take a bone from Adams feet so that he would trample upon her. God took her from man’s side. Marriage is a partnership where two people walk side by side for the rest of their lives. God took the bone from the side so that she would be equal with him, and from close to his heart, so that he would love, cherish, and honor her. Then he presented woman to man to serve as his helper and companion. With great passion God gave the gift of marriage to deliver us from our isolation and our loneliness.
      Listen to what Adam said in as God presented His beautiful bride.  And Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
      Daniel, Stacy is not only going to be your wife she is going to be a part of you. She will be your helpmate, comfort and companion. She will help you in life. She will be your comfort it times of struggle; she will be your companion through it all. She is the one that God specifically designed for you. Stacy, Daniel will be not only your husband but he will be the one you talk to late at night, he will be the one that gives you comfort when no one else will. He will stand beside you even on the loneliest nights. God has designed him just for you. God has given you love and passion for each other.

            This is a love which goes at life with a passion. It is fashioned after God’s passionate love towards us, willing to pursue us, not willing to give up on us no matter how much we run away. This love is reflected in sacrifice, even the sacrifice of His own Son Jesus Christ on the cross to restore our relationship with Him through the forgiveness of sins. At the cross we see most clearly God’s passionate love for us. Through His Holy Spirit God gives us this passionate love. Such a passionate love is a love given by God which has the strength and courage to work through difficulties. This is not the drippy love of romance novels or television where people abandon each other when the going gets rough or someone flashier comes along.
      Such love requires work. It is hard work for a man and a woman to break old ties and establish a new set of priorities and commitments. Everything else must come second to your marriage. Such a love requires work especially in those times when you really don’t like each other very much and yet are still able to forgive each other. Such love comes from God. This love is deep and lasting, one of trust and commitment. It is a love of confession and forgiveness, being willing to admit wrong and forgive in grace.

            In the beginning God passionately created the heavens and the earth and all of creation. In the cross and through His Son’s death He passionately redeemed His creation.

Here He is passionately beginning a new creation in joining you together in marriage. 

            May God bless your beginnings today and may God bless your life together, giving you the passion and courage to continue what you have begun so well today. Amen