Tori and Braeden's Wedding

WELCOME

On behalf of the families of _______________________, we want to welcome you to this celebration of the wedding between _____________________.

We know what God thinks about weddings because it was at a wedding that Jesus did his very first miracle. Jesus took something that the world saw that was common such as water and turned it into something very, very special - the choicest of wines. That all happened by His touch. So today, we want to invite the presence of the Lord Jesus to this wedding where, with the touch of Jesus, He can take something that the world sees as common and He can turn it into something very, very special.

PRAYER

You may be Seated...

Father Gives the Bride Away...

"At this time you would usually hear in weddings a brief statement made by the Pastor which says 'Who-gives this woman to be married to this man?' and the father will answer, 'Her mother and I do.'"But let me explain a little bit of why this part of the ceremony is so important."“Until this time (bride's name) has been under the covering, or the care of her father or her parents.

Tori and Braeden’s Story:

It’s a tale as old as time! Braeden saw Tori on Facebook. This guy decides to take his game to the next level and DM’s her about flying (never flown before) — she messaged back!

Then texts — then phone calls — every day — they never felt more connected — they finally met in LA and some conversation over IN-N-OUT made the relationship more than just FB official

I asked them both to tell me 3 things that they love about each other...

Braeden said:

Considerate: how she talks to people is amazing

Genuine and Authentic connection: Never had that before

She is funny — she can always make me laugh

Tori said:

Attention to Detail: He remembered Tori’s love for Disney and even proposed at the one spot she loved the most

Patience: She’s reminded of waiting in line for tacos for hours

Loves my Family: I can see that he really wants to connect with them.

Message: Half People or Whole People

However, (___) you don't come down this altar as half-a-woman and now that you are going to be married, you're going to become whole. (____) you don't come down the altar as half-a-man or a partial man or an incomplete man and now that you'll be married, you'll be complete, you'll be made whole.

Because in actuality, as wonderful as (this bride) is and as wonderful as (this groom) is, you cannot fulfill each other's dreams and hopes. As wonderful as (this man) is, he will never fulfill your dreams (bride). As wonderful as (this bride) is, she will never fulfill all your hopes (groom)

You are not made whole in one another, (bride): you are made whole in Jesus Christ. (Groom) you are made whole in Jesus Christ.

Half People: Don’t actually marry each other, they marry an expectation. You expect (groom) to fulfill you, you expect (bride) to fulfill you. And it starts off as a taking proposition. And that will only set you up to be frustrated.

Whole People: start marriage off as a giving proposition because in Christ you are already whole, you are already complete in the Lord. You are secure and whole in Christ. So you can give away what you already are…that’s God’s design

This is how we can respect the office of a husband not necessarily the performance of that husband, but the office of a husband/wife in your life.

Love is not an emotion. It may be something which may include emotions, but love is a choice.

Life is not static, it is dynamic, It moves, it doesn’t stay still. Your love will need to increase as the years go by. You aren’t just saying yes to ‘today’ but to 5, 10, 25 years from now, when the unexpected happens..when you’re more vulnerable than you’ve ever been…etc

An important Question:

Not, “Do you love each other?” I’m going to ask you if you know that it is God’s will for you to be this woman’s husband and (bride) I’m going to ask you, “Do you know that it’s God’s will for you to be this man’s wife?”

So, (groom) let me ask you this question, “Do you know that it is God’s will for you to be this woman’s husband?” To which he answers, Yes.” “(Bride), do you know that it is God’s will to be this man’s wife?”

EXHORTATION TO THE GROOM:

(Groom), here are some exhortations out of Ephesians Chapter 5 that God gives to a husband.” And it says this,

“Husbands, love your wife just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her that He might sanctify her, having washed her with the water of His word, that He might present to Himself, the church and all her glory without spot or wrinkle.

(Groom): He’s saying that you get to love (bride) just like He loves (bride). (Groom), there’ll be days where you may throw up your hands and say, “God, how do I love this woman, what do I do, I don’t know what to do.” At that point, you will hear the Lord say, “(Groom), you love (Bride) just as I would love her.”

(Groom), one of the best prayers you can pray is this, “Lord, what are You saying to (___) today? Would You say that through me. Lord, how are You showing (____) that You love her today? Would You show that through me. Lord, how are You feeling about (_____), how are You thinking about (______)? Lord, feel those feeling through me. Let those thoughts come through me."

And (Groom), as (Bride) sees God's love coming through you, God's words flowing through you, God's heart flowing through you. Then she will sense the love of the Lord through her husband. And as beautiful as she is today, you'll notice an ever increasing beauty that will come from a spirit that's secured in the love of God that has been expressed through her husband on a daily basis.”

EXHORTATION TO THE BRIDE:

“And (Bride) Ephesians says,

"Wives submit to your husbands unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of wife just as Christ is the head of the church, He himself being the Savior."

Paul isn’t talking about power or control he is talking about a mandate of CARE and LOVE

What God is saying is to yield to your husband as unto the Lord; it means that you get to: Respect, Honor and Trust that your husband will hear the Lord on behalf of your family.

And one of the best prayers you can pray for your husband is that He would hear God.

Pray that he hears the Lord's words, pray that he will hear God's instruction And as you usher him to the Lord everyday, you will see an increasing maturity and an increasing wisdom, and an increasing sensitivity and all that you ever hoped in a husband you will see in (groom).

(GROOM) will need your input, he will need your insight and your wisdom. When you dialog and discuss things that are required to make wise decisions, he will need your discernment. So when a decision is needing to be made, you both get to trust that you are hearing the Lord.

At this time GROOM and BRIDE would like to read the vows they have written for each other...

VOW EXCHANGE:

“Will you turn to each other and we'll exchange vows. If you'll give your bouquet to your maid of honor, we'll share vows. The vows are simple. We'll start with the husband first.

I, (GROOM) take you (BRIDE) to be my wife. To have and to hold from this day forward for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. I will love you. I will cherish you, I will be faithful to you. And together we will walk into God's very best under the Lordship of Jesus Christ to realize His promises for our lives together, for our family, for our future. Until He takes us home to be with Him forever.

And the same is repeated for the wife.

RING EXCHANGE:

May I have the rings please...These rings are not signs of ownership or possession. You have both always has belonged to the Lord and always will — They are symbols of the vows you’ve taken today

Always redefine the circumstance according to your vows never redefine your vows according to your circumstance and let these rings be a reminder of that

In other words, you would instead say, "I know he loves me, therefore, this situation can be solved, this situation can be resolved.”

(GROOM) would you place this ring on (BRIDE) finger and with it repeat after me...

“With this ring, I thee wed, in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit."

And (BRIDE) would you put this ring on (GROOM’s) finger, and with it repeat after me...

"With this ring, I thee wed, in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit."

Prayer:

At this time, I have them put their hands on my bible. I lay hands on them, and I ask the congregation to pray with me. I say a prayer over them.

Now, under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and the State of Hawaii, I have the honor and privilege of pronouncing you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.

It is with great honor that I present to you for the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. (Braeden and Tori Walters)

That's it, down they go, and the wedding is complete