Untitled Sermon (3)

PRELUDE

Time prelude music begins: __2:35___

Groom and Pastor come out the side door - 3:00

Seat Parents

Groomsmen and bridesmaids descend together

PROCESSIONAL of the Bride with Aaron

WELCOME/CALL TO WORSHIP

We want to welcome everyone as we are gathered here to worship God and bear witness to the marriage of _Gabriel Lee Tucker_ and _Kelly Lee Buckton.

Prayer

Our Father, we come before you on this holy occasion with our hearts filled with the spirit of love and thanksgiving. We praise and worship you as the giver of life and creator of all good things. As we enter into this service, we most particularly give you thanks for the holy union of marriage, the most sacred of all human relationships. We pray for your presence here today and your blessings upon Kelly and Gabe as they enter their new life together. Above all else, we thank you for Jesus, who gives meaning, direction, and hope to all human relationships. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Congregation Please be seated.

The giving of the Bride

Who is giving this woman to be married to this man?

Bride’s father answers: “Her mother and I.”

Join Right hands

CHARGE

Gabe and Kelley, marriage is an honorable estate whose bond and the covenant was instituted by God in creation. Our Lord Jesus Christ adorned and beautified this holy estate by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his church. And the Holy Scripture commends it to be honored among all people. Therefore, no one should enter this state of life unadvisedly, lightly, or wantonly; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly, and in the fear of God; duly considering the causes for which matrimony was ordained.

DECLARATION OF INTENT

“ Gabe will you take Kelly to be your wife, to live together in the holy covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor her, and keep her in sickness and in health and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her so long as you both shall live? If so, answer, “I will.”

“ Kelly, will you take Gabe to be your husband, to live together in the holy covenant of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him so long as you both shall live? If so, answer, “I will.”

PRAYER

ASCEND PLATFORM (with B&G, Best man and maid of honor)

SCRIPTURES & Sermon

Gabe and Kelly, Marriage is both a creation and a gift of God; Designed by God to point to Him. Marriage is also a grace and a picture. It is grace for both life’s joys and sorrows will be shared from this point on in your life. Marriage is also a picture of Christ's love for his church and Jesus' devotion and submission to His Father. Ephesians 5:21-33 says,

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.

Therefore your marriage will forever point to the gospel of grace who loved the unloveable and forgives the unforgivable. Model Christ in this way and your marriage will be filled with joy that will weather even the toughest storms.

The most important thing in your life is not each other but Christ. The closer you are to your Jesus Christ the closer He will bring you together. Don’t compromise your relationship with the Lord for career or prosperity for the God who is your witness this day will provide for you according to his riches in glory.

Your marriage is witnessed this day in a threefold unity of God, His church, and these witnesses. I can not promise you an easy life, only that if Christ is preeminent there will be joy, grace, and provision.

Gabe, love Kelly as Christ loves his church. Give your life for her by being a godly humbly spiritual servant leader in your home. In other words, Love her as Christ loves you.

Kelly, love Gabe by your honor and submission to him. That is, your pattern of honor and submission is like that of Jesus to his father. For Gabe is responsible before God in how he loves and leads you and your family.

VOWS

“I,_Gabe_, take you,_Kelly_ to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, and according to God’s holy plan, I give you my love.”

“I, Kelly take you, Gabe to be my wedded husband …” to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, and according to God’s holy plan, I give you my love.”

Scripture

The Word of God tells us what love is like and what love does:

1 Corinthians 13:1–7, 13

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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.

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

RING

Having this kind of love in your hearts, you have chosen to exchange rings as the sign and seal of the vows you are making today. (Take rings from best man.)

While holding the ring(s), say:

Though small in size, these rings are very large in their significance. Made of precious metal, they remind us that love is not cheap nor common; indeed, true love is always costly.

Made in a circle, their design tells us that your love for each other must never come to an end; you must keep it continuous.

As you wear these rings, whether together or apart for a moment, may they be constant reminders of these covenant promises that you are making today.

(Hand ring to Gabe)

“, Kelly with this ring I thee wed, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

(Hand ring to Kelly)

“, Gabe with this ring I thee wed, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

PRAYER (joy, grace, and provision)

DECLARATION & PRONOUNCEMENT

Forasmuch as and have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this congregation, and in so doing have given and pledged their vows to each other, and have declared the same by the giving and receiving of a ring, I pronounce Gabe and Kelly husband and wife, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Those whom God has joined together let no one put asunder. Amen.

Necklace Joining

Presentation of the Bride and Groom

I present to you for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel Tucker.

Gabe, you may Kiss Your Bride

Bride and Groom Exit (Music begins)

Best man and Maid of honor exit

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen exit together

Mothers & Fathers exit with escort

Announce & dismiss

You are cordially invited to a reception and refreshments in the fellowship hall directly behind us. If you can’t stay for the reception you also have an opportunity to speak to the bridal party on your way out.