Wedding of Chelsea Boyd and Jordan Bedker (2022)

Ephesians 5:21-33

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, friends and families of Jordan and Chelsea, what a great joy it is to be here and to celebrate this most blessed gift that God has given to man and woman, that they should be united to each other and find the help and support they each need to go through this life.

Now when God created Marriage to fix the first thing He saw that was not good. When God saw that in everything he had created was good, until he saw, that Adam was alone. There was no one fit to be a helpmate. So He fashioned from Adam’s flesh a bride, that would serve as a helpmate to him in this life.

That is why marriage has been found throughout the world, it is the foundational building block of all societies. For it is through this family unit that communities are built, that societies grow and flourish, and establish nations and governments that are meant to help order the world. When you undermine this most fundamental union between man and woman, you in turn affect society and bring great hardship.

That is why it was important for us to go through all those materials in Pre-marital counseling, and why we want to make sure that both of you understand the important roles you have in marriage and the struggles that come not only from the world outside, but from within our own sinful flesh.

For in marriage we are locking two sinners under one roof, until death parts you. Some days there will be bliss and you will think, ah it is a joyful and beautiful thing, why did we need to learn about conflict resolution, but there will be other days that are hard, and on those days, especially, you must fix your eyes on Jesus and see His love for you. See his patience, his kindness, and his willingness to suffer for the sake of His bride the Church.

There you will see what Husbands are to do, and what wives are to do, that in both cases they look to the needs of each other. Now it should be no surprise that the language here is intentional, that wives submit to their husbands and husbands are to love their wives. For husbands look for respect and wives look for love.

For you Jordan are being called to a high office, to love your bride as Christ loved the Church, it says that you are to love her as yourself, for the two become one, and that means you are to care for her as though she is you.

For you Chelsea, you are called to submit and respect Jordan, our culture does not encourage that, but part of the reason that marriages are falling apart is because a man who is not respected by his wife, feels little love from his wife.

This is not easy for either side for the fall into sin hurt both man and woman and their ability to fulfill both of these roles. That’s why we need to be reminded of these important parts of being husband and wife. For the sin that is inside of us will try to redefine marriage, away from one man, one woman for life, that the wife respects her husband and the husband loves his wife.

That is why it is so important that as both of you struggle with this in the years ahead to remember the forgiveness that you have received from Jesus. What sin have you committed that Christ did not shed his blood for? If Jesus was able to freely forgive you for all your sins, then what greater sin can your spouse commit against you? So forgive one another freely as you have been forgiven.

For the road ahead of you is long, but you don’t go alone. You not only have each other, you this gift of marriage that God made for man and woman. A gift that binds two people together until the end. You have with you today friends and family that can support you, should you ever grow weary. They can remind you on this day that you made a vow before God, and said for better and for worse, for that is what Christ did for you, when He shed His blood for his bride the church and claimed you as His own.

So Jordan and Chelsea, and all gathered here today, let us remember this day what Christ has done for all of us, and that He used marriage that blessed institution that came from God to show us the love that He has for his bride the Church. May we all reflect that love that Christ has for us in our own marriages. In Jesus name. Amen.