Good and Married

Wow! I can't believe it! 10 years ago yesterday, Bryan and I became "good and married".

I found my precious copy of Pastor Don's outline and I thought it would be fun to have these words captured here...I am so grateful that he gave these to me, what a gift!

It's been a long journey to this place-to this moment.

Your lives have taken many turns along the wayYou specifically wanted the song that Sharon sang to be part of this celebration. ("I know how the River Feels by Ty Herndon)

You do know, don't you, how a river feels?

You know how simple life seems at the very start, and yet you how complex it can become.

You've known moments of reflection...still water, quiet currents when friends and family have over the years been encouraging and training and strengthening you. You've experienced as well the unexpected rapids-when life churned out of control.

You have been in stretches where everything was running well. And I know you've chosen at times to follow what we would call 'run-offs' - side streams that end nowhere.

But not today!

Not today. For almost 750 days, Bryan, you and Suzie have grown closer together. And in this ceremony, your two lives will, in the eyes of God-be fully joined together as one. You each come to this morning with individual strengths and experiences. You come as well with the loving support of your family.

I know you love each other. I know your family loves you. What I want to underline as well is how very much God loves you. His design for you-for your life together-is incredibly good. His desire for you is that you would experience the very best of His presence-that you would know His love!

What an amazing gift that is...

In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul reminds us that

We could say all the right words to each other

But without love, we'd just be noise.

We could sound very religious-have the vocabulary of faith exactly right-but without love, it adds up to nothing, or worse.

We could even do unbelievable acts of sacrifice,

But without love it wouldn't produce spiritual life.

The good news is this

Not only is LOVE God's design and desire for you

He personally delivers it through Hi Son, His Spirit, His word.

And as you commit your lives to Him, you are able with that love,

To love each other.

If then it is your desire to commit your life together

And to do that not only in your own strength,

Not only with the encouragement of family and friends,

But to do so in the eyes of God and with His blessing,

Then I want to ask you to come up the stairs as we prepare to hear your vows.

Bryan, Suzie...

The world has such a distorted view of marriage-

That it's not important. That when vows are broken, there are no real consequences. That along with so many products, relationships are disposable.

But the world is wrong! Tragically wrong!

Marriage was part of God's plan from the very beginning.

Bryan, Genesis says that whatever God would create, He would stop and say-it was good.

And then He created man - and for the first time, we hear God say-it's not good-not referring to His creation, but to man's situation-It's not good for man to be alone. And so the Lord created woman to be man's helper, his partner, his companion, specially suited for him. And he for her.

Suzie, I've been learning about EUKANUBA-I know you sell it and Bryan I know you stock it.

I've been intrigued by the word, so I got our my Greek N.T.

I'm sure the product founder never had this meaning in mind,

But let me tell you what I found.

EU means 'good' in Greek

KA is a form of the word 'and'

and NUBA - if you change just one letter-the B to a M, you have a word that in its feminine form means bride. In it's masculine form-bridegroom. And in it's neutral form-wedding place. In Latin the word NUBARE means ...marriage!

From now on, every time you see the word Eukanuba...Every time you stock, every time you sell it, I want you to realize that you are both "Good and Married"!

That's God plan for you life..

To achieve it takes the kind of love Paul described in 1 Cor 13.

A love that's patient -won't always follow your time table.

A love that is kind. It doesn't envy. It doesn't boast

It isn't proud - not rude, not self seeking, not easily angered.

Keeps no record of wrongs. No phrases like..."what about the time you?" or

"you've done this 17 times that I know of"...

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes. Always perserveres

Love never fails.

Powerful thought.

Overwhelming. In your own strength-Impossible! But you don't stand here in your own strength. You stand here as believers in the transforming power of Jesus. And in His love, you come to make this commitment.

So, here we are 10 years and two beautiful kids later; still commited to each other. I read those words now knowing how true they are. It is because of Jesus that we celebrate this day and the strength He has given us to get through the rough times. God continues to bless us in the good and the bad...beyond measure.