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| Bride, Nicole Kamana; and her sister and Maid of Honor, Isabella |
“Who gives Nicole away?”
“Her family and I” - FRANCIS
·
Introduction:
“Dearly beloved, we are
gathered together in the sight of God and in the face of these witnesses to
join together this man, Yves Musiine and this woman, Nicole Kamana in Holy
Matrimony. Marriage is an honorable
institution, instituted by God, signifying the union of Christ and His
Church. It is not to be entered
lightly, but thoughtfully in the fear of God.
·
PRAYER OF BLESSING:
“Our Holy Sovereign Father,
We gather today to unite Yves and Nicole in marriage. We believe
this day has been planned by you from before Creation. We believe
you intend for their marriage to display Your glory. May you
dwell in our presence today. May today be one for Your honor. May you
bless the marriage of Yves and Nicole. May their home be filled with children, family,
and friends. May their home be a place where we all find joy
and wisdom. May coming generations be blessed by the events
of today.
We ask these matters in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen
1 Corinthians 13 - Love Is the Greatest – Reading by Mucho
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| Yves and Family |
13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but
didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood
all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith
that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and
even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;[a] but if I
didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
·
Sermon:
The Apostle
Paul by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote to church in Ephesus,
“Even before he
made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in
his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to
himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him
great pleasure. … He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with
the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He
has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
9 God has now
revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own
good pleasure. 10 And
this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the
authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth…. for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according
to his plan.
(Ephesians 1:4-11, The New Living Translation.)
Paul in writing to Ephesus told the big picture history of God and
humanity. One of my favorite
professors in seminary, Dr. Ed Mathews
stated it with this sound bite, “God was a Redeemer before He was a Creator.” God is Omniscient. He knows everything. Before He created the world He knew what
would become the future. Those God
created in His own image would betray Him.
God’s nature of Holiness could not tolerate such an affront. The
only way for humanity to be restored to God’s intent would be the sacrifice by
horrible death of God’s Own Son.
If I was constructing a building and I foresaw the building would cost
the life of my son I would terminate the project. In fact, I would tear it down.
Yet, God chose before Creation
that He was a Redeemer. He would pay
the price to redeem His Creation.
We call this story the Gospel.
Literally, it means Good News.
The story is timeless. All need
to hear it. All must make a choice with
eternal consequences. All can be
blessed by the Gospel.
As God describes the process of the Gospel restoring humanity family
illustrations are used. One of the most
enduring is the parable Jesus spoke of the Lost Son (Luke 15). Jesus told this story to make it abundantly
clear – God is an mzee who runs to forgive and restore.
Theologians notice two family metaphors used to explain the Gospel. They are Adoption and Marriage. These illustrations are timeless. Both
the Old and New Testament use these illustrations of Adoption and Marriage to
explain God’s love for created humanity.
In Ezekiel 16 God uses the parable of adoption to explain that all
humanity is like a child abandoned and left to die in a field. Yet, instead of the child dying by exposure;
God rescues the child, incorporates her into his family, and blesses her future
as a treasured jewel.
God describes this love in Isaiah 49 with these
words,
“Can a mother forget her nursing
child?
Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?
But even if that were possible,
I would not forget you!
See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. (Isaiah 49:15,16, New Living Translation.)”
Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?
But even if that were possible,
I would not forget you!
See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. (Isaiah 49:15,16, New Living Translation.)”
God describes humanity as “made in God’s
image (Genesis 1:27).” As such it our
both our nature and responsibility to see, feel, speak, and do the actions of
God. How do we do this?
Paul made it clear. Our lives are part of God’s grand
history. He intends for all things on
heaven and earth to be brought under the authority of Christ. It is part of God’s eternal plan for us to
marry, celebrate, produce children, adopt children, and build on earth the
institutions that bless future generations until the Lord returns.
Marriage is the
first institution God created to bless future generations.
God’s word states in Genesis 1,
“The Lord God said,
“It
is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Now the Lord God had formed out of the
ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to
the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living
creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the
birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam[a]
no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was
sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[b] and then closed
up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a
woman from the rib[c] he had taken out
of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The
man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man. ”
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man. ”
24 That
is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they
become one flesh.
25 Adam and his
wife were both naked, and they felt no shame (Genesis 1:18-25. New International Version.)”.
God is the Designer of Marriage. He saw the first man’s loneliness and said,
“It is not good for man to be alone.”
God sees our circumstances and understands our deepest loss and
loneliness. He will not leave us
alone. God says, “I will make a helper
for him.”
The purpose of
marriage is to help one another in the responsibilities of life. God
brings a man and woman together to fulfill both their deepest longings and
God’s intent for their marriage to display His glory. They leave the comforts of their past homes
and form a new one. In this process our
community is blessed by their shared wisdom, joy, and service.
In
the Holy Institution of Marriage their extended families are united for
purposes beyond today’s capacity. This process
involves both an honoring of the past heritage, and a separation from the
past’s limitations. A new authority
structure begins with their marriage as the man leaves his father and mother to
be united with his wife.
There is no shame in marriage. Children are produced. Children are adopted. Godly offspring fill the earth. Their home is full of laughter and grief,
joy and comfort, wisdom and grace.
Their home becomes a meeting point for a
community. Children for generations
fill the home. Plans are made for these
children. Institutions are created for
these children.
The legitimacy of these marriages are
displayed by a lifelong commitment, the approval of the extended families and
culture, compliance to government regulation, and most importantly a shared
faith community blessing the new marriage.
Our marriages display the relationship all
of us who believe in Jesus share.
The Apostle Paul by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote,
“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives, submit yourselves to your
own husbands as you do to the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the
head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 4 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives
should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands,
love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
26 to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the
washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or
wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy
and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love
their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but
they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father
and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[b]
32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and
the church. 33 However,
each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must
respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:21-33. New International Translation.)”
This radical vision of following Christ raises questions rapidly. What if someone takes advantage of me? What if I am misunderstood? What if I am left alone at loss?
Yes, life in faith requires humility, courage, and trust. After all, marriage symbolizes the very nature of the Gospel. How do we flawed humans find hope?
God wades in when life is messy. He sacrifices the life of His Son to save humanity.
Husbands you must live in this profound responsibility. You must turn off ESPN and the news when the family is messy. You must listen well. You must discern. You must labor. You must guide. You must heal. You must be willing to give up all the temporary comforts of this earth for a greater good. Your life must be considered nothing. Your family needs you to sacrifice as Christ sacrificed for the Church.
Wives, in such a sacred relationship you must submit to your husbands. It is interesting that Paul does not command you to love. However, obedience is part of love, and love becomes a natural outflow when the one you follow sacrifices deeply. In seasons of mystery, you must trust and choose to follow.
The reason we live in these profound mysteries is because of the Gospel. God chose to use the illustrations of family to communicate His deepest intentions for humanity. These illustrations are Adoption and Marriage. With these illustrations we have the profound human responsibility to proclaim the Gospel – The Hope of the World.
·
Declaration:
“Do you Yves take Nicole as your wife
to live together in the holy state of marriage?
“I do”
“Do you Nicole take Yves as your
husband to live together in the holy state of marriage?
“I do”
·
Vows:
“Take each other’s right hand and
repeat after me”
“I, Yves take you
Nicole as my wife”
“To have and to hold”
“From this day forward”
“For better, for worse”
“For richer, for poorer”
“In sickness and in health”
“To love and to cherish”
“Forsaking all others”
“Till death do us part”
“I, Nicole take you Yves as my husband”
“To have and to hold”
“From this day forward”
“For better, for worse”
“For richer, for poorer”
“In sickness and in health”
“To love and to cherish”
“Forsaking all others”
“Till death do us part”
·
Exchange of Rings
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| Nicole and Ring Bearer |
“Rings represent a symbol of eternal
love and commitment with no start or finish.”
“Yves place the wedding ring on Nicole’s left hand ring finger and repeat
after me:”
“I give you this ring as a symbol of
my love”
“And with all that I am and all that
I have”
“I honor you”
In the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit”
“Nicole place the wedding ring on Yve’s left hand ring finger and repeat
after me:”
“I give you this ring as a symbol of
my love”
“And with all that I am and all that
I have”
“I honor you”
In the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit”
·
Unity Candle:
"The two outside candles have been lit by Yves and
Nicole’s aunties to represent their lives to this moment. The lights,
representing the faith, wisdom, and love they have received from their
families.
Now they will light the unity candle from these outside
lights. As they join now in marriage,
there is a merging of these two lights into one light.
This is what the Lord
meant when He said, "On this account a man shall leave his father and
mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall be one flesh." From now
on your thoughts shall be for each other. Your plans shall be mutual, your joys
and sorrows shall be shared alike.
Each of you take a candle and together light the center one,
to represent the union of your lives. As this one light cannot be divided,
neither shall your lives be divided but a united testimony in a Christian home.
May the radiance of this one light be a testimony of your unity in the Lord
Jesus Christ.
·
Proclamation:
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| Yves and Groomsmen |
“As Yves and Nicole have consented to marriage
in the presence of these witnesses and given their vows to one another, as a
minister of the gospel, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
“You may kiss the bride”
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you
and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
