Wedding: Janet Eaton & John Mauro

Welcome, everybody. We are gathered here today for the wedding of John and Janet. Thank you all for coming to share in the joy of the bride and groom. Marriage is sacred, so let's begin with a word of prayer.

And I wanted to open my prayer with some words from Max Lucado, a little prayer poem that I found to be really well-written. And then I'll just go into my own extemporaneous praying. So Max Lucado writes these words.

Would you take these two of dust and bone, born of flesh, and then you, would you make them one? Would you speak again the words you spoke when Adam slept and Eve awoke? Would you let your wine replace our water and look with grace on this son, this daughter?

Oh, Lord of Eden, in your majesty, create again your tapestry. One heart where there were two, this is the prayer we lift to you. Let's pray. Father, we do thank you that you do this miraculous thing that the world cannot fully understand, but we as Christians do, that you, the supernatural God, can take two and make them one.

We thank you for this miracle that we will witness today, the joining of two. And as your word says, the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.

And so, Lord, we are here before you, thankful, Lord, for all that you have done. We have seen the work of your providence and how all things come together for good in your time and how you weave this tapestry, which from the backside looks gnarled and mangled and chaotic, but from the front side paints that beautiful picture of your goodness toward those who believe in you and to your glory.

And so, Lord, we commit this ceremony to you. We ask that you would be here with us and help us in all that we say and do. And we love you and praise you for all the good gifts you give to your children.

In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Well, the book of Ruth tells the story of an unexpected joy. If you remember, both Ruth and more than likely Boaz as well lost a spouse. It's unlikely that Boaz had been a bachelor until that late time in his life.

But by God's good providence, he brought an unexpected joy later in their life. And that was resulting from Ruth's obedience to God and Boaz as well. Both were collected with the people of God. And there in the assembly, they met one another.

It was God's plan. Now, we wanted to share, this was not an expected course that God brought you on. Neither one of you were looking for love. You didn't come to church to find a spouse. You were here looking for God.

And he had a good plan that caught you by surprise. Now, we know the plan of God. Yes. The plan of God often far exceeds, and always far exceeds the best that we could think or imagine. And like I mentioned, in the tapestry, we see the backside of the tapestry from our perspective.

And we don't know how all of the bad things in this life work together for good. But God does. You know the story of Ruth and Boaz, that from their line came the Messiah, Jesus Christ. They wouldn't know that at the time.

And so when you get to heaven, you see things from the heavenly perspective. And you understand all that God has done. Well, this is a beautiful day. And we are here to celebrate marriage. What is marriage?

Marriage is the plan of God to make the two one. It says in Genesis chapter 2, verses 21 to 25, that a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife. And the two shall become one flesh.

Well, this is God's design. It is a beautiful plan. There is a certain complementarity in marriage, which is sanctifying and is good. First of all, there is companionship. It was not good for man to be alone.

But rather, in marriage, there is a lifelong companionship. But also, in the Hebrew, when it talks about a help meet, what does that mean, help meet? Well, the word is edzer konegdo. And it means different in corresponding ways.

So there is a similarity. That is, the husband and the wife are the same before God, equal before God. Both fully bear the image of God. But there are differences between man and woman, which are corresponding to one another.

In other words, you complete one another. Man alone cannot reproduce. Neither can woman. But rather, in marriage, children come forth. But it's more than that. It is also the way that you complete one another in ways that you don't even expect.

There are ways which men need to be softened by women, taught to love, and learn that from one another. And men, in other ways, provide a model of fighting for the truth and standing for righteousness.

And in these ways, men and women complete one another. It is a beautiful design. And it is how God also sanctifies us in many ways. It's a beautiful plan. So the plan came from God. But there's a deeper truth.

Marriage is actually meant to be a picture of a heavenly bride and groom. That is, the groom is none other than Jesus Christ. And he comes down from heaven to win a bride. And that bride is the church.

All those people who believe in Christ are called, in the Bible, his bride. It is an amazing mystery. But it pictures the love in marriage is meant to be a picture of the love of God for his people, those who would believe in him.

And he welcomes those who would come. So it is a beautiful picture and one that demonstrates how our love should be, that as Christ loved the church, we are to love in the marriage and especially the husband loving the wife and the wife submitting to the husband in that perfect relationship.

It pictures Christ in his church. It is a gospel truth. And so if anybody here doesn't understand that, this, what you're seeing today, is more than human. It is supernatural. God is displaying his goodness in marriage as a display of that love that we would understand who Christ Jesus is, that he has come and so loved the world that he gave his own life to die for sinners like us, that we would be forever together.

There will be one day what is called the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, where all believers, the church, the bride, have a wedding supper with Jesus in heaven when we are finally all together and all who believe in him will be part of that glorious day.

Isn't that a wonderful truth? Well, if this is the case, then we ought to love, and this is my last point, we ought to love in the way that Christ has loved us. And he gave us a perfect description, not so much a definition, but a description of what love is to look like, from which I'd like to read 1 Corinthians 13.

Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. And so the charge from the scripture, husband and wife, is to love one another as Christ has loved us.

And the picture of that is here in 1 Corinthians 13. So this is our charge to you, to be selfless, to be willing to sacrifice, to be understanding, and to demonstrate the love of Christ in how you treat one another, so that the world may see and believe.

And so at this moment, we are going to play a song. And we would invite all of you who like to sing along to do so. This song is very special and was chosen by John and Janet, sovereign over us, because of that tapestry, seeing the sovereign plan of God, how he brings all things to beauty and to that picture, which we don't see in the moment.

But one day in heaven, we will see the beauty of that plan. So if you'd like to sing, you may. Or just listen.

There is strength in the sorrow. Our tears lead us in our castle of fear. You are working in our waiting. You're sanctified.

Chaplain Bill, do you have the rings? I do. Oh, good. All right, if each would take the ring for the other. At this time, we consider the symbolism of the wedding ring. What we'll do is we'll have you place the ring on the finger after you say, I do, or just as you say, I do, as a symbol.

But this symbol, the ring, though it's small in size, it's very large in significance. It's made of precious metal. And that reminds us that marital love is neither cheap nor common. But indeed, marital love is very valuable and very dear.

Its design is in a circle. And its design tells us that love must never come to an end. Christ loved us first, so we are able to love. You must keep love continuous, whether together or apart, for just a moment.

The ring is a reminder that you see every day, even on days when circumstances dictate that you might not see each other very much. As you wear these rings, may they be a constant reminder of the love you share and the promises you are making here today.

So John, we're going to ask you to go first. You're the leader. So please join hands. And then after you have said the I do at that time, slide the ring onto the finger. Do you, John, take Janet to be your wedded 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, till death do you part, according to God's holy ordinance?

I do. And Janet, do you, Janet, take John to be your wedded 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, till death do you part, according to God's holy ordinance?

I do. John and Janet, you have heard the words about love and marriage. You have exchanged your vows and made your promises and celebrated your union with the giving and receiving of rings. It is at this time that I now pronounce you husband and wife.

You may kiss the bride. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Morrow. Well, that is the conclusion of the wedding. This is it. You can walk down the aisle. Let's go. Yes. A bit less of that, yeah.

Yeah, but the song Sovereign Over Us was nice.