Christian Wedding Ceremony
Sample 18
Giving Away of Bride
Pastor -- "Who gives this woman to be wedded to this man?"
Parents -- "We do"
Remarks
The Word of God has declared marriage to be honorable in all. It
is an institution of God, ordained in the time of man's innocence,
before he had sinned against his Maker, and been banished from the
Garden of Eden. It was given in wisdom and in kindness, to
repress irregular affection, to support social order, and to provide
that, through well ordered families, truth and holiness might be
transmitted from one age to another. Above all, how-ever,
marriage was given that; through the love, faithfulness, and building
up of the husband and wife by one an-other; God may be served more
completely and effectively. Earlier than all laws of merely human
origin, it lies at the basis of all human legislation and civil
government, and the peace and well being of the community and country.
We learn from the history of our Savior, that He honored a marriage
festival with his presence, and per-formed there the beginning of his
miracles. And by his Holy Spirit, speaking through his apostles,
He has selected this union of a man and a woman as a fitting example of
the union that binds together Himself and us, His ran-somed
church. A relationship that is consecrated in this manner,
should not be formed thoughtlessly and irrever-ently; but advisedly, in
the fear of God, and for the purposes for which He, its Divine Author,
has ordained and blessed matrimony.
Prayer
Message
1. A Commitment (Gen. 2.18-20)
Marriage is a lifetime commitment made before God and man. It was
ordained by God before the fall. From this point on you do not stay
married because you love. You choose to love because you have made the
com-mitment to be married.
2. An Illustration (Eph. 5.21-33)
Marriage is a living illustration of the kind of intimacy God desires to have with us through faith in Christ.
3. Work (Rom. 3.10; Gen. 3.6)
Marriage involves two fallen and sinful people coming from two separate
backgrounds and living in a fallen and sinful world. Therefore
good marriages don't just happen. They take work.
Question
Pastor -- "Is this the commitment you have come here to make?"
Bride and Groom -- "It is."
Song (optional)
Wedding Vows
Pastor -- "Please join hands and repeat after me"
"I, <Groom>, take thee, <Bride>, to be my 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 cherish,
till death us do part, accord-ing to God's holy ordinance; and thereto
I pledge you my faithfulness."
"I, <Bride>, take thee, <Groom>, to be my 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 cherish,
till death us do part, ac-cording to God's holy ordinance; and thereto
I pledge you my faithfulness."
Ring Vows
Pastor -- "May I have the rings? The circle, the emblem of
eternity; and gold, the emblem of that which is least tarnished and
most enduring. It is to show how lasting and imperishable is the faith
and love now mutually pledged."
Please repeat after me -- "I give you this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness."
As the union now formed is to be ended only by death, it becomes you to
consider the duties you now sol-emnly assume. If these be
remembered and faithfully discharged they will add to the happiness of
this life, light-ening by dividing its inevitable sorrows, and
heightening by doubling all its blessedness. But if these obligations
be neglected and violated, you cannot escape the keenest misery as well
as the darkest guilt.
It is the duty of the husband to provide for the support of his wife,
to shelter her from danger, and to cherish for her a manly and
unchanging affection, it being the command of God's Word that husbands
love their wives even as Christ loved the church and gave his own life
for her.
It is the duty of the wife to reverence and obey her husband, and to
put on the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is, in God's
sight, an ornament of great price, His Word commanding that wives be
subject unto their own husbands, even as the church is subject unto
Christ.
It is the duty of both to delight each in the society of the other, to
remember that in interest and in reputa-tion, as in affection, they are
to be henceforth one and undivided; to preserve an inviolable fidelity,
and to see to it that what God has joined together man never tears
apart.
Prayer
Unity Candle (optional)
Song (optional)
Pronouncement
"By the authority committed unto me by the state, and inasmuch as you,
<Groom> and <Bride>, have committed yourselves to one
another before God and in the presence of these witnesses, I pronounce
you husband and wife."
Kiss
"You may kiss the Bride."
Introduction
I am honored to be the first to present Mr. & Mrs. <Groom> <Last Name>