Wedding Service 2012

Who gives this woman to this man? (Please Be Seated)

The Bible begins with a description of the creation. It describes the beginning of Heavens and the Earth, all plant life and animal life…everything.

After each day of creation, the Bible records, “and the Lord saw that it was good.”

But after creating man, God surveyed his new creation, and for the first time in recorded history the Lord said, “It is not good!” “I is not good for man to be alone!”

There was no one to be a suitable companion to share in the joys, sorrows, victories and defeats of life.

So in Gen. 2:21-24 we read: And the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, an he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh:

She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Prayer

Dearly beloved, we are gathered together today, in the presence of God, and the company of your friends and family, to join together this man, ---------- and this woman, ------------ in God’s Holy institution of marriage.

1 Cor. 13:1-13-Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part.

But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Do you ---------, take ---------- to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness or in health, until death do you part

Do you ----------, take --------- to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness or in health, until death do you part

-----------, do you give this ring as a sign of your love and commitment?

-----------, do you give this ring as a sign of your love and commitment?

To symbolize the importance of individuals within the marriage and the joining of two lives into one entity 3 colors of sand will be layered into a vase, (groom, bride and preacher each take their cases of sand)

We begin with a layer of neutral sand which symbolizes that the marriage is grounded (preacher pours sand in)

Then we layer the individual colors. This symbolizes that the marriage is based on the strength of the individuals (Bride and Groom take turns pouring the sand in)

And now we combine the colors, which symbolizes two lives joined as one together forever (Bride and Groom simultaneously pour their remaining sand in when done, the preacher holds up the full vase to the audience and then places it to the side.)

-------- and ------------, since you have committed yourselves to a lifelong love, before God and these witnesses, and since you have agreed to meet the needs of each other as long as you both shall live, and you have made your intentions public, acting in the authority vested in me by God and His church, I now pronounce you husband and wife!

You may kiss the bride!

I would like to present to you…Mr. and Mrs.