LISTEN

"Love that Lasts"

Pastor Laura Guy

January 15, 2006

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

We acknowledged that some of the main marriage advice found in the Bible was given by a lifelong bachelor - the Apostle Paul. Much of what he wrote on marriage has been misunderstood and misused, and many contemporary couples tend to disregard it.
We decided to tackle his unsettling advice found in Ephesians 5:21-33. You might notice that we started the passage at verse 21 instead of verse 22, where others often like to begin! We realized that this marriage advice comes after Paul has spent a great deal of time talking about the Christian life in general. He urges the church to live lives modeled after Christ - with morality, integrity and honesty. It is only then that he turns his attention to husbands and wives. He understood that a strong marriage should be grounded in a life truly devoted to following Christ.
Paul does tell wives to submit (obey) their husbands because the husband is the head (authority) over the wife as Christ is head over the Church. We looked at what kind of authority figure Christ is. He washed the feet of his disciples. He touched lepers. He forgave the woman caught in adultry. He held children on his lap. He was a servant leader - a humble, loving leader. In other words, for a husband to truly have authority as Christ does, he would submit himself to the wellbeing of his wife.
It is this mutual submission, based on the love of Christ, that can strengthen a marriage. It can help it withstand the storms that will come, and it can sustain a marriage when it's no longer fun and the spark of romance seems to have gone out. Sometimes, the love of Christ is the only love we can manage to feel for our spouses, but it will be enough to get us through the rough times.
We heard Rhonda sing a Nichole Nordeman song "We Build", in which she describes her marriage in terms of building a house. When her marriage was on the rocks, she wrote that it was just a pile of rubble and ruins. Yet, she tells her husband that if he will pick up the nails, she'll pick up the hammer, and together they will continue to build. (You can hear this song at the end of the sermon on the audio).
We asked God to bless the marriages represented in the room, making them stronger, healthier and happier.
We shared communion together as a family in Christ.