Zech & Lauralee

December 14, 2020

 Welcome
o Honor to share the day
o “A lasting marriage has lots of laughter”
 Spiders – met on web
 Ten years ago today – invisible man & woman
 Emotional day – cake in tiers
o Great marriage = God at the center
 Covenant w/ each other – 1st w/ God
 Ordained in Garden
 Honorable & sacred in Bible
 Prayer & blessing

Love. The Beatles sang, “All you need is love, love is all you need.” Our culture is
all about love & feeling loved. Marriages end daily because of the search for love.
People think love is all they need. It’s about finding that perfect person, their soul-mate.
When that’s complete their quest for being loved is over.
But marriage is not about love. Well, not primarily. It’s about portraying what is
true about Jesus Christ and the way he relates to His people. It’s about showing in real
life the glory of the gospel.

That in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and everything in
them. Then He created Adam & Eve in His image... and it was perfect. God placed them
in a perfect garden without barriers... living in perfect union with Him, each other and
all creation.

But the serpent came and tempted Eve, she ate... Adam was there, he also took
and ate... and all the barriers came up. Suddenly there was guilt, shame, fear and
blame... sin entered perfection and marred everything. See perfection is normal...
imperfection is abnormal. Unhindered communion with the triune God is normal... but
sin brought barriers and death.
 Judgment came but so did the promise in Genesis 3.15... “I will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall
bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

And God begins to call a people throughout the text of the Old Testament,
bringing about his saving purposes through the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He
delivered them out of slavery in Egypt. However, the people who had been amazingly
redeemed turned to sin and idolatry. Judgment came again and they went into exile in
Babylon and for the next 400 years there was not one word heard from God. Then a
baby named John was born, and he would be the prophet that would prepare the way
of the Promised Messiah. Mary, a young virgin with child by the Holy Spirit, gives birth
to a son named Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

At the age of 30 Jesus was baptized... identifying with the sin of His people, He
received the Spirit and was driven into the wilderness to be tempted in every way…and
there defeated Satan. Then He preached the GOOD NEWS of the Kingdom, healing the
sick, cleansing the leper, and raising the dead. But the people rejected Him and planned
to kill Him.

The thing is, it was planned from the beginning that He would be the last Adam
and bear the sin of His people and the wrath of God. So He was crucified, accursed of
God… He who knew no sin. Then 3 days later He gloriously took up his own life,
conquering sin & death. The Bible calls Jesus the first fruits of the resurrection, as He has
risen from the grave and now sits at the right hand of God in heaven. 2 Corinthians 5:21
says, “For our sake He [the Father] made Him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that
in Him [Jesus] we might become the righteousness of God.”

Jesus never sinned…in action, thought or attitude, yet God made Him to be sin.
And here we stand at the center of the gospel, in awe at one of the most profound
truths in all of Scripture. Jesus was sinless, yet God put ALL our sin on Him. And it was
God, in his mercy, that initiated this “so that in Christ, we might become the
righteousness of God.”

Let me put it this way: God so completely aligned Jesus with sin and its
consequences, that from the Father’s viewpoint, Jesus became indistinguishable from
sin itself…and in the same way, men & women with faith in Jesus are now so completely
aligned with righteousness, that from God’s viewpoint, we become indistinguishable
from Jesus’ righteousness.

Now, by believing this GOOD NEWS, you can repent of your sin & turn to God to
be counted righteous, because Jesus has taken your place and the punishment you
deserved. And the way back into the relationship with the Father that you were created
for, is open!

It’s the reality of this Gospel that marriage is intended by God to put on display to
the world. Our marriages are a real-life gospel show to everyone around us. This is
because He will never leave us or forget about us because He sent His only Son to live
and die and rise again…for us. How could we not want ALL of life to be centered on Him
as our ultimate reality… instead of our spouses? The key to your marriage, my marriage,
this marriage…is not being a perfect fit for each other for the rest of life. The key to
every marriage is God’s grace and power, which enables us to find everything our hearts
desire in God first.

So Zech & Lauralee, spend your life passionately pursuing Christ and loving Him
supremely. You will love each other MORE if you love Christ first, than if you put each
other in that place.

Let me put it this way: Zech, the way to love Lauralee the most is to love Jesus
more than her. Lauralee, the way to love Zech the most is to love Jesus more than him.
In the end, nothing else matters. In John 21, we find that Jesus’ question to Peter is the
one necessary question in life… everything else of importance flows out of this one
question: “Do you love Me?”

Jesus knows we will always do what we love most… and if we love Him most,
we’ll follow Him no matter what the cost, including dying to yourself in your marriage
and loving each other with a love that flows from the GOOD NEWS that God will never
leave us, forsake us or separate Himself from us. A love that will keep your heart and
mind fixed on Jesus and all that is good, instead of what we find lacking in each other.

Exchange Of vows

Declaration of Intent: Zech & Lauralee please face one another and hold hands...

Zech, do you take Lauralee to be your wife, to live together in the covenant of
marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor her and keep her; and forsaking all
others remain loyal to her as long as you both shall live? Zech Replies: “I Will”

Lauralee, do you take Zech to be your husband, to live together in the covenant of
marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor him and keep him; and forsaking all
others remain loyal to him as long as you both shall live? Lauralee replies: “I Will”

Zech please repeat after me...

I, Zech take you Lauralee / to be my wife / in the holy covenant of marriage / Before
God and these witnesses / I promise from this day forward / for better, for worse / for
richer, for poorer / in sickness and in health / to love and to cherish you alone / as long
as we both shall live

Lauralee please repeat after me...

I, Lauralee take you Zech / to be my husband / in the holy covenant of marriage / Before
God and these witnesses / I promise from this day forward / for better, for worse / for
richer, for poorer / in sickness and in health / to love and to cherish /you alone / as long
as we both shall live

Exchange of rings (Have Rings ready!!)

As a seal and symbol of the vows you have just made.

Zech, place your ring for Lauralee on her left hand & repeat after me:

Lauralee, I offer this ring to you / as a symbol of my love / and of the vows I have just
spoken.

Lauralee, place your ring for Zech on his left hand & repeat after me:

Zech, I offer this ring to you / as a symbol of my love / and of the vows I have just
spoken.

Pronouncement

Zech and Lauralee, I now charge you both as husband and wife, to preserve the
covenant vows you have made today in the presence of God and all of us. Remember
our Lord's urgent counsel: "What God has joined together let no man separate".

Now: THE LORD bless you, and keep you,

THE LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you;

THE LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you His peace, now and
forevermore through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Zech and Lauralee, as a minister of the Gospel, before God, and all of these gathered
witnesses, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Zech, you may kiss your bride!

“Ladies and Gentleman: It is my pleasure to present to you for the first time: Mr. and
Mrs. Zech Millette!”