Sunday Morning Marriage Conference

Session 1
Matthew 19:4-6 And He answered and said to them, Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate. Intro: Building A Marriage Relationship Where purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable. When something is abused long enough, it will eventually break. In our society today, dysfunction is normal. Why? We ve forsaken the pattern that God has given us in His Word., for God to bless our marriages, we must build our marriage and lives according to the design God laid out. It only takes a few minutes to get married, but building a marriage takes a lifetime. Psalm 127:1 KJV Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: Marriage Is Honorable We Must Honor Marriage Hebrews 13:4 NIV Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Success in marriage does not depend on spouses committing themselves to each other as much as it does to their committing themselves to marriage, the unchanging institution that they have mutually entered into Myles Munroe As long as quitting is an option, you ll never invest and give all you can to make the marriage work. Notice the verse says, marriage should be honored by all . It doesn t say anything about the people in the marriage. Now, we should honor our spouse, but familiarity is the enemy of honor, and when we become so familiar with each other that we lose honor, then what will save the marriage? It s important to know that the person we marry is not the person we will live with, because we, and that person is changing all the time. Commitment to the marriage is the key to success. We Must Honor Vows Marriage is two imperfect people committing themselves to a perfect institution, by making perfect vows, before a perfect God. In a moral and religious sense, vows are promises to God, as they appeal to God to witness their sincerity, and the violation of them is a most heinous offense. Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Because marriage is a perfect vow made before a perfect God by two imperfect people, only God can make it work. Marriage is not built on love (at least not the love that we re familiar with), but it s built on commitment. If we want success in our marriage, we must commit ourselves to those things that do not change: The Institution of Marriage and the Originator of Marriage, God.

The Origin of Marriage Genesis 1:27-28 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Genesis 5:1-2 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. Genesis 2:18-25 - In these scriptures are the origin and God s definition of marriage: First, God declares It s not good for man to be alone . God brought all the animals before Adam to find a helper for him, and there wasn t one. So God took a rib from Adam s side and made a helper for him. Marriage is powerful because it takes something that was once one, and was separated, and brings it back together as one again. So, a woman is not to compete with her husband, but she is to complete her husband; he is to complete her. We are complete when we are together. Notice FIVE things about these verses: (Genesis 2:22-25) 1. God brought the woman to the man she was a gift, Adam received her as a gift from God. 2. Adam saw him as part of himself bone of my bone she is me! 3. A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. 4. They shall become one flesh. 5. They entered into an intimate relationship naked and not ashamed. Into-me-see Marriage, God s Illustrated Sermon Ephesians 5:22-33 In these scriptures God lays out his plan for submission and headship and shows how marriage is a living illustration of the relationship between Jesus and the Church. The Role of the Wife In The Relationship Submission to her husband. Submission does not equal slavery! Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. - This verse doesn t say women submit to men ; it says wives submit to your own HUSBAND, AS UNTO THE LORD Submission means to yield to; cooperate with or "to set yourself under." Love should be the rule in our homes, not domination, and we should "prefer one another." A wife submits to her husband because of the position he holds in the family. The primary reason for submission is to illustrate the spiritual principle of headship 1 Corinthians 11:2 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. The Role of the Husband In The Relationship Headship is the place of authority Men, God has solely placed that upon you. This role is a role of great responsibility. The husband must love his wife just as Christ loved the church to the point he gave himself for it and to sanctify her. To sanctify means the man is the spiritual leader of the house. A woman should have no issue submitting to a man that will go to unlimited lengths to love her. A husband that will receive his wife as a gift, treat her like a queen, and give himself for her will be displaying the love that Jesus has for the church.