Emphasis Preaching Journal

"John and April," the pastor began, "the building blocks on the altar are my wedding gift to you. It is quite likely that as children both of you played with blocks very much like these. As you played with these blocks you discovered that if you took the time to snap them together, then your imagination was the limit to things which you could build. As a child you would have learned that by fitting the blocks carefully together you could spend many enjoyable hours building something that brought you pleasure. "However, if you didn't properly fit the blocks together, they would quickly tumble down, leaving you frustrated and disappointed. If you didn't take the time to learn how to fit the blocks together patiently then your blocks brought you nothing but disappointment. "John and April, in many ways your love is like the blocks you learned to build with as children. In the same way that the blocks came in many colors and sizes, so too does your love come in different forms. Saint Paul tells us that the building blocks of love include patience and kindness. The building blocks of your love will exclude irritability, they will not keep a record of the wrongs, they will not be glad about injustice, but they will rejoice at the truth. "April and John, when you build, take the time to fit the blocks of love together, then your love will never lose faith, it will always have hope, and it will endure through every circumstance. It is my prayer that you will take the time to build your marriage with the building blocks of love so that it will bring you a lifetime of pleasure."
-- Conroy