Growing A Marriage
Sermon
Wedding Sermons And Marriage Ceremonies
(for an outdoor setting)
Hear these words about God's idea of love as it has been shown to us in Jesus Christ, and is described in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, chapter 3:14--19 (TEV):
For this reason I fall on my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its true name. I ask God from the wealth of his glory to give you power through his Spirit to be strong in your inner selves, and I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God's people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ's love. Yes, may you come to know his love - although it can never be fully known - and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.
Your new lawn is coming along nicely. You hoped it would be all filled in by today, but you discovered that growing things just cannot be rushed. It's true of lawns. It's true of trees. It's even true of marriages. It will take time for your marriage to grow strong and beautiful. Lasting love cannot be rushed.
Paul gives us a good image of what love in God's family is like. He was probably likening it to the growth of a tree. But let's change the image just a bit and liken the creation of a healthy marriage to growing a lawn.
First, someone has to get it all started. Someone has to prepare the ground and plant the seeds and help them to grow. Just so, your love for one another didn't just begin when you met one another. It began many years earlier, all the years of your lives up to that point, as you learned what love is - and is not - from those around you. You learned what love is not as you faced the disappointment and pain of marriages that did not last. You learned what love is as you experienced the unconditional love of your parents, your extended family, your friends, and God. These were the ones who helped to plant seeds of love in your hearts. Love grew between the two of you because your hearts had been prepared by love to love.
Now your task is to establish strong roots for your love. Roots are what bring nourishment to keep growing lawns and growing relationships alive and well. A lawn won't grow very well if its roots are too shallow. Your marriage won't grow very strong either if you only concentrate on the surface of living. Take time, (Bride)and(Groom), to share your dreams and hopes with one another. Don't let your lives get totally consumed by all those daily and weekly little things that always seem to take our attention. Now and then, leave the dishes and the laundry and the lawn mowing, and maybe even all the running around socializing, and spend time talking about things that really matter, like what you want your life together to be like, what you hope people will remember about you when you are gone, how you can add to the good rather than the evil in the world, and how each of you can be a better person, partner, and perhaps some day, parent.
Of course, if a lawn tries to send its roots into dry ground, it won't have much chance of growing, no matter how deep those roots try to go. It needs a constant, reliable source of water for steady growth. Paul talks about God's love being that kind of constant source of nourishment for our lives. On our own, all of us at one time or another have a tendency to run dry as far as love goes. We lose our patience, we get hurt and then we try to get even, we get all caught up in what we want, and we forget to listen to and consider the other person. Lawns can take a little bit of dryness, and so can marriages. But too much dryness and things can begin to look stressed.(Bride) and (Groom), that is not what God desires for your marriage. Sink your roots deep into the love of God, for God's love never runs dry. It has the power to nourish your lives with more love than you ever thought possible.
Isn't it great how a lawn looks and feels when it is well tended? It is a refreshing oasis in our concrete world. That is what I pray your marriage will be like. You will be amazed how others will draw near to be refreshed in the presence of your love. Genuine love has a way of gently refreshing all who come near. May your lives be filled with that kind of healthy, growing love always. God be with you.
Hear these words about God's idea of love as it has been shown to us in Jesus Christ, and is described in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, chapter 3:14--19 (TEV):
For this reason I fall on my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its true name. I ask God from the wealth of his glory to give you power through his Spirit to be strong in your inner selves, and I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God's people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ's love. Yes, may you come to know his love - although it can never be fully known - and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.
Your new lawn is coming along nicely. You hoped it would be all filled in by today, but you discovered that growing things just cannot be rushed. It's true of lawns. It's true of trees. It's even true of marriages. It will take time for your marriage to grow strong and beautiful. Lasting love cannot be rushed.
Paul gives us a good image of what love in God's family is like. He was probably likening it to the growth of a tree. But let's change the image just a bit and liken the creation of a healthy marriage to growing a lawn.
First, someone has to get it all started. Someone has to prepare the ground and plant the seeds and help them to grow. Just so, your love for one another didn't just begin when you met one another. It began many years earlier, all the years of your lives up to that point, as you learned what love is - and is not - from those around you. You learned what love is not as you faced the disappointment and pain of marriages that did not last. You learned what love is as you experienced the unconditional love of your parents, your extended family, your friends, and God. These were the ones who helped to plant seeds of love in your hearts. Love grew between the two of you because your hearts had been prepared by love to love.
Now your task is to establish strong roots for your love. Roots are what bring nourishment to keep growing lawns and growing relationships alive and well. A lawn won't grow very well if its roots are too shallow. Your marriage won't grow very strong either if you only concentrate on the surface of living. Take time, (Bride)and(Groom), to share your dreams and hopes with one another. Don't let your lives get totally consumed by all those daily and weekly little things that always seem to take our attention. Now and then, leave the dishes and the laundry and the lawn mowing, and maybe even all the running around socializing, and spend time talking about things that really matter, like what you want your life together to be like, what you hope people will remember about you when you are gone, how you can add to the good rather than the evil in the world, and how each of you can be a better person, partner, and perhaps some day, parent.
Of course, if a lawn tries to send its roots into dry ground, it won't have much chance of growing, no matter how deep those roots try to go. It needs a constant, reliable source of water for steady growth. Paul talks about God's love being that kind of constant source of nourishment for our lives. On our own, all of us at one time or another have a tendency to run dry as far as love goes. We lose our patience, we get hurt and then we try to get even, we get all caught up in what we want, and we forget to listen to and consider the other person. Lawns can take a little bit of dryness, and so can marriages. But too much dryness and things can begin to look stressed.(Bride) and (Groom), that is not what God desires for your marriage. Sink your roots deep into the love of God, for God's love never runs dry. It has the power to nourish your lives with more love than you ever thought possible.
Isn't it great how a lawn looks and feels when it is well tended? It is a refreshing oasis in our concrete world. That is what I pray your marriage will be like. You will be amazed how others will draw near to be refreshed in the presence of your love. Genuine love has a way of gently refreshing all who come near. May your lives be filled with that kind of healthy, growing love always. God be with you.
