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image: Only One, Georgia O’Keeffe (American, 1959)
Preparation for Worship
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When I married my wife, I had hardly a smidgen of sense for what I was getting into with her. How could I know how much she would change over 25 years? How could I know how much I would change? My wife has lived with at least five different men since we were wed—and each of the five has been me. The connecting link with my old self has always been the memory of the name I took on back there: ‘I am he who will be there with you.’ When we slough off that name, lose that identity, we can hardly find ourselves again.
— Lewis Smedes[/quote]
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When husband and wife are united in marriage, they no longer seem like something earthly, but rather like the image of God Himself.
— John Chrysostom
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Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and His Bride has made herself ready.”
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
How Great Is Our God (Tomlin, Reeves & Cash, 2004) >>> audio/chart
Declaration of Faith The Apostles’ Creed, 2nd century
We believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth,
We believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Old Testament Reading Genesis 2:20-25
The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
The Ministry of Prayer Luke 11:2-4
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing(Robert Robinson, 1758) [bandcamp track=4015998502 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]
SermonMark 10:1-12
And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.
2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Words of Institution – from the Book of Common Prayer
Therefore, we proclaim the mystery of the faith:
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us keep the feast.
The gifts of God for the people of God.
We Confess Our Sin Together
Good and gracious God, we lay our sins before You, confessing the times when we have not lived in light of Your fulfilled promises.
We have lived in fear by not trusting you in our relationships and circumstances, by putting our hope in our finances or accomplishments, and by demanding comfort.
We seek to control our lives by not addressing our addictions, by refusing to listen to Your Word, and by our cynicism and anger.
We have tried to pay for our own sins by being dominated by shame and guilt, by seeking to do good works to gain Your favor, and by not believing that we are forgiven.
We have only lived for this life, by centering our lives on created things instead of You, by demanding more riches, and by being self-centered, disregarding those around us.
Because Jesus lived, died, was raised, and ascended into heaven, we confess our sins with the great confidence that You will forgive, accept, and renew us.
God Declares Our Forgiveness Isaiah 43:25
I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
Come, All Ye Pining, Hungry Poor (Anne Steele) [bandcamp track=2538870965 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]
In Need of Grace (Ross King, 2002) audio/lyrics
Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting ( Jean Sophia Pigott, 1876) [bandcamp track=104008922 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]
Arise! My Soul Arise! (Charles Wesley, 1742) [bandcamp track=1534263805 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]
Benediction
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