Fassero Wedding
Notes
Transcript
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PRELUDE
Seat family members around 10:50-10:55 during prelude music
Thaxted Tune (O God Beyond All Praising)
Minister and groom enter
The Bride and groom request that out of respect for this covenant ceremony you please put away and silence all electronic devices and do not take photos or videos.
Serenade, Instrumental from Importance of Being Earnest
Wedding Party Entrance (2 bridesmaids, 2 groomsmen)
BRIDAL PROCESSIONAL
St. George’s Windsor (1 verse) (Instrumental of #552 Trinity Psalter Hymnal)
Seat the congregation once Acacia and Derick reach the end of the aisle
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the presence of God and these witnesses to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony.
God the Father instituted marriage at the beginning in the Garden of Eden, before sin entered the world. He said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” God then created a woman out of the man’s own substance and brought her to him.
God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, honored marriage by His presence and first miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. He declared marriage to be a union that must not be severed when He said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
God the Holy Spirit also exalted marriage when He inspired the Apostle Paul to liken marriage to the mystical union that exists between Christ and His redeemed bride, the church, saying, "This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”
Our Triune God has designed marriage to enrich the lives of all who wed, for the orderly propagation of the human race, for the avoidance of sexual immorality, and as a picture of the grace that we have received in Jesus, all to the glory of the covenant God.
Since marriage is created by God and for His glory, husbands and wives have responsibilities in marriage given to us by God Himself.
The Scripture says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” The husband is to love his wife as his own body, to care for her, and to cherish her.
The Scripture also says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.” The wife is to submit to her husband, to respect him, and to entrust herself to his loving care.
Both husbands and wives are to be faithful to each other, to assist each other in all good things, to heartily forgive each other their sins and shortcomings, and to love each other as themselves. Thus united in love, they will more and more reflect in their marriage the unity of Christ and His church.
Into this high and holy calling, Dietrich Fassero and Acacia Dickens come now to be joined.
If anyone can show just cause why they may not lawfully be married, let him now declare it, or else hereafter forever hold his peace.
Five second pause
If either of you knows any reason why you may not be lawfully joined together in marriage, confess it now.
Five second pause
Dietrich, will you have this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of marriage? And will you love her as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her, will you comfort her, honor and cherish her, and forsaking all others keep yourself only unto her as long as you both shall live?
Dietrich answers, “I will.”
Acacia, will you have this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of marriage? And will you love him, comfort him, respect and submit to him even as the church submits to Christ, and forsaking all others keep yourself only unto him as long as you both shall live?
Acacia answers, “I will.”
Who gives this woman to be married to this man?
Derick answers, “I do.”
Derick places Acacia’s right hand in the Dietrich’s hand and is seated.
Let’s pray...
Praise the Father for the gift of marriage
Praise the Son for His redeeming love to which marriage points
Praise the Spirit for causing Dietrich and Acacia to be born again, and filling them so they can faithfully keep the vows they’re about to make
Please stand and sing with us.
Be Thou My Vision (all 5 verses)
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
2 Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word;
I ever with thee, and thou with me, Lord.
Thou my great Father, I thy true son
thou in me dwelling and I one with thee.
3 Be thou my battle shield, sword for my fight.
Be thou my dignity, thou my delight,
thou my soul’s shelter, thou my high tow’r.
Raise thou me heav’nward, O Pow’r of my pow’r.
4 Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise;
thou mine inheritance, now and always.
Thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure thou art.
5 High King of heaven, my victory won
may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heav’n’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
The Church’s One Foundation (all 6 verses)
The Church's one foundation
is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
she is his new creation
by water and the Word.
From heav'n he came and sought her
to be his holy bride;
with his own blood he bought her,
and for her life he died.
2 Elect from ev'ry nation,
yet one o'er all the earth;
her charter of salvation:
one Lord, one faith, one birth.
One holy name she blesses,
partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses,
with ev'ry grace endued.
3 Though with a scornful wonder
men see her sore oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder,
by heresies distressed,
yet saints their watch are keeping;
their cry goes up, "How long?"
and soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song.
4 The Church shall never perish.
Her dear Lord to defend,
to guide, sustain, and cherish,
is with her to the end.
Tho' there be those that hate her
and false sons in her pale,
against both foe and traitor
she ever shall prevail.
5 'Mid toil and tribulation
and tumult of her war
she waits the consummation
of peace forevermore
till with the vision glorious
her longing eyes are blest,
and the great Church victorious
shall be the Church at rest.
6 Yet she on earth hath union
with God the Three in One
and mystic sweet communion
with those whose rest is won
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
like them, the meek and lowly,
on high may dwell with Thee.
Seat the congregation
-------------------------------------------- HOMILY -------------------------------------
Dietrich and Acacia, we want to thank you for the honor of being a part of this special day. We are thrilled to see what God has done in your lives to lead you to where you stand today.
It is time for us to take a few moments to think about and reflect upon what we are doing here today in this wedding ceremony. Certainly there are countless people and places who could tell us what they believe about marriage. But I want us to consider the words of Jesus Christ.
Certainly some would scoff at the idea.
Why would we care what a single man has to say about marriage?
Isn’t that a bit like getting parenting advice from an 11-year-old?
Maybe, if Jesus is just a man. But the Scriptures are clear that Jesus is the God-man. So when we listen to what Jesus says about marriage, we’re listening to God Himself.
Others would object, that Jesus didn’t really talk a lot about marriage. Didn’t He talk about love, justice, and caring for the poor?
Well Jesus certainly did talk about love, justice, and caring for the poor, but it’s simply not true that Jesus didn’t talk about marriage.
On one occasion, Jesus was healing large crowds of people in Judea when a group of religious leaders came to Him, hoping to trick Him with a question about divorce.
Listen to Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:4-6, which we read earlier...
“[Jesus] answered, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Jesus gives us a lot to talk about in those few verses.
We could talk about the persons in marriage.
Jesus is astoundingly clear that humanity was made male and female, that children are raised by a father and a mother, that a man should be joined to his wife.
While the culture clamors in confusion about gender, the Christian calmly follows in the footsteps of Jesus. We believe in God created us male and female.
We could talk about the pattern for marriage.
Jesus is astoundingly clear that marriage is between one man and one woman.
Quoting Genesis 2:24 He says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
It didn’t take long for God’s pattern to be twisted and distorted, either through the polygamous relationships of the ancient world to so-called same-sex marriage today.
But the Christian still believes only God’s pattern for marriage is good, beautiful, and true. We believe marriage is between one man and one woman.
We could talk about the permanence of marriage.
Once again, Jesus is astoundingly clear.
Marriage is meant to be a permanent institution, which is why Jesus says, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
While the culture views marriage as trivial and divorce as normal, the Christian believes that marriage (with a few painful exceptions) is a commitment for life.
What I want to focus on is the purpose of marriage.
Consider again Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:6, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
This is bigger than a statement about the permanence of marriage. It’s a statement about the purpose of marriage.
Dietrich and Acacia, I want you to understand that your marriage is FROM God.
“What therefore God has joined together”
In a very real sense you are joining yourselves together today. Years ago you two met, you got to know one another, you developed feelings for one another, those feelings grew until Dietrich you mustered the courage to bend a knee and pop a question. And Acacia, you freely said yes. And your feelings for one another are bubbling over today, as is evident in your wide smiles. Neither of you walked to where you stand against your will.
But underneath those real decisions that the two of you have made, exists a God who orders all things according to the counsel of His will.
He is not a fairy tale or a crutch for weak minds. He is overwhelmingly glorious! He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing, all-wise, and all-good. He is holy.
And it is He who is joining you together this day.
But why? Why is God joining you two together? Why did He create marriage at all?
The Bible also tells us that marriage is FOR God.
1 Corinthians 10:31— “… whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
All of life is meant to be lived for the glory of God!
Which is why the Westminster Shorter Catechism says that “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
And that includes marriage.
Dietrich and Acacia, every aspect of your lives (including your marriage) is meant to bring glory to the God who created you.
The Apostle Paul shows us how in Ephesians 5:
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Acacia, God has created you to be a woman, and now He calls you to be a wife.
To do this well, you need to listen to God’s Word. And the Bible teaches us that a real woman, a mature woman, freely embraces an attitude that affirms, receives, submits to and supports her husband’s strength and leadership.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.
Dietrich, God has created you to be a man, and now He calls you to be a husband.
To do this well, you need to listen to God’s Word. And the Bible teaches us that a real man takes the responsibility to lead, protect, and provide for his wife. He lays down his life for her good.
Dietrich and Acacia, when your marriage does this well you will shine a spotlight on the goodness of God. You will bring Him glory!
Your marriage will fulfill its purpose when it points us to the most glorious day in the history of the universe, a day more glorious than a trillion weddings.
The Scriptures teach us that marriage is meant to point us to the love that Jesus showed for His church when He gave Himself up for her on the cross.
This day is meant to point us to that day!
But what about those days when it’s hard? What about the times we don’t feel like being the man or woman God has called us to be?
Comedian Woody Allen once said that “There are three rings involved with marriage. The engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffering.”
We laugh because there’s some truth in that, isn’t there?
We maybe didn’t realize that on our wedding day, but anyone who’s been at it for a little while knows that marriage is hard.
Why? Because every marriage unites one sinner with another sinner and...
1 sinner + 1 sinner ≠ less sin!
Dietrich and Acacia, your marriage will expose your sinfulness like nothing before. It will expose your selfishness, your pride, your bitterness, your fear, your shame, and more.
When that happens, you won’t need a self-help book to clean up the mess you’ve made.
Only a Savior will do.
Someone who loved you enough to pay the penalty for your sins against God and one another.
Someone who lived a sinless life and died a sinner’s death.
Someone who rose from the dead and invites all will come to trust upon Him and receive everlasting life.
We need Jesus.
If you haven’t turned from your sins and trusted in Jesus, you will add to Dietrich and Acacia’s joy if you do that today.
If you are a follower of Jesus, give thanks.
Praise Jesus for loving you enough to give Himself for you.
Praise God for this wedding and another spotlight to shine on His glory.
Praise Him for His faithfulness, to one day present the church to Himself in splendor, like a bride adorned for her husband
Let’s stand and praise Him together.
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Great Is Thy Faithfulness (All 3 verses)
Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
there is no shadow of turning with thee.
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
as thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.
2 Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
3 Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
He Will Hold Me Fast (All 3 verses)
When I fear my faith will fail,
Christ will hold me fast;
When the tempter would prevail,
He will hold me fast!
I could never keep my hold,
Through life’s fearful path
For my love is often cold,
He must hold me fast.
He will hold me fast,
He will hold me fast;
For my Savior loves me so,
He will hold me fast.
Those He saves are His delight
Christ will hold me fast;
Precious in His holy sight
He will hold me fast.
He'll not let my soul be lost,
His promises shall last
Bought by Him at such a cost,
He will hold me fast.
He will hold me fast,
He will hold me fast;
For my Savior loves me so,
He will hold me fast.
For my life He bled and died
Christ will hold me fast
Justice has been satisfied
He will hold me fast.
Raised with Him to endless life
He will hold me fast;
Till our faith is turned to sight
When He comes at last
He will hold me fast,
He will hold me fast;
For my Savior loves me so,
He will hold me fast.
Seat the congregation
EXCHANGING OF THE VOWS
Dietrich, please repeat after me…
I, Dietrich,
take you, Acacia,
to be my wedded wife,
and I do promise and covenant before God
and these witnesses
to be your loving and faithful husband
in sickness and in health,
in plenty and in want,
in joy and in sorrow,
as long as we both shall live.
Now Acacia, please repeat after me…
I, Acacia,
take you, Dietrich,
to be my wedded husband,
and I do promise and covenant before God
and these witnesses
to be your loving and faithful wife
in sickness and in health,
in plenty and in want,
in joy and in sorrow,
as long as we both shall live.
GIVING OF THE RINGS
Dietrich, do you possess a symbol to give as a pledge that you will faithfully perform these vows?
Dietrich answers “I do.”
Please take the ring and place it on Acacia’s hand and repeat after me.
This ring I give you
as a token and pledge
of constant faith
and abiding love.
Acacia, do you possess a symbol to give as a pledge that you will faithfully perform these vows?
Acacia answers “I do.”
Please take the ring and place it on Dietrich’s hand and repeat after me.
This ring I give you
as a token and pledge
of constant faith
and abiding love.
PRAYER
Father, thank You for creating Dietrich and Acacia, and in your providence leading them together
Jesus, thank you for dying for them. May your life and love be the theme of their marriage
Spirit, help them to fulfill these vows
DECLARATION
Dietrich and Acacia,
upon your solemn vows that you have made here today,
and upon your sacred pledge to love one another for the rest of your lives,
by virtue of the authority invested in me as a minister of the gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord,
I now pronounce you husband and wife,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
And what God has joined together, let no man separate.
Dietrich, you may kiss your bride.
BLESSING
The Lord our God fill you with His grace and grant that you may long live together in all godliness and holiness. Amen.
Please stand and sing.
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
PRESENTATION
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Fassero.
BRIDE & GROOM EXIT
Arthur’s Seat Tune (19a in Trinity Psalter Hymnal)
Wedding party dismissed
Parents/grandparents dismissed
ANNOUNCEMENT
The bride and groom have asked grandparents and families to gather in the adjoining nursery rooms to await further instructions for photos.
Everyone else is invited to a reception in the gym. Turn right out of the chapel, go down the hall until you reach a desk that says PBC Kids and then turn left.
You are dismissed.
POSTLUDE