The next few posts are going to be written a little differently, hope you all are ok with that!!
Pastor : Our Father, love has been Your richest and greatest gift to the world. Love between a man and woman which matures into marriage is one of the most beautiful types of loves. Today we celebrate that love. May your blessing be on this wedding service. Protect, guide, and bless Elizabeth and Joshua in their marriage. Surround them and us with Your love now and always. Amen.
Pastor: Hand in Hand you enter marriage, hand in hand you step out in faith. The hand you freely give to each other, is both the strongest and the most tender part of your body. In the years ahead you will need both strength and tenderness. Be firm in your commitment. Don't let your grip become weak. And yet, be flexible as you go through change. Don't let your hold become intolerable. Strength and tenderness, firm commitment and flexibility, of such is a marriage made, hand in hand:
Also remember that you don't walk this path alone. Don't be afraid to reach out to others when together you face difficulty. Other hands are there: friends, family, and the church. To accept an outreached hand is not an admission of failure, but an act of faith. For behind us, underneath us, around us all, are the outstretched arms of the Lord. It is into his hand, the hands of God in Jesus Christ, that, above all else, we commit this union of husband and wife.
Pastor : Joshua, do you take this woman to be your wedded wife, to live together in holy matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep only unto her, so long as you both shall live?
Joshua : I do
Pastor : Elizabeth, do you take this man to be your wedded husband, to live together in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep you only to him, so long as you both shall live?
Elizabeth: I do