There are so many wrong beliefs about marriage, many from our society. Many people are not as interested in truth as much as they are in knowing that what they believe is true. For example, when Pastor Syd became filled with the Spirit, everything that he believed before needed to be looked at to determine if it was correct. Does it line up with what the Word says. We need to love truth. Lord, show us truth, and we will get rid of the pre-conceived ideas. Allow the Spirit to take the Word and bring it to life in your marriage. A humble person acknowledges that my perspective maybe isn’t right (2 Chronicles 7:12-14). Seeking the Lord starts at home. What happens in the home impacts the church and then the nation. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. The singular cause for the decline of this nation comes out of the home. We need to turn from our wicked ways. The home should reflect Christ and the church. The marriage unit has always been the last wall to fall before judgment takes place in a nation. The marriage unit is critical for the church to be what it is called to be and for our nation to survive and be effective. The second important point is that every question and concern about marriage can be answered in Christ’s relationship with the Church. How should I respond to my wife in this situation? The answer is, “How would Christ respond to the Church?” The marriage unit reflects Christ and the Church. Some Scriptures are misquoted or taken out of context. For example, people sometimes take Galatians 3:28 out of the context of the rights to things of the kingdom in verses 19 – 4:7. It can be taken and misapplied and opens the door for the enemy to do more harm. The idea of marriage being 50/50 is not Scriptural. Our marriages should reflect Christ and the Church. Homosexual relations are wrong (1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10). Satan does not care if he gets a woman in the ditch on one side or the other: “under a man’s thumb” as seen in some repressive religions or as seen in the Women’s Lib movement, which is bondage packaged as freedom and is geared at breaking down the leadership of the man. God wants women free. Ephesians 5:22-33. Keep thinking and reflecting Christ and the Church. Anything that is not truth is bondage, because the truth sets us free. Sin is pleasurable for a season, but then comes the bondage. Determine to structure your marriage as the Word says it should be. If we need to change something, we will.

Our thinking and beliefs sometimes can filter what we hear in a way that changes truth. It is extremely important that we hear correctly and use the Word correctly. Heed how you hear. We need to compare Scripture with Scripture. If we just read Galatians 3:28 out of context and without comparing it with other Scriptures, we can distort what God is saying. Lord, show us truth. In 1 Peter 3:7 husbands and wives are said to be co-heirs. There is rank in the home, but there is also equal value to each of the married pair. In James 3 we find there are four kinds of wisdom: godly, earthly, sensual, and demonic. Romans 1:18-32 gives a description that easily could be for the time we are in. It tells about people with darkened hearts, trading truth for lies, being ungodly and unrighteous, being wise in their own eyes, worshiping and serving the created things rather than the Creator, not glorifying God, being unthankful, not using their bodies the way God intended them to be used, being disobedient, etc. Hollywood wants to make homosexuality seem natural and normal. A darkened mind will believe sinful ways are truth. We will look at marriage from the standpoint of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:24-32, 22-24, and 33).

Genesis 3:11-24 tells of God’s cursing the serpent, the woman in childbirth, and the land that man would take care of, after Adam and Eve sinned. Genesis 1:28-31 is about God’s creating man in His image. The unsaved still live under the curse of the law. With faith, all curses can be broken. Man’s original role was to work and keep watch over the land. He was to nurture, plant, work, and care for (Genesis 2:4-15). God told the man not to eat of the tree of good and evil. Eve had not been formed or created at that time. The right to name the animals took authority. There was no helper for man, so God took one of Adam’s ribs and made woman. Women’s role before the fall was to be a helper and an aide. Both Adam and Eve had equal authority before the fall. God formed the male and fashioned the female. Man was to watch over the garden, and it was up to him to take authority. Eve stepped out of her “aide” role. Adam did not protect her, but chose to follow her rather than to follow God, which was idolatry (Genesis 3:1-9). God called to the man, because he was to be the responsible one. The role of the husband is to be the head of the home. He is to protect his wife. The role of the wife is to be his helper. Adam did not try to stop Eve. He followed her rather than God, which was idolatry. Husbands, how will you answer: “Why didn’t I do what I was supposed to do?” Wives, how will you answer: “Why didn’t I operate in the role God created me for?” The wives should only read Ephesians 5:22-24. Husbands should only read Ephesians 5:25-33. The husband’s role is to love his wife, take leadership, and ask himself: “What would love (Christ) do?” Wives, Christ compares you to the Church. You should ask: “How should I (the Church) respond to Christ (my husband)?”

In our marriages we can get caught up in the moment, but we need to ask ourselves, “How important is this?”, especially in the light of eternity. The role of the husband is to be the love enforcer, and the wife is to be his helper. (Ephesians 5:22-28) There are four things to remember and to do that will answer every question about marriage. Pastor Syd was able to teach about two of these. #1) How we should relate to one another is love, as Christ loved the church (1 Corinthians 12:31-13:2). Love is more important than faith. #2) There is one law under the New Covenant, and that is, as believers, to love one another (Matthew 22:35-39; Romans 13:8-10; 1 John 3:23-24; John 13:34). Believe in the name of Jesus Christ and love one another just as He has loved you, even more than you love yourself. Jesus laid down His life. The sign that you are a believer is how you honor and prefer others. Love your enemies. Home should not be a place to flesh out. If you do not want to be “fleshy”, renew your mind as soon as you get up in the morning. Love is a choice. You choose to love, even when you feel hate. We were Christ’s enemy, but He chose to love us. Choose to love. The feelings will come. Love is not a feeling. Sex is not love. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:3-8). You can choose to walk in love. Do not act like you feel, but base yourself on the Word.

1 Corinthians 13. Husbands and wives, remember and do these four things: 1) The answer to every question in your marriage can be answered by Christ and the church. 2) New Covenant Christians have one law: the law of love (John 13:34-35). We are to love one another as Christ loved us. He loved us by giving His life. What is love? It is a choice, an act of your will. Choose to act in love. You can love someone, but still get feelings of hate or whatever. What is not love? It is not a feeling, but it produces feelings. It is not sex, but sex can be an expression of love. All the other gifts work by the better way, which is love (1 Corinthians 12:31). You can speak and pray in tongues, but without love, it is like a noise (1 Corinthians 13:1). You can have strong faith, but without love, it does not work. Love in the home should reflect Christ and the church. GOD IS LOVE. FAITH WORKS BY LOVE. If your faith is not working, check out your love-walk. Love suffers long, is kind, does not envy, and does not fail. It means I will endure with you, act properly toward you. 3) Giving. The greatest expression of love is giving. A person who loves forgoes their own comfort for that of the other person. Love is not conceited, does not behave improperly, does not seek its own, and rejoices in what is right. It is not about who is right, but what is right. Discern when to keep your mouth shut. Love never gives up, because God is love. Hope is expectation with pleasure. Love is the gateway to God. There is no defense against love, which means that Satan is powerless against love. Love is a commandment and a spiritual force. You give access for someone when you walk in love toward them.

Our marriages should reflect Christ and the church. When Satan attacks marriages, he is trying to destroy Christ and the church. Even if you had a broken marriage, you can walk in victory. Look to God to fulfill what you need in your marriage. Ephesians 5:25-33 tells how marriage should look: a husband should wash the wife and family in the washing of water by the Word and love his own wife like he cares for his own body. Each one of us is valuable to God. God gave His Son for me. Psalm 49:7-8 and 1 Peter 1:18-19 tell us that nothing and no one can redeem us; only Christ and His blood could and did. We make a big mistake when we do not value what God values and honors. People are what are most important to God. We are to treat others, such as our spouses, as though they are extremely precious. Stay anchored in love. First Peter 3:3-4 says that our beauty comes from our inner being, the hidden person of the heart. What God values is a gentle and quiet spirit. Satan tries to devalue whatever God values. Be careful not to let Satan lure you into devaluing what God values, even in a joking way. It takes away the other person’s life. Satan tries to get you to devalue and even despise your spouse in your mind. Take control over your mind and see your spouse as God does. 1 Peter 3:7 says for the husband to give honor to the wife as being equal heirs of equal value. Do you value your spouse? We are not to judge (James 4:11 and Romans 2:1). The people in Jesus’ hometown did not value Jesus (Matthew 13:54-58) because they judged Him after the flesh. We need to judge according to the Spirit. Call out to the deep, good things in the other person.

(There was a time of prayer and a powerful testimony by John) The answer to every question in your marriage can be answered by the relationship of Christ and the Church. Satan attacks marriage because it should resemble Christ and the Church. If someone should be caught or snared in wrongdoing, those who are spiritual should restore him/her (Galatians 6:1-2). Those who are developed spiritually in love carry one another’s burdens. To restore means to repair, build up, and lift up out of the trap. Restore with a spirit of gentleness, humility, being quick to listen and not being full of pride. The greatest problem in marriages is selfishness. Watch out for yourselves, spy on yourself, take aim at, and keep an eye on yourself. A fleshly person examines others for faults. You can be tempted by pride. Flesh and the devil always want more. Temptations begin in your desires. Each person is tempted by his own evil desires (James). Is your flesh ruling you? Tempted means to be drawn away, enticed, lured, and baited. Satan tempts you based on your desires. He often gets blamed for what is really your own flesh. Remember, Satan is not omnipresent. He just gives the order for his fallen angels and demons to do his work. Just like Satan with Jesus in the wilderness, he overplays his hand. Satan wants you to go against the Word of God. Take authority over both Satan and your flesh.

(Communion was received during praise and worship time.) Mini-sermon: The disciples were kingdom-minded (Acts 1:8). They waited for the Holy Spirit and power, and they became witnesses. Being a witness means you share what you have seen and experienced of the Lord and what He has done for you. Allow God to move through you. Sermon: Text: Ephesians 5:22-33. Your marriage should reflect Christ and the church. God loves us because we are part of His own body. Like Christ, the husband provides, protects, and gives gentle care-taking. In Matthew 1:1, 16 the Bible records that Joseph was the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called the Christ. In Luke 1:26-35 the angel appeared to Mary and told her that her son would be called the Son of God. Then she went to Elizabeth, and she came back three months pregnant. Luke 3:23 records that Mary’s baby was thought to be Joseph’s child. Mary became one with Joseph and took on his lineage. When a couple marries, the wife takes on the husband’s lineage, and they become one. This is not about headship in the home. In the same way we take on Jesus’ identity. Your body is your spouse’s (1 Corinthians 7:1-6). The body is for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body (1 Corinthians 6:12-20). There is a covenant of oneness between spouses. Christ is the image of God over all creation. Colossians 1:15-23 tells about the image of being one.  Christ is the head of the Body. He presents us as holy, blameless, and above reproach. A husband should lead.

God can move and revival can come when our marriages reflect Christ and the Church. Satan wants us to think truth is bondage. God’s commands carry power and authority. Irreconcilable differences in a legal sense mean that there is no chance a marriage can be saved and the two partners can no longer agree. The point you disagree on opens the door to seeing more points of disagreement. Focus on what you agree on and find the common ground. The only solutions that will work are God’s solutions. Submission is not bondage, because God is not the author of bondage. We need deliverance from strife in our marriages, not from our marriages. Submission applies to the man as well as to the woman. James 4:6 tells us that He gives greater grace. He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Pride is the nature of Satan. We should say, “I am pleased with …” rather than saying, “I’m proud of …”. Pride is being unteachable. Pride cares about looking good. Pride is 100% devil. James 4:7 instructs us to submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. You only successfully resist the devil when you submit to God. There are demonic spirits working in the disobedient (Ephesians 2). The spirit of rebellion is deadly and opens the door to destruction. Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up. Submission literally means “under the mission”, to be under, to yield to, and taking your place under the person God told you to be under. We submit by making Jesus Christ our Lord and king. We all have the same rights to the kingdom of God, but we are not of the same rank. Submission is NOT: 1) agreement, 2) easy, 3) being forced or made to do something, nor 4) weakness. It takes great strength to submit. Meekness is not weakness. Jesus and God had two different wills, but He submitted to God’s will. God may ask you to lay down your life. Jesus suffered when He submitted. Submission is done in the heart. Submission was required in the Godhead (1 Corinthians 15:28). 1 Corinthians 11:3 tells us, “Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ.” Some people mistakingly call love, submission. It is God’s anointing that gives leadership to the man. He is the one who is to lead. Hebrews 13:17 reminds us to obey those who are leading us and to submit to them. Today many pastors are not shepherds, but hirelings. The man is the head because he is ordained by God. Respect the place, even if you do not respect everything. Respect the place, but you may not everything he does. A mark of submission is humbleness. His grace will come to you. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Text: James 4:6-10. Submission is always your choice, because it cannot be forced on you. You choose to submit when you do not agree. The world thinks of submission in terms of bondage, but godly submission requires humility and opens the door for the person who is submitting to receive God’s grace. When we submit to God’s will, God tells us that He will lift us up. Satan did not submit to God, and he hates when we do, so he comes to steal the truth from us immediately. We are to submit to God and resist the devil. Satan wants to rob God’s grace (His power) from you by stealing your submission from you. Submission means under in rank, but not under in value. What is submission? 1) It is not agreement. 2) It is not easy. 3) It is not being forced. 4) It is not weakness. You have to be humble to submit. It is a safety net against deception. Who do we submit to? 1) To God. 2) To your own spirit. 3) Children to their parents. 4) Wives to their husbands. 5) Younger to the elder. 6) Employees to employers. 7) Citizens to civil leaders. (Pastor Syd cited Scriptures for each of these.) The time to not submit to authority is when the one over you directly goes against what the Word tells you. Philippians 2:8-15 says that Jesus humbled Himself by being obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. God exalted Jesus for His obedience and gave Him the name above all over names. When we submit to God, His grace can come to us.

Text: James 4:6, 7, 10. When you submit in marriage and in other relationships, God’s grace is released. Satan hates submission, because that was the area in which he fell. God’s grace makes it possible for us to walk in His plan. Submission is not agreement. You submit to someone else’s will when you do not agree with it. If we don’t submit to the one God has put us under, we will not submit to God. Who should submit to whom? We should submit our flesh to our born again spirit (1 Corinthians 9:27); children to their parents; the wife to her own husband; the younger to the elder (1 Peter 5:5); employees to employers (Titus 2:9, 10); and citizens to their governing authority (Romans 13). The head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God (1 Corinthians 11:3). It is not the husband’s job to make the wife submit. Your job is not to make the other spouse submit. The wife decides to submit. Ephesians 5:22-24 tells about the wife and 5:25-30 tells about the husband. Wives, submit to your own husband in everything. The husband’s role is to love his wife and to be constant. Her role is to submit to her husband, even if he is being ugly or mean. Your role is your role to the end of time. Colossians 3:18 tells the wife to submit to her own husband. Submission and obedience are not the same thing. Obey God. Peter submitted to the authorities, but he obeyed God when he was told to not preach in the name of Jesus. Marriage is a God-ordained relationship. Slaves are to submit to their masters, even if they are harsh (1 Peter 18-25). Submission brings grace. In the same way that slaves are to submit to their masters, so the wife is to submit to her own husband, even if he does not obey the word, so that those without the word, may be won by their wife’s conduct (1 Peter 3:1, 2). If your husband is abusive, and you can stay by faith, God’s grace will come to you. If you are not in faith, you may need to get out. A husband is to live with his wife with understanding, giving honor to his wife (1 Peter 3:7). Jesus became obedient to the point of death. Because He submitted, God gave Him grace (Philippians 2:8-15). Submit in your relationships. It allows God’s grace to work for you.

Sermon: Romans 12:1, 2 tells us to be transformed continuously. God created marriage and His manual for it, the Bible. Why should a couple get married? A piece of paper does not make or break a marriage, since it is just a legal document with the state. Marriage is a public commitment and covenant with God. It is a covenant of oneness. What is the purpose of marriage? It is for reproduction and to raise godly children (Malachi 2:13-15). The world sees and experiences broken homes, which distorts their view of marriage. Marriage is NOT to make you happy (1 Corinthians 7:39, 40). The Apostle Paul’s thoughts were that you would be happier if you remained single. Marriage is NOT to keep you from being lonely. If your spouse does not meet your needs according to your expectations, you separate from your spouse and eventually from God. When man was sinless, before The Fall, God told Adam that it was not good for man to be alone. Wrong expectations and demands bring disappointment. Any problem you had before you were married are amplified after you are married. Marriage cannot substitute what God is meant to fulfill. A husband and wife are two spirits but one flesh (Genesis 1:18-24). Offering message: God established the law of sowing and reaping in Genesis 1:29. His plan was to bring multiplication to the earth through Adam and Eve. God is “I Am”, the God of increase, and when we give to Him, we can apply the law of sowing and reaping to our finances.

Pre-sermon notes: When the Israelites became unthankful, snakes were biting people. God told Moses to make a brass (judgment) serpent on a pole, and if the people looked on it, they would be healed, similar to Jesus taking our sin by hanging on the cross. How much of the blood of Jesus did it take to forgive your sin? It took all of it. Jesus paid the debt. He gave His all to save and to keep us. May we have a greater understanding of the length Jesus Christ went to, to save us. A testimony is the result of overcoming a test. A great need is an opportunity for a great miracle. Do not confuse laziness with faith. Sermon: In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul tells us that the believer should stay with an unbelieving spouse so the other one is sanctified (set apart unto God). The believer becomes the open door for the Lord to keep knocking on the spouse’s heart door. The purpose of marriage is to have and raise godly children. It is NOT to make you happy, fulfilled, or contented. Marriage actually multiplies your problems, because you have to think about the other person, and you cannot be selfish. If you think marriage will make you happy, after a while you will become bitter and hate your spouse. The only sure cure for your life is your relationship with God. In Genesis 2, we are told that God created Eve to help Adam. (See Ecclesiastes 4:9.) Another main reason God created marriage was so that He could release power through the unity of the husband and wife. There is a lot more strength in two becoming one flesh in a marriage. One can put a thousand to flight, but two can put ten thousand to flight. Genesis 11 tells about negative unity when the people tried to build the Tower of Babel. God said that nothing they plan to do would be impossible. The authority and power of a husband and wife is why Satan tries so hard to break the unity of marriage. Psalm 133 compares unity with the anointing of God. (Also Matthew 18:18-20.) Out of unity comes authority and dominion.A purpose of marriage is for unity and power to multiply our effectiveness.

Pre-sermon notes: Words of edification, exhortation, and comfort, revelations, and a message in song were given by members of the church. The theme of the words was to walk in love, not to fear, and to be comforters of our land, because we have true love and the true Comforter. Offering message: Jesus gave boat-sinking increase to Peter. God’s goodness leads us to repentance. His goodness to you is showing His love to you. We are humbled by His goodness. Sermon message: Matthew 12:25-29 states that no city or house (family) which is divided against itself can stand or survive. God releases great power through a married couple’s unity, but there is an enemy of that unity. The devil cannot break your marriage. Only you can do that, but Satan will try to bring strife and division and present opportunities for you to be selfish. The devil must first bind up the strongman before he can plunder you. What is the strongman of your marriage? It is the unity of the two of you. In 1 Corinthians 7:28 we are told that married people will have trouble in the flesh. When you marry, you become one flesh, not one spirit. The flesh realm is where there is selfishness with the possible result of divorce. If you walk in love in your home, you can walk in love anywhere. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit (Proverbs 18:21). Most problems in a marriage stem from selfishness and from the words we speak to each other. The words we speak can release victory if we speak with: 1) love, 2) faith, and 3) truth (the Word of God). Love never fails means that love never ends, stops, or gives up. God brings us out to rich fulfillment (Psalm 66:12), and this can be true of your marriage.

(There was a word given.) God made them male and female, so that they could become one flesh as husband and wife (Matthew 19:4-6). We are to reflect Christ and His Church in our marriage, which is why Satan hates it. We are not to separate a-God-joined marriage or other relationships. Pastor Syd gave the example of Abram and Lot. Any home or city divided against itself will not stand (Matthew 12:25), so Satan tries to bring division. We are to love our neighbor, which includes our spouse (Galatians 5:13, 14). If you devour one another, you will be consumed by one another. Where there is strife, there is every evil work. Unity in your marriage is your strong man. It is how you walk together, even if you disagree. If you walk in love with your family, you can walk in love with anyone. James 3 tells about the power of the tongue. Proverbs 18:21 states that life and death are in the power of the tongue. There are three keys to victory using your speech. 1) Love: never quits; 2) Faith: all things are possible to him who believes. Do not release death. Change the words of your mouth by saying what God says about the situation; 3) Release God’s truth. Speak it. Speak God’s truth in love and faith. The four things to be Spirit-led (the rules for speaking): 1) If I say … (Proverbs 10:19; James 1:19; Proverbs 13:3; 2) What you say (Ephesians 4:29); 3) When you say it (Proverbs 30:32, 33; Proverbs 25:11); 4) How you say it (Proverbs 15:1; 16:21). God brought us out of the fire and water to a place of rich fulfillment (Psalm 66:12). Peace is the manifest presence of God, and strife is the manifest presence of Satan. You do not have to speak how you feel when you are with your spouse in a time of disagreement. Pride tells and demands. Speak God’s truth into your marriage, so you give Him an open door to your spouse’s life. Declare the Word of the Lord. Truth is eternal, but facts can change.

Marriage is to reflect Christ and the Church. We are to be set apart for and to God. Proverbs 18:22 says that the man who finds a wife finds a good thing. Psalm 34:10 says that those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. If you are looking for a good wife, first seek the Lord. A video with John Bevere being interviewed with Sheila Walsh and Randy Robison about John’s book, Good or God? was shown. Have we replaced good for our relationship with God? Jesus is coming back for a holy church. The angels cry out, “Holy, holy, holy!” Holiness means that we are set apart to be completely His. Pursue holiness and chase after it. There are two aspects of holiness. One is positional, as seen in Ephesians one. He chose us to be holy and without blame before Him in love. The second aspect is behavioral. We either act like the world or behave like Jesus. We have been created for intimacy with God. We draw near to Him because we love Him, not because we want something from Him. James 4:5 tells us that the Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously. God is a jealous God. He is jealous for you. God wants our whole heart. To want or have the world in any part of you is adultery against God. A person can change when he or she is in the presence of God.

The Pharisees asked Jesus if it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason (Matthew 19:3-12). God’s plan is that a male and female leave their parents and be joined together. Jesus said that what God has joined together must not be separated. Moses said that a man may not remarry his wife, if she has married another in between. Moses allowed divorce because of the hardness of their hearts. When you divorce, you are in your own plan, not God’s. Jesus said the only exception for divorce is sexual immorality (Matthew 19:9). Paul wished that all men would be unmarried (1 Corinthians 7:6-16). Your marital status does not indicate your spiritual status. The Lord commands that a wife is not to leave her husband. If she does leave him, she is not to remarry or be reconciled to her husband. A husband is not to divorce his wife. Paul said that a believer should stay with an unbelieving wife, if she is willing to live with him, and not to divorce her (or vice versa wife for husband). The believing spouse is set apart by the believing spouse. You are still in oneness, and there is still an open door to the spouse. God has a covenant with the believer. Submit your life to the Lord. 1 Corinthians 7:27, 28 tell us to not seek to be loosed from a wife. Married people have trouble in the flesh. If you are looking for a loophole to get out of marriage, you are like a Pharisee. The sin of divorce is forgivable. Repent and live in the new covenant. While talking to the Samaritan woman, Jesus recognized the five marriages she had had (John 4:17-19). A wife is bound to her husband as long as her husband lives (1 Corinthians 7:39, 40). In Genesis 15 after Abram rescued people from Sodom and Gomorrah, God made a blood covenant with him that he would inherit the land and have many descendants. He and Sarai took things into their own hands and caused an Ishmael. God reestablished His covenant with Abram, changed his name to Abraham, told him he would be the father of many nations, and renamed him Abraham with a blood covenant. God renewed His covenant with Israel, whom He considered as His wife (Exodus 24:1-18). Throughout the Old Testament, such as in Jeremiah and Isaiah, God was angered by Israel’s adultery against Him. When Moses was on the Mt. Sinai for forty days, with smoke and fire coming from the mountain, he received the two stone tablets (Exodus 24-31). The words of the covenant were called The Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:28). The people had corrupted themselves, while Moses was up on the mountain (Exodus 32:7). Moses (a type of Christ), interceded for God’s people and reminded God of His covenant with the Israelites, and God relented (Exodus 32:7-14). Why did God change during this “melt-down marriage” problem with Israel? It was because of His covenant with them. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation. Husbands, walk in the ministry of reconciliation. We are reconciled to Him because of the New Covenant. Baby dedication and offering message is placed after the message.

How should you find a spouse? Seek the Lord first, and then He will show you or lead you to His choice for a spouse. You make a covenant when you set yourself apart to God. Hebrews 11:6 tells us to draw near to God, seek Him, believe that He exists, and believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. He rewards our seeking Him and our drawing near to Him. Faith pleases Him. We get faith by hearing and hearing by the Word. Proverbs 18:22 says that he who finds a good wife finds a good thing, and he obtains favor from the Lord. Seek God and then the blessings come, but do not seek Him just for the blessings. Make God your number one priority. Seek the Lord, and you will not lack any good thing (Psalm 34:10). As you get closer to God, you are getting closer to your future spouse. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). If you abide in God, He will abide in you; you shall ask whatever you desire, and it shall be done for you (John 15:7). Matthew 6:33 commands us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these other things will be provided. God spoke a blessing over Israel and to us, that His plans for us are to give us a future and a hope, but we must seek Him with all our heart (Jeremiah 29:10-14). [There was a service of covenant and communion for singles and then for married couples.]