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here are some thoughts i have about preaching on marriage the past five weeks:
i’m totally impressed by the attitude and attention of all our unmarried young adults!
i know this wasn’t your favorite series, but your support meant a lot. a whole lot.
i agonized each week knowing that i was preaching to some dear friends who had lost their life partners to death. i can only imagine how hard listening to these sermons must have been for them.
in case you missed…or don’t remember…here are the five themes of the past five weeks:
week one was about submission being the dominant christlike characteristic for all believers…wives and husbands.
week two was about the profound mystery of marriage and the church…that in a broken world, marriages work… and in a sinful world, redemption happens.
week three was about marriage roles…that even though wives are specifically told to submit, the husband’s role as the head of the wife is to be the protector of Christlike submission in marriage, because no one wants to submit and serve…it goes against our sinful nature.
week four was about why sex is reserved for marriage…only.
week five was about the intrinsic value of keeping promises…and that when we make and keep promises, we are more like god than at any other times in our lives.
what a great way to learn about god and the church! seeing the church through the lens of marriage means everything to me…
the hardest week was week three, about marriage roles.
i know that my interpretation and understanding of roles sits a little outside the boundaries of our understanding of traditional marriage roles, but i don’t think it is so far outside that it disrespects tradition.
i think my understanding is much more demanding for men than it is for women.
i love being able to teach and preach to a church family that is willing to let me push the envelope on our thinking.
i wonder what our youth group learned? i tried hard to package truth in a way they could understand and apply.
i am deeply aware of the effects of divorce on so many of our people.
i know it had to be painful to listen to the value of promise-keeping.
it all still needed to be said.
the series is over.
time to move on to parents and children…and paul has some pretty important things to say.
be ready for some fourth of july fireworks…on sunday morning!
let el olam…the everlasting, unchangeable, constant, dependable, reliable keeper of promises… give rest to your bones and strength to your commitments this week.
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