SermonStudio

You have come here this evening to be joined together in holy matrimony. You have been looking forward to this day with eager and joyful hearts. For months you have been making plans and preparations, and now that long expected hour, where your love is to be crowned with the blessings of God's church, is upon you.

It is a very important moment in life when two young people, who were once strangers to one another, are drawn together by an irresistible attraction, so that their souls cannot be separated by time and space. From this moment on, you are going to live together as husband and wife, for better or worse. From now on you will not be able to hide your various moods or feelings. The fullest impact of your personalities and natures will be brought to bear upon each other.

There is no denying that faults are going to appear in one another that up to this point have been hidden in a golden mist. There will be times when all the good qualities that you now see in one another may seem to fade.

But with all of this you should remain unmoved in your devotion and loyalty to one another.

If you want your marriage to be touched with perennial beauty, then you ought to cherish the sound advice given by him who first founded this institution. He has given us certain rules and regulations by which we are to live our lives. These rules and regulations are found in his book, the Holy Bible. They are given to serve as the rudder of the ship of your life.

*The couple who commence their married life in the Savior's name; the man who knows that he, even as Christ loved the church, should love his wife; the woman who knows that Jesus wants her to be a helpmeet to her husband, such people can be very sure they have built their home on a solid foundation.

Further, a home this is established with Jesus as the third member of the household; the fireside, where a deep sense of devotion to the Word of God pervades the atmosphere, is going to be a dwelling place of contentment and joy, and one which will raise your sights above the commonplace experiences of life.

If you are willing to make real this ideal in your united lives ... if you are willing to place each day of your life in the hands of your Savior for guidance and strength, then I can assure you that the Son of God's grace will never cease to shine over your new home.

(I have on occasion used the following as an alternate conclusion beginning at the *.)

If you take each day of your life and place it into the hands of your Savior for guidance and direction, your home will be a dwelling place of contentment and joy.

You should resolve, with God's help, that your love will not be blotted out nor blurred by the commonplace experiences of life.

It is the prayer of all of us here this evening -- your parents, your relatives and your friends -- that God may keep his hand over you as in a perpetual benediction, and that he may make your home everything that both he and you want it to be.

I would like to suggest, then, this beautiful motto for you to place over the door of your new home:

Then here will I and mine today
A solemn covenant make and say:
Though all the world forsake thy word
I and my house will serve the Lord.