Sermon Tone Analysis

Debbie, will you have this man to be your husband; to live together with him in the covenant of marriage?

Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto him as long as you both shall live?

(Bride's name), will you have this man to be your husband; to live together with him in the covenant of marriage?

Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto him as long as you both shall live?

The bride answers:

I will.

The celebrant says to the groom:

Richard, will you have this woman to be your wife; to live together with her in the covenant of marriage?

Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto her as long as you both shall live?

The groom answers:

I will.

The celebrant addresses the congregation, saying:

Will all of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage?

The congregation responds:

We will.

The Vows

The groom faces the bride and takes her right hand in his, then says:

In the name of God, I, Richard, still take you, Debbie, to be my wife, to have and to hold from our wedding day day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death.

This is my solemn vow.

They drop hands.

The bride then takes his right hand in hers, then says:

In the name of God, I, Debbie, still take you, Richard, to be my husband, to have and to hold form this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death.

This is my solemn vow.

Debbie and Richard, having witnessed your vows of love to one another and your covenant before God, it is my joy to celebrate your union with Christ and the church.

(To the groom.)

You may kiss your bride.

1.

I have and continue to surrender my life to Jesus and have been baptized as a public statement of my new life in Him under the new covenant.

I am surrendered to Jesus

​ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

​ because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

​ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

​ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

​ “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.

And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.

For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

1.

I have and continue to surrender my life to Jesus and have been baptized as a public statement of my new life in Him under the new covenant.

I am a part of something bigger

​ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

​ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

​ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

​ As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

​ For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

​ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2. I realize that this new covenant with God is between Him and His people, the church, and we are to be members of a diverse body of believers, defined by and rooted in the Bible, not our preferences.

I am trusting God to lead our leaders

​ And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

​ And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

​ Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.

​ Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.

Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

3. I trust the elders to guide and the staff to lead the church as God and His scriptures instruct them.

I am giving my all to the body where I belong

​ For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing?

If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

If all were a single member, where would the body be?

As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require.

But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

​ For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing?

If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

If all were a single member, where would the body be?

As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require.

But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

​ Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

​ give, and it will be given to you.

Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.

For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

​ As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

​ Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.