Tag Archives: Wedding Sermon

Hlawuleka and Anisa

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Psalm 45 celebrates the royal wedding of a Kingly Groom and his Princess Bride. Charles Spurgeon said that if we view this psalm as a marriage only between King Solomon and Pharaoh’s daughter, we’ll be shortsighted. If we view it merely as King Solomon and Christ, we’ll be cross-eyed.

Here’s the right perspective. Psalm 45 depicts a beautiful, earthly, royal wedding, but foreshadows the union between the Heavenly Bridegroom—Jesus Christ—and His Bride, God’s people.

The Kingly Groom

The first half of Psalm 45 lauds the groom. The writer compares his tongue to a pen (v. 1), anxious to celebrate the royal wedding by writing a song to be sung by a grand choir. Continue reading →

Reginald and Thabelo

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You can summarize this wedding charge in one sentence. Character builds trust, trust builds friendship, and friendship builds the marriage.

This comes from the text in Proverbs 31:10-12:

“An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.”

Reg, today I serve as your best man. But from this day forward your closest friend on earth must be your wife. She is more than your lover. She is your intimate confidante. She’s your companion. She’s your friend.

The missing ingredient in many marriages is friendship. Companionship has disappeared, though it’s among the central purposes of marriage. We’ll return to this in a moment. But first, what are some other purposes of marriage?

Marriage is for Reflecting the Gospel

One purpose of marriage is reflecting the gospel. The way a husband loves his wife demonstrates the way Christ loves the church. The way a wife submits to her husband reflects the way believers submit to Christ. Your marriage may be the only picture of the Good News others people see. Continue reading →

Yamikani and Nondumiso

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8D97D25F-42AF-47B4-81A0-FE716C3F684C_1_201_aINTRODUCTION

Today we celebrate the union of Yamikani and Nondumiso, or, Boti Karni and Sesi Miso…as our congregation in Mbhokota Village affectionately refers to them. The word “boti” means “brother” in Tsonga and the word “sesi” means “sister”. Ironically, this means that this wedding ceremony today is not the formation of their first relationship together. God forged a relationship between these two some years ago. It was not a union in marriage. It was a union with Christ.

FAMILY BY BLOOD

For some years now they have referred to each other as brother and sister. This didn’t come come through family blood but through Jesus’ blood. This has not always been the case.

The Bible teaches that no one is born in the family of God but only in the family of His greatest enemy, Satan. Paul calls unbelievers “children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:3) and Jesus calls unbelievers children of their father the Devil (Jn. 8:44). No one is born a Christian, the way Muslims say they are born a Muslim or the way a boy is born a prince into a royal family or the way a girl may be born a princess because her father is a king.

Karni was born a Katunga and Miso was born a Hlela, but no one is born a Christian, even if they are born into a Christian family. Being born to Christian parents does not make you a Christian  any more than being born the child of a World Cup winner makes you a soccer star.

What this means is that salvation is really a transfer of families. When a sinner turns from his sin in repentance and looks to Jesus in hope and faith, not only does God instantly give him eternal life and the Holy Spirit, but God also becomes his Father. God makes him one of his children. For this reason Scripture uses the idea of adoption to explain how people are saved. They move from one family, a family of darkness, misery and sin, and into another family, a family of light, joy and righteousness. John says: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (Jn. 1:12). Continue reading →