The Sending Forth
M-1
As God's own people, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, and patience,
forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, and crown all these things
with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
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M-2
Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through him.
M-3
Dear Ones, I strongly charge you both as husband and wife, to preserve sacredly the privacies of your own home, your marriage state, and your heart. Remember our
Lord's urgent counsel: What God hath joined together let not man put
assunder. Therefore, let no one ever presume to come between you, or to
share the joys or the sorrows that belong to you two lone.
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M-4
I charge you both, as you stand in the presence of God, to remember that love and
loyalty alone will avail as the foundations of a happy and enduring home. If
the solemn vows which you have made are kept permanently, and if
steadfastly you seek to do the will of your Heavenly Father, your life will be
full of peace and joy, and the home which you are establishing will abide
through every change.
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M-5
________ and ________, you have givien yourselves to each other in unselfish love. You have made a solemn vow to each other, a deliberate promise that come what may, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health you will be true and faithful to each other.
This means thoughtfulness and patience, ready sympathy and forbearance, talking over and sharing your special interests. Thus you will learn to bear each other's
burdens, making your life journey together one of radiant joy and ope.
This service is far more than the exchange of solemn vows. It is one of blessing. It
is only with God's help that you can steadfastly keep the promises you have made
to each other. The ever living Christ is here to bless and guide you. He will
always be by your side to help you. The nearer you keep to God, the closer and
dearer you will be to each other.
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M-6
In the presence of God and of these friends, I charge you, ________ and ________, to cherish a mutual esteem and love; to bear with each other's infirmities and weaknesses; to comfort each other in sickness, trouble, and sorrow, in honesty and industry to provide for each other; to pray for and encourage each other in the things which pertain to God; and to live together as heirs of the grace of God.br>
But you can not do this alone. Trust in God, pray to him daily, give your talents to the church, find your place in its fellowship, and accept its ministries to
inspire, to instruct, and to keep alive the love of God in your hearts which
has brought you together and which sustains you.br>
God has joined you together. He will seal your covenant with His. Thus you will be the instruments of his will and purpose for yourselves and for others. Your love is
not your own; it is God's love implanted within you to which you in freedom
have joyously responded. Now he will create out of your love something which
did not exist before - a holy marriage. Marriage is more than your love for
each other; it is God's holy ordinance; it is his act before it is yours. By
the will of God you belong to each other until death will part you.
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M-9
I charge you both, as you stand here in this high moment of your lives, to
remember that love and loyalty alone will stand as the foundations of a happy and
enduring home. If the vows you made this day are kept, your life together will
be full of joy and peace, and the home which you make shall abide through every
unknown future.
In this new life together, I counsel you to recall ever anew the thrill of your early
love. Cherish always the visions and hopes you have this day, and let them not
be tarnished by common events or routine habit. Believe in your ideals for this
marriage, and diligently pursue them, and they shall indeed become realities.
I charge you both to make your love for each other a growing part of your lives,
feeding it from the very best resources of your living. You must grow to the
point where each gains major satisfaction in giving happiness to the other.
Give of yourself to the other, deeply and freely and generously, ever recalling
the words of the poet who has said:
Love ever gives, forgives, outlives:
And ever stands with open hands.
And while it lives, It gives.
For this is love's prerogative:
To give--and give--and give.
Yes, it is also necessary to recognize that marriage is a relationship of two persons
who are not always at their best, and even in these moments of human failing, I
counsel you always to act with charity and compassion toward one another.
And finally, I do charge and require you both to remember this day as the most sacred day in your lives--as the day in which you promised, before family and friends, that in every way possible you would strive to bring each other life's greatest fulfillment.
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M-10
Hand in Hand you enter marriage, hand in hand you step out in faith. The hand you
freely give to each other, is both the strongest and the most tender part of
your body. In the years ahead you will need both strength and tenderness. Be
firm in your commitment. Don't let your grip become weak. And yet, be flexible
as you go through change. Don't let your hold become intolerable. Strength and
tenderness...Firm commitment and flexibility....of such is a marriage made,
hand in hand: Remember this well!
Also remember that you don't walk this path alone. Don't be afraid to reach out to
others when together you face difficulty. Other hands are there: friends and family. To accept an outreached hand is not an admission of failure, but an act of
faith.
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M-11
Two brave ships at anchor in the safe harbour of friends and family,a time of
celebration and send-offs, of hopes and best wishes.
You will voyage across pristine seas under clear skies, flying fish at your bows, dolphins in your wake, great whales rising and submerging in the rhythm of the ocean.
You have already called at many ports and many more await you, for short stays, for long. You will travel in convoy or side by side, travelling together but each having your own hull, your own identity side by side.
Sometimes your bows will rise and fall amid turbulence beyond your control as you face the grey wind swept surging of the sea. You will each need to find your own way to survive but never lose contact in the storm, hold direction and you will eventually find the calm to bring you side by side.
You will not see beyond the horizons, nor know all the mystery of the ocean which
bears you up, for all our intent and information, we are but leaves blown over
the surface of time; but enjoy knowing and being known by each other, enjoy the
love which will in some moments make you soft and gentle and in others steel
you to confront the fierce lashings of the tempest.
God go with you on your journey, circle you like the gulls, and be the silent
wondering which brings you to your own inwardness and opens your hearts to
others.
We celebrate your life together and wish you well in your journey together.
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M-12
______________ and _________________, I offer you this
Benediction of the Apaches:
``Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter to the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other. Now there is no more loneliness for you, but there is only one
life before you. Go now to your dwelling place, to enter into the days of your
togetherness, and may your days be good, and long upon, the arth.''
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M-13
These two lives are now joined as one. May your rings symbolize the spirit of undying love in each of your hearts. Wherever you go, may you always return to one
another in your togetherness. May you find in each other the kind of love everyone longs for. May you grow in understanding and compassion. May the home that you establish be such a place of peace and joy that many will find there a friend.
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M-14
So may this shining hour be an open door through which _______ and ________ will go forth to build that dearest of all relationships, a happy marriage. May the
years deal gently with them; walking together may they find far more in life
than either would have found alone; and even more fully may they come to know
this one supreme truth:
That caring is sharing…That living is giving…That life is eternal…
And that love is its crown.
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M-15
We have come here together that this man and this woman might bear witness before you and to the world of the oneness that has grown up between them; that they might affirm this oneness and this dedication here, as they have affirmed it to each other. As they now exist as one in their own eyes, so may they exist in your eyes. The mysterious union of two persons in marriage has already occurred in them in the giving and receiving of their love. In witness to this mystery, they do pledge their love and the sharing of their lives.
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M-16
I charge you both, as you stand here in this high moment of your lives, to remember that love and loyalty alone will stand as the foundations of a happy and enduring home. If the vows you made this day are kept, your life together will be full of joy and peace, and the home which you make shall abide through every unknown future.
In this new life together, I counsel you to recall ever anew the thrill of your early love. Cherish always the visions and hopes you have this day, and let them not be
tarnished by common events or routine habit. Believe in your ideals for this
marriage, and diligently pursue them, and they shall indeed become realities.
I charge you both to make your love for each other a growing part of your lives, feeding it from the very best resources of your living. You must grow to the point
where each gains major satisfaction in giving happiness to the other. Give of
yourself to the other, deeply and freely and generously, ever recalling the
words of the poet who has said:
Love ever gives, forgives, outlives:
And ever stands with
open hands.
And while it lives. It gives.
For this is love's
prerogative:
To give--and give--and give.
Yes, it is also necessary to recognize that marriage is a relationship of two persons who are not always at their best, and even in these moments of human failing, I
counsel you always to act with charity and compassion toward one another,
sharing the spirit expressed in the Book of Ephesians: Be kind to one
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.
I would further charge you to understand, and constantly to strengthen, the spiritual basis of your love, recognizing that it is the most precious of all God's gifts to you, and that it must be nurtured until it attains to the state of perfect
love which is intended by God for all people. Keep ever before you the words of
the New Testament: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God.
If we love one another, God dwells in us, and in us shall his love be
perfected. Keep your hearts and minds open to the inner working of his
spirit, that you love for each other may become as his love for us, full and
complete in every way.
And finally, I do charge and require you both to remember this day as the most
sacred day in your lives--as the day in which you promised, before God and man,
that in every way possible you would strive to bring each other life's greatest
fulfillment.
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M-17
Hand in Hand you entered marriage, hand in hand you step out in faith. The hand you freely give to each other, is both the strongest and the most tender part of
you body. In the years ahead you will need both strength and tenderness. Be
firm in your commitment. Don't let your grip become weak. And yet, be flexible
as you go through change. Don't let your hold become intolerable. Strength and
tenderness...Firm commitment and flexibility....of such is a marriage made,
hand in hand: Remember this well!
Also remember that you don't walk this path alone. Don't be afraid to reach out to
others when together you face difficulty.
Other hands are there: friends, family, and the church. To accept an outreached hand is not an admission of failure, but an act of faith. For behind us, underneath us, around us all, are the outstretched arms of the One from Galilee. It is into
his hand, the hands of God in Jesus Christ, that, above all else, we commit
this union of husband and wife. Hand in hand (couple, church, God) you enter
marriage. Let us step out in faith.
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