God's Successful Marriage

  The Seasons of Marriage Key Verse: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”   — Ecclesiastes 3:1 When my bride and I exchanged our vows, we promised to love one another for the rest of our lives. What we could not have fully understood that day was how many different versions of life those vows would have to carry us through. We knew we would grow older together, but we did not yet know exactly how parenthood would change us. We did not know what responsibilities would eventually rest on our shoulders, what trials would test us, or which prayers would seem to go unanswered. We did not know how success, disappointment, illness, loss, exhaustion, and the passing years would shape the people we were becoming. We promised to love each other for a lifetime without yet knowing everything that lifetime would contain. That is one of the beautiful—and sometimes difficult—truths about marriage: marriage has seasons . Some seasons feel full o...

  God at the Center Was Never Just a Theme God’s Successful Marriage — Series Wrap-Up: God at the Center Key Verse: “ And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. ” -  Colossians 1:17 “God at the center” is one of those phrases Christian couples can agree with quickly. It sounds right. It belongs in a marriage conversation. It fits well in a wedding message, a Bible study, a counseling session, or a devotional thought. Most Christian husbands and wives would not argue against it. But agreement is not the same as surrender. Over this series, we have not simply been repeating a Christian catchphrase. We have been asking what it actually means for a marriage to be brought under the loving authority of God. Not God as decoration. Not God as the emergency contact when everything falls apart. Not God as the One we mention on Sunday, but quietly ignore when making decisions on Monday. God at the center means our marriage is under Him. It means our attitudes, words, pri...

  Welcome to the World, Genevieve Leann - A Special Family Reflection from God’s Successful Marriage “ Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.” — Psalm 127:3 There are moments in life that seem to stop time. For several hours, a family waits, prays, watches the clock, and hopes for good news. Then, in one beautiful moment, everything changes. A child takes her first breath, a mother and father meet their daughter, and a family grows larger. Today was one of those moments for our family - our third grandchild, Genevieve Leann, entered the world. As her grandfather, I find myself looking at her name and thinking about everything that name will one day represent. Today, she is a newborn daughter resting in the arms of her parents. In time, she will develop her own personality, her own laughter, her own interests, her own questions, and her own story. For now, however, she is simply Genevieve. She is precious, small, newly arrived, and already dee...

  “ And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…” — Revelation 12:1 There is something we do — often without realizing it. We hear one testimony, and it grips the room: "I was delivered from a lifetime of drugs, alcohol, abuse, and a life that was clearly broken."  We respond with energy: “Look what the Lord has done.” “God is powerful.” “Only God could bring someone out of that.” And we should respond that way because that is the mighty power of God on display. But then we hear another testimony: “I grew up in church… I gave my life to Christ when I was young… and I’ve walked with Him since.” And our response is often....quieter: “Praise the Lord.” ......and we move on. We may not say it out loud, but over time, we begin to treat one testimony like a miracle… and the other like an expectation. And that is where we have to be careful because somewhere along the way, we unintentionally send a message: That one salvation story is POWERFUL...