with luli
with my tatay Mark :-)
HERE IS TATAY MARK'S MESSAGE DURING THE WEDDING:
Good afternoon, my name is Pastor Mark of Calvary Chapel of Iloilo.
I can't help but to split my message in two parts...one of it is to share to you the goodness of God in this couple since I was an eye witness of God's plan in them as we are witnesses of it today.
The second is to share God's word to them to prepare them ahead for this new life that they are going to face.
To start with...
I met Neil when I was growing in my faith with the Lord in our church there in Iloilo City. We have similar likes and passion for the Lord and His ministry. Music to be specific and evangelism.
I called him my 'bro', he called me either 'kuya' or 'bro'. Until God called me more closer in the ministry to be a pastor ...and I still call him the same but now he is addressing me his pastor. The truth is I do look up to this man because of his love for Jesus. A "just" man.
Looking back to his life when he was in college...his priority would be the Lord, ministry, family, and school. Knowing that he has all the potentials that every girl would find in a man, he was so disciplined to stick with his priority.
After graduation, as the Lord was blessing his life, we would talk about other things but he would still hold on to his former priority except the school would be work now but preparing himself also for the new priority to line up, stressing that at the age of 30 he would settle down.
We all know time goes fast, so everytime we would see each other our conversation would be much more about certain potentials that he met along the way and I would advice him always that 'she' has to be someone who loves the Lord more than you and loves to serve the Lord and in the end we would pray asking for God's intervention that only His will will be done.
Last year, when we met again, he brought up the name Faith to me...This is where Faith entered in to my story...I never met Faith, just right now...but her very name itself reminds us of how we should live our life...and what Neil wants..."the just 'Neil' would live by faith.
As a friend and his pastor, I advised him to know more about Faith...Her relationship with God and her involvement in the ministry. Neil from time to time would give me feedbacks about Faith and she seemed to be the right one for him.
The only thing is if Faith would notice it ...that we are noticing her as more prayers were offered to God as Neil requested. And to make the long story short...
Until one day...this one day is a very long day because we are still on that day now..the story of God's plan is starting to be revealed before our eyes.
This would also be my first message for both of them.
So sad when I tried to look for a clean joke about marriage to open up for my introduction about this subject, I was surprised that most of the humors were about divorce or marrying a wrong person...one of the jokes is 'the number one cause of divorce is marriage.'
So sad that the first conversation about marriage in the Bible, in the New Testament, when Jesus was asked, is about divorce too.
...Matthew 19:3-9 (NKJV)
The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" [4] And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who madethem at the beginning 'made them male and female,' [5] and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? [6] So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." [7] They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?" [8] He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. [9] And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."
Jesus did not answer the conversation about divorce but rather about marriage, and divorce showed only the real condition of our heart in reality.
So going back at the beginning as our Lord pointed to us, we can learn certain things there that would strengthen our marriage. The story would be easy for us because we are all familiar with the story.
Jesus pointed out...have you not read? The importance of knowing the Bible...this would give us the guide of knowing the truth about our life and everything about life.
Life is like sailing in the Sea of Galilee. In Jesus time, He would command His disciples to cross over the other side. The disciples did not have a hard time obeying the Lord since the weather is fine and the sea is calm but suddenly in the middle of the sea a storm would come and will challenge their faith. We need to have an anchor to help us stay in the course. The word of God is a light unto our feet and a lamp unto our path.
...That God made them male and female...Number 2 to remember...It is God who made us...Our lives belong to Him. This would be a great reminder for us to treat our partners with respect because he or she is not your possession. He/ she belongs to the Lord. Treat them well if you want God to be happy with you.
The third is the joining together...'Therefore what God had joined together'...you know how difficult it is for two sinners to come together...we are all selfish...we don't take to love because we tend to give as true love is...we love to take...which means I love you because I'm using you or getting something from you. True love is patient, it is kind, does not think of evil...
Only God can make us one...from out of the one becomes two, so only God can make the two become one. How do we do it ...by putting God in the center of our life first then we know He will be the center of our marriage. A triangle illustration...
Now if you would still insist...it's because of the hardness of your heart...and Jesus again pointed out that in the beginning it was not so...we sometimes insist our own way so things crumble up.
To go back and learn in the beginning...when God created us and everything He saw that it was good...but when He looked at man, He said 'it is not good for man to be alone'...this was showing to us that even though we are blessed already, God wanted to bless us more!
And marriage is one of the greatest blessings that God gave to us if we follow God's way. The intimacy a couple can share, the commitment they can hold to help each other conquer the trials of life, and the blessings of reproducing this love through our children until more generations to come.
Then God instituted the marriage ceremony. The only good start for us is when we start with God. It is hard to end up things right when you don't start things right.
Marriage should only be instituted by God...
We all know that this was God's perfect choice and with perfect people and with a perfect match made from heaven. But it does not necessarily mean that it will end up in a perfect marriage.
So what did we learn from Adam and Eve's marriage.
Lesson1:don't have any confidence in your flesh learn to trust God's word...they started to lose confidence in the word of God and the result is the fall.
Lesson2: learn to admit mistakes right away...
They almost blamed each other and even blamed God for their partners but when they quieted themselves and allowed God to speak and accepted their consequences and stayed together, they lived up to 930 years together.
There were ups and downs in their life...but I know that Adam and Eve lived together that long because they continued to walk with God...every good tree bears good fruit.
one proof..Seth was born from them...Seth was a generation who turned people to seek after God. Where do you think did Seth get that godly heart?
There were no church there, no pastor, or believers to influence him...it was only his parents to show that.
Staying faithfully together for 930 years is possible with Adam and Eve because they stayed together with God...in this generation staying faithfuly together for 930 days (2.5years) is becoming impossible...for both of you Neil and Faith staying faithfully together for 930 months(77years) our whole lifetime is achievable if you stay in God.
Neil and Faith, maybe because you are so preoccupied with the celebration today that you might forget my message... But there is one thing I want you both to remember...your name... Neil...it was your prayer that started all of this...kneel before God always. Faith, you know it already...you believed that Neil would be God's perfect choice for you..keep your faith in God only!
May the Lord keep you both, and bless you, and shine on you, and be gracious to you and give you peace.
LET US PRAY WITH THEM FOR THAT 930-MONTH STRONG MARRIAGE.
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