INTRODUCTION: In the next 4 weeks you will have the opportunity to invest in your marriage in a powerful and practical way that will lead to a Locking in Your Love Ceremony on May 18, 2012. Each week’s Marriage Appointment topic will lead you as a couple to a moment of refreshing and recommitment as you consider the statements of marital commitment together.
- Read and review together the statements of marital commitment below.
Statements 1-7 of Marital Commitment:
We will commit to ourselves to the following statements in our marriage. We will…
1. remain faithful to our marital promises
2. love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul and strength
3. obey and submit our lives to the Lord and His word for us
4. build our marriage based on a biblical foundation
5. commit ourselves to attending a marriage conference once a year
6. respect each other
7. be friends and work on our friendship
- Take turns evaluating your marriage based on the marital commitment statements above by considering which statements you would identify as strengths for you as a couple and which statements are potential growth areas.
- Brainstorm creative ways to strengthen the growth areas you have identified as a couple.
ASSIGNMENT: Your goal this week is to go on a date to the local hardware store or any store that sells padlocks with keys. Find one you both like that has room for engraving your names and the date. Purchase the padlock and turn it into Pastor Jason or Glory Sindall for engraving. Also notify Pastor Jason at pastorjason@alfc.us or Glory Sindall at glory@alfc.us that you would like to be a part of the ceremony on May 18.
VISUALIZING THE CEREMONY: Each week you will be given a brief explanation of a piece of the ceremony so that you can prepare yourself for this special time. One of the things that will happen is that you and your spouse will have the opportunity to lock your padlock on the ALFC lovescape found at the front of the church. Then you will throw away the key symbolizing your lifelong commitment. Each time you come to church or pass by the building you will be reminded of how God has blessed you with a marriage that is locked in.