Thank
you so much Graeme and Zoe for inviting me to enjoy this wonderful
day with you both. To see my dear friends married makes me joyful
beyond words. I am so blessed to be here and I cannot thank you
enough for including me in this awesome day.
And
thank you so much for your wonderful friendship. You have both
blessed me in amazing ways but most of all you have blessed me by
being incredibly loving friends to me. I am so grateful to God for
bringing such wonderful friends into my life. Our friendship is
another display of God’s grace in our lives and another reason for
us to be full of thankfulness and gratitude to him.
But
as wonderful as our friendship is it is not perfect. We are fallible
and sadly we let each other down. As you begin your lives together it
brings me joy to remind you of one who will never fail you, who will
always be there for you, who will never stop loving you. The bible
says,
“But
you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow
to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
(Psalm
86:15)
“Your
steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your
faithfulness to the clouds.” (Psalm 36:5)
“The
steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
His
mercies never come to an end;
They
are new every morning;
Great
is your faithfulness.”
(Lamentations
3:22-23)
I
would also like to share with you my experience of what a faithful
friend Jesus has been in my life. Many are the times when depression
has plunged me into the dark depths of despair. But he has been there
to comfort and care for me even when my whole world seemed to be
falling apart. It has been in my darkest days that I have experienced
his love most intimately and intensely, seen his sovereignty in
action most clearly, and been blessed by his grace to get through
another day. You have a friend who will stick by you no matter what
happens in your lives. In days of joy and sadness he promises to
remain faithful to you and to always set his loving affections on
you.
Graeme
and Zoe, I am not a wealthy man. I don’t have a financial nest egg
to fall back on. I don’t have many expensive possessions. I don’t
own my own house. I don’t have a high earning job. I don’t have
an advanced education. I don’t have a long list of friends. These
are all the things the world we live in esteems as valuable. But what
I and you do have that eclipses all of these is Jesus Christ. He is
infinitely more valuable than anything the world esteems as valuable.
The bible says,
“He
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For
by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all
things were created through him and for him. And he is before all
things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of
the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the
dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through
him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in
heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross.” (Colossians
1:15-20)
And
Jesus, pointing to himself as the one who satisfies the deep
spiritual longings of your soul and your longing to know God, says,
“I
am the bread of life;
whoever
comes to me shall not hunger,
and
whoever believes in me shall not thirst.”
(John
6:35)
As
you begin your lives together I hope and pray that each day you will
point each other to the treasure that can never perish, whose love
never fades, and whose grace will always be amazing. You were made
for someone bigger than yourselves and bigger than each other. You
were made to enjoy Jesus forever.
Recently
I read these words from John Piper which I hope will encourage you as
you begin a new chapter in your lives. He writes,
“Marriage
is not mainly about prospering economically; it is mainly about
displaying the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his church.
Knowing Christ is more important than making a living. Treasuring
Christ is more important than bearing children. Being united to
Christ by faith is a greater source of marital success than perfect
sex and double-income prosperity. So it is with marriage. It is a
momentary gift. It may last a lifetime, or it may be snatched away on
the honeymoon. Either way, it is short. It may have many bright days,
or it may be covered with clouds. If we make secondary things
primary, we will be embittered at the sorrows we must face. But if we
set our face to make of marriage mainly what God designed it to be,
no sorrows and no calamities can stand in our way. Every one of them
will be, not an obstacle to success, but a way to succeed. The beauty
of the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his church shines
brightest when nothing but Christ can sustain it.”
Graeme
and Zoe, thank you so much for having me here to enjoy this day with
you both. I wish you all the very best for the future. God bless and
much love to you in our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ.
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