A Ceremony of Marriage

Jesus is Lord!

1
2
 ORDER OF SERVICE

for the

SOLEMNISATION OF CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE

between

BROTHER <FULL NAME>

and

SISTER <FULL NAME>

at

< PLACE AND

FULL ADDRESS>

on

SATURDAY, <DATE>

at

<TIME>

3
 INTRODUCTION

The marriage union is the closest relationship that can exist between
two human beings.

The uniting of two people in holy wedlock is a sacred event,

therefore, the tendency to make it a time of hilarity and frivolity
dishonours God. For this reason, everyone present will do all he or
she can to make the ceremony impressive, sacred, dignified and
solemn.

When two born-again believers know it is God’s will for them to

marry, they come together before God, before a minister and before
witnesses to join their hearts and lives for as long as they shall live.
They are united by God and become as one in His sight. They are
joined together as Jesus is joined to the Church.

The world has the idea that marriage is simply a legal contract.
Marriage is indeed a legal contract, but it is also a spiritual contract.
There is an actual miracle that takes place when two born-again
believers speak the words of faith and vow according to the word of
God.

We welcome you to this solemn celebration.

May the miracle of God’s love bring you into a place of union with
the Father, union with the Son, union with the Holy Spirit, and union
with Christ’s Body, the Church, in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

4
 ORDER OF SERVICE

1. PRELUDE: ORGAN MUSIC

2. PRAYER

3. CONGREGATION HYMN

4. SCRIPTURAL PRONOUNCEMENT

5. CHOIR PIECE

6. SCRIPTURE READING

7. THE CEREMONY: Giving of Bride

Scriptural Vows
Pronouncement

8. SPECIAL NUMBER

9. SERMON

10. BLESSING OF THE UNION

11. PRAYER

12. PRESENTATION

13. RECESSIONAL HYMN

5
 PRELUDE: Organ Music
PRAYER

CONGREGATIONAL HYMN

(The bride shall be brought in when the last stanza of the

congregational hymn is being sung)

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS (OR CELEBRANTS’ CHOICE)

1. Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not,
As Thou hast been Thou for ever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided,
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

2. Summer and winter, and spring-time and harvest,

Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

3. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

6
 SCRIPTURAL PRONOUNCEMENT

The couple to be united in marriage and the attendants will take their
places before the minister, the bridegroom on the left, and the bride
on the right of the minister, who then will say:

We are gathered here to join this couple in holy wedlock; and since
we know that Almighty God is the Author of the institution of
marriage, that by His word this holy relationship between man and
woman was brought into existence, we do not hesitate to proceed
according to the instructions given us in His Holy Bible and in
accordance with the law of our country.

Obedience to the law of God always brings blessing even though we

may be in temporal adversity and sorrow. Disobedience brings the
displeasure of God, even in times of seeming prosperity and
happiness. Therefore, our conduct before each other either as
husbands, wives or unmarried individuals, must be regulated by
God’s law if we are to enjoy the supreme blessing of God upon our
lives while we live here on earth.

Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, also endorsed the institution of
marriage by attending and taking part in the marriage at Cana of
Galilee. He further gave His approval to marriage, reminding us of
some of its obligations and privileges when He said: “For this cause
shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and
they shall be one flesh.”

The Holy Spirit has also blessed marriage and has used its bond of
love as an illustration of the much closer tie that binds the Church of
Christ to her Bridegroom and Master, Jesus Christ. Speaking through
the Apostle Paul and terming it one of the great mysteries of life, the
Holy Spirit said, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands,
as it is fit in the Lord … Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also
loved the Church, and gave himself for it … For no man ever yet
hateth his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the
7
Lord the Church, for we are members of his body, of his flesh and of
his bones.”

8
 SONG FROM THE CHOIR

SCRIPTURE READING

THE CEREMONY

The minister will then address himself to the Father who is giving the
bride away and say:

To Father: Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?

Response: I do.
After this, the Father who gave the bride away will retire.
To Groom: <FIRST NAME>, have you been born again and made a
new creature by faith in the atoning blood of Jesus
Christ?
Response: I have.
To Bride: <FIRST NAME>, have you been born again and made a
new creature by faith in the atoning blood of Jesus
Christ?
Response: I have.

The minister will then place the right hand of the bride in the right
hand of the bridegroom and turning to the bridegroom will say:
To Groom: <GROOM’S FIRST NAME>, do you take <BRIDE’S FIRST
NAME>, whose right hand you now hold, to be your
lawfully wedded wife, and solemnly promise, God
helping you, that you will be a true and devoted
husband to her; that you will love her even as Christ
loves the Church, and honour, cherish protect and care
for her, and to take her alone until God, by death, shall
separate you?
Response: I do.
Minister: Then turn to her and make this profession of your faith:
I <GROOM’S FULL NAME>, according to the Word of
God, leave my father and mother and join myself to you
9
to be a husband to you. From this moment forward, we
shall be one.

10
To Bride: <BRIDE’S FIRST NAME>, do you take <GROOM’S FIRST
NAME>, whose right hand you now hold, to be your
lawfully wedded husband, and solemnly promise, God
helping you, that you will be a true and devoted wife to
him; that you will submit yourself to him as unto the
Lord, showing reverence to him as the head of this
union; that you will love, honour, cherish and comfort
him for the rest of your lives, and that you will keep
yourself to him, and to him alone, until God, by death,
shall separate you?
Response: I do.
Minister: Then turn to him and make this profession of your faith:
I <BRIDE’S FULL NAME>, according to the Word of God,
submit myself to you, to be a wife to you. From this
moment forward, we shall be one.

To Witnesses: Jesus said in the 18th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel,

“Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on
earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be
done for them OF my Father which is in heaven.”

You are not here just because of tradition. You are here
for a serious purpose to bear witness forever of the
mystery of the union that takes place this day and to
add your agreement before God to that which takes
place.

Don’t ever, ever tamper with that agreement. From this

day forward, regardless of what comes, you are in
agreement with this union. Don’t ever attempt in any
way to cause it to be anything other than a happy
union.

PRONOUNCEMENT
To Groom
and Bride: Join your right hands please.
11
 A miracle took place when you made Jesus Christ your
Lord and Saviour. The same power of God that raised
Jesus Christ from the dead joined you to Jesus. I want
you to understand that this day you are joined together
and become one. The same power that joined you with
Jesus when you made Him your Lord and Saviour has,
this day, joined you together.

Don’t ever tamper with that union. Don’t ever tamper

with that miracle. You are one, never to be separated or
divorced.
As a representative of Jesus Christ, before Almighty God
and in the name of the Father, of His Son Jesus, and the
power of the Holy Spirit of God, I now pronounce you as
one together. You are now husband and wife.

From today, when you agree on things, they will come

to pass. You have an awesome power at your disposal.
You are going to notice a new realm of your life
beginning because of a spiritual law that says one of you
shall chase a thousand, and two of you shall put ten
thousand to flight. From this time forward, your
everyday life will be ten times more powerful spiritually
than ever before.

To Congregation: In as much then as

<GROOM’S FIRST NAME> and <BRIDE’S FIRST NAME>

signified that they believe with all their hearts that it is

the perfect will of God for them to be joined together in
the holy bond of matrimony, have borne witness of this
fact before God and this company, and have pledged
their fidelity and love to each other, I, by virtue of the
authority vested in me as a minister of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, and by the laws of our country, now
12
 pronounce them husband and wife, in the name of the
FATHER and of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST.

“WHAT THEREFORE GOD HATH JOINED TOGETHER, LET NOT MAN

PUT ASUNDER”

SPECIAL NUMBER

SERMON

13
 BLESSING OF THE UNION

Galatians Chapter 3 says that Christ has redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us, so that the blessing of
Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we
might be heirs of the promise of the Spirit.

First Peter Chapter 3 says a man and his wife are heirs together of
the grace of life.

According to Deuteronomy Chapter 28,

“All these blessings will come on you and overtake you, if you will
hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God: Blessed shalt thou be in
the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the
fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy
basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and
blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall cause
thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face;
they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven
ways. The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy
storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall
bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. The LORD
shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he has sworn
unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy
God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that
thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of
thee. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of
thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground,
in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The
LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the
rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine
hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not
borrow. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail;
and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that
thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I
command thee this day, to observe and to do them.”
14
 PRAYER

PRESENTATION TO THE CONGREGATION

To Congregation: Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you

BROTHER AND SISTER <FAMILY NAME>

RECESSIONAL HYMN

THE SOLID ROCK (OR CELEBRANTS’ CHOICE)

1. My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

2. When darkness seems to hide His face,

I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the vale.

3. His oath, His covenant, His blood,

Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

4. When He shall come with trumpet sound,

Oh, may I then in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
15
Faultless to stand before the throne.

16
 CHURCH PROGRAMMES

Jesus only is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Come
along with us every week to know the truth as the Bible is taught
clearly in an expository and systematic way.

Gather with us every week for prayer for revival in the land and to
procure heavenly solution to your pressing problems. God is still
working mightily today. Come and prove His power!

Lastly, we cordially invite you to join us next week for a refreshing

Sunday Worship Service in one of our following locations:

<CITY OR REGION>
City /Region 1: <Address>; <Telephone Number>
City/Region 2: <Address>; <Telephone Number>
Etc: <Address>; <Telephone Number>

17
 RECEPTION PROGRAMME

1. Opening Prayer

2. Choruses

3. Introduction of the Chairman

4. Arrival of Bride and Bridegroom

5. Chairman’s Opening Speech

6. Special Number

7. Breaking the Bread of Life

8. Refreshment / Presentation of Gifts

9. Bridegroom’s Remark

10. Vote of thanks

11. Chairman’s Closing Remarks / Benediction

18
 Gratitude
We express our sincere and profound
gratitude to everyone present at this
Wedding Ceremony, and those who have
contributed in one way or the other to its
success.

We do pray that God will richly reward you

for your love and affection towards us.

May we all be present at the MARRIAGE

SUPPER OF THE LAMB, IN JESUS’ NAME.

Thank you very much.

19