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April 21, 2002, Matthew 5.31-32

Open It

1. What commitments do adults commonly make?
2. What commitments do adults sometimes break?
3. What causes people to break their commitments?

Explore It

4. What's the difference between the two following statements?

   I, N., take you, N., to be my wedded husband/wife, to have an to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and accordingly I pledge you my faith.

   We are banded together as a Congregational Christian Church to maintain the worship of God, to proclaim the gospel of Christ, to develop in men and women a consciousness of our relations and duties to God and our fellow men and women; and to inspire each other with love for redeeming truth, a passion for righteousness, and an enthusiasm for service. To this end we publicly pledge our personal loyalty to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, and we covenant with God and with one another that we will strive to express his spirit in our lives, both as individual believers and as a church; to live together as Christian friends and to submit ourselves to the government of this church; always working for its progress, giving liberally of our means for its support, and praying for its increase in efficiency, its purity in life and purpose, its peace and fellowship in service, and seeking in every way to make it an influence for the building up of the kingdom of God.

5. Are the two statement equally valid and equally important?
6. Have you ever thought of your relationship with God as a marriage?
7. What are the significant scriptural allusions to God as husband? Isaiah 54:5-6; Jeremiah 31:32; Hosea 2:19-20; 2 Corinthians 11:1-2; Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19.7-9
8. If we consider our relationship with God as with a spouse there are some questions that need to be explored.
   1. Why are you being married?
   2. What is the purpose of marriage?
   3. What do you hope to accomplish be getting married?
   4. What will you need to do to accomplish your purpose?

Fred Buechner, in his book Whistling in the Dark, says, "Marriage is where a man and a woman become more richly themselves together, than the chances are either of them could ever have managed to become alone."

John Graham, has noted: "Even if marriages are made in heaven, we have to be responsible for the maintenance."

9. Do the same questions, slightly re-worded, apply to a relationship with God.
1. Why did you or are you becoming a Christian?
2. What is the purpose of Christianity?
3. What do you hope to accomplish by being a Christian? Ephesians 4:13-15
4. What will you need to do to accomplish your purpose? Ephesians 4:11-12

Get It

10. If marriage is an excellent illustration of a relationship with God. What would constitute a good marriage.
11. There is a word that rears its ugly head in all relationships, either directly or indirectly, that word is divorce. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements:
1. Divorce is the end result of a deteriorating relationship
2. Divorce is the ultimate breakdown of a relationship
3. Divorce is the severing of the ties of marriage.
12. What impact does divorce have on the participants as well as the observers?
13. Is there any difficulty in understanding the devastation created by divorce?
14. Does devastation appear to be too harsh or too hard a word? Perhaps distress or grief, dislocation, brokenness ought to be used.
15. What are some of the negative ways in which divorce impacts people and society?
16. What are some of the negative ways in which divorce from God impacts people and society?
17. If God were justly and lovingly a part of all human experience would this world would be a very different place in which to love, to laugh, to work and to live?.
18. Can we say the same thing about the Church, the body of Christ?

Apply It

19. What can you do this week to strengthen your marriage or the marriage of a friend?
20. What can you do this week to strengthen your covenant relationship with God and with the members of the Church?
21. How can you show respect for marriage this week?
22. How can you demonstrate respect for the Church this week?
23. What can you do today or tomorrow to lessen the likelihood of ever getting divorced?
24. What can you do today or tomorrow to lessen the likelihood of ever getting a divorce from God and the Church?

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