Happenings

Sermons by Pastor Walter Snyder plus announcements, articles, videos, and anything else that doesn’t fit Ask the Pastor or the Luther Library.





10 June 2017

Wedding Sermon: Strength and Song, Salvation and Confession

Preached on 1 Timothy 6:12 and Isaiah 12:2
The Marriage of Laura M. Snyder and Kyle L. Molitor
10 June AD 2017

Title: Strength and Song, Salvation and Confession (MP3 Audio)

The Wedding at Cana Summary: Besides the Scriptures included in the wedding rite, a pastor has many options when choosing a sermon text. When Laura and Kyle asked me to preach, I looked through the “usual suspects” and had an idea: The union of this man and this woman would include a joining of all they carried with them, including their confirmation verses.

With that in mind, I asked Laura to find out Kyle’s verse to see if it would work in unity with hers as a joint text. I was quite pleased when I discovered that his from 1 Timothy nicely complemented hers from Isaiah 12. Both confess that we have salvation and eternal life only through God in Christ Jesus.

Kyle and Laura completely agree that the most important love isn’t that between people but the love God has for fallen humanity. As I wove the themes of the two verses together, the Father’s boundless love and unconditional forgiveness through Jesus remained the unifying strand.

They will best live together and love together as they live in faith. They will forgive each other most completely as they realize how completely God forgives them. And they will most wholeheartedly sacrifice their own desires for each other as they embrace the sacrifice Christ made for them.

Note that the bulletin cover art I reference in the sermon is this Coptic illustration to the right. This vision of the Marriage at Cana beautifully shows our Savior sheltering husband and wife “under his wings.”

Snyder-Molitor Wedding Texts: Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Audio: Click to hear the MP3 of Strength and Song, Salvation and Confession.

NB: For some reason, a few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio if Windows Media is their default MP3 player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.

Other Readings: Genesis 2:7, 18-24; Colossians 3:1-4, 12-17; Matthew 19:4-6

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