Below is our wedding service:
As we gather – family and friends
– to hear and participate in the marriage vows of Matt Hammar and April
Parnell, we are reminded of the love of our Lord – for His bride, the Church.
The Church is very precious to
the Lord. It is not a building – but the Body of Christ, consisting of every
faithful member throughout the universe.
As Christians, we are married to
Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:2 reads: “For I
am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband,
that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.”
Our God intended ONE WOMAN for
ONE MAN for LIFE!
We know that the love of Matt for
April, and the love of April for Matt, is of a similar likeness to that of
Christ’s love for the Church.
Simple, sincere love possesses a
beauty beyond description. Where there is love, there is everything, for God is
Love!
Your vows today will not only
represent the unity of the two of you, but also a uniting of your families.
As you become one, so do the rest
of us with you.
Your joy is our joy.
Your welfare is our concern.
Your hopes and desires when
fulfilled will bring forth happiness to us as well. And your needs are also our
concerns.
The body of Christ in Pullman has
been blessed over the past five years to have April as our sister in Christ.
And we were doubly blessed a couple of years ago when Matt placed membership
and became our brother.
But not only are they our brother
and sister, but some of us have adopted them as our son and daughter and become
a surrogate mother and father to two wonderful young Christian children. Your
parents, Matt and April, and grandparents, are very proud of both of you – as
we are.
Matt and April would like to
thank their parents for raising them according to God’s will and showing them
such amazing love. The prayers of a
parent for their child is truly blessed and Shirley Parnell and Joe and Barb
Hammar have been praying that their children, April and Matt, would one day
find the Christian mate that God had intended for them from the day they were
born.
We are happy to see you happy –
and so much in love. It is such a
miracle to see how God works for good for His children. And before you say your vows and make your
covenant to each other and God, I want to take a minute or two and share with
your loved ones here today some of the happy times and special moments of your
courtship, a wonderful time that we’ve had the honor to share with you.
Some of you may already have heard
this story, but April told me once how much she wanted to find a Godly man to
marry someday. I wanted to help her and I gave her a flyer on a Christian
singles retreat in the Portland area.
April got very excited about the prospect
of meeting someone special. I was excited for her. When she returned from that
weekend I asked her how it went.
“From a spiritual standpoint it
was great,” she said. “But I was the youngest person there. Most were
60-years-old and divorced or widowed.”
We laughed, but I had a feeling
she would soon meet someone – and I told her so. Weeks later, God answered our
prayers and Matt came into her life.
Soon they went on their first
date after Wednesday night services. They had coffee at Starbucks and April
said: “I thought he was hot.”
She was attracted to his blue
eyes and the fact that he took some of the younger kids at church on an
overnight camping trip.
Ice cream followed coffee a few
days and they went to Baskin Robbins for a second date, where they talked for
hours, after which April called her Mom to tell her about the special man she
had met.
Not too much later, Matt and
April stole their first kiss. But who’d have though it would be at Faith Quest
as chaperones, right outside of a camper, and under the noses of two elders.
Matt was just as taken as April.
He had longed for a Christian woman, and was impressed that she was always at
church. And yes, he also thought she was hot, saying with a big grin and sparkling
eyes: “She was very, very attractive.”
“I also liked how she held
herself,” matt said. “I guess proper is the right word, the kind of woman I’ve
always wanted to marry me.”
On November 30th of
last year they went for a ride to Mt. Rainier. Matt, who had already asked
permission from April’s mother, got down on one knee and asked the love of his
life to marry him.
April said yes. They cried tears
of joy, and then prayed to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Matt and April, this is the
second most important decision of your life. The first was the day you committed
your lives to Christ, and now you are committing to one another.
In Proverbs 18:22 the wise man
Solomon said: “He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from
the Lord.”
Again, Proverbs 31:10-11 reads:
“An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above
jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of
gain.”
Please listen closely to the
following: Jealousy is the Devil’s best tool, but the armor of God will defeat
him every time! Here is the secret of marriage: Commitment and Trust.
And now I remind you pf Adam’s
words when presented with the world’s first bride in Genesis 2:23-24: “And he
man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be
called woman, because she was taken out of man.’ For this cause a man shall
leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall
become one flesh.”
I now charge you both, in the
presence of God, your families and friends, to remember that Christianity, love
and loyalty are the foundations of a happy home.
I know that the solemn covenant
which you are about the make will be carefully kept, and that you will
steadfastly attend to the will of your Father in Heaven. And because of that,
your lives will be full of joy, and the home you are about to establish will
abide in peace. There are no human ties that are more tender, or promises that
are more sacred.
If there be anyone here today who
objects to this man and woman’s marriage, let them speak now or forever hold
their piece.
Matt and April have written
special vows. Matt, repeat after me:
I, Matt, take you April, as God’s
perfect match for me, to be my wife. I
will love you, honor you, cherish you and respect you. I promise to laugh with you in the good
times, stand by your side through the bad, and be true to you in sickness and
in health. Daily will I praise God for
giving you to me and daily will I pray for your protection and continued love. I will be faithful to you all of my days and
will adore every moment of our lives that God blesses us with.
April, repeat after me:
I, April, take you Matt, as God’s
perfect match for me, to be my husband.
I will love you, honor you, cherish you and submit to you. I promise to laugh with you in the good times,
stand by your side through the bad, and be true to you in sickness and in
health. Daily will I praise God for
giving you to me and daily will I pray for your protection and continued love. I will be faithful to you all of my days and
will adore every moment of our lives that God blesses us with.
Is there a token of your
commitment to each other:
Matt, would you place the ring on
April’s hand and make your pledge to her:
With this ring, in front of God,
I pledge myself to you forever and join my life with yours. May God bless our love as I love you and take
care of you for as long as we live.
April, would you place the ring
on Matt’s hand and make your pledge to him:
With this ring, in front of God,
I pledge myself to you forever and join my life with yours. May God bless our love as I love you and
honor you for as long as we live.
Matt, do you take April to be
your lawfully wedded wife as long as you both shall live?
I do.
April, do you take Matt to be
your lawfully wedded husband as long as you both shall live?
I do.
Prayer:
O God of Love,
Thou hast established marriage for the welfare and happiness of mankind. Thine
was the plan and only with Thee can we work it out with joy. Thou has said,
"It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a help mate for
him." Now our joys are doubled since the happiness of one is the happiness
of the other. Our burdens now are halved when we share them – we divide the load.
Bless this husband. Bless him as provider of nourishment and clothing. Sustain him in all the pressures of his labors for bread. May his strength be her protection, his character be her pride, and may he so live that she will find in him the haven for which the heart of woman truly longs.
Bless this loving wife. Give her tenderness that will make her great, a deep sense of understanding and a great faith in Thee. Give her that inner beauty of soul that never fades, that eternal youth that is found in holding fast the things that never age.
Teach them that marriage is not living merely for each other; it is two joining hands to serve Thee. Give them a great spiritual purpose in life. May they seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and the other things shall be added unto them.
May they not expect of each other the perfection that belongs alone to Thee. May they minimize each other’s weaknesses, be swift to praise and magnify each other’s strengths, and see each other through a lover’s kind and patient eyes.
Now make such assignments to them in Thy will as will develop their characters as they walk together. Give them enough tears to keep them tender, enough hurts to keep them humane, enough failure to keep their hands clenched tightly in Thine, and enough success to encourage them in their walk with Thee.
May they never take each other’s love for granted, but always experience that breathless wonder that exclaims, "Out of all this world you have chosen me."
When life is done, may they be found then as now, hand in hand, still thanking God for each other. May they serve Thee happily, faithfully, together, until at last one shall lay the other into the arms of God.
This we ask through Jesus Christ, Amen .
We, your family and friends, commend
you for the love and sincerity you have shown for each other, and congratulate
you that you are now HUSBAND and WIFE.
You may kiss the bride.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it gives me
great pleasure and is a great honor to present Mr. and Mrs. Hammar.
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