God in His infinite wisdom has determined to make men and women very, very different. But we must be careful because there are different kinds of differences. What do I mean? A coral reef and a cirrus cloud are quite different—as in entirely different. A violin and a bow are also completely different, but a …
Kip and Karis
In a quote famously attributed to St. Francis, he once told his followers: “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words only when necessary.” Now to the extent that this is simply an exhortation to ...
Seth and Brooke
The world uses the word love a lot, but tends to fall into certain destructive patterns in their pursuit of it. One kind of love is conditional on the front end—“I will love you if . . .” Another is conditional after the fact—“I love you because . . .” I will love you in …
Tim and Maggie
Of course we confess the fact that God is the Creator of all things, but we have to be more specific than this. God did not just create matter, bringing it all forth out of nothing—although He did in fact do that. God created all the constituent parts of the cosmos, which would include time …
Aaron and Elin
There is a reason why we see so many unhappy marriages today, and that reason has to do with the impotence of idols. Idols always promise to hang the moon, but idols uniformly fail to deliver. Not only do they fail to deliver, but one of the first things they usually fail to deliver is …
Gavin and Katie
When God created the cosmos, He did so freely, creating it from nothing. A central and foundational doctrine of the Christian faith is creatio ex nihilo, creation from nothing. Now obviously, the nothing in that expression is not a preexistent material. It is, quite literally, “no thing.” Because it was not anything, it could not …
Alex and Darcey
As we gather together for yet another glorious wedding ceremony, we are doing so in order to witness an oath. That is the centerpiece of what we are doing. That is why we are here. Now different cultures adorn the wedding oath differently, but the center of it is the same. Customs can vary from …
Jeffrey and Sarah
Everyone is in favor of kindness in the abstract. Everyone in the world applauds kindness . . . until it looks like it might cost them something. It is then that our commitment to “realistic” standards kicks in. “Surely I can’t be expected to . . .” Unfortunately our commitment to realistic standards is actually …
Boden and Shanna
As we have gathered today, gathering as witnesses for this happy occasion, we are marking the inauguration of Boden and Shanna’s voyage of discovery together. They have already discovered enough about one another that they want to take the voyage together, but once they have embarked, the real discoveries will start. It will be a …
Alec and Hannah
We are gathered at a wedding, and we have gathered in order to witness the vows being made. When these vows are exchanged, a new relationship in the world is established—the marital relationship between Alec and Hannah. But it would be false to say that a new kind of relationship has been established. A unique …