I will...by the power of His Will!

At Church this weekend we started a new sermon series called "Real Marriage". It's based off the New York's Best Sellers #1 book by the same name. The book was written by Pastor Mark Driscoll and his wife Grace Driscoll.

The morning started off like any other Sunday, getting ready for church, setting everything up and praying that everything goes smoothly. See the Church that my family and I attend is the "Living Stones Sparks Campus", and we meet inside the Mendive Middle School is Sparks. We start each morning with an empty gymnasium, and with the help of roughly 50 volunteers it is transformed into a beautiful place of worship. It is a huge evidence of God's Grace that it all comes together the way it does. God is doing His work through us each Sunday to reach the city of Sparks, I see new faces every weekend. We are a church that preaches Jesus' name. We lift Him on high and He draws the people of Sparks to Himself.

The message started off with pretty much more of the same... keep Jesus the center of our relationships, and He will redeem and make them flourish, but as Pastor Harvey continued to preach, God was softening my heart and revealing to me the ways I don't keep Him central in my marriage. Harvey told the story of how he met his wife and that the first two years of their marriage didn't go so well. It was a story that sounded all too familiar to my own marriage. Don't get me wrong, I love my wife, and I love my marriage...but a healthy marriage is hard work and we can't do it alone, we need God's power, not our own. It's only through humbling ourselves, reaching out to our church, asking for help and submitting to His will, that this marriage will be redeemed.

The sermon was one of those that seemed like every word was directed at me. It was a huge kick in the butt by the Holy Spirit to grow up, be the man He created me to be and to fight like hell for my wife, kids and my marriage. Towards the end he asked all the men of the congregation to stand and take an oath. The oath was a call to action to re-engage and join back in that fight with the power of God that he gives us. It was a very powerful moment for me, that only got more powerful as we then went into a time of communion where Pastor Harvey told all the Husbands, Fiancés, Boyfriends to serve their Wives, Wives-to-be, and Girlfriends communion. It was a very powerful time as I served my wife communion. We prayed together, cried together as I reminded us as a married couple of what Christ had done for us, and made an oath to her that I will rely on God's power, grace and love. Then we took the elements as one flesh in Christ, stood and worshiped the one true God that saved us both and gives us the power to truly live as He has created us to be.

I DO solemnly resolve before God to take full responsibility for myself, my wife, and my children.

I WILL love them, protect them, serve them, and teach them the Word of God as the spiritual leader of my home.

I WILL be faithful to my wife, to love and honor her, and be willing to lay down my life for her as Jesus Christ did for me.

I WILL bless my children and teach them to love God with all of their hearts, all of their minds, and all of their strength.

I WILL train them to honor authority and live responsibly.

I WILL confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy.

I WILL pray for others and treat them with kindness, respect, and compassion, because that is what Jesus Christ did and does for me.

I WILL work diligently to provide for the needs of my family.

I WILL forgive those who wronged me and reconcile with those I have wronged.

I WILL learn from my mistakes, repent of my sins, and walk with integrity as a man answerable to God.

I WILL seek to honor God, be faithful to His church, obey His Word, and do His will.

I WILL courageously work with the strength God provides to fulfill this resolution for the rest of my life and for His glory.

I encourage all of you men to take up this oath and join in the fight for our marriages, to break the chains of our pasts, our sin and to live as the men God has created us to be through His power, Grace and Love.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  Joshua 24:15

Jason