Thank you. an an an an an so so and an an an an so so ♪ We are the children of God ♪ So, Yeah. I like that. Marines can get it done. I'm Pastor Teal, First Baptist Church of Wildwood. It's our privilege today to host the wedding of Jubilee and Josiah, and to welcome you on behalf of the Cassida and Molino families. Let us ask God for his blessing today. Father, we love you. Thank you for the privilege to serve you. Thank you for the, Lord, this wonderful opportunity we have to celebrate the oldest institution on earth. the marriage of one woman to one man. Father, we ask your blessings in all that's said and done, in Jesus' name, amen. So, so so Who has the privilege of giving this lady to be married to this man? You may be seated. We are gathered here today in the sight of God and in the presence of these witnesses to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony. Marriage is a sacred institution ordained by God, signifying the profound union between Christ and his church. Marriage is praised in scripture as a means of comfort in this life and an honorable state in which to live. It is an institution that is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently and in the fear of God. Let's pray. Father, we ask your blessing now in this hour together We pray that you would bless this couple, not only in this ceremony, but in their marriage. Lord, we thank you that you have given us this beautiful picture of Christ's love for his church. And we pray that what is done today would not only bring honor to the families and to this young couple, but especially to Christ, who has made this possible. And so bless our time. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. I'm gonna read from Revelation chapter 19. Beginning in verse five. And a voice came out of the throne saying, praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he said unto me, write, blessed are they which are called into the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of God. I'm gonna give what I hope to be as brief a sermon as I possibly can. My heart is full for a number of reasons, not the least of which is my daughter is getting married. I'll try not to revert into my hellfire brimstone Baptist preacher ways. But if the food in the reception needs more time to cook, if somebody would give me a sign, and we can make the sermon drag out a little bit longer. Okay, didn't think so. God in his infinite wisdom has placed marriage in the opening pages of scripture, and he has also placed marriage in the final closing scenes of the Bible. Just a few verses from the end of the Bible, there is an invitation to believe the gospel. And that invitation is given this way. The spirit and the bride say come. Marriage is such a holy event, such a precious portrayal of God's plan of redemption, that one can say that marriage is the very theme of the biblical story. In fact, we could say that the entire story of the Bible can be summed up this way. God's son and his bride are preparing themselves for marriage. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, prepared himself by sending prophets to speak of his coming, by ordaining a nation to safeguard his word, by coming into this world through a virgin's womb to take upon himself human life, and then to lay down that life to save his people from their sin. to make them collectively his bride. The church prepares herself for marriage by keeping herself only unto her savior, by living righteously and by faithfully expecting his soon return when their love will culminate on the threshold of eternity. As marriage in general is a picture of Christ's relationship with the church, your marriage Specifically, if you will view it through the eyes of faith, it will remind you, as it does me, of the great coming day when all of God's people will be united to Christ at the marriage of the land. For example, it took a battle to get you here today. I didn't have to drive you kicking and screaming. I think you were willing participants, but you both have Had to battle a great deal from the time you've met to the time in this moment to make it possible. You've persevered with the principles you've learned from God's word. You've been guided, forced by parental wisdom at times to stay the course and to battle against temptation. Take the hard road instead of the easy road. and to follow God's leading and guiding until the two of you met. 848 miles have separated you two over these past months, but you made it work by the grace of God and lots of driving, lots of plane tickets, lots of money, to the point where I think getting married is going to be cheaper than this portion. In the past one year, six months, and two weeks that you've been a couple, you've only been in each other's presence for 105 days. Some people say that long-distance relationships don't work, but you've proved them all wrong. And you've also reminded us that we are all in a long-distance relationship, aren't we, in a way? Our Savior's spirit is in us, but he is seated in heaven at the right hand of his father, and we look forward to seeing him in person someday. You've had ups and downs. You've learned to forgive and to be patient. You've battled your own sinful corruptions and the temptation of this world so that you've made an example of your courtship to the rest of us. of what is godliness and what is well-pleasing in the sight of God for two young people. In the passage I read earlier, a few verses before what I read, we see that before the marriage of the lamb to his bride, there was a great battle that took place. And that event, that marriage of the lamb to his bride, will not happen until that battle is over someday. And God is defeating and one day will finally and fully put down all the enemies of the gospel and the persecutors of the church. And when the smoke from that great battle clears, we see these very powerful and encouraging words. Hallelujah for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Beloved, God is battling to usher his people into the presence of his son in eternity, and he reigns even now, and he will always reign even when it seems he does not reign. He is on his throne. Alleluia, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Christ has battled to make marriage with his bride a reality. We read in first Peter chapter two in verse 21. Here unto were ye called, because Christ has also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps. He who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. Not only do we see that it took a battle to get here, but may I remind you that the blessedness now that you will experience is worth it all. Some folks will probably tell you that The battle has just begun. And there's truth in that. But I want you to know that the grace that God gave you to get to this moment will be the same grace that will bring you through every trial and trouble. And one day, when the both of you are once again standing at the front of a church, and one of you is resting in the arms of Christ. It will be his grace that not only brought you here, but will bring you there, and will bring you through. But between now and then, the blessedness is worth it. The joy of each other's love, the simple pleasures of daily family life, the prospect of grandchildren, And a thousand other earthly blessings will make every trial and trouble pale in comparison to the earthly blessing of marriage. It is said of our Savior that we should be looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. May I say the blessedness is worth it. It's worth it. May I say in closing in the sermon, for those of you who are here and who have not believed in Christ yet, I remind you of what we read earlier. Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of God. There is the greatest blessedness awaiting those of you who have yet to come to faith in Christ. You may look at your life, perhaps as you should, as one that is happy and for one which you're grateful, but the greatest blessing for you awaits until you come to Christ in faith. So I plead with you. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Amen. If you, Josiah, Joelle, Melina, and you, Jubilee Hope Cassidy, have freely and deliberately chosen each other as partners for life. Would you please join your hands? Josiah, will you take Jubilee to be your wedded wife? Will you love her, honor her, and keep her in sickness and in health, in poverty as in wealth, and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her so long as you both shall live? Do you so promise? I do. Jubilee, will you take Josiah to be your wedded husband? Will you love him, honor him, and keep him in sickness and in health, in poverty as in wealth, and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him so long as you both shall live? Do you so promise? I do. Josiah, will you please repeat after me the following words, please? I, Josiah Joel Molina, I, Josiah Joel Molina, take you, Jubilee Hope Cassida, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, As Christ loved the church. As Christ loved the church. Till death do us part. Till death do us part. Jubilee, will you please repeat the following words after me? I, Jubilee Hope Casada. I, Jubilee Hope Casada. Take you, Josiah Joelle Molina. Take you, Josiah Joelle Molina. To be my wedded husband. To be my wedded husband. To have and to hold. To have and to hold. From this day forward. From this day forward. For better or for worse. For better or for worse. for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, to respect, and to obey, till death do us part. As a symbol of this covenant agreement between the two of you, you will now exchange rings. May I have the ring? Jubilee's ring and place it on the third finger of her left hand and say, I give you this ring as a token of my covenant promise. I give you this ring as a token of my covenant promise. Jubilee, would you take Josiah's ring and place it on the third finger of his left hand and say, I give you this ring as a token of my covenant promise. The Bible says that a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. That's a symbol of two becoming one. Josiah and Jubilee will now light their unity candle and spend a moment in prayer. If you'd all find a songbook in this pewter axe in front of you, and find number 124, we're gonna sing, Blessed be the tie that binds. We'll sing the first, then the last verse. of number one, two, four. ♪ Let me hear the sound of your voice ♪ ♪ And hear the sound of my heart ♪ ♪ And hear the sound of my heart ♪ Let's pray. Lord, we are so glad that Christ's blood washes away our sin and we can make our robes pure white in the blood of the Lamb, and that by your grace and mercy we can stand before your throne someday clothed in pure linen, which is the righteousness of the saints. We pray again your blessing on this couple, and we thank you for those who are here in attendance, for their love to them and their families, And we pray that you would bless them in their journeys and bless our fellowship tonight. And we thank you for those who have labored to make this day possible. In Jesus name we pray, amen. By the power vested in me as a minister of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Molina. so All right, thank you for coming today. It's been a blessing to have everyone here. There's going to be a reception that follows. It doesn't start until 5.30, so you have a little bit of time to, well, do whatever you want. There are restrooms. There's some on the main floor. There are other restrooms downstairs. Just follow a hallway until you find what looks like a restroom sign. You'll be fine. And in a moment, the usher's going to be coming forward. and they're going to dismiss you row by row and you're welcome to go share your love and affection to the receiving line or the bride and groom and their party awaits. The reception is going to be down this hallway. Again, follow the hallway. You'll see all these tables that are decorated. There is a seating chart. Yes, you have assigned seats. I think you'll enjoy them, though. And the seating chart is in the corner. You'll pass it on your way to the reception area. All you need to do is look for your last name. And there will be a corresponding table number next to your last name. Then you'll find the seat. Then you sit down and we'll eat at 5.30. If you did not RSVP, your name didn't get put on the chart. However, we do have an overflow table for those of you who didn't RSVP but you want to eat with us. We're prepared for that and we want you to stay and we want you to eat. So at this time, the guests will come to the front and dismiss the crowd. Again, thank you so much. It means a lot to Josiah and Jubilee that you've all come today. ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ So, so so You.