When someone calls, I ask them if either of them has been previously married. If they have, I apologized for being nosy, but I have restrictions on who I may marry (Matthew 19:9). I then ask why the prior marriages ended. I would guess that by this time 80% of those requesting my service are no longer interested. Of those remaining, I explain that I do weddings solely as a community service. There is no fee, but I do ask that the couple take time to study about marriage with me from a biblical viewpoint. (My classes take about 9 to 12 hours in total.) This usually eliminates another large portion of my callers.<\/p>\n
Those that remain (usually 1 or 2 a year) have been a joy to teach. I cover a lot of ground, and often I have to tackle difficult things, such as why sex outside of marriage is wrong. Yet, such are opportunities to discuss the nature of sin and what must be done to remedy sin. I even incorporate such into the short lesson that I give during wedding — it rarely fails to cause a gasp when you explain that the couple realized that their living together outside of marriage was a sin and that this is one step in remedying that wrong.<\/p>\n
“For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak.\u00a0I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.<\/b><\/i>” (I Corinthians 9:19-22).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I was recently asked to perform a wedding. I really prefer to let others attend to weddings.\u00a0 What are your thoughts? Answer: Weddings are not a function of the church, but I consider them an opportunity to teach the gospel. Marriages are sanctioned by God (Matthew 19: 4-6), so I am willing to encourage…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1511,566],"class_list":["post-2614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-preachers","tag-weddings"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25488,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-do-weddings\/","url_meta":{"origin":2614,"position":0},"title":"Do you do weddings?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am interested in receiving information in regards to your facility for a wedding. Would you please let me know if there is a web site for pricing, availability, and requirements? Answer: I only do a few weddings each year, offering it as a service to the community for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10809,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-ministers-hold-a-bible-during-a-wedding\/","url_meta":{"origin":2614,"position":1},"title":"Why do ministers hold a Bible during a wedding?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have seen many people married in my lifetime, where the marrying authority has read the vows, always having the Bible in hand and appearing to read the vows from the Bible. Are the vows in the Bible? And why do they do this? What does the Bible say\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43055,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-attend-weddings-of-those-who-have-been-living-together-or-had-been-divorced\/","url_meta":{"origin":2614,"position":2},"title":"Should I attend weddings of those who have been living together or had been divorced?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, My question is about weddings that take place after a couple has been living together for a year or two - sometimes longer. They have a child or maybe are expecting a child, then somewhere along the line decide to get married. They have a big wedding, white\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33253,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-a-marriage-still-valid-if-it-was-done-by-a-woman\/","url_meta":{"origin":2614,"position":3},"title":"Is a marriage still valid if it was done by a woman?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening brother. I would again like to commend you for the wonderful work you and the brethren are doing on your website on behalf of the Lord and His church. My question:\u00a0 A friend of mine recently got married.\u00a0 She and her husband were wed in a denominational\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51254,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-marry-without-getting-a-license-or-having-a-witness\/","url_meta":{"origin":2614,"position":4},"title":"Is it a sin to marry without getting a license or having a witness?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it a sin to marry without getting a license or having a witness? Can you marry someone in God's eyes and a couple of years later, when I have the money saved up to actually have a wedding, and then get the license? My girlfriend and I don't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1999,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-you-can-have-fellowship-with-people-who-differ-in-one-area-why-cant-you-have-fellowship-with-those-who-have-kitchens-and-fellowship-halls\/","url_meta":{"origin":2614,"position":5},"title":"If you can have fellowship with people who differ in one area, why can’t you have fellowship with those who have kitchens and fellowship halls?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you believe that weddings and\/or funerals may take place in the church auditorium? Do you think that you can maintain fellowship with those who differ with you on this question? Do you think that you can maintain fellowship with those who differ with you about having a kitchen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2614\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}