The Marriage of Ma Lin & Albert Myers
August 15, 2009
11:00 AM
First Chinese Baptist Church
San Francisco, California
Welcome & Invocation
In celebration of the good news in Jesus Christ and on behalf of the Fellowship of this church, I welcome you, Albert and Ma Lin to your wedding service.
Let us pray. God of wonderful creation, we gather now at the creation of a new life, the shared life of Ma Lin and Albert. You created the world around us—one in China and the other in America. You created us unique and rich in cultures and languages. And you have now brought together these two to start something new and beautiful. Grace these moments with your creative presence. In the name of Jesus the Christ, we pray. Amen.
Scripture Hebrews 11:1-3
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
Message
For the short time that I have known you, Albert and Ma Lin and especially in the sessions that we had this past week, I can see that at the foundation of your love for each other is your deep faith in God. Hebrews said, “By faith, we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God.” Truly, God is the “activator of your relationship.” God started this wonderful love that you have for each other.
Albert, you followed God’s leading and in faith traveled to Greece and then to China with an open heart to discover what God’s plan is for you. There in China, God led Ma Lin to first be your hotel restaurant waitress and then your friend and now your bride. Finding a good friend who can share all of the familiarities of life is difficult enough but to fall in love with someone who is so different in culture, history, language, and custom is to have deep faith in God that nothing is impossible when you place your lives in God’s hands.
Today, you take a leap of faith. Ma Lin has traveled across a great ocean to be here. Albert has traveled across the country to spend this time in San Francisco to meet Ma Lin. You have literally leapt into each other’s arms!
You have excellent reasons for believing you belong together—overcoming the many barriers of communication, social mores, and expectations. But as we all know, you do not have guarantees. Instead, you stand together, about to accept on faith the challenge of creating the future together.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for…” You marry in faith that God has called you to live as one. You promised to be faithful to one another, in big things as well as small. Your constant faith in each other will give form and substance to the beautiful hopes you have for your future. You hope for a caring and supportive community in Florida to nurture your marriage. You hope for good and rich relationships with new in-laws and close friends. You hope if it’s God’s plan, to have children together to express the love you have for each other. And ultimately, in faith, you want the assurance that you hope that the love that you share with each other will last for a lifetime.
Faith is “the conviction of things not see…” At times your marriage won’t look like anything like the vision you celebrate today. You may not feel much evidence of the love you now feel so keenly. At such time, you must look for evidence—for reasons to stay together—in the same faith that brought you here today—the conviction that God has called you to be together. Ma Lin, although you have not yet seen your new home in Oviedo, Florida, you have faith in what Albert has said that it will be a new place that you can call as your own home as you organize, decorate, work out in the garden, and cook delicious and healthy meals. In the power of God’s love and faithfulness to you, you will find the power to keep loving each other until the same sun that rises in China will rise in Florida and the flowers that bloom in China will also bloom in Florida.
Marriage begins with a leap of faith that says, “I do” and “I will” before an unknown and unknowable future. Marriage is about being full in faith, or faithful, to one another. Faithfulness respects each other’s ideas, keeps each other’s secrets, guards each other’s dignity, and honors each other in public and in private. Being faithful Albert is to always love how Ma Lin’s nose has little wrinkles when she smiles. Being faithful Ma Lin is to always be patient when Albert doesn’t easily understands what you may be saying. Faithfulness is built from thousands of small acts of trust and trustworthiness particularly when it takes so long to communicate with each other at this time. In such faith, you will find the fulfillment of all the hopes you have today. God bless you both. Amen.
Exchange of Vows
Albert: I, Albert, take you, Ma Lin, to be my wedded wife,
To have and to hold from this day forward,
For better, for worse;
For richer, for poorer;
In sickness and in health;
To love and to cherish.
So long as we both shall live.
Ma Lin: I, Ma Lin, take you, Albert, to be my wedded husband,
To have and to hold from this day forward,
For better, for worse;
For richer, for poorer;
In sickness and in health;
To love and to cherish.
So long as we both shall live.
Exchange of Rings
For many centuries, a wedding ring has been a symbol of a pledge that those who give a ring intend to live up to the vows and promises made at the time of marriage. A ring is a visible sign of an inward grace which signifies the givers and receivers becoming one in holy matrimony through the church of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let us pray. Almighty God, as Albert and Ma Lin pledge their lives to one another, give them the will and the strength to live up to their marital vows. May the rings given and worn always remind them of the pledge of faithfulness made before you and the new friends who have witnessed the covenant they have made today through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Albert: Ma Lin, I rejoice in putting this ring on your finger.
It is a symbol of my great love for you
And my pledge of faithfulness to you.
Wear this ring with confidence
That I will be present for you
Even as I am sure you will be present for me.
I make this vow before God.
Ma Lin: Albert, I rejoice in putting this ring on your finger.
It is a symbol of my great love for you
And my pledge of faithfulness to you.
Wear this ring with confidence
That I will be present for you
Even as I am sure you will be present for me.
I make this vow before God.
Wedding Prayer
Loving God, we thank you for Albert and Ma Lin as they join their hearts and lives in marriage. We are thankful that in the first moments of their marriage, they have acknowledged your presence. We pray that they may continue to lean upon your strength and resources throughout their lives. When they laugh for joy, may they give you the praise; when they sink in sorrow, may they find in you a comfort; when they labor in their dreams, may they find their hope in you. Challenge them to grow gracefully and in grace; move them to reach beyond their faith; remind them that in serving others, they serve you. May this marriage be a channel of blessing, not only for them, but for others who will be touched by their lives. Amen.
Declaration of Marriage
Albert and Ma Lin, you have publicly made your vows to each other today, and have given and received rings as an outward sign of this unity, I now declare as a Minister of the Christian Gospel that you are husband and wife together. Joined as one, Albert and Ma Lin, continue to be blessed by the love you share, the love you have for God and the love God has for each of you.
Embrace and Kiss
Benediction
Now may your flight to Orlando tomorrow be smooth and on time.
May this past week in San Francisco leaves you with memorable experiences of your new life together.
May the sun in Florida shine warmly upon your face.
May the summer thunderstorms fall softly upon the flower beds around your new home together.
May the God who is present in China, in San Francisco, and in Florida hold you in the palm of his hand forever.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up the heavens and grant you his peace. Amen.