MOVE BEYOND THE MUNDANE
Celebrate 2007 Covenant Marriage Sunday
mun·dane (adj.)
1. Of, relating to, or typical of this world; secular.
2. Relating to, characteristic of, or concerned with commonplaces; ordinary.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Mundane is not a word couples want to use to describe their marriage. No couple enters into marriage with the hope and dream of a mundane life together. One of the primary reasons so many marriages are failing today is that there is no sense of adventure, no excitement about the future, and no real need for husbands and wives to pull together while trusting God because their life is so exciting and at the same time a little uncertain. Newly-weds know exactly what I’m talking about.
The rest of us who have become complacent, a little lazy, and somewhat bored with our married lives have to think a little to remember what it felt like when our marriages were new and exciting. God never intended for marriage to become mundane, ordinary, routine, or boring. The abundant life is all about the extraordinary. It is about adventure and our marriages are supposed to demonstrate to the world just how wonderful the adventure is—where couples have to trust and obey Him and they have to trust and depend on each other.
Couples can move beyond the mundane, beyond the ordinary, the routine everyday existence into the realm of the extraordinary.
ex·traor·di·nar·y (adj.)
1. Beyond what is ordinary or usual
2. Highly exceptional; remarkable
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
An Extraordinary Marriage is the kind of marriage couples dream of and one which all of us desire.
In the business world it requires hard work, creativity, commitment, sacrifice, endurance, a “don’t take no for an answer” mentality, a “no holds barred” tenacity to achieve such status. We applaud such a strong-willed spirit that takes a person beyond the mundane. We even envy such a person. If not envy, we do catch ourselves desiring what they have obtained without much thought to what they may have sacrificed to obtain it.
An extraordinary marriage requires no less. In order for a couple’s marriage to move beyond the mundane some of these same factors must be in place. It takes hard work, creativity, commitment, sacrifice, endurance, a “no holds barred” tenacity and a “don’t take divorce for an answer” attitude.
Young married and engaged couples are excited about marriage even in the face of their fear of the unknown. They struggle with the fear of failure, of abandonment, of disappointment, of being hurt, and of simply surviving. So, rather than embrace the adventure God has for them, they do what’s safe—building a safe and secure and boring and mundane future together. God isn’t safe. You don’t have to trust God if you’re safe. Trust implies risk and adventure; moving beyond the ordinary. Those who have been married for awhile need to recapture that sense of adventure God wants for our marriage wherein we trust and obey Him in the face of the mundane and ordinary.
Couples need to be motivated to strive harder, to not settle for the ordinary, to discover the resources God has placed within them to reach new heights in their relationship with Him and with one another and you can help.
You can help them understand the purpose of marriage from God’s perspective; the promise of God to be with them; the power of God to enable them; the peace of God that sustains them; the protection of God for those who rest in Him; the provisions of God flowing through them to each other; the pleasure God desires for them to experience as a couple; and, the perseverance God provides to keep them moving from an mundane marriage to an extraordinary one.
On Sunday, February 11, 2007 churches across the nation and around the world will be celebrating Covenant Marriage Sunday. Should this Sunday not fit your church calendar, we understand.
The Congregational Kit has been designed to assist you in preparing and celebrating a Covenant Marriage Sunday on whatever Sunday best suits your church calendar. The kit will provide everything an average size church needs to celebrate this event. It will include the following:
How We Love by Milan & Kay Yerkovich (Waterbrook Press)
From This Day Forward by Ted & Gayle Haggard (Waterbrook Press)
Covenant vs. Contract by Phil Waugh and Dave Brown (Son Publishing)
Blueprints for Marriage by Johnny Parker (Pneuma Life Publishing)
The Great Commandment Principle by David Ferguson (Tyndale House)
Return to Intimacy (4 CD set) by Jimmy Evans
(4) - 11 x 17 Posters
(150) - Bulletin Inserts
(50) - Couple’s Commitment Cards
(25) - Covenant Marriage Certificates
A Congregational Declaration
A Series of Sermon Outlines
Marriage Facts Sheets
Covenant Affirmation Ceremonies
Congregational Informational Manual
Newspaper Ads and Clip Art
And much, much more
Additional items such as posters, bulletin inserts, commitment cards and certificates can be purchased separately.
Be on the lookout for more information to come.
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