Intimacy is not normal. Communication is not normal. Sex is not normal. Then he looked at me and said, When I recited those vows, when I said in sickness and in health, I meant it. I meant it. When he said those words, I said to myself, God, let that be me. And I pray that you are saying right now that you want that to be you. To love, honor and cherish in sickness and in health, in prosperity and in adversity, for keeps. It is not lightweight stuff. It is not off the cuff stuff. You gave your word to God. You got into a covenant deal with Him. Take the vows from the past and bring them into the present. Make them current.

You wouldnt think about not being current with your bills. Most of us pay bills about once a month. You wouldnt think about not paying the cable bill, not paying your insurance or your mortgage. You will stay current. Well, stay current with your vows. I want you to recite your vows to your spouse once a month. Once a month bring them from the past into the present and pursue them passionately and continue to move those vows and those commitments into the future.

I have taken the vows and put them in modern day vernacular. If you are seated beside your spouse I want you to raise your hand. I want to ask you in a couple of moments to turn to your spouse and repeat these words after me. Now, you dont have to do it. If you dont feel like it, or dont feel ready, you dont have to do it. We wont look around to spot those who are married and not doing this. Just chill. This is going to be a once a month deal. The words are going to be on the side screens but you look into the eyes of your spouse. The Bible says that the eyes are the windows of our soul. If you want, take the hand of your spouse and say these words to her. I commit before God and you to creatively love honor and respect you, to be true to you in all situations
for the rest of my life.

If you would like a copy of this vow, I will have it posted on our web page tomorrow. That is www.fellowshipchurch.org. The address is in your worship guide. Now you are wondering what is so big about that. Well, I will tell you. The vow starts, I commit before God. We can talk about work all day and all night, talk about creativity until the cows come home. We can talk about the value of the vows but it all starts with God. We have got to be on the same page with Him. Marital math is two becoming one. It is a supernatural thing and it starts when we have a connection, a personal relationship with Christ. And Christ will give us the endurance and the ability to work, to create and to keep up our end of the vow.

So when you are talking to your spouse and you are having a communicative breakdown, when you want to spin on your heels and go out the door, when you want to bail out, suddenly this will echo in your mind. You may even be able to write these better, but dont forget God and Jesus Christ when you write them.

Ed Young Pastor says that if I am going to love, honor and respect, again I go back to creativity, I go back to work. When you get to a conflict and you feel the temperature rising, remember the value of the vows. How about when one is in the mood for love and the other one is not. That happens now and then. Remember the vows.
Hey, Fellowship Church, I am so thrilled at what I am seeing in so many marriages here. God is doing great things. And he wants to do even greater things in every marriage here. My marriage needs improvement. Your marriage needs improvement. So lets do this thing together. Lets commit to the MWE and lets develop and live out the value of our vows. It is 4KEEPS. It is build with creativity and it will change the course of your life and mine.