On the 18 of March, we had a wedding ceremony at a event hall here in town. Jessie volunteered to help plan the wedding. She is very good at it. We spend the days leading up to the wedding get all the details worked out. We spent all of Saturday at the event hall decorating. It was a beautiful wedding. I was my honor to officiate the wedding. It was only my second time. It was a huge blessing to share in this beautiful occasion. Jesus is the bridegroom and we are the bride. Such a beautiful illustration of our relationship with Jesus.
One thing I would like to comment about is that for many who attended the wedding, it was the first time they had been to a Christian wedding. It is not a common thing to be invited to a "Christian" wedding. Right in the beginning the couple expressed that they had never been to a Christian wedding so they had no idea where to start. So we gave them some ideas and what they could do and they went with it.
One of the interesting things is that having a Christian wedding here in rural Mexico there is no alcohol. It is a huge problem for the extended family members who see a wedding as a time to party and get drunk. The couple told their family members that there was no alcohol being served, so what did they do? They brought it themselves. Can you believe that? After the meal, there was a dance. If you wanted to dance with the bride or groom, you would attached some form of money to their clothing with a clothes pin. A great way to help the bride and groom financially. But after speaking with them they said that there were several extended family members who were actually drunk. How uncomfortable.
Also another interesting thing is that the event hall, had a worker there. Not uncommon. Just to be there in-case something happened. After it was all over, I was gathering up all the stuff we had to take home, I was talking with Juan Pablo. I told him it was going to be about 11:30 when we would have to come back to get another load of stuff. He said, no problem. This is early still. He actually put all the tables and chair away by the time we got back. He said he normally doesn't get to do that after the events, it usually is too late and he has to come back the next day. It was then I realized that we were maybe the first Christians to have done a wedding and reception there. Even now realizing just how much we can have a good testimony by how we conduct ourselves and by how we can celebrate without any alcohol. We can still celebrate. We can still have a good time. We are always giving people a taste of Jesus through our lives in how we act or what we say.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
One thing I would like to comment about is that for many who attended the wedding, it was the first time they had been to a Christian wedding. It is not a common thing to be invited to a "Christian" wedding. Right in the beginning the couple expressed that they had never been to a Christian wedding so they had no idea where to start. So we gave them some ideas and what they could do and they went with it.
One of the interesting things is that having a Christian wedding here in rural Mexico there is no alcohol. It is a huge problem for the extended family members who see a wedding as a time to party and get drunk. The couple told their family members that there was no alcohol being served, so what did they do? They brought it themselves. Can you believe that? After the meal, there was a dance. If you wanted to dance with the bride or groom, you would attached some form of money to their clothing with a clothes pin. A great way to help the bride and groom financially. But after speaking with them they said that there were several extended family members who were actually drunk. How uncomfortable.
Also another interesting thing is that the event hall, had a worker there. Not uncommon. Just to be there in-case something happened. After it was all over, I was gathering up all the stuff we had to take home, I was talking with Juan Pablo. I told him it was going to be about 11:30 when we would have to come back to get another load of stuff. He said, no problem. This is early still. He actually put all the tables and chair away by the time we got back. He said he normally doesn't get to do that after the events, it usually is too late and he has to come back the next day. It was then I realized that we were maybe the first Christians to have done a wedding and reception there. Even now realizing just how much we can have a good testimony by how we conduct ourselves and by how we can celebrate without any alcohol. We can still celebrate. We can still have a good time. We are always giving people a taste of Jesus through our lives in how we act or what we say.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
