Marriage is a hot topic today: Who can get married? What's the point of marriage? And is it really supposed to be a lifelong relationship? This 3-session study will help you understand what Christian marriage is all about: why it's more than just living together, what it looks like to have a Christian marriage in a not-so-Christian society, and why you don't have to have everything together before you get married.
Session One
Love and Consequences: The Truth About Living Together
Scripture has always extolled matrimony, and science is starting to catch up.
Genesis 2:18-25; Malachi 2:13-16; Matthew 19:3-12; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; Colossians 3:18-4:1
Biblical faith has always held up marriage as the standard for family life and the foundation of society. From Genesis, where God placed Adam and Eve into a permanent relationship, to the New Testament, where marriage is compared to the relationship of Christ and his church, the Scriptures are redolent with marital imagery, instructions, and encouragement. But as Western culture has strayed from its biblical roots, particularly in recent decades, people have wandered from the biblical ideal and attempted to make their own social arrangements. One of these arrangements, cohabitation, known popularly as "shacking up," has received widespread acceptance. But does it work, either sociologically or morally?
Session Two
A Marriage Revolution
How can the church recreate a biblical understanding of marriage in a secular society?
Genesis 2:18-25; Matthew 19:1-12; 1 Corinthians 7:1-9; 13:1-13; Ephesians 5:21-31 The statistics are enough to make anyone grieve: nearly half of all marriages end in divorce at some point. Increasing numbers of those divorces will be the second and third for individuals. And the most difficult part is that these statistics are true for Christians as well.
Christian marriage is misunderstood—even by Christians. What distinguishes Christian marriage from secular marriage? What are the biblical principles that support Christian marriage? How can we restore the sanctity of marriage in our society?
Session Three
The Case for Early Marriage
The church must release the stigma and teach young couples how to tie the knot.
Genesis 2:19-25; Romans 12:9-21; 1 Corinthians 7:1-8 Despite the church's best efforts at abstinence education, 90 percent of all American adults will have sex before marriage. Maybe what the church has been teaching about marriage is sending the wrong message. After all, more and more people—even Christians—are putting off marriage. Marrying young has become downright countercultural. But, when supported by a loving church, young marriage has the potential to put biblical ideas about the formative institution into practice.
Total number of pages—31 pages
