"Remodeling Your Marriage"

New Hope is spending the month of September discussing the gift of marriage and ways to strengthen the marriage relationship.  Pastor Mike and his wife began this series with a two-part sermon.  The thoughts that they shared were very thought-provoking.  I'd like to share some of the items they shared that were some of our favorites.

• Submit to one another out of the reverence for Jesus (Ephesians 5:21)
• Hard times help us to experience the transforming love of God
• Make an intentional effort to spend time together
• Do the kinds of things you need to do to stay in love ("And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God" Ephesians 5:2)
• To stay in love, don't compete, but act like he/she is more important than you ("Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves" Philippians 2:3)
• Jesus Himself did not consider Himself the most important.  "Never once did Jesus pull the God card" Pastor Mike
• To stay in love you have got to make love a verb
• Staying in love requires a plan
• Choose to be like Jesus.  He emptied Himself.
• "In your lives you must think and act like (have the same attitude as) Christ Jesus.  Actions of love lead to feelings of love."  Pastor Mike
• Marriage takes investment and consistency